Get in-depth analysis and stay up to date on the wide, wild and wonderful West. West Obsessed is an audio series produced in collaboration with KVNF community radio in Paonia, Colorado, where the editors and writers of High Country News discuss stories about the American West and why they matter.
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5 Apr 2018
#35: A desert divided on the borderlands
The borderlands are a long-misunderstood region of the country, wrapped up in rhetoric and myth. In this episode of West Obsessed, Tucson-based Associate Editor Maya Kapoor joins Editor-in-Chief Brian Calvert and Deputy Editor-Digital Kate Schimel to discuss the realities of the border, the communities along it and their intertwined ecologies and economies.
7 Mar 2018
#34: The growing Indigenous resistance to drilling in the Southwest
In this episode of West Obsessed, contributing editor Jonathan Thompson joins High Country News editors Brian Calvert and Kate Schimel to explore the struggle of Navajo Nation residents, and others, to prevent more oil and gas exploration in historically important lands. Chaco Canyon holds cultural significance to several tribal nations and is also at the center of one of the richest oil and gas fields in the country.
12 Feb 2018
#33: Indian Country's dual housing crises
Writer Julian Brave Noisecat join High Country News editors on the latest episode of West Obsessed to talk about the original victims of gentrification. Inside this story is an emotional tale of one Indigenous family's experience with structural inequities that affect the availability of housing in both rural and urban areas.
30 Jan 2018
#32: The State of Jefferson's undercurrent
In the latest episode of West Obsessed, High Country News editors discuss a zealous political movement — a push for a 51st state — born from resentment of California’s liberal ‘resistance’ to Trump.
18 Jan 2018
#31: 2017 in the West
Since President Donald Trump was inaugurated in Jan. 2017, he and his administration have been steadily undoing Obama-era protections, including designations of national monuments and rules designed to fight climate change. In the latest episode of West Obsessed, High Country News’ D.C. Correspondent Elizabeth Shogren, and editors Brian Calvert, Kate Schimel and Paige Blankenbuehler review some of the most important rollbacks that hit the West this year.
8 Dec 2017
#30: The American alpine sublime
The Rocky Mountains have long been a source of inspiration and art. This is apparent in the works of the poet Belle Turnbull, who wrote about the mining camps of Colorado, the beauty of the mountains, and her life in the Rockies. In this episode of West Obsessed, High Country News Editor-in-Chief Brian Calvert travels to Gunnison, Colorado, to discuss Turnbull, her work, and the questions it raises about modern wildness and the sublime with two professors from Western Colorado University: David Rothman, the head of Western’s creative writing program, and John Hausdoerffer, who heads the university’s environmental studies program.
20 Apr 2017
#7: How to fix the West's broken health care 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 discuss how some towns are finding innovative solutions to fill in the gaps.
20 Apr 2017
#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 visitation. In this episode of West Obsessed, the writers and editors of High Country News discuss those challenges and possible solutions.
19 Apr 2017
#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 populations. In this episode of “West Obsessed,” writers and editors of High Country News discuss a recent feature story on the wolves and ask: Is there hope for their recovery?
19 Apr 2017
#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 sexual harassment and gender discrimination in public-land agencies.
19 Apr 2017
#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 Malheur. We go behind the scenes with our photographer and associate designer, Brooke Warren, who spent the first evening of the occupation with the men who seized the refuge, and we discuss the deeper issues behind the occupation with our online editor, Tay Wiles, who has been following the latest iteration of the Sagebrush Rebellion.
19 Apr 2017
#18: A status check on the West in the early days of the Trump admin
President Donald Trump and his fossil-fuel focused administration want to steer the country toward more energy development and have promised to revive the coal industry. In this episode of West Obsessed, High Country News editors check in on the early days of the new administration. Are they on track in keeping their promises to Coal Country? What implications might that have on the West and its natural resources?
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