American Bear

An unforgettable deep dive into the history, mythos, and cultural significance of America’s wildest survivor, the black bear—from the host of the hit podcast Bear Grease

For seven generations, the Newcomb family has lived alongside the American black bear in the wild lands of western Arkansas. In this eye-opening, wondrous exploration, Clay Newcomb, the renowned host of MeatEater’s Bear Grease podcast, and an avid hunter, conservationist, and storyteller, travels across North America in search of these bears, bringing their remarkable world to life and cementing their significance in the American experience.

Part natural history, part campfire-storytelling, part untold ancient and American history, American Bear explores why these animals have been revered, feared, and hunted for tens of thousands of years. The black bear is our most misunderstood animal, and its comeback is one of the greatest conservation successes of the century. Newcomb tracks the black bear’s astonishing arc, beginning with its appearance 1.5 million years ago, when the era’s glacial climate shaped them into today’s master generalists who gorge on everything from White Oak acorns to wasp larvae to elk calves, before vanishing into winter dens for months without food or water. We follow bears to various Indigenous communities, who venerate them as spiritually significant, powerful beings; to the frontier era, when market hunters nearly erased their species; to modern-day suburbia, where everyday encounters demonstrate their explosive adaptability.

Both a captivating personal narrative and a work of environmental and historical significance, American Bear tells us as much about ourselves as it does about possibly the most intelligent, most resilient creature on the continent.