Facing West

2020 will be known as a devastating year. More than 300,000 people in America died due to complications from the novel coronavirus. But it was the single death of a black man in Minneapolis that sparked nationwide protests against systemic racism and police brutality.

It also sparked us to dig into the numbers of people killed in our region during interactions with law enforcement. In this bonus episode, we found something startling. The Mountain West News Bureau's Maggie Mullen hosts.

Reporter Nate Hegyi listened to a lot of people in the rural West during his nearly 800-mile bicycle ride along the continental divide. And he heard a few things… over and over again… that gave him pause. Facts… that weren't facts.

In this bonus episode he checks in with the Mountain West News Bureau's Managing Editor Kate Concannon to review these recurring "factoids".

There's a dominant culture in the rural Mountain West. Reporter Nate Hegyi explores who fits in... and who doesn't.

Growth and change are two constants in the American West. At least they have been for the past two centuries. Ever since White settlers and the U.S. government grabbed this land from Indigenous tribes. And today, as our region undergoes yet another transformation, some are digging in their heels. Others see opportunity.

In this first episode, the word "divide" is front and center. Journalist Nate Hegyi meets rural Westerners worried that America is headed towards a second Civil War.

A new podcast about the ever-changing face of the Mountain West. In our first season we're looking at America's Great Divide. I'm reporter Nate Hegyi with the Mountain West News Bureau.

A couple months ago, I decided to slow the news cycle down and really listen to people grappling with this division. And I did that by riding a bicycle hundreds of miles along America’s continental divide. So grab your helmet, saddle up and come along for the ride.