Risky Business with Angela Gourley

Episode 1: Hello Again, Globe Trekker

September 26, 2026
In Season 2, Episode 1, Ian & Justine reunite with Angela Gourley, a lynchpin in the story of the landmark ’90s TV travel series Globe Trekker. Angie was the first hire at Pilot Productions, the London company founded by Ian Cross, the series' creator and executive producer. Angie helped set the tone of Globe Trekker, directing and producing dozens of episodes over many seasons. It’s also Angie we have to thank for putting Ian Wright on our screens. Back then, producing a one-hour episode was a months-long adventure: two months of research using travel guides, books, brochures and faxes (remember those?), followed by a month-long solo recce, or location scout. Then the crew — director, sound, camera and host — arrived for another month of filming. The trio reminisce about the risks they took, some worthwhile and others decidedly reckless, and how travel — and travel television — has changed since those days. There are stories of hypothermia in the Arctic, bungee jumping off Victoria Falls and being shot at in the Australian outback. And we learn why former Globe Trekker host Bradley Cooper is (not naked) in Croatia.

Chapters
00:00 — Intro
00:57 — Welcome Angie Gourley!
04:15 — Ian's teeth and the Americans
09:07 — Breadlines and a Bikini
13:43 — Crocodile Man
16:46 — Shot in the Outback
18:18 — Scheduling 50 horses
27:16 — “They could have been chomped”
31:40 — Quicksand
36:01 — Uganda, Gorillas, Malaria - oh my!
37:49 — Sandstorms and Frostbite
41:31 — Evel Knievel - Trains, Waterfalls, Cows
47:32 — Acrophobia in Egypt
50:36 — Bungee jumping, whoopee cushions and seal poo
58:15 — Why Bradley Cooper is (not naked) in Croatia
01:00:43 — Farewell and credits
01:01:53 — Ode to the ostrich

Listen here or on your favorite platform

Episode Cast & Crew

Hosts: Ian Wright and Justine Shapiro
Guest: Angela Gourley
Producer: Bini Adams
Editor: Gregory Scharpen
Sound Mixer: Dan Olmsted at IMRSV Sound

This podcast was recorded at:
Kuku Studios, Berkeley, California USA
Haverhill Music Hub, Haverhill UK

Funding

Production on Season 2 was made possible by 188 Kickstarter backers, many other donors, SRM Associates and Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California. This episode was sponsored by Brendyn Zachary, author of The Backpacker Lifecycle.

Season 2 credits

With gratitude to those from Pilot Films and Television, UK who helped create Our Looney World

Ian Cross, founder of Pilot Productions and creator of the Lonely Planet / Globe Trekker TV series.

Deb Marrow Cox
Anne Bogart
Sarah Blinco
Sanyukta Shrestha
Helen Roberts
Richard Howard
Chris Hampson
Amanda Kramer
Ian Ritchie
Neville Farmer

Megan McCormick
Emma Cahusac
Angela Gourley
Rachael Heaton-Armstrong
Andy Margetson 
Lucy Cooke 
Bini Adams  
David Tibballs 
Saami Sabiti

Nick Robbins
Nigel Kinnings
Lynn Mitchell
Georgie Burrell
Neil Harvey
Simon Niblett
Ian sciacaluga
Rik Lander 
Peter Boyd Maclean
Tim Knight

With gratitude

Rachel Mercy Simpson, Berkeley Community College
Interns: Seungjun Kim, Martin Mercy, Matan Ziv, Manny Cox

Betsy Rate, UC Berkeley School of Journalism
Interns: Negar Ajayebi, Alicia Chang, Zane Karram and Fuwad Ahamad

Rob Burchell, The Hall Media Facilities, UK

Honorbarre.com
Cardiowithcarah.com
The Center for Creative Exploration

Jeanette McDonald-Wright 
Rie Aldous
Jackie Shroff
Tony & Chesney Mumford
Marvin and Mr. Monk
Paul Mourey & Karim Crippa
David Orelowitz & Lauren Heymann 
Vicente Franco
Jim Capobianco

Lucy Kaplan
Mateo Evaristo Shapiro Bolado
y Carlos Bolado
Tony Cataldo
Carah Herring
Année Kim
Stephanie Mackley
Marcia and Paul Masse
Paul Zaentz
Chaz Blanc

Michael Wilson
Mick Erausquin
Elizabeth Gray
Catherine Girardeau
Jason Reinier
Roopa Ramamoorthi
Laura O'Brien Crisp
Guy Reingold
Esme Agilar
Sonia Mistry
Sherry Sly
Claudia Erzinger

With Gratitude To Those We’ve Lost

Jonathan Leffman, Sound Recordist
Stephen Luscombe, Composer
Paul Pierre Standifer, Fixer/Producer
Leslie Weiner, Producer
Roger Whitby, Sound Recordist
Nick Corey Wright, Director
Anthony Bourdain

This podcast was produced in Loving Memory of Phillippe Gualier.

For MATLANA MEDIA

Executive Producer: Justine Shapiro
Senior Editor & Producer: Gregory Scharpen
Series Producer: Kristine Jeurgensen
Social Media Manager: Liliana Cortés
Producer: Stephen Lennhoff
Associate Producer: Martha Tibballs
Production Manager: Sage Brucia
Bookkeeper: Craig Paull
Legal: Richard J. Lee Law Group and Madison Karsenty, DCP Law

Our Looney World is produced by MATLANA MEDIA a 501(c)3 organization.

MATLANA Board Members

Deirdre English
Jocelyn Leroux
Jena Resner
Justine Shapiro