About

Micah Siegel is a 13-year-old student in Bethesda, Maryland. Micah is an avid videogamer and loves to exercise. He loves taking long walks up to ten miles. He loves to ski, bike ride, skateboard, and play tennis. In the summer of 2023, he went with his dad and brother on a 31-mile wilderness hike in a remote forest in Pennsylvania. He has been to the Galapagos islands, the Amazon rainforest, Canary islands, Switzerland, London, Amsterdam, and the Bahamas. He has been river rafting on the middle fork of the Salmon river in Idaho and on two other daylong rafting adventures.

Micah is concerned about real problems in the world. He read Jordan Peterson’s Twelve Rules for Life and was inspired to take more initiative than just going to school and getting grades. He wants to make a difference.

Micah loves animals and wants to help them. In May 2023, he and his father started a podcast, Nature’s Guardians, to tell the stories of humans working to save and help animals around the world. Each week he talks with someone around the world and learns about the issues that person faces in trying to save animals, preserve their habitat, or improve their lives.

In September, 2023, Micah and his dad received a $10,000 grant from Tyler Cowen’s Emergent Ventures. With that money, he and his dad and brother will go to South Africa and Botswana in spring 2025 to go on safari and make documentary films of people helping animals. His goal is to get a deal with a studio to produce a series, where he goes out on location to document the amazing work of conservationists worldwide.

In January, 2024, Micah started his own homeschool program called Rogue Scholar Academy, based on mentorship and project work. His first project was a book on animal conservation — the State of the Animals Report — that took five months to write and produce. He also produced a video update on learning what it’s like to be a realtor.

In 2025, Micah started writing his next book, on the education system: why it isn’t working and what parents and kids can do about it. He thinks many kids with purpose and passion can do better than going to high school, getting good grades, and getting accepted by a college or university.

Short bio

Micah is 13. He has been partly homeschooled and also a student at the online school The Socratic Experience since age 10. At age 11, he started a YouTube podcast called Nature's Guardians, in which he interviewed animal conservationists around the world and learned a lot about the people helping animals. At age 12, he wrote a book called The State of the Animals Report 2024. He has been interviewed by several podcasters, like Jerm of Jermwarfare.com (paywalled) and Mike Robinson of UK Column. His passions are animals, economics, and history.

Micah is also very interested in politics and considers himself to be a young conservative. Micah is a critical thinker. He doesn't think taking tests and trying to please adults is the best way to get an education. In 2025, he began writing a book on education. He is writing that book now and developing speeches he plans to give professionally, the first one on the failure of the education system and how parents can help their kids find their passion and pursue their careers without going to college or university. His goal is to be the youngest person on Joe Rogan's podcast and to go to Argentina and talk with Javier Milei about education. He plans to write more books, give more speeches, and be a thought leader for his generation.