Features

Western films are iconic like Stagecoach, The Magnificent Seven and High Noon. But has the Western genre lost its popularity in the modern days of the Avengers and superheroes? Wyoming Public Radio's Kamila Kudelska asked film critic, Dr. Andrew Patrick Nelson, whether the genre is really dying or just changing?

Considering Matthew Shepard is a three-part oratorio responding to Matthew Shepard's 1998 murder. Released in 2016, the piece moves through the events of Shepard's life and death using a chorus and a chamber ensemble. It was written by composer Craig Hella Johnson. During the 20th anniversary of Shepard's death, Johnson has toured the work around the country and will perform it in Laramie October 6, the day Shepard was robbed and beaten. Reporter Cooper McKim speaks with Johnson about the work and the role of art around Shepard's death.

The three-part oratorio Considering Matthew Shepard moves through the life and death of Shepard and the resulting trial alternating in genre and perspective throughout. The large-scale composition written for an orchestra and chorus was written by Craig Hella Johnson. The piece touches on western themes, religious ones, as well as focusing on Shepard's humanity.

A specific western furniture style was born in Cody in the 1930s. And for the past 30 years, its biggest fans have tried to spread it beyond the West by holding annual furniture expositions around the northwest Wyoming city. The style in question is an old-west, rustic look you might relate to the 1800s. Only when the community lost the exposition 15 years ago did locals realize what impact it had on the local economy.

In her new book Girlhood in the Borderlands, associate UW professor Lilia Soto takes a deep look at the lives of teenage girls who grow up living between Mexico and the United States. In her research, she conducted interviews with teen girls who have "transnational" families, where loved ones live on both sides of the border.

Soto will be giving a talk about the book Wednesday, October 3 at 5 p.m. in the University of Wyoming Union East Ballroom as part of Hispanic Heritage month. She joined Wyoming Public Radio's Caroline Ballard for a conversation and said her own upbringing sparked her interest in the subject.

Novelist Alyson Hagy has been a professor at the University of Wyoming for 20 years and her last three novels were set in a realistic American West. But for her eighth novel, Scribe, Hagy ventures into very new territory, a dystopia in the Blue Ridge Mountain of Virginia, an area where Hagy spent her childhood. Wyoming Public Radio's Melodie Edwards asked Hagy where the inspiration for such a radical new direction came from. Hagy says it all started on a visit home.

The Worlds of Music program has brought folk music traditions and musicians from around the world to Wyoming for 23 years. The nonprofit’s next big program is a four-day event in Buffalo featuring the music of Quebec. Writer and musician David Romtvedt is the group’s founder. He spoke with Wyoming Public Radio’s Caroline Ballard about how making music can bring communities together.

Earlier this year, the Trump Administration put its zero-tolerance policy into place at the border, leading to the separation of immigrant parents and children. Now some people are looking back at history to try to understand how this policy truly affects those involved. 

Two professors from the University of Wyoming have created an original opera about the story of an unusual subject; the Rocky Mountain locust.

Winston Churchill is known for being the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during World War II and helping lead the allied powers to victory. But in addition to being a statesman, Churchill was also an accomplished amateur artist, submitting his work to shows under pseudonyms.

Now, eleven of his paintings are on display at Heather James Fine Art in Jackson through September 16, and on September 11 there will be a reception for the exhibit. Churchill’s great-grandson Duncan Sandys is attending the reception. He spoke with Wyoming Public Radio's Caroline Ballard about what led Churchill to paint.

Theodore Roosevelt worked hard during his presidency to conserve the natural resources of the United States. As such, he was often traveling around the West. During these trips, he often went out on hunting expeditions.

The black-footed ferret is one of the fiercest, tiny predators. In the 1950’s scientists suspected the predators had gone extinct in the wild. But Corey Anco, the assistant curator of the Draper Natural History Museum, says in 1981 there was a new discovery.

If you know the songs “A Taste Of Honey,” “Spanish Flea” or “This Guy’s In Love With You,” then you know Herb Alpert. 50-some odd years later and the jazz musician is still going strong, with new albums and a tour.