Season Two: Sowing Possibility
An introduction from founder Megan Torgerson
In my first season I brought listeners to cattle pastures, country churches, farm houses and my own homeplace on the Montana Hi-Line. In season two I expanded the geographic scope of my stories to bring you conversations with thought partners from across the West and Heartland who, like me, advocate for, study and make art out of the rural experience. These interviews unearth guests’ rural roots and take a deep dive into cultural forces and policies that have shaped rural America. They parse out social and environmental issues impacting our small towns, rural lands (and country at large) while offering solutions that you can implement in your community.
Bonus Episode: The Modern West
Our friends at The Modern West have a new season out, and we’re excited to share part one with you! Like Reframing Rural, The Modern West shares surprising stories from often overlooked rural places, helping to reframe how we think about the West as it is today. In “The Rolling Stone,” the first episode in their “The Great Individualist” series, they break down myths about what it means to be a “real” cowboy.
Sowing Possibility Episode 10: Emily Stifler Wolfe & Jason Thompson (Part 2)
In part two of Megan’s conversation with journalists Emily Stifler Wolfe and Jason Thompson of the “Common Ground Series” published by Montana Free Press, they discuss the threat of desertification, succession planning challenges family farms face and the sixth soil health principle of context.
Sowing Possibility Episode 9: Emily Stifler Wolfe & Jason Thompson (Part 1)
Combining profiles of farmers from the Golden Triangle with soil science, history, policy research and transportive photography, the award-winning “Common Ground” series is sowing hope in the future for farmers across the West. Published by MT Free Press “Common Ground,” was written by Emily Stifler Wolfe with photography by Jason Thompson.
Sowing Possibility Episode 8: Randi Lynn Tanglen, PhD
Randi Lynn Tanglen grew up in the small NE Montana town of Sidney and turned an early love of literature into a career in education. Randi developed a specialty in hidden voices of 19th century Western American Literature and toady leads the statewide humanities council, Humanities Montana, ensuring the public humanities are stewarded in rural and Tribal communities.
Sowing Possibility Episode 7: Jeanie Alderson
Jeanie Alderson comes from a storied legacy of ranchers in SE Montana. In the '70s, her parents were among the rural organizers to form Northern Plains Resource Council. Today, Jeanie continues their work standing up for family ranches by fighting against the "Big Four" meatpacking monopoly that's extinguishing competition and dictating prices, forcing some ranchers out of business.
Sowing Possibility Episode 6: Ashley Hanson
Ashley Hanson is the director of PlaceBase Productions, a site-specific rural theater company, and the executive director of Department of Public Transformation, an artist-led nonprofit that's fostering community connection, civic pride and equitable participation in rural places. This episode explores the role of the arts in facilitating community cohesion and rural community development.
Sowing Possibility Episode 5:
Benya Kraus
Benya Kraus is the co-founder of Lead for America, a national nonprofit nurturing the next generation of rural leaders. Benya embodies the virtue of getting proximate to issues most affecting her rural home, while striving to restore solidarity between disconnected cultures and a divided nation.
Bonus Episode: Ed Roberson on Creating his Celebrated Podcast, Mountain & Prairie
For an event hosted by the Rural Radio Radio Collective Megan Torgerson sits down with Ed Roberson, the founder and producer of the acclaimed podcast Mountain & Prairie, to hear what he’s learned over the past six years producing intelligent and thoughtful conversations that illuminate the unfolding Zeitgeist of the modern American West.
Sowing Possibility Episode 4: Ben Winchester
Ben Winchester is a rural sociologist with the University of Minnesota Extension whose research into the rural “brain gain” has illuminated the trend of 30- to 49-year-olds migrating to rural America. A purveyor of good news that small towns are not dying, Ben is on a mission to elevate a positive narrative on rural America through applied research and data.
Sowing Possibility Episode 3: Miranda Moen
Miranda Moen is a rural architectural designer studying the architecture and cultural history of her ancestors through a Fulbright fellowship in Norway. This stirring conversation covers Miranda's mission to uplift the importance of rural and working class buildings, and how she has come to better understand her cultural identity through study of the built environment.
Sowing Possibility Episode 2: Jake Bullinger
Jake Bullinger is a Wyoming native, freelance journalist and new father who covers the politics, culture, economy and environment of the West. In “Sowing Possibility: Episode 2” host Megan Torgerson and Jake discuss red state-blue state binaries, the history of mobility in the west and the potential for climate resilience in resource economies.
Bonus Episode: Red Ants Pants Music Festival
Following Reframing Rural’s interview with Red Ants Pants Founder, Sarah Calhoun, Megan Torgerson heads to Red Ants Pants Music Festival in White Sulphur Springs, Montana where she records powerful performances and speaks with musicians, festival attendees and Red Ants Pants Foundation timber skills workshop facilitators.
Sowing Possibility Episode 1: Sarah Calhoun
Sarah Calhoun has long been venerated as a champion of rural causes in Montana and beyond. In the first episode of our Sowing Possibility series, Calhoun explores how her childhood in rural New Brunswick and New England informed her decision to move to the small agricultural town of White Sulphur Springs, Montana.
Season 2 Preview
Reframing Rural's second season "Sowing Possibility" shares conversations with rural advocates from across the Heartland and West. Guided by host Megan Torgerson, this ten episode season leans into intimate and expansive questions about the past and future of rural America while provoking inspired possibilities for a shared future.