Tom Rea lives in Casper, Wyo., where he is editor and co-founder, with the Wyoming State Historical Society, of WyoHistory.org , a state-history website that is a project of the Wyoming State Historical Society. He worked for many years in the newspaper business. A new edition of his book Bone Wars: The Excavation and Celebrity of Andrew Carnegie’s Dinosaur (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2001) will be available in fall 2021 in a special 20th anniversary edition, with a foreword by Carnegie Mus...
Jul 22, 2021•29 min•Ep. 94
Water-law scholar Anne MacKinnon has paid Whats Your Why a little visit in-between a series of discussions about public waters. Living in Casper, She is a former editor-in-chief of the Casper Star-Tribune and served from 2003 through 2010 on the Wyoming Water Development Commission. Anne also takes great pride in her abilities as a scholar, author, editor, and consultant. Thank you, Anne! Follow her public forums or check out her publications here ....
Jul 07, 2021•35 min•Ep. 93
Ashleigh and Kristen recently joined us to outline their stories and research with the Sheridan Press and their most recent project spotlighting humanity in our own communities. Their natural repartee is perfect for a podcast environment highlighting the Center for Vital Community (CVC), and its position as the "nonprofit for nonprofits." As we all know the pandemic is coming to an end, but political unrest is still at an all time high and Ashleigh and Kristen do an amazing job at creating a saf...
Jun 03, 2021•23 min•Ep. 92
"Some Cheyenne residents of color say they don't feel heard by largely white leadership in local government and schools. This lack of representation makes it easier for leaders to, even unintentionally, overlook the issues that affect them, they say. In part two of this series, residents express why this kind of representation matters and how they're working to achieve equity." Find the relative article written by these two fabulous newswomen here . Thank you Maggie & Kathryn for your time!...
May 20, 2021•27 min•Ep. 91
Dustin Bleizeffer has worked as a coal miner, an oilfield mechanic, and for 20 years as a statewide reporter and editor primarily covering the energy industry in Wyoming. Most recently he was Communications Director at the Wyoming Outdoor Council, a John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford, and WyoFile editor-in-chief. He currently lives in Casper, Wy. Thank you for your time, Dustin!
May 18, 2021•39 min•Ep. 90
Podcasters! Hannah Black and Niki Kottmann , both journalists with the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, joined us for an in depth discussion about their recent research on how government participation, voting, and elected leadership positions represent the minority voice. And if not, why? In short, the overwhelming answer is no. Listen to the episode to hear their thoughts and findings. We appreciate you Niki and Hannah for your precious time!...
May 06, 2021•27 min•Ep. 89
The tragic events of 9/11 set Baktash on a path of examining why people do what they do. Upon graduation from college, he decided to serve in the Peace Corps as an educator in a rural village in Mozambique. His father learned English from a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kandahar in the 1960s and that experience was the inspiration for his family to come to the United States. After completing his service in the Peace Corps, Baktash went back to Afghanistan, the country of his birth, to serve as a comb...
Apr 22, 2021•40 min•Ep. 88
Matthew Spangler is a playwright, director, and professor of performance studies at San José State University in the San Francisco Bay Area. His adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner received five San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics’ Circle Awards: Best Original Script, Best Overall Production, as well as awards for Lighting Design, Scenic Design, and Sound Design (produced by the San Jose Repertory Theatre; directed by David Ira Goldstein). Described as "a haunting tale of fr...
Apr 08, 2021•30 min•Ep. 87
Also known as the Interfaith Amigos – The interfaith Amigos do an inspiring presentation that offers a message of inclusion, empathy and hope. In their life work and in their interfaith presentations their message creates a bridge and opens the door to have to create conversation on religion and the interfaith experience. Pastor Don Mackenzie, PhD, now living in Minneapolis, is devoting himself to interfaith work after retiring as Minister and Head of Staff at Seattle’s University Congregational...
Mar 24, 2021•45 min•Ep. 86
Welcome the Assistant Director of IMPACT 307 , Fred Schmechel! Trained as a sculptor and graphic designer, Fred joined IMPACT 307 in the fall of 2010. He directly counsels client companies on all aspects of their business needs. His work also includes oversight of the Fisher Innovation Launchpad, and the Southeast Wyoming Innovation Launchpad, and he is working on creating similar programs across the southeast and eastern sides of the state. Additionally, because the arts sector drives the cultu...
