the underview.

St. Joseph Catholic Church in Fayetteville has been part of Northwest Arkansas since 1844 — eight years after Arkansas statehood, before the Civil War, before the university. The earliest recorded baptisms in Fayetteville were performed at this parish in 1847, and they were baptisms of enslaved people: William, son of Bob and Alera; Judith, daughter of Kate. The parish's own history asks, "Would that more were known about these people." In this episode, Father Jason Tyler, pastor at St. Joseph for over a decade, traces the arc from those founding-era sacraments through nearly 180 years of Catholic life in the Ozarks to a congregation that now spans languages, continents, and cultures, with over 2,100 registered families and five weekend masses, including one entirely in Spanish. He reflects on what it means to be ordained for a place, the experience of learning to minister across cultures from Rome to Siloam Springs, and the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe as a bridge between communities.The conversation moves into the tensions this community is holding right now: immigrant families living in fear of deportation, the Catholic Church's complex global inheritance of both empire and resistance, and the role of Catholic social teaching, the preferential option for the poor, the dignity of work, solidarity, in a region shaped by corporate power and rapid growth. Father Tyler names isolation as his deepest fear and solidarity as his answer, while co-host Monica Kumar joins in a talk-back segment to process what she heard, from the radical welcome of an open door to the unresolved thread of what it means to reckon with a history that begins in enslavement and leads to one of the most diverse congregations in Arkansas.https://www.theunderview.com/the-catholic-church-with-father-jason-tyler-st-josephs-catholic-fayettevilleAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In the conclusion of a two-part conversation, historian Rachel Whitaker of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History moves from the Civil War era into the twentieth century and the present day. Whitaker reveals the Ku Klux Klan's deep integration with church culture in 1920s Northwest Arkansas, reading from newspaper advertisements where the Klan pledged loyalty to local churches, describing ministers who invited congregations to Klan events, and documenting the organization's use of scripture and Christian vocabulary to justify exclusion, violence, and forced conformity. She traces the direct line between the social enforcement of early frontier churches and the Klan's more extreme methods, noting that the charges were the same, only the consequences had changed.The conversation also holds the stories of resistance and welcome. Whitaker tells the story of a Fayetteville congregation that voted overwhelmingly in the 1950s to welcome a Black college student, whose sister was one of the Little Rock Nine — over the objection of 39 members who signed a petition to block her membership. She names the women of Black churches who sheltered civil rights workers, and contemporary congregations doing justice work today. The episode closes with Whitaker's personal reflection on the relationship between faith and institutional power, and her advice to anyone navigating this landscape: read your sacred texts on your own, and if you're Christian, read the red letters.https://www.theunderview.com/the-history-of-faith-with-rachel-whitaker-part-2About the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In the first part of a two-part conversation, historian Rachel Whitaker of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History traces the arrival of faith in Northwest Arkansas from the 1820s through the Civil War era. Drawing on church meeting minutes, census records, and primary source documents, Whitaker reveals how early congregations functioned not just as spiritual communities but as institutions of social control, expelling members for minor infractions, defining who belonged and who didn't, and wielding moral authority before formal government existed. She examines the Cumberland Presbyterians at Cane Hill, the Methodist circuit riders, the early Baptist farmer-preachers, and the complex relationship between faith traditions and the institution of slavery in the Ozarks.Whitaker also brings her own story to the table, raised across multiple denominations from Jehovah's Witness to Pentecostal to Southern Baptist, offering a deeply personal perspective on the difference between faith and the institutions that carry it. The conversation traces how churches used scripture to justify both abolition and the continuation of slavery, how enslaved people like Squire Jehagen built their own congregations as acts of resistance, and how the dehumanization required to exclude people from community has never been limited to race alone. This episode establishes the historical ground for Season 3 of the underview.https://www.theunderview.com/the-history-of-faith-with-rachel-whitaker-part-1About the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In the opening episode of Season 3, the underview begins its most ambitious exploration yet: the faith of Northwest Arkansas. From the seat of a gravel bike on a quiet Sunday morning in Benton County, the episode traces the religious history of the Ozarks from the earliest circuit riders and Cumberland Presbyterians at Cane Hill to the founding of Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, and Episcopal congregations, all of which arrived before the towns they would come to define. Drawing on the work of sociologist Émile Durkheim, the episode frames the church as the first institution in the Ozarks, one that built both a structure of meaning and a structure of power. That power watched as indigenous nations were removed, split congregations over slavery, welcomed the Klan through its front doors, and enforced the color line, while in the hush harbors, enslaved people built an invisible church that became a cathedral of resistance.The episode then turns inward, as the host wrestles with his own evangelical upbringing and the growing distance between the faith he was raised in and the faith he sees today. Asking hard questions about how personal belief becomes institutional power, and how Sunday's message shapes Monday's actions, the episode arrives at the central question of the season: how has faith shaped belonging in this place, and whose belonging has it excluded? The episode closes with a phone call to seek perspective that will help guide the season's conversations across traditions, from pastors and historians to scholars and seekers, as the underview explores how what we believe about God shapes what we believe about each other.https://www.theunderview.com/the-faith-of-northwest-arkansas-with-mike-rusch/Music courtesy of https://brianhirschy.com/About the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

