We made it to the middle of the week, Chattanooga. The days before a three-day weekend can feel so long, but we’re cruising through. 🚗 Trista here, and last week I had the opportunity to interview Luke Swab, creator of the People of Chattanooga podcast. This podcast started on March 23 and currently has nine episodes in its catalog, with a new one coming out every week. The focus of the show is to interview, well, the people of Chattanooga so we can all get to know our local community a little better.

Luke Swab, host of People of Chattanooga | Photo provided

About Luke + the podcast

Luke and I talked about his motivation to start the podcast, and I learned a little bit about him, too. He has a cool story, so we flipped the script and interviewed the interviewer.

Luke is from Merritt, Michigan and moved to Chattanooga with his best friend four years ago. He told me he was diligent about picking a city, and it needed to cater to his love for the outdoors. Chattanooga — Enter from downstage. He loves road biking, caving, hiking, camping, and finding the best swimming holes. He wouldn’t tell me his favorite, or even his second favorite, but Middle Creek Falls took third place.

In June + July, you can find Luke in Alaska on a salmon fishing boat. He’s been the captain of a boat for 16 years, and was even on a show called Alaska: Battle on the Bay for one season. (Bonus: You can stream it on Hulu.) He also writes + takes photographs for Roadrunner Magazine, a publication for motorcycle enthusiasts.

When asked why he started this podcast, he commented on how this city is rich in talent + passion. And we agree — talk to just about anyone here and they probably have a cool story. How did we get so lucky here? He also said he started the podcast as a way to connect with more people and spark up some new friendships.

People of Chattanooga is a series of unedited conversations with some of the movers + shakers in the city. It’s modeled after some of Luke’s favorite podcasts — The Joe Rogan Experience, Making Sense, The Portal, and Artificial Intelligence — which are long-format interviews.

Simply put, Luke is just really excited about Noogans, and he wants us all to get to know them a little better. “I think Chattanooga is the best town, and the people here are interesting + authentic — I wanna brag on ‘em,” Luke said.

Episodes

🎙️ Episode 1: Jason Bowers is the owner of The Bitter Alibi and The Daily Ration, two popular restaurants in Chattanooga. He speaks about creating two successful businesses, the impact of COVID-19, and he shares some personal anecdotes from childhood and adult life.

🎙️ Episode 2: Edward Yates is a highliner — one of the best on the East Coast — who walked a highline over the Tennessee Aquarium in October of 2014. You can get a peek into his head in this episode.

🎙️ Episode 3: Ashley Jones is the founder of nonprofit Love not Lost, a mission to photograph people facing a terminal diagnosis to create special memories for years to come. Ashley’s hope is to give love during death + grief. This one is emotional, so buckle up.

🎙️ Episode 4: Andrew Gage is the owner of Velo Coffee. You’ll want to hear about his journey to owning his own coffee shop — it involves selling a car and delivering coffee on a bike. Oh, and speaking of bikes, he has 14 of them.

🎙️ Episode 5: Randy Whorton is the creator of wildtrails.org, which organizes races, builds new trails, and cleans up existing ones. He and his wife, Kris, promote healthy living, and Randy has done just about everything. You can learn all about his life in this episode.

🎙️ Episode 6: Elizabeth + Wes own Charlie’s BBQ + Bakery on Main St. This episode dives into starting a business as Chattanooga transplants, their mission, and why they were drawn to the building they currently use.

🎙️ Episode 7: Les Warnock is the president of SORBA — Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association — Chattanooga. This conversation is all about what SORBA is doing to grow, build + maintain mountain biking trails in the region.

🎙️ Episode 8: Nathalie DuPre is a commercial + lifestyle photographer. She specializes in outdoor photography but doesn’t shy away from other projects. Check out this episode to learn more about her life and passion.

🎙️ Episode 9: Crisler Torrence is the head guide at Rock/Creek Adventures and has worked as a kayak guide on the Ocoee. He holds an impressive amount of knowledge about the flora + fauna in the region, and this episode is a great way to get to know him.

Keep your ears open — in the coming weeks, Luke will host Andrea Hassler, the Executive Director of Southeastern Climbers Coalition and Justin Shipp, the owner of Site Seven.

Itching to check out some other local podcasts? We did a roundup here.