The Modern West: Original Podcast Archive

Part one of two-part series, featuring stories that take us into the heart of the Wind River Reservation.

Wyoming’s economy revolves around energy production. But climate change raises questions about what role fossil fuels will play in the state’s future.

Wyoming is home to many immigrants, migrants, and former refugees. It is the only state, however, without a refugee resettlement program. But the current political climate has immigrants questioning their place in Wyoming and the U.S.

It’s the 75th anniversary of an executive order that incarcerated thousands of Japanese Americans in internment camps across the nation. This episode includes first-hand accounts from this era. 

In the final part of this series, we ask why Western women still lag in political power even though they got the right to vote almost 150 years ago?

It’s a new literary edition, exploring Wyoming’s past, present, and future through conversations with authors. 

It’s been a tough year for the coal industry and the communities that depend on it. Can Wyoming adapt?

Women are running, but they aren’t winning the West. Western women got the right to vote almost 150 years ago, so why do they still lag in political power?

How equal is the “Equality State?” This month’s show explores progress and problems for Wyoming’s LGBT citizens.

The back-to-school episode. Young Wyomingites experience opportunities and challenges.

Wyoming’s vast landscapes and rugged lifestyles offer plenty of poetic inspiration. 

The old saw may be “We play both kinds of music, Country AND Western,” but melody in the mountains is more than guitars and campfires.

This month we’re putting specialty coffee, locally distilled spirits, and goat meat on the menu. Hear what’s happening in the Western kitchen. 

Western authors write about more than just cowboys. In this episode, we hear about writers exploring topics ranging from women’s issues to dying languages.

Western art isn’t only paintings of horses and sunsets. This month, we’ll explore contemporary expressions of the Modern West. 

In honor of Black History Month, we’ll hear about the highs and lows of the black experience in the Modern West. 

Viewed from Interstate 80, the Red Desert appears to be an empty wasteland. But it’s actually home to diverse populations of desert animals, dramatic landscapes…and oil rigs.

On this episode, we’ll have adventures in the woods and follow trails in the snow in Wyoming’s great outdoors.

There's no cowboy without his trusty steed, so this month, we explore the role of horses in the Modern West.

Wyoming’s human population is low—and its animal population is high. But that doesn’t mean they don’t clash. This month: endangered species in The Modern West.

Take a trip to the great Western extravaganza: Cheyenne Frontier Days. Meet bullfighters and carnival barkers, rodeo queens and pow wow dancers, and discover where history and legend meet.

Cowboys and Indians are icons of the old West. But how do they live in the modern West? 

In 1988, Yellowstone National Park was engulfed in flames. Hear what it was like—and whether an inferno like that could happen again.