Season 3 of the underview traces the faith that built Northwest Arkansas, from frontier revivals to megachurches, from the invisible church of enslaved people to the Spanish-language masses reshaping our region today.This season asks hard questions about religion as both meaning and power. Circuit riders crossed 600 miles to preach personal transformation. Cumberland Presbyterians established Cain Hill a decade before Arkansas was even a state. But religion also watched as indigenous nations were removed, split congregations over slavery, and enforced the color line at its front doors. In hush harbors, enslaved people found in the same Bible a different gospel, one of liberation, and built a cathedral of resistance. We explore how what we believe about God shapes what we believe about each other, and how Sunday's message becomes Monday's action. This is the faith that built this place, broke this place, and might yet be the thing that heals it.https://www.theunderview.com/the-underview-season-3-introduction-faith-northwest-arkansasMusic courtesy of https://brianhirschy.com/About the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

This bridge episode sits in the tension of the current moment. Across two seasons, the underview has traced power in Northwest Arkansas from indigenous removal through racial terror to the displacement happening right now, asking what our institutions resisted and what they accommodated. The answer, consistently, has been accommodation: going along, choosing comfort over confrontation, narrowing the scope of who counts as neighbor. That history matters because we're watching the same choice play out nationally. When cultural agreement breaks down, when we lose our capacity to see each other, all that's left is force. The work ahead isn't shouting louder. It's the slow, patient labor of expanding who we see as "us" through stories, conversations, and relationships. Season 3 turns toward the faith communities of Northwest Arkansas to ask: where are the empathy makers, and how does faith create or breakdown belonging?https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-moment-with-mike-ruschAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

What happens to a community when no one is paying attention? Since 2005, America has lost more than 3,200 newspapers and the number of journalists per capita has dropped from 40 to just 8 per 100,000 people. The consequences are measurable: voter turnout drops, fewer people run for office, and communities lose the capacity to know what's happening to themselves. Bentonville had local journalism since 1857, but when local papers consolidated into regional coverage in 2015, nearly a decade passed without a news outlet focused solely on one of the fastest-growing cities in America.Sam Hoisington, a Bentonville native whose father worked at local newspapers for 30 years before the layoffs came, returned home in 2023 after building a successful news startup in Wisconsin. What he found was a gap. In 2024, he launched the Bentonville Bulletin, and his analysis reveals that 69% of the stories he's published have no equivalent coverage anywhere else. In this conversation, Sam discusses the real cost of growth, the infrastructure challenges facing the city, why belonging and local journalism are deeply connected, and what it takes to rebuild the connective tissue that helps a community see itself.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-journalist-sam-hoisington-bentonville-bulletinAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In Northwest Arkansas, where housing affordability was once the region's greatest draw, working families are increasingly being pushed to the edges. Women with children in their cars are showing up at church doorsteps asking a question congregations struggle to answer: "What do I do? Where do I go?" When Christ and Neighbor Church in Rogers was approached about the Urban Land Institute's Faithful Foundations program, Pastor Scott Page saw an alignment between what his church had been given and what neighbors desperately needed. Land. And a willingness to use it to make a difference.This episode continues the Faithful Foundations conversation by going directly to one of the six churches in the first cohort. Scott Page, a lifelong Ozarker, shares why his church said yes to a program that asks congregations to consider affordable housing development as ministry. He describes the people Christ and Neighbor serves on the gritty east side of Rogers, people who are overlooked and undervalued, who work jobs in plants and live paycheck to paycheck in fear.  And he reflects on holding this dream with open hands, trusting that even if this specific project doesn't happen, the passion for affordable housing and the commitment to neighbors won't stop.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-faithful-foundations-scott-page-christ-and-neighborAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In a region where home prices have jumped 70.9% in five years and median rent has increased by double digits across every major city, affordable housing solutions can feel elusive. But the Faithful Foundations program, created by the Urban Land Institute of Northwest Arkansas, offers a different approach: what if churches could use land they already own to help address the crisis?Candi Adams, Director of Signature Programs for ULI Northwest Arkansas, joins the conversation to discuss how this pilot program brought together six congregations from across the region to learn the fundamentals of real estate development. ULI's research revealed over 1,600 parcels covering 7 square miles owned by more than 650 faith organizations in Benton and Washington counties alone. Adams shares her journey from architect to nonprofit leader, the unlikely partnerships forming between faith communities and real estate professionals, and why hope remains the essential ingredient in this work. From Historic St. James Missionary Baptist Church's vision for HUD housing with hydroponic gardens to Trinity United Methodist's plans for housing the unhoused, these congregations are asking a profound question: how do we use what we have to care for who needs it most?https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-faithful-foundations-candi-adams-urban-land-institute-arkansas-housingAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Perla Guerrero, Associate Professor of American Studies at the University of Maryland and author of Nuevo South, to explore one of the most significant transformations in Northwest Arkansas history: what happens when a place that was overwhelmingly white through most of the 20th century experiences rapid demographic diversification. Dr. Guerrero shares her own journey as an undocumented immigrant who moved from California to Fort Smith at age 16, drawn by her father's search for work in the poultry industry, and how that experience shaped her understanding of racialization, belonging, and public space in the American South.Through her research and lived experience, Dr. Guerrero helps us understand how Northwest Arkansas responded to the arrival of Vietnamese refugees, Cuban refugees, and Mexican immigrants from the 1970s forward. We explore concepts like acts of spatial illegality, how immigrant communities were tolerated when hidden in factories but criminalized when they became visible in public spaces, and the plantation bloc, the enduring power structures that have controlled racialized labor from slavery through Jim Crow to contemporary immigration enforcement. This conversation bridges historical patterns to the urgent present, examining how regional legacies of racial violence shape who feels welcomed today and asking what community wholeness might look like in a place still reckoning with its past.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-nuevo-south-dr-perla-m-guerreroAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

