stephenregenold

Minnesota born. Dad & husband, writer, outdoors addict. Founder of GearJunkie.

[Twin Cities Business @TCBmag]

.@TheGearJunkie is a digital media success story. @stephenregenold grew the Minneapolis-based company into part of a $40M family of publications at All Gear Digital. We talked to him about where the media industry is headed in 2026 and beyond.

[ADWEEK @Adweek]

AllGear Digital is expanding into retail media through a partnership with @backcountry, allowing the outdoor media company to sell ad inventory across Backcountry's ecommerce platform and share revenue. https://t.co/2hDTQql3G9

[stephenregenold @stephenregenold]

@mediaking Wild.

[stephenregenold @stephenregenold]

🏛️ GearJunkie goes to Washington

Off-the-record meetings and access to an inner circle of policymakers gave our editor perspective on how the outdoors is bracketed in D.C.

Editor-in-chief Adam Ruggiero traveled with Adam Cramer of the @OutdoorAlliance. Over a few days, the duo experienced support and enthusiasm (as well as some expected sound bites and hollow talk) while seeking support for a bill.

➡️ Read our feature article at the link, where Ruggiero offers an honest, first-person account of the “byzantine labyrinth” that is D.C.

https://t.co/eNefT3fqii

[stephenregenold @stephenregenold]

🚨 Google gone too far… This is a wild tale of SEO subterfuge, corporate glut, and the monopolistic mindset Google has when it comes to content and media companies.

Author @joshtyler reveals the strange scene at Google’s Creator Event, held this week. A daylong working session lets content creators confront the search giant and its pivot away from independent media in favor of a few big sites.

Tyler writes about a weird lunch with olive bread and Google’s vast and deserted campus, which he notes has undertones of a funeral.

➡️ Give it a read for an update on the perplexed state of search and SEO from the lens of an operator with boots on the ground.

https://t.co/AppMNPp1CT

[stephenregenold @stephenregenold]

I won a meme contest 😄

Last month, I threw my hat in the ring for @FMTC_co's annual meme competition. The challenge was to make light of the affiliate commerce industry... in meme form.

Are these funny? If you are an affiliate nerd like me, maybe you will get a laugh.

Regardless, the JPGs netted me $500 and a fun new bullet point to add to my résumé.

(Scroll down on the FMTC newsletter – link: https://t.co/D2Z6BbEG4N – to see all three winning memes.)

[stephenregenold @stephenregenold]

https://t.co/fdpTot3Kqv

[stephenregenold @stephenregenold]

🚵 Duluth’s Outdoor Experiment, 10 years on

A decade of trail building and rebranding has put Duluth, Minn., in the spotlight as a top adventure town. But are its outdoorsy efforts paying off?

This week, I wrote about Duluth for GearJunkie to give an update and a personal look at a place close to my heart.

🌲 It is a city like no other, a vision of the outdoors future, but stuck with an industrial past. Hundreds of miles of trails, climbing, skiing, and the world’s largest lake make it unique.

But as tourism grows the city's population remains flat. A long-stated goal of 90,000 citizens remains elusive, and much of the town still slumps under post-industrial woes.

I do see a bright future for the place. It is a model for revitalization and new energy focused on interfacing with nature wherever it is found. Take a look at my article, a 2,500-word investigation of Duluth’s gritty past and current moment as it pushes ever ahead.

➡️ Want to experience a full blast of the Duluth scene? The Great Lakes Outdoor Summit, October 24-26, brings together outdoor enthusiasts and professionals for training, networking, and expert-led sessions. Keynote speaker Connor Ryan, an Indigenous skier and filmmaker, will explore traditional ecological knowledge and its connection to outdoor pursuits. The event offers 12 sessions, 40+ exhibitors, including a booth from GearJunkie, and guided outdoor activities. A live recording of The Dirtbag Diaries podcast with host Fitz Cahall is scheduled for the first night. Registration is open now (link in comments).

[stephenregenold @stephenregenold]

https://t.co/amkiFLPA2D

[stephenregenold @stephenregenold]

🔈 New Podcast: Media Trends

Proud to tell my story this week on the Smooth Operator Podcast!

From roots as a climber and outdoor junkie, to an executive at AllGear Digital, it’s been an adventure.

Host Blake Saunders unpacks my journey as a writer for The New York Times who pivoted to launch a media company (GearJunkie). We get granular over content formats, audience, revenue, and what it took to build the GJ brand. 📈

➡️ Saunders challenges me on media and audience trends. He asks for ideas around “if I were launching a media company today.” (Hint: It’s just partially about AI.)

Take a listen (link: https://t.co/F4XJhnapwB) and let me know if you agree with my thoughts on where media is headed in 2025.

[stephenregenold @stephenregenold]

https://t.co/Ty7e0Cnbfy

[stephenregenold @stephenregenold]

🚍 Gas Guzzler no more

A just-unveiled electric motorhome has a 500-mile range. It’s powered by a massive battery bank that eliminates “range anxiety” on the open road.

RV giant THOR Industries, Inc. introduced the boxy eco-mobile this month. It is touted as the world’s first hybrid Class A motorhome.

➡️ Electricity powers the vehicle. A gas backup recharges the bank in case of emergency.

