High Country News

Episodes

1. 17

   #17: The science behind unruly fires

   In this episode of West Obsessed, High Country News editors and writers discuss the work of wildfire researchers. New studies are uncovering how intense wildfires create their own weather and move across the land — knowledge that could save lives.

   Apr 5, 2017

   30m
2. 16

   #16: Busting the Tree Ring

   In this episode of West Obsessed, High Country News Editor-in-chief Brian Calvert and Publisher Paul Larmer bring HCN correspondent Ben Goldfarb into the studio to talk about his recent feature story an illegal timber poaching gang in Washington. How did an anonymous tip, DNA evidence and a...

   Mar 23, 2017

   30m
3. 15

   #15: Traveling into uncomfortable Western corners

   In this episode of West Obsessed, High Country News Editor-in-chief Brian Calvert examines the uncomfortable Western corners featured in our annual Travel Issue. Anna V. Smith, editorial fellow, returns to the old-growth forest of her youth and questions her prior assumptions about her home. Maya...

   Mar 22, 2017

   31m
4. 13

   #13: The power of nature for mental health

   In this episode of West Obsessed, High Country News Managing Editor Brian Calvert talks with Florence Williams on her new book, "The Nature Fix." Together they discuss the power of nature on mental health, and tell an incredible story about a group of female veterans seeking healing on a River of...

   Feb 23, 2017

   33m
5. 14

   #14: A complicated rural drug environment

   For nearly a year, High Country News investigated how the tentacles of a national opioid and heroin epidemic have reached the rural West. Assistant Editor Paige Blankenbuehler reported in tiny Craig, Colorado, where she uncovered a private practice that spurred a complicated drug crisis that...

   Feb 21, 2017

   30m
6. 12

   #12: Obama's mark on land, energy and the environment

   Obama’s environmental and conservation record reflects an inclination toward the center in the West: He designated over two dozen national monuments, more than any other president. He oversaw surges in oil and gas production, but embraced clean energy and tackled greenhouse gas emissions. In this...

   Jan 3, 2017

   30m
7. 11

   #11: The view from inside Standing Rock’s camps

   In a special episode, we talk to reporter Tay Wiles, who is in North Dakota reporting on Dakota Access Pipeline protests.

   Dec 6, 2016

   6m
8. 10

   #10: What a Trump Administration could mean in the West

   High Country News writers and editors discuss what implications the Donald Trump Administration may have on public lands, energy policy and Western communities. Photo credit: Jamelle Bouie/Flickr user

   Nov 28, 2016

   30m
9. 9

   #9: The fate of rural food and farms

   For something as important as food, many communities in the West struggle. That's because agricultural systems aren't really geared for the communities that harvest the food. In this episode of West Obsessed, the writers and editors of High Country News discuss some of the most interesting...

   Oct 13, 2016

   31m
10. 2

    #2: How Trump is recoloring the West's politics

    Donald Trump’s unlikely run for the presidency has upset the political apple cart. Trump’s ridicule of Republican Party leaders, his calls for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and for a ban on Muslim immigration, and the vitriol and violence evident at his rallies raise major questions about our...

    Oct 5, 2016

    27m
11. 7

    #7: How to fix the West's broken healthcare system

    Across the West, rural communities struggle with access to good health care. Hospital closures, distant emergency rooms and a lack of rural health providers mean long wait times and a deficit of high-quality treatment. In this episode of West Obsessed, the writers and editors of High Country News...

    Sep 13, 2016

    28m
12. 6

    #6: Reflecting on 100 troubled years of the national parks

    The National Parks have been called America's best idea. But 100 years into that idea, the edges are starting to fray. The National Parks face myriad challenges if they are going to make it to their next centennial, ranging from climate change, funding woes and even a lack of diversity in park...

    Sep 13, 2016

    32m
13. 5

    #5: How Mexican wolves have become dangerously inbred

    In the West, wildlife managers have wavered between killing Mexican wolves and trying to save them. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials have released wolves to the wild, then yanked them back out, a push-and-pull that is now forcing a reckoning with mismanagement and inbreeding among wolf...

    Aug 8, 2016

    31m
14. 4

    #4: Female firefighters face the brunt of sexual harassment

    High Country News writers and editors discuss a Western legacy of sexual harassment and our recent feature story about the women in the male-dominated world of wildland firefighting that face harassment, abuse and sexism. The story is part of an ongoing investigation into the long history of…

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    Jun 20, 2016

    26m
15. 3

    #3: What's the deal with Wildlife Services?

    In 2014, a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture called Wildlife Services killed 796 bobcats, 322 wolves, 580 black bears, 305 cougars, 1,186 red foxes, and 61,702 coyotes. Such high numbers have helped fuel the agency’s bloody reputation among environmentalists; however, they actually are...

    Mar 21, 2016

    31m
16. 2

    #2: What the heck is a Sagebrush Sheriff?

    Some of the most powerful figures in Western states are county sheriffs. They are elected officials, armed, with deputies and the ability to wrangle posses, and they can be hard to unseat. In this episode of “West Obsessed," Managing Editor Brian Calvert, Senior Editor Jonathan Thompson and…

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    Feb 24, 2016

    28m
17. 1

    #1: Behind the Malheur occupation

    Long before the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge became a fantastic media event, High Country News was following a smaller controversy, in nearby Burns, Oregon, over ranching. In this episode of “West Obsessed,” we discuss the public land issues that preceded the occupation at...

    Jan 14, 2016

    24m