In Search of a Quiet Mind with Cory Richards and Katie Arnold

Renowned climber and National Geographic photographer Cory Richards spent his career pursuing high-risk expeditions around the world, becoming the first and only American to reach the summit of one of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks in winter. He captured that effort and the aftermath of his team’s harrowing experience in the award-winning documentary Cold. But for years Cory kept his real journey out of his story: the violence of his childhood, along with his grief, addiction, and mental illness. Now, as he prepares for the release of his forthcoming memoir, The Color of Everything, Richards examines the power of the stories we tell by sharing a deeper, more nuanced, and hopeful understanding of how his early trauma drove him to seek such heights.  

When elite trail runner and bestselling author Katie Arnold shattered her leg in a remote river canyon, it was the beginning of a test—of her body, her spirit, and her marriage. Her years-long recovery process led her to a search for stillness through a Zen practice. In her recently released second book, Brief Flashings in the Phenomenal World, she recounts her learnings from a tumultuous time that spurred a deep examination of the possibilities of a well-lived life.  

In this conversation moderated by Outside contributing editor Florence Williams, whose latest book, Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey, won the 2023 PEN/E.O. Wilson Award for Literary Science Writing, Cory and Katie will discuss the winding pathways that eventually led them to places of peace and understanding. Following this conversation, Katie Arnold will sign copies of her new book, Brief Flashings in the Phenomenal World, at the Film x Ideas booth in Civic Center Park