Solomon Burchfield, Executive Director of New Beginnings NWA, brings both lived experience and professional expertise to one of Northwest Arkansas's most urgent challenges. Growing up in a family that faced the real possibility of homelessness. That formative memory, combined with years working directly with chronically homeless neighbors, has shaped his vision for what he calls "universal dignity," a community where everyone has access to the basic resources needed to survive and thrive.This conversation moves beyond stereotypes about homelessness to examine the interconnected systems that either support people or allow them to fall through the cracks. Solomon explains how housing functions as infrastructure, why exclusionary zoning and NIMBYism create the homelessness we claim to want to solve, and what it would look like for Northwest Arkansas to grow in a way that doesn't push more people to the margins. Through New Beginnings' innovative approaches, including micro-shelter communities, medical respite programs, and mixed-background neighborhoods, Solomon demonstrates that homelessness is a solvable problem when communities commit to housing-first solutions and recognize that everyone's well-being is interconnected. With homelessness increasing 23% in the region and housing costs rising 71% over five years, this conversation challenges us to see the gap between those who thrive and those who struggle not as inevitable, but as a choice we're making about what kind of community we want to build.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-neighborhood-solomon-burchfield-new-beginnings-homelessAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In this episode of the underview, we sit down with Victor Gurel, CEO of Trailblazers, the organization shaping how Northwest Arkansas moves, connects, and imagines its future. From singletrack to city streets, Trailblazers leads the region’s effort to design trails, tunnels, and active transportation systems that connect communities through shared infrastructure. Their work reminds us that movement is about more than recreation; it’s about access, equity, and belonging.Victor reflects on his journey from a gravel road in rural Arkansas to leading one of the state’s most influential organizations in trail and infrastructure development. Through his leadership, Trailblazers is helping Northwest Arkansas see trails not just as amenities, but as essential public spaces that shape how we live, relate, and grow together. This episode explores what it means to build systems of movement that reflect the wholeness of a community, not just its privilege or pace.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-trailblazers-victor-gurelAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In this episode of the underview, host Mike Rusch sits down with Michael Spivey (President & CEO), Brannon Pack (Senior Director of Operations), and Bobby Finster (Project Lead) from the Ozark Foundation to explore the future of the Arkansas Rural Recreational Roads Initiative (R3).As the cycling community in Northwest Arkansas continues to grow, it also finds itself navigating complex divisions, from the All Bikes Welcome mural debate to the conversations sparked by The Ozark Podcast. Yet within these tensions, the Ozark Foundation is building something new: a movement rooted in inclusion, listening, and bridge-building across urban and rural communities.The R3 program, now under the Ozark Foundation, is more than an infrastructure project, it’s an invitation to slow down, see one another, and reconnect with the people and places that define Arkansas. Together, Mike and his guests discuss how cycling can help heal divides, strengthen rural economies, and honor the dignity of every community. From Benton County to the Delta, this conversation explores what it means to build connection mile by mile.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-rural-recreational-roads-ozark-foundationAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In this episode, we sit back down with Andy Chasteen, co-founder of Rule of Three and Oz Gravel, to reflect on the state of cycling in Northwest Arkansas. Andy first joined us in season one to share his vision for cycling as a force for belonging in this place. This follow-up conversation explores how that vision has evolved against the backdrop of national division, local debates, and the ongoing growth of our cycling culture.Andy speaks candidly about the challenges of polarization and how simple practices like a wave on the trail or a shared ride can counteract division. He reflects on the transition of Arkansas Rural Recreation Roads into the Ozark Foundation, the conversations sparked by the Ozark Podcast, and his perspective on the “All Bikes Welcome” mural decision in Bentonville. At the heart of it all is his conviction that cycling can bring people together across differences, creating opportunities for inclusion, bridge-building, and community repair.This episode is both an honest reckoning with the tensions we face and an invitation to imagine how the cycling community can lead with kindness, humility, and shared humanity.Episode webpage:  https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-cycling-community-andy-chasteen-rule-of-three-oz-gravelAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In this episode, we continue the story of the “All Bikes Welcome” mural, this time from the perspective of the artist, Paige Dirksen, whose vision and brushstrokes brought it into being. What began as a joyful community project with more than 80 participants under the 3rd Street bridge at Coler Mountain Bike Preserve became the center of one of Bentonville’s most divisive civic debates.Paige reflects on the joy of creating public art, the harm and exhaustion of months of controversy, and the sobering realization that inclusion itself was put on trial. She shares how public art can reveal both the beauty and the divides of a community, and what it means to hold integrity as an artist when your work becomes the stage for larger struggles over power, identity, and belonging. This episode, paired with our previous conversation with Dr. Rachel Olzer, reveals how art and advocacy intersect in shaping Bentonville’s character and in asking the deeper question: who truly belongs here?https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-mural-with-paige-dirksen-all-bikes-welcomeAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In this episode, Dr. Rachel Olzer, Executive Director of All Bikes Welcome, reflects on what the “All Bikers Welcome” mural symbolizes, the weight of the public fight both personally and professionally, and what it reveals about belonging in Northwest Arkansas. This conversation is not only about a mural, but about who gets to belong in public life, and how a city chooses to shape its character in the face of conflict.The mural itself, designed by artist Paige Dirksen and painted in collaboration with more than 80 community members and the nonprofit All Bikes Welcome, became far more than paint on a wall. Over six months, it sparked one of the most significant civic debates in Bentonville’s recent history. The City Council split 4–4 on whether to require changes, leaving the mayor to cast the deciding vote. For many, it revealed how national ideological politics and religious nationalism had been carried into local government, turning inclusion itself into a point of division.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-mural-with-rachel-olzer-all-bikes-welcome-bentonvilleAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In this season two final episode, host Mike Rusch takes us back to the gravel road where the story of Northwest Arkansas began, a road overlooking unmarked graves, a place of silence and memory. From that ground, the season has traced centuries of history: Indigenous nations removed from their homelands, enslaved people forced to labor, families rebuilding after the Civil War, immigrants shaping new communities, and the global systems of capitalism, faith, and labor that continue to define the region today.This episode weaves together the voices of archaeologists, historians, descendants, organizers, and elders who guided us through the hidden stories of this land. It is both reflection and reckoning: a recognition that systems of power and exclusion remain, but also that we hold the possibility of repair, renewal, and belonging. As the season closes, we are reminded that the story of Northwest Arkansas is not finished. It is still being written in the lives of those who call this place home.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-story-of-northwest-arkansas-mike-rusch-conclusionAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

