Big Two-Hearted River, Ernest Hemingway (1925)

June 26, 2026 · 45 min

About this episode

This episode revisits Hemingway's 'Big Two-Hearted River' while the host walks the Camino de Santiago.

I am currently walking 162 miles of the Camino de Santiago with my family. While on this pilgrimage, I am republishing some of my favorites from the archives. Hemingway’s “Big Two-Hearted River,” released in September of last year, remains one of my most popular recordings. If you missed these stories the first time around, now is a great time to listen or explore the archives on your own (searchable by date recorded , by author , and by theme ). ___ Every day, dozens of outdoorsmen head out into nature, armed with video cameras, battery packs, and oh-so-many envelopes of instant oatmeal, to capture their communion with nature. And every day, tens of thousands of would-be outdoorsmen tune into YouTube to watch the newest videos coming from the field. The outdoor genre is booming, with estimates easily topping more than 1 billion views per year. One can’t help but wonder if that concentrated energy isn’t chasing just a small taste of what Hemingway offers us with “Big Two-Hearted River.” His short story, published in May of 1925 in the inaugural issue of This Quarter , presents a semi-autobiographical sojourn to the waters of Upper Peninsula, Michigan, where the main character…

People in this episode

Host: Ruby Love

Topics covered

Hemingway
nature
mindfulness
fishing
outdoors
literature

Keywords

Hemingway
Big Two-Hearted River
Camino de Santiago
nature
mindfulness
fishing
literature

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Big Two-Hearted River

Places: Upper Peninsula, Michigan