Episode 1: Bears, Berries and Brews
Agriculture in Wyoming has historically centered on grain and livestock. Wyoming’s only cidery, Farmstead Cider, is looking to change that, presenting a new model for sustainable agriculture–all while pushing the boundaries of culinary palates. In this episode, KHOL’s Emily Cohen explores how climate change is impacting Farmstead’s business model in some unexpected ways, as well as how the cidery helps mitigate human-wildlife conflict.
Episode 2: Preserving a Teton Icon
A small population of bighorn sheep persists in the Teton range during the winter under impossible conditions–often above 10,000 feet. Local wildlife biologists, who have been painstakingly tracking the population for decades, say the herd is in danger and are proposing backcountry closures to try and give the sheep some space. This effort to conserve the herd is pitting some skiers against conservationists in emotional public discourse. As KHOL’s Will Walkey reports, the entire controversy examines the very core of what it means for humans to interact with public lands.
Episode 3: Healing Outdoors
Meet Sam, Connor, Hunter and Gavin, some of the students at Red Top Meadows, a residential treatment center near Wilson that serves Wyoming boys aged 12-17 who have gotten in trouble with the law or are having behavioral issues at school. Red Top is unique in Wyoming because it incorporates wilderness therapy into its program. In this episode, KHOL’s Kyle Mackie shadows the boys on a fall trail maintenance project and listens while they share their stories of growth and healing outdoors.
Episode 4: Leading the Change
At first glance, Wyoming life may seem all about powder and pitches, guns and gear. It’s home to North America’s apex predators, some of the steepest mountains in the Rockies and lots of opportunities for an adrenaline rush. So, it may come as little surprise that Wyoming’s male-to-female ratio is the second-highest in the U.S., after only Alaska. But Wyoming’s women have been breaking boundaries ever since the state was the first to grant women the right to vote in 1869. In this episode, KHOL’s Emily Cohen speaks to contemporary pioneering women, including the first woman on the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort ski patrol and Wyoming’s first Native American woman to run for national office about how they’ve pushed boundaries in this landscape of extremes.
Episode 5: Making Jackson Home
Four days a week, Roney de la Cruz drives a bus of mostly Latino students to a bilingual pre-school. His route represents how a wave of immigration, primarily from Mexico, has transformed the workforce, schools and broader community of Jackson Hole since the mid-1990s. In this episode, KHOL’s Kyle Mackie digs into the local history of immigration and shares stories of how Latino immigrants and first-generation residents are putting down roots and making Jackson home. This episode features additional reporting by Natalie Schachar and Alicia Unger.
