#178. An Expedition into the Brazilian Amazon to Establish the Boundaries of a Totally Isolated, Uncontacted tribe.

About this episode

Scott Wallace discusses his experiences and insights from his book on uncontacted tribes in the Amazon.

Scott Wallace is an award-winning writer, television producer, and photojournalist, who for over 40 years, has focused on the environment, vanishing cultures, and conflict over land and resources around the world. He has written feature stories for the New York Times and The Smithsonian , among other major publications, and has been a frequent contributor to National Geographic. He is the author of the bestselling book, The Unconquered: In Search of the Amazon’s Last Uncontacted Tribes , published in 2011, a firsthand account of an expedition through the land of a mysterious tribe living in extreme isolation deep in the Amazon rain forest. As a reporter for CBS News, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution , Newsweek , the Independent , and the Guardian, Wallace covered the civil wars in Central America throughout the 1980s, and is the author of and photographer for Central America in the Crosshairs of War: On the Road from Vietnam to Iraq , published in 2024. In 2017 he joined the faculty of the Journalism Department of the University of Connecticut. Today’s interview will focus on his earlier book, The Unconquered . Recorded 1/22/26.

People in this episode

Host: Stuart Kelter

Guest: Scott Wallace

Topics covered

• uncontacted tribes
• Amazon rainforest
• environmental journalism
• cultural preservation
• expedition
• land conflict

Keywords

• uncontacted tribes
• Amazon
• Scott Wallace
• The Unconquered
• environment
• cultural conflict
• journalism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: New York Times, The Smithsonian, National Geographic, CBS News, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Newsweek, the Independent, the Guardian

Books & works: The Unconquered: In Search of the Amazon’s Last Uncontacted Tribes, Central America in the Crosshairs of War: On the Road from Vietnam to Iraq

Places: Brazilian Amazon

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