Episodes

  • 066 - Zac Podmore - Life After Dead Pool: Lake Powell's Last Days and the Rebirth of the Colorado river
    Sep 6 2024

    A conversation with journalist and author Zak Podmore about their book, Life After Dead Pool: Lake Powell's Last Days and the Rebirth of the Colorado River (Torrey House Press, 2024). In addition to stories for the Salt Lake Tribune, Podmore also published Confluence: Navigating the Personal & Political on Rivers of the New West (Torrey House Press, 2019).

    Podcast Notes:

    • Host and Producer Brenden W. Rensink is Associate Director of the Redd Center, Professor of History at BYU, General Editor of the Intermountain Histories project, and author of the 2018 book Native but Foreign: Indigenous Immigrants and Refugees in the North American Borderlands.
    • Support provided by the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young University.
    • Podcast Music was written and recorded by local Provo composer by Micah Dahl Anderson.
    • Episodes are recorded via Skype or in person and amateurishly engineered and produced by Professor Rensink.
    • To submit a book to be considered for a podcast episode, email writingwestwardpodcast@byu.edu.
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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • 065 - Julie Carr - Mud, Blood, and Ghosts: Populism, Eugenics, and Spiritualism in the American West
    May 3 2024

    A conversation with poet and author Julie Carr about their book, Mud, Blood, and Ghosts: Populism, Eugenics, and Spiritualism in the American West (University of Nebraska Press, 2023).

    Julie Carr is Professor of English at the University of Colorado, Boulder and Chair of the Department of Women and Gender Studies. Her training and degrees from Barnard College, NYU, and the University of California, Berkeley are in creative writing, poetry, and English. She is the author of 16 books, many of which have won awards and honors. She has also published extensively in journals, poetry collections, popular outlets like The New Republic, High Country News, The Nation, and others. She has traveled extensively to give readings, is involved in multi-media projects, and is co-host and co-creator of the brand new podcast, Return the Key: Jewish Questions for Everyone.

    Podcast Notes:

    • Host and Producer Brenden W. Rensink is Associate Director of the Redd Center, an Associate Professor of History at BYU, General Editor of the Intermountain Histories project, and author of the 2018 book Native but Foreign: Indigenous Immigrants and Refugees in the North American Borderlands.
    • Support provided by the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young University.
    • Podcast Music was written and recorded by local Provo composer by Micah Dahl Anderson.
    • Episodes are recorded via Skype or in person and amateurishly engineered and produced by Professor Rensink.
    • To submit a book to be considered for a podcast episode, email writingwestwardpodcast@byu.edu.

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    1 hr
  • 064 - Lyndsie Bourgon - Tree Thieves: Crime and Survival in North America’s Woods
    Apr 5 2024

    A conversation with journalist Lyndsie Bourgon about her book, "Tree Thieves: Crime and Survival in North America's Woods" (Little, Brown Spark, 2022).

    The Writing Westward Podcast is produced and hosted by Prof. Brenden W. Rensink (www.bwrensink.org) for the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young University (reddcenter.byu.edu). Subscribe to the Writing Westward Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, and other podcast distribution apps and platforms.

    Follow the BYU Redd Center and the Writing Westward Podcast on Facebook or Twitter or get more information @ https://www.writingwestward.org. Theme music by Micah Dahl Anderson @ www.micahdahlanderson.com

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    59 mins
  • 063 - Andrew Curley - Carbon Sovereignty - Coal, Development, and Energy Transition in the Navajo Reservation
    Mar 1 2024

    A conversation with geographer Andrew Curley about his book, "Carbon Sovereignty - Coal, Development, and Energy Transition in the Navajo Reservation" (University of Arizona Press, 2023).

    The Writing Westward Podcast is produced and hosted by Prof. Brenden W. Rensink (www.bwrensink.org) for the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young University (reddcenter.byu.edu).

    Subscribe to the Writing Westward Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, and other podcast distribution apps and platforms. Follow the BYU Redd Center and the Writing Westward Podcast on Facebook or Twitter or get more information @ https://www.writingwestward.org. Theme music by Micah Dahl Anderson @ www.micahdahlanderson.com

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    58 mins
  • 062 - Peter Boag - Pioneering Death - The Violence of Boyhood in Turn-of-the-Century Oregon
    Feb 2 2024

    A conversation with historian Peter Boag about their book "Pioneering Death: The Violence of Boyhood in Turn-of-the-Century Oregon" (University of Washington Press, 2022).

    The Writing Westward Podcast is produced and hosted by Prof. Brenden W. Rensink (www.bwrensink.org) for the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young University (reddcenter.byu.edu). Subscribe to the Writing Westward Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, and other podcast distribution apps and platforms.

    Follow the BYU Redd Center and the Writing Westward Podcast on Facebook or Twitter or get more information @ https://www.writingwestward.org. Theme music by Micah Dahl Anderson @ www.micahdahlanderson.com

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    1 hr and 1 min
  • 061 - Navied Mahdavian - This Country: Searching for Home in Very Rural America
    Jan 26 2024

    A conversation with cartoonist Navied Mahdavian about his graphic novel memoir, "This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America" (Princeton Architectural Press, 2023).

    The Writing Westward Podcast is produced and hosted by Prof. Brenden W. Rensink (www.bwrensink.org) for the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young University (reddcenter.byu.edu).

    Subscribe to the Writing Westward Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, and other podcast distribution apps and platforms. Follow the BYU Redd Center and the Writing Westward Podcast on Facebook or Twitter or get more information @ https://www.writingwestward.org. Theme music by Micah Dahl Anderson @ www.micahdahlanderson.com

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    1 hr
  • 060 - Natalia Molina - A Place at the Nayarit: How a Mexican Restaurant Nourished a Community
    Dec 1 2023

    A conversation with historian Natalia Molina about their book "A Place at the Nayarit: How a Mexican Restaurant Nourished a Community" (University of California Press, 2022).

    The Writing Westward Podcast is produced and hosted by Prof. Brenden W. Rensink (www.bwrensink.org) for the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young University (reddcenter.byu.edu).

    Subscribe to the Writing Westward Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, and other podcast distribution apps and platforms. Follow the BYU Redd Center and the Writing Westward Podcast on Facebook or Twitter or get more information @ https://www.writingwestward.org. Theme music by Micah Dahl Anderson @ www.micahdahlanderson.com

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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • 059 - Sarah Keyes - American Burial Ground: A New History of the Overland Trail
    Nov 3 2023
    A conversation with Sarah Keyes about their book "American Burial Ground: A New History of the Overland Trail" (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2023). The Writing Westward Podcast is produced and hosted by Prof. Brenden W. Rensink (www.bwrensink.org) for the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young University and hosted by. Subscribe to the Writing Westward Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, and other podcast distribution apps and platforms. Follow the BYU Redd Center and the Writing Westward Podcast on Facebook or Twitter or get more information @ https://www.writingwestward.org. Theme music by Micah Dahl Anderson @ www.micahdahlanderson.com
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    55 mins