We close this season with the voice of Barbara Carr, great-granddaughter of Aaron Anderson “Rock” Van Winkle, an enslaved boy brought to Northwest Arkansas in the 1830s who became one of the region’s most skilled builders after Emancipation. His hands helped construct homes, courthouses, churches, and Old Main at the University of Arkansas, yet his name was nearly erased from public memory.Barbara’s story is one of pain and perseverance, of uncovering the truth about her family’s role in shaping this place, and of reclaiming a legacy long left out of the historical record. Her voice carries the emotional weight of inheritance, the clarity of lived truth, and the call to remember, repair, and restore. As the final voice of the season, she brings the story of Northwest Arkansas full circle, from the erased graves of the enslaved to the living presence of their descendants.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-the-aaron-anderson-rock-van-winkle-family-barbara-carrAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

Aaron Anderson Rock Van Winkle was born into slavery and is believed to have been one of the first enslaved persons to be brought to Northwest Arkansas.  After emancipation, he became a landowner, father, and community member in Bentonville, Arkansas. But even today, his story remains largely absent from public memory. In this episode, we sit down with local historian Jerry Moore to explore Rock’s life and legacy, and to consider how the stories of formerly enslaved people have been preserved, distorted, or forgotten in the place they helped shape.After the interview, we join Mr. Moore on a tour of three significant sites tied to Rock Van Winkle’s life: the stone farmhouse he owned, his grave at Bentonville Cemetery, and a rarely noticed public tablet at James Berry Park. Together, these places invite us to reflect on how memory is rooted in place and how public recognition is often reserved for only a few.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-the-aaron-anderson-rock-van-winkle-family-with-jerry-mooreAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

From Enlightenment ideals to the myth of the American frontier, the founding ideologies of the United States have long shaped how we define humanity, progress, and belonging. In this episode, Dr. Todd Stockdale invites us to trace how these ideologies, especially the Western liberal view of the autonomous individual, intersected with Protestant theology and national identity. Drawing on the work of John Locke, Max Weber, and Karl Marx, we explore how these frameworks have informed what counts as good and bad, civilized and savage, included and excluded, preserved and erased. And we ask what it would mean to reimagine our shared future not through domination, but through a deeper vision of what it means to be fully human.Dr. Stockdale challenges us to examine how our ideas of justice, freedom, and selfhood have been formed by settler colonial logics, and how healing might begin by telling a different story. This conversation builds a bridge between earlier episodes exploring Indigenous erasure and theological complicity, and the final arc of this season, which seeks to confront systems of race, class, and gender that continue to shape our country and Northwest Arkansas today.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-the-founding-ideologies-dr-todd-j-stockdaleAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

Religion in the South is more than tradition; it’s a force that has shaped politics, belonging, and identity across generations. In this episode, we return to Dr. Jared M. Phillips to ask for a historical view to try and understand where that power comes from, and how it takes root in the South and places like Northwest Arkansas?Throughout the season, we’ve heard guests reference the role of faith, from schools to city planning, from community resilience to systems of exclusion. And while no single episode can capture the full complexity of religion in the South, this conversation asks us to trace the beginnings. What is the origin story of evangelical influence in American politics? How did race, region, and religion become entangled in the modern South? And what can we learn about the Ozarks, and ourselves, by looking at one of the most significant turning points: the rise of President Jimmy Carter?Dr. Phillips helps us unpack how Carter’s 1976 election opened the door for Southern evangelicalism to enter the national political arena. But the story doesn’t end there. We explore how faith communities that once emphasized humility, justice, and community care found themselves swept into a movement intertwining spiritual conviction with political power.This episode doesn’t offer easy answers, but it does offer a starting point. A moment to pause and ask: how did we get here? How have religious identities shaped who belongs, and who doesn’t, in our politics, our policies, and our public life?https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-the-president-religion-in-the-south-with-dr-jared-phillipsAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In this episode, we sit down with Irvin Camacho, a Community Rights Organizer and immigrant advocate based in Northwest Arkansas. Irvin shares how his family's experience—his parents working in the region’s poultry plants—shaped his understanding of labor, language, and belonging. Through his work on language justice, immigrant rights education, and deportation defense, Irvin is at the forefront of organizing efforts to challenge anti-immigrant legislation and support families impacted by detention and deportation.This conversation offers a clear and grounded look at how recent laws and policies in Arkansas are affecting Hispanic and Latino residents, and what it means to live in a place where systems of power often ignore or invisibilize entire communities. Irvin’s voice calls us to listen, to understand, and to ask what it truly means to be in community with one another.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-immigrant-advocate-irvin-camacho-community-organizerAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In Northwest Arkansas, the poultry industry has long been a cornerstone of the region’s economic growth. Behind the refrigerated cases and production lines are thousands of workers, many of them immigrants, whose stories and experiences are rarely part of the public conversation.In this episode, we sit down with Magaly Licolli, co-founder and Executive Director of Venceremos, a worker-based organization advocating for poultry workers in Arkansas. Magaly helps us explore the conditions inside the plants, the structural factors that shape workers’ lives, and the role that community organizing can play in amplifying their voices.Together, we ask: What are the realities faced by the people who keep this essential industry running? How do policies around labor, immigration, and corporate accountability intersect? And what does it mean to build a region where all who contribute to its growth are seen, heard, and valued?https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-laborers-poultry-workers-magaly-licolli-venceremosAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In this episode, we confront one of the most culturally significant topics in Northwest Arkansas: the role of Walmart, Tyson Foods, and J.B. Hunt in shaping not only the economy, but the entire identity of the region. These companies have brought immense opportunity, visibility, and resources to Northwest Arkansas. But they’ve also concentrated power in unprecedented ways, influencing housing, labor, immigration, policy, and public life.To explore this history with clarity and care, we’re joined by Olivia Paschal, a Ph.D. candidate in history at the University of Virginia. Olivia’s work traces how these companies rose from the Ozarks and became defining forces in American capitalism. A native of Rogers, her work is rooted in both lived experience and deep academic research. Together, we unpack the values, policies, and conditions that allowed these corporations to flourish here, and the questions we must ask if we want to build a region where everyone can belong.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-companies-olivia-paschal-northwest-arkansasAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

