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18 September 2023

During the mid-1800s, one of the fastest growing industries in Montana was cattle ranching. After the Civil War, Texas was overstocked with livestock, and prices had sunk to only about three or four dollars a head, so cattlemen decided to move their stock north, where there were stories about abundant grassland. The influx of cattle came fast, with not enough infrastructure to manage the business. It was a problem that Mother Nature eventually addressed with a massive blizzard during the winter of 1886-7, where cattlemen lost as much as 80 percent of their herd. The storm came to be known as The Big Die-Up. This month's episode features the music of Tom Catmull of Missoula.

20 November 2023

The Depression hit Montana harder than many of the other western states in large part because of a drought that hit the state more than ten years before the Stock Market Crash, just after thousands of people had moved here to establish homesteads. Half of the banks in Montana closed during the 1920s, and we were the only state in the union to lose population during that decade. But there were a couple of important figures, John Wesley Powell and Hardy Campbell, that had a significant impact on the way events played out in the West before the Depression hit.

Megan Karls, based in Great Falls, is a professional violinist and the co-concertmaster of the Great Falls Symphony and the Cascade Quartet. She is the first woman in classical music in Montana to be awarded the Montana Arts Council’s Artist Innovation Award for her video album entitled “Decommissioned: Solo Violin in Cold War Relics,” filmed live in military structures across Montana. In 2022, she debuted her video album of place-based compositions performed in the state's historic mission churches, and she is focused on increasing awareness of Montana composers.Grammy and Emmy nominated composer Philip Aaberg of Helena, Montana, is known worldwide for his compositions that evoke the spaciousness and beauty of the Western landscape. By translating Montana’s farms, ranches, and native cultures into musical concepts, he’s forged a unique keyboard style that paints an audible portrait of his home state.

Montana State University English professor Gretchen Minton spent years traveling to every corner of Montana to trace the Big Sky Country’s two-century love affair with William Shakespeare. The result was her book, Shakespeare in Montana: Big Sky Country’s Love Affair with the World’s Most Famous Writer, which was recognized with the 2020 Montana Book of the Year and the 2020 High Plains Book Award.

16 October 2023

Brad Orsted’s story is a classic American tale of healing and redemption. Emotionally wounded by the loss of a child, he is driven to near madness accompanied by drugs and alcohol. Fortunately, encounters with the wild help him not only recover, but lead him to a new profession as an author and wildlife filmmaker.

22 and 29 September 2023

6 October 2023