Great Plains Anywhere

Student Storyteller Kaitlyn Richards' podcast takeover continues with an interview with Mar Lee (they/them). Mar is a Nebraskan who has spent years organizing and advocating with community members across the state on issues related to queer liberation, food production and access, sexual and domestic violence prevention, and much more. Hear about their journey from a growing up in a rural community to becoming a force for advocacy in Nebraska in this episode.Mar responded to Kaitlyn's call for for people to tell their story of life as an LGBTQ+ person living on the Plains.

Student Storyteller Kaitlyn Richards' podcast takeover continues with an interview with Jennifer Lentfer, a poet and artist as well as a communications strategist. Jennifer responded to Kaitlyn's call for for people to tell their story of life as an LGBTQ+ person living on the Plains.

During the spring semester, Great Plains Student Storyteller Kaitlyn Richards is doing a podcast takeover! Instead of our regular Great Plains Anywhere episodes, she is hosting Pride in the Plains, a podcast dedicated to amplifying queer voices across the often-overlooked Great Plains region. We asked our audience to share their stories of being LGBTQ+ on the Great Plains, so this episode features our first community interview with historian and artist Autumn Langemeier (she/her).

For the spring semester of 2025, our Great Plains Student Storyteller is doing a podcast takeover! Kaitlyn Richards is a masters student in the School of Natural Resources at UNL. This semester, she is hosting Pride in the Plains, a podcast dedicated to amplifying queer voices across the often-overlooked Great Plains region.

In this episode, we talk with Dr. John DeLong about his work studying climate adaptation and predator-prey interactions, tracking how both adapt and evolve to better fit their surroundings, from the smallest microscopic creatures to large birds of prey. Dr. DeLong is an Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is also the Director of the university's Cedar Point Biological Station.

In this episode, Stephen Bridenstine, assistant director of the Flint Hills Discovery Center in Manhattan, Kansas, talks about what the Flint Hills are, who cares for the land, and how people can experience this unique landscape. The Discovery Center's mission is to inspire people to celebrate, explore, and care for the Flint Hills with an array of exhibits and programs meant to educate about the geology, ecology, and cultural history of the area.

Rosalyn LaPier is an award winning Indigenous writer, environmental historian, ethnobotanist, and professor at the University of Illinois. She works within Indigenous communities to revitalize traditional ecological knowledge, to address the growing climate crisis, and to strengthen public policy around Indigenous languages. LaPier is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana and Métis.

Quincy Vagell is a meteorologist and storm chaser who travels the country documenting and researching severe weather. Previously he worked as a meteorologist for The Weather Channel and doing on-air broadcasting for TV. As a storm chaser for the last decade, Vagell has visited all but a handful of counties in the Great Plains. We spoke with him about severe weather and why the Great Plains is ideal for storm chasing.

This episode of Great Plains Anywhere features Carson Vaughan, the author of "Zoo Nebraska" and a journalist who covers the Great Plains region. His recent works include covering the October 2022 Bovee Fire at the Nebraska National Forest Bessey Ranger district and writing about author Mari Sandoz.

In this episode of Great Plains Anywhere, we talk with John Wunder, Emeritus Professor of History and former Director of the Center for Great Plains Studies. Though he spent his career studying the history and cultures of the Plains, his recent work has shifted into creative prose poetry about growing up in the region. We talked with Professor Wunder and asked him to share a poem about Great Plains tornadoes.

In this episode of Great Plains Anywhere, we talk with Taylor Brorby, the author of "Boys and Oil: Growing Up Gay in a Fractured Land" (2022) and co-editor of "Fracture: Essays, Poems, and Stories on Fracking in America." He regularly speaks around the country on issues related to extractive economies, queerness, disability, and climate change. He is the Annie Tanner Clark Fellow in Environmental Humanities and Environmental Justice at the Tanner Humanities Center at the University of Utah.

In this episode of Great Plains Anywhere, we visit the Indigenous Garden on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's East Campus with Ted Hibbeler, Tribal Extension Educator at UNL and a member of the Iron Shell family from the Rosebud Sioux Nation in South Dakota. The Indigenous Food Sovereignty Program welcomes Lincoln Public School Native students onto East Campus to engage with Native elders and UNL Extension faculty to learn how to grow their own food and establish food sovereignty for their families and communities. Through the Native American Coalition, Hibbeler is working with the Nebraska Tribal communities and schools in the areas of food sustainability, economic development, career development, conservation and leadership.