Mar 17, 2021•29 min•Ep. 85
Ryan Stolp, the creative force behind “Lift Lines” is our latest wonderful guest. His "Lift Lines" cartoon appears in the Jackson Hole Daily and on the news app, Hole Scroll. Stolp, who is the chief creative officer at Orijin Media (an independent subsidiary of Teton Media Works, the parent company of the News&Guide), has lived many creative lives. He has worked as a product design consultant, designed and fabricated outdoor gear from backpacks to “Alpine Hammocks” and he currently sells adv...
Feb 17, 2021•22 min•Ep. 84
Greg Kearney is known for putting pen to paper and touching on recent issues affecting Americans. He has been drawing cartoons for newspapers, many of them political in nature, since his days as a high school student. He continued drawing cartoons through his college days and landed a job as the cartoonist for the Casper Star Tribune in Wyoming, where he spent the bulk of his career until he became an independent syndicated cartoonist. Presently, Kearney draws cartoons for newspapers in Maine, K...
Feb 03, 2021•19 min•Ep. 83
"I was picked on because I wasn't Lakota. I wasn't Sioux. I was different tribes. So, it wasn't that I was non-native, it was that I was native, but I was of a different tribe."
Jan 27, 2021•33 min•Ep. 82
Geoffrey O’Gara is an author, script writer, public affairs host, and documentary producer based in Lander, Wyoming. He is the author of What You See in Clear Water: Indians, Whites, and a Battle Over Water in the American West (Knopf) and A Long Road Home, Journeys Through America’s Present in Search of America’s Past (Norton). Geoff is the former editor of High Country News and spent many years as public affairs host and award winning documentary film producer at Wyoming PBS. In 2015 Geoff beg...
Jan 06, 2021•30 min•Ep. 81
"I grew up in tribal Jordan, ever since I was a child I loved reading. I think maybe science will one day discover there's a gene and I have a huge mutation of it or something because having access to other ideas, different worlds, really fueled my sense of curiosity and made me want to live a full life, a way more full life than what I had access to as a woman in a Muslim community, a girl whose value is not really seen beyond basically becoming a wife one day, cooking and cleaning and having c...
Dec 17, 2020•28 min•Ep. 80
Warren Murphy is an Episcopal priest who has served churches in Dixon, Lander, Fort Washakie, and Cody. He most recently was director of the Wyoming Association of Churches. We had the pleasure of discussing his new book On Sacred Ground , and the experiences he has shared with the history of Wyoming as he has stretched his boundaries and understanding of the culture and spirituality of the land. He looks to provide for the people by fully immersing his understanding and effort in the heart of t...
Nov 30, 2020•42 min•Ep. 79
Mr. Frankland is a political science instructor in the school of social and behavioral sciences at Casper College, serves as the director of the Casper Committee to Foreign Relations, and the faculty advisor for the Campus Democrats. Erich takes pride in his ability to play devils advocate in his classes and his encouragement to students on finding their voice. We thank him for joining us to discuss the current state of politics, and reminding us that while every citizen has birth given rights e...
Nov 18, 2020•39 min•Ep. 78
Kevin Olson is the owner and president of Jackson, Wyoming-based Teton Media Works Incorporated (TMW). TMW’s media assets consist of local newspapers, magazines, affiliated websites, a digital creative agency – Orijin and the recently acquired local news stream - Buckrail. Kevin serves as the Publisher of the Jackson Hole News&Guide , Jackson Hole Daily , Jackson Hole magazine, Images West magazine, RANGE magazine, Teton Family magazine and Grand Wedding magazine. He, his wife Shelley, and f...
Nov 07, 2020•37 min•Ep. 77
"Eyes up, roll through," is the mantra of Caryn Flanagan whenever she encounters challenging terrain. She, a member of legendary ski team The Jackson Hole Air Force, founding member of SkiProphet.com and SkiGearTV , certified paddle board instructor, and now author. Twenty years ago, Caryn, and immediate family, experienced tremendous unexpected loss at the hands of a plane crash, when her daughters were very young. From this, Caryn has come to share her interpretation of death and loss through ...
Oct 08, 2020•19 min•Ep. 76
As you drive over the breathtakingly steep Teton Pass into Jackson Hole, Wyoming you will pass what could very well be a hundred year old sign that puts to bed any doubt you may have had. You're on the right road, and the journey is almost over. " Yonder lies Jackson Hole, the last of the old Wes t." Few places have come to symbolize the rapidly-changing American West quite like the valley of Jackson Hole, Wyoming—grizzlies still graze by the roadside, elk eat farm-raised grass, and, all the whi...
