The Green River
Paul Brennan, Creighton King, and myself at the Green River Lakes in the summer of 1991.
Trump's Wall: Your Neighbor
An undocumented farm worker in New England, USA. Photo by Erica Heilman.
Donald Trump promised to build a wall along the border with Mexico but at this point there is little support in Congress to actually fund the construction. And there's been a sharp decline in illegal immigration since Trump took office, even without an actual wall.
Perhaps the reason for the decline is the fear generated by Trump's deportation policy. So this story is an interview with an undocumented farm worker. He talks about why he left home and what it's like working 16 hours a day, and how he's afraid to leave the farm for fear of being deported.
And there's about 12 million other people here who feel the same way.
Trump's Wall, Part Two
The opening of Santa Elena's Canyon, Big Bend National Park. The left side of the canyon is in Mexico, the right side is in the United States.
Interviews with people on both sides of the border in and around Big Bend National Park, Texas.
Tourists crossing the Rio Grande at Boquillas del Carmen.
Float trips on the Rio Grande are very popular. You're not supposed to get out of your boat on the Mexico side, but there's no one down there to stop you.
In the village of Boquillas del Carmen
Boquillas del Carmen
Photo by Simone Rubi, south of Marfa, Texas.
Trump's Wall, Part One
The Rio Grande in Bend Bend Ranch State Park, Texas, just west of Big Bend National Park.
The first part of a series about the proposed wall along the border. A visit to Big Bend National Park.
Music: Down By the River by Neil Young
The Rio Grande near Lajitas, Texas.
My First Radio Story
I-10, Texas, 1983
This is how I started producing stories for public radio in 1983. I was extremely lucky. Some people say I still am.
Music during the introduction: Slow Bicycle by Mum
Soapbox preacher, I-10 near El Paso, Texas, 1983
It's All Over Now
photo by CNBC
Who is this guy? Who is he really? We think of him as a villain, but perhaps he's more the tragic hero, doomed to lose everything he cares about.
The link to Bonnie Raitt on the David Letterman show
What's Happening at Standing Rock: An Interview with Jenni Monet
Photo from jennimonet.com. (Her name is misspelled in the photo.)
On February 8th, the Army Corps of Engineers approved the permit for the Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under the Missouri River. This is an interview with Jenni Monet, an independent journalist who's been embedded at Standing Rock since the first week of December. She was arrested February 1st along with 75 protestors/water protectors. Her many news reports and the account of her arrest are at jennimonet.com.
i thought i'd throw out this idea and see if it has legs
drawing by Creighton King
I started to work on a new story, then decided to change tactics.
Music: Soundtrack from Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid by Bob Dylan
Listening to the Winners
Donald Trump is a manifestation of our collective fear and anger. We created him. This show is a collection of interviews with people who supported Trump leading up to the election. They are not easy to listen to, but I think we should try in order to better understand what happened, and what is happening now.
Music: What's Opera Doc? from "Bugs Bunny on Broadway".
The Test
This story originally aired on This American Life in 1996, but there's a new rant at the end.
Music: White Rabbit by Grace Slick, performed by Mayssa Karaa for the American Hustle soundtrack.
Photo by Carlo Nasisse
Standing Rock, Part Three
Thousands of veterans join the Water Protectors, and the Army Corps of Engineers denies the permit for the pipeline to go under the Missouri River.
Music: One Monkey by Gillian Welch
Arikara headress.
A peaceful demonstration on Highway 1806, next to the Oceti Sakowin camp.
Ladonna Brave Bull Allard
Celebrating after the Army Corps announcement.
Monday, December 5th, the blizzard begins.
The front entrance to the Oceti Sakowin camp.
On Highway 1806, with the bridge in the distance.
Standing Rock, Part Two
The Missouri River at Lake Oahe, one mile downstream from the proposed crossing of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
What it's like at some of the more peaceful anti-pipeline protests or "actions" in North Dakota.
Music by Max Richter from the HBO series The Leftovers.
Blocking State Highway 6, west of Mandan, North Dakota. November 15, 2016.
Demonstration at the State Capitol in Bismarck, North Dakota, November 14, 2016.
November 14, 2016, at the State Capitol building in Bismarck, North Dakota.
A peaceful demonstration, five miles west of Mandan, North Dakota, blocking a county road leading to a camp for people working on the pipeline. November 12, 2016.
Loud speaker at the November 15 action blocking the county road to the man camp west of Mandan, North Dakota.
November 15, 2016.
At the railroad tracks running parallel to State Highway 6, November 15, 2016.
Leaving the scene, State Highway 6, November 15, 2016.
Standing Rock, Part One
A water protecter, near Mandan, North Dakota.
The battle at the bridge, November 20, 2016.
Music by Mum.
These are the dump trucks blocking state highway 1806 at the bridge over Cantapeda Creek, less than a mile north of the Sacred Stone Camp, less than a mile south of where the pipeline crosses the highway. The battle on November 20 started as water protecters/protesters were trying to clear the road by pulling the dump trucks out of the way.
Some of Kevin Gilbertt's live-streamed video. You can see more on his Facebook page, Kevin Gilbertt.
The Greater Yellowstone Grizzly, Part Three
The Greater Yellowstone Grizzly, Part Two
Courtesy of Bradley Orsted
In this episode, the scientific arguments surrounding the Greater Yellowstone grizzly bear.
Books about Grizzly Bears by Todd Wilkinson and Doug Peacock.
Music: Slow Bicycle, Mum; Faure's Requiem, first movement.
Doug Peacock, Yellowstone National Park, 2016
Dog-bear near Jackson Lake, Wyoming
Dog-bear south of Missoula
The Greater Yellowstone Grizzly
Upper Paradise Valley, Montana.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is planning to take the Yellowstone grizzly bear off the list of endangered species, perhaps before the end of this year. This is the beginning of a series about the issues surrounding the management of the bear in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
The South Fork of the Shoshone River near Cody, Wyoming.
The Yellowstone River in Paradise Valley, Montana.
Bill Zanoni and son, looking for bears in Tom Miner Basin, just north of Yellowstone Park.