In this episode of Great Plains Anywhere, we talk with John O'Keefe, a professor of Theology and Journalism at Creighton University and the documentary filmmaker behind the film "The Last Prairie." The film examines Nebraska's Sandhills through the perspectives of ecologists, the people who live and work there, and the Lakota people whose ancestors were driven off the land. The Center is hosting a screening of the film on March 30 in Lincoln, Neb., at the Great Plains Art Museum. 

In this episode of Great Plains Anywhere, we talk with Beth Dotan a Ph.D. candidate in Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education at UNL. Dotan helps lead a multidisciplinary digital humanities project to document and tell the stories of Nebraskans during World War II titled "Nebraska Stories of Humanity: Holocaust Survivors and World War II Veterans."

In this episode of Great Plains Anywhere, we spoke with Brian M. Kelly, licensed architect and Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, on his research into the design and construction of the decommissioned, underground vertical Atlas-F missile silos in the prairies of the Great Plains during the 1960s. This talk is part of the Paul A. Olson Great Plains lecture series. Special thanks to Margaret Huettl for providing a video land acknowledgement for this episode. To see the video version, visit: https://mediahub.unl.edu/channels/26276

In this episode, we talk with Dr. David Vail, Associate Professor of History at the University of Nebraska at Kearney who specializes in environmental and agricultural history, history of science, technology, and medicine, and public history. In this interview, Dr. Vail talks about his book on the history of agricultural chemicals and dives into his new work looking at the interplay between culture, politics, and agriculture in the Great Plains during the Cold War era. Special thanks to Margaret Huettl for providing a video land acknowledgement for this episode.  To see the video version, visit: https://mediahub.unl.edu/channels/26276

For this episode of Great Plains Anywhere, we're sharing a portion of an interview from a multimedia project called "Reconciliation Rising," which showcases the lives and work of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who are engaged in creating pathways toward reconciliation by confronting painful histories and promoting meaningful dialogue. This interview features Deb Echo-Hawk, the Keeper of the Seeds for the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, and Ronnie O'Brien, an instructor at Central Community College and former manager of the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument in Kearney, Nebraska. In 2003, Ronnie contacted Deb to see if the Pawnee would grow a garden at the Archway Monument. That conversation led to the Pawnee Seed Preservation Project, a thriving program in which Pawnees and Nebraska settlers are growing corn together in gardens throughout the state. Listen to part two of the interview on reconciliationrising.org. We'd like to thank Reconciliation Rising project members Kevin Abourezk and Margaret Jacobs for allowing us to share this interview. Special thanks to Margaret Huettl for providing a video land acknowledgement for this episode.

In this panel discussion, team members from the Genoa Indian School Digital Reconciliation Project and community members will share the lasting impact of the Genoa Indian Boarding School in Nebraska. The Genoa School was one of over 300 Indian boarding schools that were established by the government and churches in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. By 1900, nearly 21,000 Indian children were living apart from their families at one of the boarding schools. In many cases, officials forced children to attend the schools against the wishes of their families and tribes.  Panelists: Judi gaiashkibos (Ponca), Executive Director, Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs Dr. Rudi Mitchell (Omaha Indian Nation of Nebraska and Iowa), professor emeritus, Native American Studies, Creighton University Dr. Margaret Jacobs, Project Co-Director Dr. Susana D. Grajales Geliga (Lakota and Taino), Project Co-Director Dr. Elizabeth Lorang, Project Co-Director. This was recorded live at the Center for Great Plains Studies Nov. 11, 2021. The event was part of the the University of Nebraska State Museum's Hubbard Lecture series, an annual lecture advancing the understanding and appreciation of the cultural heritage of the First Peoples of the Plains. Made possible by contributions from Anne M. Hubbard and the Claire M. Hubbard Foundation.

