Josh Bernstein (born February 24, 1971) is an American explorer, author, executive producer, survival expert,

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

, and TV host best known as the host of ''

Digging for the Truth ''Digging for the Truth'' is a History Channel television series that ran from 2005 to 2007. The first three seasons of the show focused on host Josh Bernstein, who journeyed on various explorations of historical icons and mysteries. Bernstein is ...

''. He later appeared for one season as the host of the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

's ''

Into the Unknown with Josh Bernstein Josh Bernstein (born February 24, 1971) is an American explorer, author, executive producer, Survival skills, survival expert, anthropologist, and TV host best known as the host of ''Digging for the Truth''. He later appeared for one season as t ...

''.

Personal life

Josh Bernstein was born and raised in Manhattan, and attended the Horace Mann School. In 1989, he went to Cornell University where he double-majored in Anthropology and Psychology, and double minored in Native American and Near Eastern Studies. He served two terms as president of the Beta Theta chapter of the

Pi Kappa Alpha Pi Kappa Alpha (), commonly known as PIKE, is a college fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1868. The fraternity has over 225 chapters and colonies across the United States and abroad with over 15,500 undergraduate members over 30 ...

fraternity. After graduating from college, he spent a year in a post-graduate program in Jerusalem studying, among other things, mysticism and ancient texts. He is Jewish. His father was born in Jerusalem's Old City, and his paternal grandparents and great-grandparents are buried in Israel. Bernstein's father died of a heart attack six weeks before Bernstein's 15th birthday. A year later, his three-year-old sister was killed in an automobile accident. Bernstein has an identical twin brother, Andrew. Bernstein is a fellow of The Explorers Club and the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

. He is a passionate traveler, technical SCUBA diver, and professional photographer, with published credits in Vogue magazine, USA Today, Sports Illustrated, Forbes, Men's Health, Self,

Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937, followed by the United Kingdom in 1941. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on wo ...

, Men's Fitness,

Outside Outside or Outsides may refer to: General * Wilderness * Outside (Alaska), any non-Alaska location, as referred to by Alaskans Books and magazines * ''Outside'', a book by Marguerite Duras * ''Outside'' (magazine), an outdoors magazine Film, th ...

, and Backpacker magazines. Bernstein was briefly married to Lily Snyder of Sotheby's, Manhattan. They were married in a ceremony in Jerusalem, Israel, in September 2011 but divorced in 2013.

Professional life

The History Channel: ''Digging for the Truth''

''Digging for the Truth'' was an adventure-archaeology series on The History Channel exploring ancient mysteries around the world. The series premiered with Bernstein as host in January 2005 and became the highest-rated series in the history of The History Channel. Season 3 premiered on January 22, 2007, again setting a record for the network with the highest-rated series/season premiere to date (over 2.1 million viewers). The April 16, 2007, episode marked Bernstein's final appearance as host of Digging for the Truth. The series continued for a 4th season without Bernstein before it was removed from primetime and then cancelled. ''Digging for the Truth: One Man's Epic Adventure Exploring the World's Greatest Archaeological Mysteries'' is a print companion to the television series, authored by Bernstein, that reveals much more of the personal trials and challenges he faced making the series. It received critical acclaim and was released in hardcover in Winter 2006, and paperback in the Fall, 2007.

Boulder Outdoor Survival School

In addition to his former role as host of ''Digging for the Truth'', Bernstein was the president and CEO of BOSS, the

Boulder Outdoor Survival School The Boulder Outdoor Survival School (BOSS) is a wilderness skills and survival school that has been teaching courses in southern Utah since 1968. BOSS has been based in the small town of Boulder, Utah since 1977. BOSS courses are known for being ex ...

, the oldest and largest traditional living skills/survival school in the world. Bernstein first attended BOSS as a student in 1988, when he was 17. He returned in 1989 as an apprentice, then worked his way up to instructor, marketing director and finally CEO in 1997. Bernstein sold his ownership of BOSS in January 2014, to focus on a new educational initiative.

Into The Unknown With Josh Bernstein

On February 20, 2007, Bernstein announced that he was leaving The History Channel and Digging for the Truth to join the Discovery Channel as an executive producer and host of specials as well as a new prime-time series called "Into the Unknown with Josh Bernstein." The new series premiered during the 2008 Olympics in August 2008. The show was canceled after one season. While Bernstein has not commented publicly on the matter, some speculate there was a shift in the "vision" and programming slate of the network when Discovery Channel President Jane Root was replaced by John Ford.

Media appearances

Bernstein has appeared on NBC, ABC, and CBS News programs, including ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

'' and '' The Today Show''. He appeared on '' The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'' on January 15, 2007. Bernstein is known for wearing many hats, mostly cowboy hats, which has led to him being likened to

Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise based on the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., a fictional professor of archaeology, that began in 1981 with the film '' Raiders of the Lost Ark''. In 1984, a prequel, '' Th ...

. Although the History Channel played up the comparison in its promotion of ''

'', Bernstein frowns on this comparison, observing that he never wears a

fedora A fedora () is a hat with a soft brim and indented crown.Kilgour, Ruth Edwards (1958). ''A Pageant of Hats Ancient and Modern''. R. M. McBride Company. It is typically creased lengthwise down the crown and "pinched" near the front on both sides ...

(Indiana Jones' trademark hat), and his fashion sense has nothing to do with the fictional

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

. He has also been featured in the premiere issue of '' Men's Vogue'' magazine, the cover of the Style section of '' The New York Times'' and featured in '' People'' magazine's Sexiest Man Alive issue.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernstein, Josh 1971 births Living people American anthropologists American explorers Television personalities from New York City American entertainment industry businesspeople Cornell University alumni Discovery Channel people Horace Mann School alumni Jewish American male actors People from Manhattan American expatriates in Israel Fellows of the Explorers Club 21st-century American Jews