Season 1 Episode 8 - Interview with Scott Huler author of Defining the Wind and A Delicious Country

I was in the local branch of my public library and I came across the title, Defining the Wind. I had never heard of the title, nor the author, Scott Huler. I was blown away by Scott's seemingly bottomless interest, his total commitment to investigation and understanding, and his equanimity when the universe doesn't deliver on expectations. I reached out to Scott with gratitude for the good read, and asking for some advice for an aspiring writer. He was fireworks in response, knife sharp and funny. This was the beginning of our correspondence.  

I later read A Delicious Country, another book of full of curiosity and commitment. Scott retraced one of the earliest published accounts of a European trekking through the Carolinas. By this point I had started the podcast and knew Scott would make for a phenomenal chat. He did not disappoint. Scott is full of writerly wisdom, and you are going to love this conversation.

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Summary

Full Transcript Here.

00:00–10:00

• Tripp introduces Scott Huler and highlights two books: Defining the Wind and A Delicious Country.
• Scott describes his work as a call to pay attention to the world around us.
• He praises Beaufort and Lawson as careful observers and communicators.
• Language and expression are central to his curiosity and writing.
• He fell in love with the Beaufort scale first as a piece of language, then as a scientific tool.

10:00–20:00

• Scott discusses the poetic rhythm and structure of the Beaufort scale.
• He describes joy in uncovering untold historical details behind the scale.
• Research involved years of international calls and deep dives in libraries.
• He valued discovering things even experts didn’t know.
• Reflects on how curiosity and deep engagement sustained the project.

20:00–30:00

• Scott explains how he moved from journalism into book writing via feature stories.
• The Beaufort book was initially rejected by his agent.
• During a period of isolation, he applied for a fellowship to revisit the idea.
• New agents became interested, and the proposal gained traction.
• A fellowship and book deal gave him the resources to pursue the project fully.

30:00–40:00

• Scott describes the transformative year spent at a fellowship in Ann Arbor, fully immersed in writing without distractions.
• He contrasts the depth and time required for books versus articles—books must offer beauty, complexity, and multiple angles.
• Compares the form of a book to natural units of human understanding, like a Beethoven symphony on a CD.
• Praises the physical book as a “perfect technology”—interactive, durable, portable, and deeply familiar.
• Emphasizes his lifelong love of books, recalling his identity as a bookish kid.

40:00–50:00

• Scott says writing should be fun—even with serious topics, he wants readers to enjoy the experience.
• He’s drawn to science because it’s structured, cumulative, and leads to results.
• Describes science as “beautiful, magical, and understandable”—it enables modern life.
• Reflects on the evolution of scientific understanding, from Newton to Einstein to quantum physics.
• Criticizes science denialism (e.g., about climate change) as a refusal to engage with objective reality.

50:00–60:00

• Scott shares the emotional experience of tracking down historical records tied to the Beaufort scale.
• He visited the UK Met Office and saw handwritten observations but never found a full personal archive.
• A choreographer created a dance piece based on his book—he read the Beaufort scale aloud during the performance.
• Readers have created their own Beaufort scales (e.g., for laundry or in prison), which deeply moves him.
• He compares the spread of these creative responses to having kids—his ideas continue without him.

60:00–70:00

• Scott recounts paddling Lawson’s route and realizing Lawson likely wasn’t paddling himself—he was being guided.
• Emphasizes that Lawson’s journey relied entirely on Native American guides and established paths.
• Notes that Lawson was unusually aware that he was witnessing the decline of Native cultures, not their peak.
• Highlights Lawson’s respectful, detailed descriptions of Native life—plants, food, rituals, and more.
• Praises Lawson’s empathy and commitment to documenting what he saw with care and honesty.

70:00–80:00

• A Native American woman told Scott that reading Lawson in college was life-changing—“he gave me my history.”
• She introduced Scott to her tribe’s land and longhouse, the first their people had owned in a century.
• Encounters like this reaffirmed his commitment to the work, regardless of book sales.
• Scott emphasizes he wasn’t trying to retrace every step, but to follow Lawson’s method of observing and documenting.
• Frames the journey as a modern transect—adding new data to Lawson’s original record.

80:00–90:00

• Scott compares Lawson’s journey to the Odyssey—both are human stories of striving and transformation.
• He sees Lawson’s journey as witnessing a pivotal cultural moment—one that led directly to conflict and Lawson’s death.
• Lawson was trusted but also complicit in colonization; Scott highlights this moral complexity.
• Draws a parallel between Lawson’s time and today—both marked by upheaval and existential uncertainty.
• Notes the reality of climate change and extinction, questioning what kind of future remains.

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More From Scott Huler

Scott's website: ScottHuler.com
Some of Scott's books:
A Delicious Country: Rediscovering the Carolinas along the Route of John Lawson's 1700 Expedition
No-Man's Lands: One Man's Odyssey Through The Odyssey
On the Grid: A Plot of Land, an Average Neighborhood, ​and the Systems That Make Our World Work
Defining the Wind: The Beaufort Scale, ​and How a Nineteenth-Century Admiral Turned Science into Poetry

Some of Scott's articles:
Inside the Weird and Wonderful World of Miniatures (for Esquire)
Opinion: Trump isn't just betraying the Constitution, he's betraying the Declaration of Independence ​

Books Mentioned

Longitude by Dava Sobel