In this episode, we spoke with Dr. Craig Allen, Director of the new Center for Resilience in Agricultural Working Landscapes, and Dr. Walt Schacht, Interim Director of the Center for Grassland Studies. Together, the two centers are working with landowners to research and test out the viability of different rangeland management techniques, especially in the Sandhills. In this interview, they discuss how the University of Nebraska works with landowners, myths about the Sandhills, and the concept of resilience in a landscape. Special thanks to Margaret Huettl for providing a video land acknowledgement for this episode. To see the video version of this, visit: https://mediahub.unl.edu/media/18054

Dr. Leo Killsback gave a talk at the Center for Great Plains Studies as the first Paul A. Olson lecture of the semester. He is an associate professor in the Department of Native American Studies at Montana State University who specializes in indigenous governance, traditional law, sovereignty, and treaty rights.  Dr. Killsback grew up on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation and is devoted to the preservation and resurgence of Cheyenne language and culture. He sustains relationships within his nation by means of collaborative methodologies that neither exploit nor marginalize.  Dr. Killsback is the winner of the 2021 Stubbendieck Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize for the two-volume set “A Sacred People: Indigenous Governance, Traditional Leadership, and the Warriors of the Cheyenne Nation” and “A Sovereign People: Indigenous Nationhood, Traditional Law, and the Covenants of the Cheyenne Nation” (Texas Tech University Press, 2020). Watch the video: https://mediahub.unl.edu/media/17972

In this episode, we spoke with Dr. Lucas Bessire, an Associate Professor of anthropology at the University of Oklahoma. Before joining the faculty at Oklahoma, Bessire earned a doctorate in anthropology from New York University. His family has been in Kansas for five generations, and his recent work turns toward this home connection with the Great Plains with his new book: "Running Out: In Search of Water on the High Plains," published by Princeton University Press.  Special thanks to Margaret Huettl for providing a video land acknowledgement for this episode. To see the video version of this, visit: https://mediahub.unl.edu/media/17911

In this episode, we spoke with Dr. Melissa Homestead, professor of English, Great Plains Fellow, program faculty in women's and gender studies, and director of The Cather Project at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her new book "The Only Wonderful Things: The Creative Partnership of Willa Cather and Edith Lewis" reconstructs the life Cather and Lewis led together through Homestead's in-depth research. Their relationship was often mischaracterized or ignored by scholars, and Homestead's book shows how Cather and Lewis lived fulfilling lives. Special thanks to Margaret Huettl for providing a video land acknowledgement for this episode. To see the video version of this, visit: https://mediahub.unl.edu/media/16970

This episode of the Paul A. Olson "Great Plains Anywhere" series features Dr. Julie Shaffer, professor and chair in Biology at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Shaffer's recent research involves assessing tick-borne diseases in central Nebraska and the recent changes in these disease patterns. Special thanks to Margaret Huettl for providing a video land acknowledgement for this episode. To see the video version of this, visit: https://mediahub.unl.edu/media/16741 Episode 11 is a virtual tour of an exhibition at the Great Plains Art Museum and is video only. Access it here: https://mediahub.unl.edu/media/16088

We spoke with Brian Campbell, the Executive Director of the Iowa Environmental Council and Josh Dolezal, professor of English at Central College in Iowa. They're the team behind "MidAmericana: Stories from a Changing Midwest" -- a podcast project that explores the history and identity of the Greater Midwest through the lives and stories of individuals. The first season covers those who leave the region and come back and the second covers immigrants to the area. We asked them about the project and how the terms Great Plains and Midwest overlap and interact. Special thanks to Margaret Huettl for providing a video land acknowledgement for this episode. To see the video version of this, visit: https://mediahub.unl.edu/media/15993

The Center spoke with Danelle Smith, CEO of the Winnebago Comprehensive Healthcare System. Early on in the Covid-19 pandemic, the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska formed a comprehensive, interdisciplinary task force to respond to the needs of the community, thinking through many issues from food distribution and protective equipment to housing and communicating the importance of protecting their elders. Special thanks to Margaret Huettl for providing a video land acknowledgement for this episode. To see the video version of this, visit: https://mediahub.unl.edu/channels/26276

In this lecture, author Pekka Hämäläinen, talks about his book: Lakota America: A New History of Indigenous Power from the Yale University Press. Lakota America is an account of the Lakota from the early 16th to the early 21st centuries, including the history of iconic figures such as Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, and Sitting Bull. The book was chosen for the 2020 Stubbendieck Great Plains Book Prize by an independent jury. Hämäläinen is Rhodes Professor of American History at St. Catherine's College at the University of Oxford. He specializes in indigenous, colonial, imperial, environmental, and borderlands history in North America. Before Oxford, he taught at Texas A&M University and the University of California, Santa Barbara. His 2008 book, The Comanche Empire, received 12 book awards, including the 2008 Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize and the Bancroft Prize. Special thanks to Margaret Huettl for providing a video land acknowledgement for this episode.  To see the video version of this, visit: https://mediahub.unl.edu/media/15229 Download episode transcript: https://www.unl.edu/plains/pekka-transcript.docx

