Pulling a red Old Town canoe carefully onto the rutted banks of the James River—just below the fall line—Andy Thompson pauses, turns, and looks back toward the River City.

“This is not a normal podcast,” he says with a grin. “Look around. We’re on an island in the James River—in downtown Richmond. Sharps Island.”

For over 200 years, Richmonders have built structures on this sliver of land, visible from the Mayo Bridge. Inevitably, the river has reclaimed them. Still, people like Thompson keep returning, keep building, keep trying to gain a foothold.

And that’s what his new podcast, launching today, is all about.

Here, where the Piedmont meets the Coastal Plain, the City of Richmond comes into view from a completely different perspective. For Thompson and the guests who paddle to his island, the water isn’t a barrier. It’s a threshold—a gateway to something quieter, wilder, and more honest.

People camp here. They fish, they gather, they make art. They disappear for a while. And now, thanks to Thompson, this island is also home to Richmond’s newest podcast—and likely the only one where guests record with their feet in the sand as they gaze back at the city skyline.

Pushing podcasts beyond traditional boundaries isn’t new for Thompson. His earlier series, Views from the Treehouse, co-hosted with Riverside Outfitters owner Matt Perry, invited listeners up three flights of stairs into a hand-built treehouse nestled in an old oak. From that perch, they interviewed some of the city’s most dynamic outdoor leaders.

Though Views from the Treehouse is no longer in production, Thompson never stopped seeking uncommon ground—and uncommon conversations.

With the launch of his new Sharps Island podcast, he’s once again disarming guests with a paddle trip, a barefoot welcome, and a setting that insists on authenticity.

The island itself is little more than an acre of rock and sand, hemmed in by the city yet completely removed. Thompson purchased it in 2019 for $35,000 after teaming up with a group of friends and family. While others saw a flood-prone curiosity in the middle of the James, Thompson saw possibility—space for self-expression, restoration, and experimentation.

A former outdoor writer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, founder of RichmondOutside.com, and part of the team behind Terrain360 (think Google Maps for trails and rivers), Thompson is no stranger to blending story, place, and tech. He’s built treehouses. He’s mapped waterways. And he’s chronicled Richmond’s wild spaces with care.

After buying Sharps Island, he dove into its past. He learned a small house stood here from the 1800s until Hurricane Camille severely damaged it in 1969. According to archived articles by the Richmond Times Dispatch, the previous owner burned it to the ground in dramatic fashion rather than tear it down.

Since then, Thompson has honored that strange, scrappy legacy. He’s created a kind of Robinson Crusoe experience: a small cabin with an orb-like entrance, a rooftop perch overlooking the skyline, a tiki bar, an outhouse, and an old Crossroads newspaper stand turned island library.

Today, Sharps Island is the only legal camping spot within city limits, bookable on Airbnb and HipCamp. It’s also the only island in Virginia that sometimes doubles as an open-air art gallery.

That artistic streak began with “Edwards the Fisherman,” a sculpture by Richmond artist Keith Ramsey, perched at the island’s tip. Later, the island hosted its first art opening, curated in partnership with Richmond Grid, Ryan Corrigan, and True Places, featuring works by Ed Trask, Steve Hedberg, Austin “Auz” Miles, and Melissa Burgess.

Now, the island begins its next chapter with the Sharps Island Podcast—a collaboration between Thompson, Richmond Grid, and Richmond-based production agency Nodderly.

Naturally, the debut episode features Matt Perry, Thompson’s longtime friend and podcast co-conspirator. The two walk the island’s perimeter, duck into the orb-like “Hobbit Hole” cabin, and trade stories as osprey wheel overhead. They recount, with laughter, a recent mishap in which Thompson got stuck atop the roof after a ladder blew away—only to be rescued by Perry in a canoe.

With his signature blend of wit, curiosity, and deep connection to Richmond’s outdoor community, Thompson coaxes real conversation from his guests. The podcast explores the city—past, present, and future—and asks big questions about where we’re headed and how we can get involved.

Here, you can’t just call in. You have to get in the boat.

And Thompson hopes you’ll come along.

Watch new episodes unfold on the island here, or listen wherever you get your podcasts.