California’s San Quentin State Prison is home to a ball field where you can take your cuts against convicted felons. This I had to try.

Before the Tar Sands protests and before Occupy Wall Street, a young activist named Tim DeChristopher disrupted a federal oil- and gas-lease auction. The act made him a martyr for a newly radicalized environmental movement—and landed him in prison. This is his story.

He dodges sharks, fends off charging elephants, and parries David Letterman with relaxed aplomb. Meet scientist and pitchman M. Sanjayan, coming soon to a channel near you.

Can a cult fly-fishing novel about a young man coming of age in the wild blow up on the big screen? It's happened once before.