In this interview, we talk with Linda Black Elk about a renewed connection to indigenous foods, community action, and health during a pandemic. Black Elk is the Food Sovereignty Coordinator at United Tribes Technical College in North Dakota and an ethnobotanist specializing in traditional foods of the Great Plains.  For more about her work, follow her on Facebook (www.facebook.com/lindablackelk) or visit the UTTC website (uttc.edu/land-grant-extension/).  Special thanks to Margaret Huettl for providing a video land acknowledgement for this episode.  To listen to the podcast version of this, visit: https://mediahub.unl.edu/channels/26276

In this interview, we tour the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Bee Lab with Dr. Judy Wu-Smart, Assistant Professor and extension and research entomologist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Wu-Smart has been the director of the Bee Lab on East Campus since 2015 and is committed to developing pollinator health programs to help beekeepers, scientists, policy makers, and land managers understand bee health and their interactions with the environment. Wu-Smart has an undergraduate degree from Humboldt State University, a Masters from Washington State University, and a PhD from the University of Minnesota. Special thanks to Margaret Huettl for providing a video land acknowledgement for this episode. To listen to the podcast version of this, visit: https://www.unl.edu/plains/great-plains-great-ideas-paul-olson-seminars

In this interview, we speak with Dr. Will Avilés, professor and chair of political science at the University of Nebraska at Kearney where his fields are comparative politics and Latin American politics. Dr. Avilés received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Florida International University and his Ph.D. from the University of California-Riverside. He joined UNK in 2002. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, he has been working with community activists and families from the meatpacking industry, an industry that has recently garnered national headlines related to COVID-19 cases and working conditions. Special thanks to Margaret Huettl for providing a video land acknowledgement for this episode. To see the video version of this, visit https://mediahub.unl.edu/channels/26276 More information on Dr. Avilés' work: facebook.com/NebraskaSolidarity

In this interview, Great Plains Art Museum Director and Curator Ashley Hussman talks with artist Kirsten Furlong about her artwork and exhibition "Over the Edge of the World," which is currently on display at the museum. Furlong's exhibition explores the artist's interpretation of the natural history and current grassland ecology in the Great Plains and beyond through drawings, monotypes, and paintings. Bird species, past and present, insects, animals, and plants are depicted along with mark making inspired by the lines and textures of the prairie. "Great Plains Anywhere" is a series of Great Plains talks and interviews in video and podcast form that you can listen to anywhere. It's part of the Paul A. Olson lecture series at the Center for Great Plains Studies. To watch the video version of this podcast, visit our website.

Blizzards! Wind! Tornadoes! UNL Professor Emeritus Ken Dewey talks about why the Great Plains has such extreme weather and shares some events that best illustrate this weather. Dewey is the author of Great Plains Weather, part of the Discover the Great Plains series from the Center for Great Plains Studies and University of Nebraska Press. "Great Plains Anywhere" is a series of Great Plains talks and interviews in video and podcast form that you can listen to anywhere. It's part of the Paul A. Olson lecture series at the Center for Great Plains Studies. To watch the video version of this podcast, visit our website.

In this interview, we speak with tour guide Joel Green, author of "Robber's Cave: Truths, Legends, Recollections," which won a 2019 Nebraska Book Award. Green explains the cave's topography, history, and uses in this interview. "Great Plains Anywhere" is a series of Great Plains talks and interviews in video and podcast form that you can listen to anywhere. It's part of the Paul A. Olson lecture series at the Center for Great Plains Studies.  For more information on the cave and to take a tour, visit www.robberscavetours.com/ To watch the video version of this podcast visit our website.

"Great Plains Anywhere" is a series of Great Plains talks and interviews in video and podcast form that you can listen to anywhere. It's part of the Paul A. Olson lecture series at the Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska.  The first episode in these mini talks is an interview with the new Director for the Center for Great Plains Studies, Margaret Jacobs, Chancellor's Professor of History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  For more information on her projects, visit: https://www.reconciliationrising.org/. To watch the video version of this podcast visit our website.