Exploring Some New Territory

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BY: Matea Gold, Los Angeles Times

NEW YORK -- In the last three years, Josh Bernstein has ridden horses across the Mongolian steppe with nomads, traveled deep into the Amazon to seek out a remote tribe, and slept in an igloo on an Austrian glacier to test the conditions faced by Neolithic cavemen.

Now he's venturing into another new territory: the Discovery Channel, a television network in the midst of its own evolution.

Last month, the cable channel plucked Bernstein away from rival network the History Channel, where he has drawn a following as the host of the popular "Digging for the Truth" series. In that , the anthropologist and survival expert left almost no region of the world unexplored as he sought to bring stories of ancient cultures to life through modern-day adventures.

But as much as he enjoyed the gig, Bernstein said he was starting to feel somewhat restricted at the History Channel.

"There's just a limiting factor given that the network focuses on the history of things," he said. "You're always looking at the past, and my interests are much broader than that."

So when Discovery offered Bernstein a multiyear deal to develop his own series and specials about such topics as anthropology and environmentalism, "it was actually a pretty easy decision," the 36-year-old said.

Bernstein -- who splits his time between Manhattan and a yurt in Southern Utah when he is not on the road -- officially joins the network next month. Discovery executives are gleeful about landing him, counting on the wilderness educator to help accelerate the recent resurgence at the cable network, which is recovering from a ratings slump earlier this decade.

Viewership was up 25 percent in prime time last year and continued to grow in January, a trend network officials attribute in large part to a renewed focus on science-, knowledge-, and exploration-related programs after the channel's recent flirtation with gear-head shows like "Monster Garage."

It's an approach championed by David Zaslav, the new president and chief executive of the channel's parent corporation, Discovery Communications Inc., who has sought to further clarify the company's 30 brands since he arrived in January. One of his first moves: dump crime and forensics programs off the Discovery Channel and move the motorcycle series "American Chopper" to sister channel TLC.

"There were some who said, 'We're going to take a hit in ratings,' " Zaslav said. "My view is that by being true to the brand, we're going to grow our ratings."

Discovery's top draws now include "Deadliest Catch," about the adventures of crab fishermen in the Bering Sea, and "Mythbusters," which uses science to debunk urban legends.

Bernstein's rugged looks and ubiquitous beaver felt cowboy hat have led many to dub him a modern Indiana Jones, a moniker he shrugs off (although he did try to find the Ark of the Covenant in one "Digging for the Truth" episode). Sitting in an upscale Manhattan hotel on a recent afternoon, he looked more GQ than jungle-ready, decked in a brown corduroy blazer and jeans, the only hint of his travels a Cycladic coin medallion hanging from a cord around his neck.

Discovery executives are still developing the program that will be his main vehicle at the network, but they already have plans for him to do a limited series this year with Zahi Hawass, the secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, that will focus on that country's ancient treasures.

"You look at what Discovery did with someone like Steve Irwin -- he was someone who was bigger than one show, who represented ecology and environmentalism," said Jeff Hasler, the network's head of development. "That's how I view Josh."

Bernstein said he's interested in doing a show with a strong environmental bent, a passion of his since high school, when he started an environmental awareness club at his private New York school and subscribed to more than a dozen journals on the topic.

"I would bring organic food with me every day to lunch, because I knew that sustainable agriculture was important and I didn't think it was good for the Earth or for my body to do this sort of mass commercial sort of farming," he said.

Bernstein practices this philosophy as the chief executive of the Boulder Outdoor Survival School, or BOSS, which he has run for the last decade. Instructors lead students on excursions through the desert and canyons of Southern Utah without such gear as tents, stoves , or even toilet paper.

"We turn the clock back 10,000 years to show you how traditional cultures, ancient peoples lived in harmony with the Earth," he said.

When he's at the school, Bernstein lives in a 21-foot-wide yurt in the small town of Boulder, Utah, and drives an Australian Land Cruiser that runs on used vegetable grease. (He's found that the oil used to fry tempura in Japanese restaurants works best.)

A New York native, he first became fascinated with the American West after spending two summers as a teenager working on a ranch in Wyoming, where he grew to idolize Clint Eastwood's on-screen persona. Hooked on the outdoor lifestyle, he signed up for courses at BOSS.

"The stoic drifter, someone who could come into a town and make a change for the good without needing to take credit for it, appealed to me," he said.

After graduating from Cornell University with a double major in anthropology and psychology, Bernstein -- whose father was Israeli -- spent a year at Jerusalem's Pardes Institute, studying Jewish history and mysticism. He briefly considered entering rabbinical school but couldn't stand the idea of spending years indoors.

Instead, he returned to BOSS as the school's marketing director, eventually purchasing it in 1997. When CBS' "Survivor" became a hit, he found himself in demand by the media as an expert on real-life survival. The exposure led to his gig at the History Channel.

Bernstein said he's confident his move now to Discovery is the right one, in part because of a vision quest he did when he was 17.

"I went into the desert for four days without food and water, and I sat in a small circle and I just listened to the universe and what I should do in life," he recounted. "As a result of those types of experiences, which I've had several of in my life, I feel I have a good connection with where I should be in life, what path I should be walking. And nothing seems to feel like a better fit for me right now."

 

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