For decades, Latino immigrants have come to the United States in search of stability, opportunity, and a better future. But what brought them specifically to Arkansas—and to Northwest Arkansas in particular? In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Steven Rosales, Associate Professor of History and Director of the Latin American and Latino Studies Program at the University of Arkansas, to trace the broader arc of Latino migration and the forces, economic, political, and corporate, that shaped where people went and why.Dr. Rosales helps us understand how U.S. immigration policy has long oscillated between invitation and exclusion, welcoming Latino laborers in times of need and then pushing them out once their work is no longer deemed essential. We look at the Bracero Program, the emergence of right-to-work laws, and the rise of poultry and construction industries in the South, especially in Arkansas, as key to understanding why this region became a new gateway for Latino communities.This conversation lays the groundwork for what comes next in our season, connecting labor, immigration, and corporate power to the deeper questions of who belongs and what it costs to stay.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-history-of-latino-immigration-dr-steven-rosalesAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In part two of our conversation with Dr. Jared Phillips, we trace the transformation of the Ozarks from an agrarian culture built on land, memory, and mutuality into a region shaped by corporate industry and consolidated power. We explore how poultry integration, economic policy, and the rise of companies like Tyson and Walmart reshaped Northwest Arkansas, altering not just the economy, but the identity of the place itself. This episode bridges the legacy of civil rights and labor with the next wave of regional change: the rise of Latino immigration, the demand for cheap labor, and the political decisions that continue to define who belongs.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-the-ozarks-with-dr-jared-m-phillips-part-2About the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In this episode, we continue the story of Southeast Fayetteville—this time by examining the systems that helped shape, and often erase, its historic Black community. Architect and former Fayetteville Planning Commissioner Alli Thurmond Quinlan joins us to uncover how zoning policies, preservation rules, and land use codes have operated as tools of exclusion across generations. Building on the firsthand testimony shared in our last episode with Tommie Flowers Davis, we explore how seemingly neutral planning decisions have had deeply racialized consequences.Alli helps us understand how policies like minimum lot sizes, nonconforming use codes, and historic preservation standards have systematically excluded Black residents from housing assistance, infrastructure investment, and neighborhood protection. Together, we ask: how can cities like Fayetteville begin to repair the harm? And how can planning be transformed into a tool for justice rather than a barrier to it?https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-fayetteville-historic-district-alli-thurmond-quinlan-flintlockAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In this episode, we speak with longtime Fayetteville resident Tommie Flowers Davis about the disappearing legacy of Southeast Fayetteville’s Black community—and the movement to establish a Black Historic District before it’s too late. As a native of the neighborhood, a former educator, a developer, and a member of the Fayetteville Historic District Commission, Ms. Davis offers both personal testimony and a call to action. Through her story, we learn about the deep roots of Black families in Fayetteville, and how over time, through policies of exclusion and neglect, much of that history has been erased.We explore how infrastructure disinvestment, zoning barriers, and city planning practices have disproportionately harmed Black residents and made it nearly impossible to access housing preservation resources. But this conversation isn’t only about what’s been lost—it’s about what remains. Ms. Davis helps us understand what it would mean to name and protect this history, not as nostalgia, but as a step toward belonging, justice, and repair in a city that still struggles to tell the full story of who built it.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-the-black-historic-district-with-tommie-flowers-davisAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In this episode, Dr. Michael C. Pierce, labor historian and professor at the University of Arkansas, helps us unpack the deep connections between race, labor, and the struggle for civil rights in Northwest Arkansas. Long before the region was known for corporate giants and suburban growth, it was home to radical union organizing, socialist movements, and even biracial political alliances. Dr. Pierce walks us through this overlooked history, from the coal miners of Sebastian County to the rise and transformation of political figures like Orval Faubus, showing how civil rights were never just about laws or integration, but also about power, work, and who gets to belong.Together, we explore how systems of wealth and political control used race as a tool to divide poor Black and white communities, weakening labor movements and preserving elite influence. We examine how immigration, racial expulsion, and disfranchisement were not only acts of social exclusion but economic strategies. And we reflect on what it means today to live in a region where massive economic power coexists with rising inequality and housing insecurity. This conversation is about more than the past, it’s about the stories we inherit, the ones we ignore, and how honesty might offer a path toward wholeness.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-labor-civil-rights-dr-michael-c-pierce-arkansasAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In this episode, we pause the historical narrative of Northwest Arkansas to check in with one of the region’s most important community leaders. Brad Sikorski is the new President and CEO of the Excellerate Foundation, stepping into the role after the transformative season under the leadership of Jeff Webster. With roots in Walmart, Walton Enterprises, and years on Excellerate’s board, Brad brings a deep understanding of both the challenges and the opportunities facing Northwest Arkansas.We talk with Brad about the housing crisis, the future of programs like Upskill and Hark, and how Excellerate plans to serve the people who keep our communities running—educators, caregivers, city workers, and neighbors living on the margins. As affordability, equity, and a sense of belonging are increasingly under pressure, this conversation offers a vision for how institutions can respond with systemic solutions, public-private partnerships, and community-rooted care.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-brad-sikorski-excellerate-foundation-arkansasAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