• E-Motorhome
• First hybrid electric Class A
• Power: “Twice the torque of diesel”

A bonus, the vehicle functions as a massive home backup power supply when stationary in a driveway not in use. 🔌

[stephenregenold @stephenregenold]

📖 New Book!

Last month, I wrote a book. “Extreme Parenting” is 250 pages of anecdotes and advice on how to raise kids in an outdoorsy home.

The content was culled from my experience raising kids to bike, hike, ski, and climb. It took me 5 minutes to "write."

The 250-page book is bound in a glossy cover with blurb praises on the back. It feels real in the hand and, indeed, it is a real book.

The writing is not real. It is, of course, AI. 🤖

➡️ A new tool produces an instant book. It walks you through a series of questions and prompts. Then, it offers a title, cover design, and 75,000 words divided into chapters like “The Call of the Wild” and “Gear Up.”

At a skim, the book appears to be written by me as a father raising kids to seek adventure and push limits in the outdoors. It talks about my wife by name and invents adventures recalled with kids in tow.

Here’s an example passage: “Quality gear makes a difference. With everything from backpacks to helmets, it’s essential to invest in gear that can withstand the tests—and tantrums—of children. This is where I started to channel my inner gearhead fervor, throwing myself into research like a toddler into a mud puddle.”

It goes on like that, page after page. The book is kind of amazing, and it also hurts to read.

The writing is both insipid and surreal. It is hallucinogenic gobbledygook at points, but mostly just repetitive, abstract B.S. that is tiring on the eyes.

➡️ The tool is on https://t.co/ZjghlzU6m4. The company touts its product, which costs about $35, as a gag. To me, it was more than that… “Extreme Parenting” is not well written, but it is representative of a moment in time where AI is coming of age. I was impressed, to be honest, with the no-fuss process and the product that arrived in the mail.

The book now sits on my coffee table, and my kids flip through it looking for their names. I read a few pages when I want a peek into the AI machine or when I need to slow down my brain later at night, eyes drooping, as it helps me to fall asleep.

[stephenregenold @stephenregenold]

☢️ AI goes Nuclear

Three Mile Island may be coming back to life. This is thanks to Microsoft, which needs copious electricity to power AI. ⚡

The Pennsylvania plant is famous for a 1979 meltdown (the worst nuclear disaster in U.S. history). Demand for power in the age of AI has Microsoft working with energy company Constellation to assess a reopening.

Proponents cite carbon-free energy and clean electricity for data centers. Three Mile Island would also create thousands of jobs in Pennsylvania, a region hurting for employment.

• Microsoft investment: $1.6B
• No government funding
• Project timeline: 2025-2028

Beyond Microsoft, tech giants like Amazon and OpenAI are investigating the atomic option. They are funding startups and hiring nuclear engineers.

AI is disrupting tech and other industries. Now, could it reshape the U.S. energy infrastructure as well? Atomic plants increasingly look like a panacea for power-hungry server farms and bottomless consumer demand.

[stephenregenold @stephenregenold]

🔈 Instant Podcast tool

Add a URL and get a podcast file in minutes... that is the premise with a new Google tool.

I gave it a try this week. The result was impressive, despite the fact that the bots mispronounced my last name. 😄

Give it a listen below. It’s a 4-minute podcast with a pair of “hosts” who dissect my life and career based solely on uploading a link from https://t.co/5ndxrhD1nv.

➡️ Here is the process to build your own personal podcast in just a few clicks…

1. Go to NotebookLM (https://t.co/8Ijeo7Ecfx)
2. Click “Create a New Notebook”
3. Upload content or URL
4. Under “Audio Overview,” click Generate

✅ Done. Wait a few minutes and you will have an audio file with virtual hosts unpacking the topic in a lighthearted banter you might mistake as real.

[stephenregenold @stephenregenold]

h/t to @themediacopilot -

https://t.co/rhE6woX1ty

[stephenregenold @stephenregenold]

⚽ ESPN punts on AI

AI-written sports coverage is live on @espn . It launched this week under the auspices of “enhancing coverage of under-served sports.”

Women’s soccer and lacrosse are the focus. They now get coverage in published AI reports with titles like “Whipsnakes edge Outlaws 11-10 in PLL quarterfinal thriller.”

➡️ The initiative aims to “fill coverage gaps,” ensuring a broader range of sports receive attention on ESPN.

• AI recaps: Launched Sept. 6
• AI generates text, human edits
• By-line: “ESPN Generative AI Services"

ESPN is a sports media giant. Its AI-generated recaps will no doubt be under the microscope as reportage rolls out this month. 🏀

[stephenregenold @stephenregenold]

@BrianRoemmele I was probably a last of the cohort. Shut my 'zine down in 2002. "Vertical Jones"... covered the sport of rock climbing in the Midwest.

[stephenregenold @stephenregenold]

🤔 Dreams deferred...

You wanted to be a pro athlete. Or maybe an astronaut. Did it pan out?

A survey this week from media company The Hustle reveals a snapshot from the American workforce.

➡️ The chart shows (sadly) that most dreams did not come true. Athlete was the top dream job (9%), with veterinarian ranked second (7%). Teacher and doctor made the top ranks.

Good or bad, 74% did not nab their dream. What was yours? Where did you land in the end?