Sep 18, 2020•17 min•Ep. 75
Psychologically, speaking about our most difficult struggles and periods of life helps us to understand and heal. Until recently when we began serious exponential technological progress as a species, the oral report was the only way to collect, save, and pass on information. It's biological. Now, up until recently we had free reign to gather without repercussion, face-to-face. Because unless you've been marooned on an island as a soldier fighting a war that has long since come to and end and jus...
Aug 26, 2020•17 min•Ep. 74
We had the pleasure of talking to Mark Jenkins about his passion for Wyoming and the humanities! He is a well-known name around Wyoming and the world. He is a critically acclaimed author and internationally recognized journalist. A contributing writer for National Geographic Magazine he is well known for his love for outdoor adventure travel, getting to know people and cultures around the world. Jenkins has brought a humanities perspective to geopolitics, the environment, and adventure for numer...
Aug 21, 2020•2 min•Ep. 73
Sherry L. Smith is University Distinguished Professor of History (Emerita) at Southern Methodist University. A historian of the American West and Native America, Smith's other books include Hippies, Indians, and the Fight for Red Power and Reimagining Indians: Native Americans through Anglo Eyes, 1880–1940, both published by Oxford University Press. She is a former president of the Western History Association and received the Los Angeles Times Distinguished Fellowship at the Huntington Library, ...
Jul 30, 2020•34 min•Ep. 72
As the state of Wyoming remembers the 150th anniversary of women’s suffrage in Wyoming in 2019 and Jackson Hole celebrates the 100th anniversary of its all-woman town council in 2020, the Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum has dedicated a series of exhibits and programs around these defining historical themes. Curated in collaboration with Christy Smirl of Foxtail Books & Library Services, this multi-media exhibit features four female author profiles illustrated through books, text, ...
Jul 15, 2020•35 min•Ep. 71
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company will join us in Jackson Hole for a creative and performance residency that looks at social and ethical issues through the lens of dance. Mr. Jones and the company will develop and perform their newest work, "What Problem?", a re-setting of " Deep Blue Sea ", which digs deep into a wide range of topics, including human rights, political science, political history, and civil rights/liberties. Thank you, Babs Case, for speaking on behalf of everyone involved!...
Jun 26, 2020•13 min•Ep. 70
Professor James Arvanitakis is currently on a Fulbright Fellowship as the Milward L. Simpson Visiting Professor – University of Wyoming. A former economist and free market advocate, James changed his position after witnessing child and indentured labour. After 9 years of working in finance, he has since worked with a cross-section of organizations across Australia, Asia, the Pacific and Europe. Thank you, James!
Jun 18, 2020•26 min•Ep. 69
This interview with David Rohm discusses their work at Wild Excellence Films . Wild Excellence Films was awarded a Spark grant for their documentary Golden Eagles: Witnesses to a Changing West, and focused on Native American cultural and spiritual significance and relationship to the golden eagle—that will educate the public about golden eagles and a biologically diverse and threatened region. The film is expected to air on Wyoming PBS in 2023 and a screening is planned at the Center of the West...
Jun 14, 2020•16 min•Ep. 68
Dr. Scott Henkel is the director of the Wyoming Institute for Humanities Research, an associate professor in the departments of English and African-American Diaspora Studies at the University of Wyoming. Welcome, Scott!
May 29, 2020•24 min•Ep. 67
Justin Farrell is an author, and sociology professor at Yale University. His research blends a mixture of methods, such as ethnographic fieldwork with large-scale computational techniques from network science and machine learning. Two published books are included in his discography related to these questions and subjects, " Billionaire Wilderness, " and, " The Battle For Yellowstone."
May 07, 2020•39 min•Ep. 66
Adam James Smith is an award-winning, US-based filmmaker originally from the United Kingdom. Adam holds degrees from Stanford and Cambridge, the latter of which he is currently an Affiliated Filmmaker at the university’s Visual Anthropology Lab. He is also an Assistant Professor of Multimedia at Florida Atlantic University. His films focus on the expression of identity in urban China and include The Land of Many Palaces (2015) co-directed with Song Ting, on the “ghost city” of Ordos, Inner Mongo...
Apr 26, 2020•26 min•Ep. 65