This episode brings us to Tontitown, Arkansas—a community formed by Italian immigrants who carved out a place of belonging in the Ozarks through stone, song, and story. Our guest, Emily Pianalto-Beshears, Manager of the Tontitown Historical Museum and a descendant of the original settlers, invites us into her family’s deep-rooted history. Through Emily’s eyes, we see how traditions like the Tontitown Grape Festival and the building of St. Joseph’s Church were more than community rituals—they were acts of resistance against erasure, anchoring identity to land and labor.In a season exploring the story of Northwest Arkansas, this conversation reminds us that immigration is not a new chapter in the region's story, but a foundational one. Emily’s reflections expose how generational memory—passed down through music, oral history, and sacred space—preserves belonging in the face of forgetting. At a time when rapid growth threatens to smooth over local histories, Tontitown’s immigrant story challenges us to reckon with what is remembered, what is lost, and who gets to shape the story of this place.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-italian-immigrants-tontitown-emily-pianalo-beshearsAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In the late 1800s, a group of Italian immigrants left the mountain villages of Northern Italy in search of opportunity and land in America. What they found instead was exploitation, malaria, and broken promises on the cotton fields of Sunnyside Plantation in Southeast Arkansas. In this first of a two-part series, filmmaker and journalist Larry Foley joins us to trace their story—how they came, what they endured, and how their exodus from the Delta to the Ozarks led to the founding of Tontitown, Arkansas. Foley’s documentary Cries from the Cotton Field becomes our guide into a story of labor, faith, and survival—while also illuminating the structural forces of colonialism, racism, and capitalism that shaped their journey. Through the voice of Father Pietro Bandini and the legacy of the families who followed him, we uncover a story that still echoes in our region today.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-cries-from-cotton-field-tontitown-larry-foleyAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In this episode of the underview, we sit down with Dr. Debbie Jones, Superintendent of Bentonville Public Schools, to explore the sweeping changes unfolding across Arkansas and the nation that are reshaping public education. Fresh off the end of the Arkansas legislative session, Dr. Jones helps unpack the implications of the newly signed ACCESS Act, the need for focus on behavioral health legislation, and other new education laws touching everything from school choice policies to expanded services for students and families. We also examine the national move to close the U.S. Department of Education, and what potential impacts that could bring to local schools.Throughout the conversation, Dr. Jones offers a steady voice on how these changes will affect students, families, and teachers. We talk about the growing needs for mental health services, the importance of access to accelerated coursework, new challenges around school choice and extracurricular eligibility, and the broader pressures reshaping public education. In a time of uncertainty, Dr. Jones reminds us that public education remains a cornerstone of community life—and that its future depends on all of us working together.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-dr-debbie-jones-state-bentonville-schoolsAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In this episode of the underview, we sit down with John McLarty—geographer, regional planner, and longtime researcher with the Arkansas Chapter of the Trail of Tears Association. Over the past two decades, John has helped uncover and preserve the routes, burial sites, and stories of the Trail of Tears that run directly through Northwest Arkansas. From his early work mapping the Butterfield Stagecoach Route to the creation of the Heritage Trail Plan, John shares how trails became more than paths—they became a framework for truth-telling and remembrance.This conversation reveals the complexity of the Trail of Tears: its legal battles, forced detachment marches, geographic logic, and the heartbreak experienced by the Cherokee and other Indigenous peoples as they were removed from their homelands. Together, we trace the footsteps of history through Pea Ridge, Fitzgerald Station, Cane Hill, and the ridgelines of the Ozarks. More than history, this is a call to responsibility—an invitation to remember, to preserve, and to ensure that these stories remain a visible part of the land and the identity of Northwest Arkansas.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-trail-of-tears-arkansas-john-mclartyAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In this episode of the underview, we travel to the southern edge of Washington County to explore Cane Hill—one of the earliest white settlements in Northwest Arkansas—and speak with Vanessa McKuin, Executive Director of Historic Cane Hill. Vanessa brings her personal and professional insight as a preservationist and native Arkansan to help us understand how this small community became a cultural, educational, and historical crossroads. From its founding by Cumberland Presbyterians to its role along the Trail of Tears, its high population of enslaved people, and its ambitious effort to become a center of education, Cane Hill reveals how many threads of Arkansas history converge in one seemingly quiet place.We uncover stories of resilience and contradiction: the founding of Cane Hill College in the 1850s; its destruction during the Civil War; the reemergence as Arkansas’s first co-ed college; and the often-overlooked Black community of Happy Hollow that existed just a mile away. Vanessa also shares the challenges and triumphs of modern preservation, including efforts to recover stories of enslaved people and Black students who later desegregated Fayetteville schools. What emerges is not only a sense of Cane Hill’s significance, but a larger reflection on what gets remembered, what gets preserved, and what wholeness might look like for a rural place with such a layered past.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-historic-cane-hill-vanessa-mckuinAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In this first part of our conversation with Dr. Jared M. Phillips, we take a necessary pause to consider not just what happened in the Ozarks, but how it began to feel. Before this region had a name, it had an identity-forming—shaped by those who came here looking for something hard, rugged, and remote. Dr. Phillips helps us explore how the geography of the Ozarks, its agrarian limits, and the beliefs of early settlers gave rise to a cultural mythology still present today. We trace the roots of that identity through the stories we tell, the stereotypes we’ve sold, and the realities that often get left out. This episode lays the foundation for understanding how Ozark identity formed—and how that story is still unfolding.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-ozarks-dr-jared-m-phillips-university-of-arkansasAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In this conversation with historian Rachel Whitaker of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, we trace the early formation of Northwest Arkansas through the lens of power, policy, and people. Rachel offers an expansive look at how settler colonial decisions—such as the displacement of Native nations, the introduction of slavery, and the establishment of counties like Washington and Benton—shaped the region’s economic and political structures. We uncover the story of influential white families like the Walkers, Peels, Dinsmores, and Andersons while also recovering the often-erased presence of Black Arkansans and Indigenous people in the region. This episode offers a vital reconsideration of the narratives we've inherited, challenges the inevitability of progress, and underscores the importance of current historical preservation efforts, including the historic district in Southeast Fayetteville.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-early-counties-rachel-whitaker-shiloh-museumAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In this episode of the underview, we explore the life and legacy of Samuel West Peel — the first native-born Arkansan elected to the U.S. Congress and one of the most influential political figures to emerge from Northwest Arkansas. Historian Chelsea Stewart of the Peel Museum joins us to trace Peel’s rise through family connections, legal influence, and public office, and to help us confront the deeper complexities of his legacy.From his role in shaping U.S. Indian policy — including support for the Dawes Act and Indian boarding schools — to his later work as legal counsel for tribal nations, Peel’s story reveals how local power structures were woven into national systems of displacement and assimilation.Together, we examine the memory of Peel’s influence, the unresolved questions around his relationships and motivations, and the broader implications of a legacy built through privilege, policy, and control. This episode invites listeners to reckon with the stories we preserve, the voices we’ve silenced, and the kind of truth-telling our region needs to move forward.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-samuel-west-peel-family-arkansasAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In this episode of the underview, we sit down with brothers Steve and Rusty Anderson, sixth-generation descendants of Col. Hugh Allen Anderson—believed to be one of the first white settlers to arrive in Northwest Arkansas in the early 1800s. Through their family’s oral history and deep regional roots, we explore a story that reaches back before the Cherokee Trail of Tears, into the era of westward expansion, and through generations shaped by slavery, land, and legacy.The Anderson family’s story is not just local—it’s national. It echoes the larger themes of Manifest Destiny, Indigenous removal, and the economic systems that built America. As we trace their lineage and reflect on the complexity of what it means to inherit such a history, we also consider what it means to reckon with it. This conversation offers an honest and layered look at how one family is choosing to remember, acknowledge, and carry their past.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-first-settlers-anderson-family-benton-county-arkansasAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In September 2020, Bentonville’s Confederate statue was removed from the downtown square and relocated to a new park near the city cemetery. The decision came after years of debate, heightened by the national reckoning on racial justice following the murder of George Floyd. In this episode, Benton County Judge Barry Moehring reflects on the process that led to the statue’s removal, the tensions and perspectives that shaped the conversation, and what it revealed about our community. Nearly five years later, what can we learn from that moment? How do we navigate historical memory, public space, and the values we choose to uphold?https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/underview-the-bentonville-confederate-statue-judge-barry-moehringAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

the civil war with Dale Phillips.In this episode of the underview, historian Dale Phillips, retired Superintendent of Lincoln Home National Historic Site, explores the Civil War’s impact on Arkansas, particularly Northwest Arkansas, and why its legacy still matters today. With over 40 years in the National Park Service, he unpacks the state’s role in secession, the battles fought on Arkansas soil, and how the war reshaped the region’s identity.Phillips draws parallels between the deep divisions of the 1850s and today's polarization, warning: “We cannot let the polarized extremes take hold like they did in the 1850s, which led to that bloody conflict.” By understanding the war’s causes and consequences, we gain insight into how history continues to shape Arkansas, challenging us to learn from the past and build a future rooted in shared understanding.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-civil-war-dale-phillipsAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

the weary land with Dr. Kelly Houston Jones, part 2.In the weary land with Dr. Kelly Houston Jones, part 2, we examine Arkansas’s secession and the Civil War’s impact on slavery. Dr. Jones explains how Governor Henry Rector and state leaders saw slavery as essential, with even Unionist Arkansans supporting it for economic stability. We explore how fear, paranoia, and political power drove secession and how enslaved people viewed Lincoln’s election as a turning point for freedom.The episode also highlights slavery’s presence in Northwest Arkansas, where small-scale agriculture, skilled labor, and domestic work reinforced the system. Census records show significant investment in slavery, even without large plantations. Finally, we discuss Reconstruction’s failures and how the fight for racial justice continues, challenging us to confront slavery’s lasting impact on Arkansas today.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-weary-land-kelly-houston-jones-slavery-arkansas-part-2About the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

the weary land with Dr. Kelly Houston Jones, part 1.In this first episode of a two-part series, Dr. Kelly Houston Jones, author of A Weary Land: Slavery on the Ground in Arkansas, explores how slavery was foundational to the state’s formation—shaping its economy, politics, and society from the beginning. We examine the rise of the “second slavery,” the daily lives of enslaved people, and the ways Arkansas’s geography influenced the institution. More than a history lesson, this conversation challenges us to reckon with the legacies of slavery that still shape economic and social disparities today. In part two, we’ll turn to the Civil War and Arkansas’s fight to preserve slavery—and how that fight ultimately led to its end.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-weary-land-kelly-houston-jones-slavery-arkansas-part-1About the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

the great river with Boyce Upholt.The Mississippi River is more than just a body of water—it’s a force that has shaped the land, the people, and the very mythology of America. In this episode of the underview, I sit down with Boyce Upholt, author of The Great River, to explore how this river became the backbone of American expansion, the driving factor in Manifest Destiny, and a symbol of American masculinity. We’ll dive into the histories of the rivers, the river’s role in the shaping of Arkansas, and the ways in which our attempts to control its power have defined—and sometimes undone—us. Join us as we navigate the currents of history, myth, and the great river that continues to shape our place.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-the-great-river-boyce-upholt-mississippiAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

the downstream people, the elders with Barbara Kyser-Collier.In this episode of the underview, Barbara Kyser-Collier, a leader and elder of the Quapaw Nation, shares the history, resilience, and cultural restoration of her people. From the impact of federal policies that led to the loss of full-blood Quapaw to the ongoing fight for sovereignty and identity, Barbara’s story sheds light on the enduring strength of Indigenous communities. This episode explores the creation of the Quapaw Nation’s flag, the significance of cultural preservation, and what it means to reclaim a future rooted in history. Tune in for a powerful conversation on Indigenous resilience, tribal governance, and the legacy of the Quapaw people.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-downstream-people-elders-barbara-kyser-collier-quapawAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

the downstream people, the elders with Betty Gaedtke (ep 2, 09).In this episode, we sit down with Betty Gaedtke, an elder of the Quapaw Nation and the only known Quapaw potter actively reviving the traditional art of her ancestors. Through her work, Betty is not only shaping clay but reclaiming history, restoring cultural identity, and ensuring that Quapaw traditions endure for future generations. She shares the deep connection between Quapaw pottery and the land, the stories embedded in each vessel, and the resilience of a people who refuse to be forgotten.Episode Webpage:  https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-downstream-people-quapaw-betty-gaedtkeAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In part three of the underview with Melissa Horner, we explore how settler colonialism continues to impact Indigenous communities today, from intergenerational trauma to systemic challenges. Melissa highlights the importance of shifting from deficit-centered narratives to celebrating the resilience, agency, and cultural beauty of Indigenous peoples. The discussion addresses the Vatican’s 2023 repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery and President Biden’s formal apology for the Indian boarding school era, examining the need for meaningful action to pair with these symbolic gestures. Melissa emphasizes the work still required to dismantle settler colonial frameworks and invites listeners to consider their roles in creating a more equitable and relational future.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-doctrine-discovery-settler-colonialism-melissa-horner-part-2-3About the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In part two of the underview with Melissa Horner, we delve into the enduring impacts of settler colonialism on relationships with land, community, and identity. Melissa contrasts Indigenous relationality, rooted in responsibility and reciprocity, with Western notions of ownership and possession. From historical land dispossession to modern systems like conservation, medicine, and capitalism, she unpacks how settler colonial frameworks persist today. The discussion highlights how these systems affect everyone differently, sparing no one, while offering a pathway to reframe our connections through responsibility, relationality, and equity.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-doctrine-discovery-settler-colonialism-melissa-horner-part-2-3About the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

In this episode of the underview, Melissa Horner introduces listeners to the foundational principles of settler colonialism and its enduring impact on U.S. society. Beginning with her personal story, Melissa shares how her identity as a Métis citizen and descendant of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa informs her work and perspective. She frames settler colonialism not as a historical event but as an ongoing framework that influences every aspect of American life, from land ownership to cultural norms. Melissa also explores the Doctrine of Discovery and its role in legitimizing colonization, alongside concepts like terra nullius, manifest destiny, and westward expansion, which reinforced settler claims and erased Indigenous sovereignty.Throughout the conversation, Melissa details the systemic policies—such as the Indian Removal Act, the creation of reservations, and the Indian boarding school era—that systematically dispossessed Native peoples of land, culture, and community. She outlines four key components of settler colonialism: the elimination of Indigenous peoples, the imposition of property systems, the erosion of relationality, and the limiting of societal options. By weaving historical context with her own experiences, Melissa invites listeners to reconsider how these structures persist today and to begin the work of understanding their pervasive influence on both history and the present.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-doctrine-discovery-settler-colonialism-melissa-horner-part-1About the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch

the origin culture with Jazlyn Sanderson.Episode 5 of Season 2 of the underview takes a deep dive into the story of Northwest Arkansas through the lens of art, culture, and history with Jazlyn Sanderson, Director of the Museum of Native American History in Bentonville. Jazlyn’s passion for preserving Indigenous narratives reveals how the art, tools, and traditions of the past connect to the land and its people. This episode is vital to Season 2's theme, “the story of Northwest Arkansas”  as it reminds us that the roots of this region go far deeper than modern development. The museum helps to bridge the the culture and art of past and present, offering insight into the identities of the Indigenous people who first called this land home. https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-origin-culture-jazylyn-sanderson-monahAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch