Shows
The Daily Sun-UpBetsy Gaines-Quammen explores radicalism in the American westToday, Tracy talks with Betsy Gaines-Quammen, author of two books about the West -- American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God, and Public Lands -- and True West: Myth and Meaning on the Far Side of America -- about something on many people's minds today: radicalism and how it's changing the American experience. Their focus is Idaho, Colorado and Montana and they get into everything from Mormonism, the takeover of the outdoors by the rich, and wolf reintroduction, one of Tracy's favorite topics. But don't worry if this sounds like heavy stuff. Their conversation ends on an up-note. https://colo...
2025-10-0922 min
MaximizeU Podcast#TheEdgeofEverydayPodcast | Ep 42 Open Spaces and Male Myths with Betsy Gaines Quammen and Tasha AdamsEp 42 | Open Spaces and Male Myths with Betsy Gaines Quammen and Tasha Adams 7/31/25
We are #LIVEintheHIVE with Betsy Gaines Quammen, historian and award-winning author of American Zion + True West – and Tasha Adams, the ex-wife of Oath Keeper’s founder, Stewart Rhodes.
Betsy has previously been a guest on #TheEdgeofEverydayPodcast in June of 2022 and in that episode, we talked about both of her powerful and increasingly relevant books and the significant need to have difficult conversations across polarizing political views and differing cultural perspectives. You can find that episode at TalkRadio.NYC and on my YouTube channel, S...
2025-07-3159 min
The Edge of Everyday with Sandra BargmanOpen Spaces and Male Myths with Betsy Gaines Quammen and Tasha AdamsHello listeners. This is a potent episode and I am so grateful to my guests.We are #LIVEintheHIVE with Betsy Gaines Quammen, historian and award-winning author of American Zion + True West – and Tasha Adams, the ex-wife of Oath Keeper’s founder, Stewart Rhodes.Betsy has previously been a guest on #TheEdgeofEverydayPodcast in June of 2022 and in that episode, we talked about both of her powerful and increasingly relevant books and the significant need to have difficult conversations across polarizing political views and differing cultural perspectives. You can find that episode at TalkRadio.NYC and on my Y...
2025-07-3159 min
What's Your Why?Myths of the American West: A Conversation with Historian Betsy Gaines QuammenThe cowboy myth isn’t just about nostalgia—it’s a symbol of independence that still defines Western identity, for better or worse. – Betsy Gaines QuammenJoin host Emy Digrappa on What's Your Why? The Author's Journey as she sits down with historian and writer Betsy Gaines Quammen, author of True West: Myth and Mending on the Far Side of America. In this episode, Betsy discusses the myths and misconceptions surrounding the American West—from Hollywood’s romanticized cowboys to the modern-day influx of newcomers seeking their own slice of wilderness.Growing up in Ohio but mak...
2025-05-2839 min
Open Container: Outdoor culture as a free flowing conversationMyths Of The American WestToday Doug opens the container with author Betsy Gaines Quammen.Doug begins the episode reflecting on his first experience moving to the western US where the natural beauty of the outdoors was overwhelming and he encountered an overarching sentiment of distrust and anger towards himself as a newcomer as well as the government authority who was employing him. That same mentality has persisted and is playing a role in the current effort to sell off our public lands.Doug is then joined by Betsy Gaines Quammen who has written multiple books on the culture of...
2025-05-271h 10
Mountain & Prairie with Ed RobersonBetsy Gaines Quammen Returns - Myths, Curiosity, and Human Connection (Live at the Old Salt Festival)Betsy Gaines Quammen is a Montana-based historian and writer whose work explores the history and myths of the American West and how those stories have endured and shaped life in the region today. Betsy joined me on the podcast several years ago to discuss her amazing book, American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God, and Public Lands in the West, and since then, she’s published another must-read: True West: Myth and Mending on the Far Side of America. In True West, Betsy meets face-to-face with a wide range of folks here in the West– from militia members to hardcore environmentalists– and se...
2025-02-0755 min
Unlock A Binge-Worthy Full Audiobook On Your Commute.True West: Myth and Mending on the Far Side of America by Betsy Gaines QuammenPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/777210to listen full audiobooks.
Title: True West: Myth and Mending on the Far Side of America
Author: Betsy Gaines Quammen
Narrator: Rebecca Gallagher
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 12 hours 39 minutes
Release date: June 25, 2024
Genres: Current Affairs, Law, & Politics
Publisher's Summary:
From the Northern Rockies to the Southwest deserts, Betsy Gaines Quammen explores how myths shape our identities, heighten polarizations, and fracture our shared understanding of the world around us. As she investigates the origins and effects of myths of the American West, Gaines Quammen travels through small towns and big cities, engaging people and building...
2024-06-2512h 39
Immerse Yourself In This High-Impact Full Audiobook — Perfect Between Meetings.True West by Betsy Gaines QuammenPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/2/audible/224369to listen full audiobooks.
Title: True West
Author: Betsy Gaines Quammen
Narrator: Rebecca Gallagher
Format: mp3
Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
Release date: 06-25-24
Ratings: 3.5 out of 5 stars, 3 ratings
Genres: Nationalism
Publisher's Summary:
Whether sitting down with a militia member seeking to protect his rural Utah town from Antifa or talking with grassroots organizers working across ideological divides, Gaines Quammen brings to life connections and contradictions that shape our politics and our lives far beyond the West.
2024-06-2512h 39
Listen to New Audiobooks in Non-Fiction, Current Affairs, Law, & PoliticsTrue West: Myth and Mending on the Far Side of America by Betsy Gaines QuammenPlease visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/777210 to listen full audiobooks. Title: True West: Myth and Mending on the Far Side of America Author: Betsy Gaines Quammen Narrator: Rebecca Gallagher Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 12 hours 39 minutes Release date: June 25, 2024 Genres: Current Affairs, Law, & Politics Publisher's Summary: From the Northern Rockies to the Southwest deserts, Betsy Gaines Quammen explores how myths shape our identities, heighten polarizations, and fracture our shared understanding of the world around us. As she investigates the origins and effects of myths of the American West, Gaines Quammen travels through small towns and big cities, engaging people and...
2024-06-2530 min
Future NaturesLand, democracy, identityAntonia Malchik is the author of a forthcoming book entitled ‘No Trespassing: How the ancient struggle for ownership, private property and the rights of the commons will define our future’. Antonia regularly writes online about ownership, property and what we lose in the privatization of the commons through her Substack newsletter, ‘On the Commons’. In this episode, we trace the histories of enclosure into the current structures of ownership and privatization. Focusing primarily on the United States, Antonia raises some nuanced and refreshing insights into how enclosure relates to urban mobility, contemporary environmentalism, and democracy.With a kn...
2024-05-071h 18
Idaho MattersFrom Yellowstone to the Bundys, this new book reconsiders the toxicity of our modern myths Betsy Gaines Quammen is the author of True West, Myth and Mending on the Far Side of America.( Torrey House Press, Betsy Gaines Quammen)Betsy Gaines Quammen, who chronicled the infamy of the Bundy family in the bestselling American Zion, says that experience inspired her to further examine the truths and myths of modern American western culture. The result is her new book, True West.“The onslaught of misinformation has attached itself to the Western myth in the last few years, leaving outright lies embedded in Western legends,” said Quammen. “And people have built their own versions of the...
2024-04-1113 min
The LandscapeTalking public lands extremism with Betsy Gaines QuammenKate and Aaron are joined by author Betsy Gaines Quammen to talk about public lands and extremism. Betsy has written two books about extremism in the West. Her first, American Zion, looks at the connection between Mormonism and extremism. Her second book, True West, which came out last year, digs into the myths that define […]
The post Talking public lands extremism with Betsy Gaines Quammen appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.
2024-03-281h 02
The Bookshop PodcastThe Heart of the Community: Inside Bozeman's Country BookshelfSend us a textHave you ever wandered into a bookstore and felt like you've come home? That's the magic Ariana Paliobagis, owner of Country Bookshop and her team, weaves in Bozeman, Montana. In this episode, I speak with store manager Jamie Winter about the rich literary landscape of Montana, where names like Ivan Doig and Betsy Gaines Quammen are as much a part of the territory as the Rocky Mountains. Country Bookshelf is a local, independent bookstore located in historic downtown Bozeman, Montana. It’s the place where people go to feel part of thei...
2024-02-1918 min
Yeah Nah Pasaran!Betsy Gaines Quammen on True WestThis week we have a chat with Dr Betsy Gaines Quammen about her book True West: Myth & Mending On The Far Side Of America and the fascinating cast of characters which stalk both its pages and the left-hand side of the U.S.of A.
2024-02-0100 min
Write On Four CornersWrite On Four Corners with DelSheree Gladden: Interview with Betsy Gaines QuammenBetsy Gaines Quammen takes on difficult subjects and attempts to untangle the webof events and people that lead up to the January 6 Insurrection in her new book “True West.” She joins the show this week to talk about her 100+ interviews and what she learned in her quest to better understand how the myths of the west played into events of the last few years
2023-12-2030 min
The Extreme History Project: The Dirt on the PastThe Myth of the West with Betsy Gaines QuammenJoin us as we talk with the author of True West: Myth and Mending on the Far Side of America, Betsy Gaines Quammen. We discuss her book and what she learned about America as she spent time in small towns and big cities throughout the West, talking with people about their beliefs on land, politics, liberty, and self-determination. Betsy tells us about some of her conversations, and what she learned about the West’s enduring myths and complex history from militia members, Montana ranchers, and grassroots organizers.
Dr. Betsy Gaines Quammen is a historian and writer. She rece...
2023-12-171h 00
Last Born In The Wilderness354 / True West / Betsy Gaines QuammenHistorian and author Betsy Gaines Quammen returns to the podcast to discuss her new book, True West: Myth and Mending on the Far Side of America, published by Torrey House Press. Building on her previous book, American Zion, Gaines Quammen follows the historical roots and trajectories of troubling political trends in the Western United States, decoupling the myths and material realities of the landscapes and the peoples and the more-than-human lives that occupy them.
// Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/betsy-gaines-quammen-2
// Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness
// Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast
2023-12-121h 23
Last Born In The WildernessPreview / True West / Betsy Gaines QuammenHistorian and author Betsy Gaines Quammen returns to the podcast to discuss her new book, True West: Myth and Mending on the Far Side of America, published by Torrey House Press. Building on her previous book, American Zion, Gaines Quammen follows the historical roots and trajectories of troubling political trends in the Western United States, decoupling the myths and material realities of the landscapes and the peoples and the more-than-human lives that occupy them.
Support the podcast and listen to this interview: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness
2023-10-2805 min
Check Your ShelvesBetsy Gaines Quammen: Check Your Shelves Ep. 3Check Your Shelves sat down with Betsy Gaines Quammen to talk about her forthcoming book, TRUE WEST, forthcoming for Torrey House Press this October.
This book tackles the western mythologies that have damaged so many lives and led to events like January 6th.
Quammen will be in Utah for at least TWO events of the Utah Humanities Book Festival.
Go see her!
Oct 15, 2023, 6:00 pm
Back of Beyond Books and Torrey House Press Betsy Gaines Quammen and David Quammen
Oct 16, 2023, 7:00 pm
The Springdale Community Center with Zion Canyon Mesa hosts Betsy Gai...
2023-09-2637 min
The Edge of EverydayConservation, Religion and the Power of Conversation With Betsy Gaines QuammenBetsy Gaines Quammen is a writer, historian, and conservationist. She is the author of American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God, and Western Public Lands. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, New York Daily News, and the History News Network. She has a doctorate in Environmental History from Montana State University and a Master's of Science in Environmental Studies.Over the years, she has studied various religious traditions, with particular attention to how cultures view landscape and wildlife. The rural American West, pastoral communities of northern Mongolia, and the grasslands of East Africa have been...
2022-06-141h 00The Extreme History Project: The Dirt on the PastAmerican Zion with Betsy Gaines QuammenBetsy Gaines Quammen discusses her book, American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God & Public Lands in the West. Our discussion explores how the Bundy family mix spiritualism, patriotism, and wild places to assert possession over western federal lands. We discuss the myth of the cowboy, militia conceptions of public land in the west, wilderness, and Mormon history. Dr. Betsy Gaines Quammen holds a doctorate in Environmental History from Montana State University, her dissertation focusing on Mormon settlement and public land conflicts. She has studied various religious traditions over the years, with particular attention to how cultures view landscape and wildlife. Join us...
2022-05-171h 29
Mountain & Prairie with Ed RobersonBetsy Gaines Quammen - A Fascinating History of Public Lands in the WestBetsy Gaines Quammen is a historian and conservationist, and she’s also the author of the excellent book "American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God, & Public Lands in the West." Betsy has enjoyed a long career in the conservation world, working on issues ranging from grizzly bears in the West to fish in Mongolia to wildlife in East Africa. She also holds a doctorate in Environmental History from Montana State University, where her dissertation focused on the Mormon settlement of the West and public land conflicts. With such a depth of expertise on such a wide range of subjects, I was th...
2022-04-281h 07
Humanities ConversationsMisinformation, Militia Maneuvering, and Moving Forward in the Age of Pandemic | Wyoming Institute For Humanities ResearchThe Wyoming Institute for Humanities Research strives to be an engine for producing interdisciplinary research in the humanities; a community for faculty, students, and the public; and a model of democratic education fit for our land-grant university.
This podcast is part of our Think & Drink series of talks, which are informal conversations by humanities faculty, researchers, and practitioners on a range of topics.
28 May 2020:
“Misinformation, Militia Maneuvering, and Moving Forward in the Age of Pandemic”
Speakers:
Betsy Gaines Quammen, author of “American Zion: Cliven Bundy,” “God and Public Lands in the Wes...
2021-02-141h 15
In SiteAmerican Zion - Betsy Gaines Quammen Interview“A map of the American West is a Rorschach test; people see what they want to see as reflections of who they are.” Betsy Gaines QuammenBetsy’s conservation work in Mongolia with Buddhist monks on fisheries and in Bhutan for snow leopards centered on finding common ground between religion’s ancient roots and the modern precepts of conservation. After continuing such work with Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders in the U.S., she was drawn to the idea of exploring these possibilities with a uniquely American, relatively recent religion, Mormonism. Writing her PhD dissertation on the early, suc...
2020-12-071h 13
Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Podcast & Blast with Hal HerringBonus Episode: David Quammen and Betsy Gaines QuammenJoin Hal and writers David Quammen and Betsy Gaines Quammen for a bonus episode of the BHA Podcast & Blast. As we enter the season of giving thanks, of family in a time of social distancing, of reading good books by the fire, we hope you enjoy this wide ranging conversation, a love letter to writing and partnerships and the West.
2020-11-251h 05Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Podcast & Blast with Hal HerringBonus Episode: David Quammen and Betsy Gaines QuammenJoin Hal and writers David Quammen and Betsy Gaines Quammen for a bonus episode of the BHA Podcast & Blast. As we enter the season of giving thanks, of family in a time of social distancing, of reading good books by the fire, we hope you enjoy this wide ranging conversation, a love letter to writing and partnerships and the West.
2020-11-251h 05
Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Podcast & Blast with Hal HerringHistorian, conservationist and writer Betsy Gaines QuammenBetsy Gaines Quammen is the author of the new book American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God & Public Lands in the West,which explores the intersection of religious belief and landscape. Quammen never set out to write about the Bundys, or Mormonism. But her interviews with Bundy family members and her exhaustive study of the history of the Latter Day Saints revealed a side of the anti-public lands movement that no other writer or scholar has even approached.
2020-11-041h 39Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Podcast & Blast with Hal HerringHistorian, conservationist and writer Betsy Gaines QuammenBetsy Gaines Quammen is the author of the new book American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God & Public Lands in the West,which explores the intersection of religious belief and landscape. Quammen never set out to write about the Bundys, or Mormonism. But her interviews with Bundy family members and her exhaustive study of the history of the Latter Day Saints revealed a side of the anti-public lands movement that no other writer or scholar has even approached.
2020-11-041h 39
Start The Full Audiobook That Keeps Busy Professionals Hooked.American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God & Public Lands in the West by Betsy Gaines QuammenPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/453705to listen full audiobooks.
Title: American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God & Public Lands in the West
Author: Betsy Gaines Quammen
Narrator: Emily Durante
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 10 hours 23 minutes
Release date: October 27, 2020
Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4 of Total 2
Ratings of Narrator: 1 of Total 1
Genres: The Americas
Publisher's Summary:
American Zion is the story of the Bundy family, famous for their armed conflicts in the West. With an antagonism that goes back to the very first Mormons who fled the Midwest for the Great Basin, they hold a sense of entitlement that confronts both law and...
2020-10-2710h 23
Listen to New Full Audiobooks in History, The AmericasAmerican Zion: Cliven Bundy, God & Public Lands in the West by Betsy Gaines QuammenPlease visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/453705 to listen full audiobooks. Title: American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God & Public Lands in the West Author: Betsy Gaines Quammen Narrator: Emily Durante Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 10 hours 23 minutes Release date: October 27, 2020 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4 of Total 2 Ratings of Narrator: 1 of Total 1 Genres: The Americas Publisher's Summary: American Zion is the story of the Bundy family, famous for their armed conflicts in the West. With an antagonism that goes back to the very first Mormons who fled the Midwest for the Great Basin, they hold a sense of entitlement that confronts both law...
2020-10-2730 minListen to New Full Audiobooks in History, The AmericasAmerican Zion: Cliven Bundy, God & Public Lands in the West by Betsy Gaines QuammenPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/453705to listen full audiobooks.
Title: American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God & Public Lands in the West
Author: Betsy Gaines Quammen
Narrator: Emily Durante
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 10 hours 23 minutes
Release date: October 27, 2020
Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4 of Total 2
Ratings of Narrator: 1 of Total 1
Genres: The Americas
Publisher's Summary:
American Zion is the story of the Bundy family, famous for their armed conflicts in the West. With an antagonism that goes back to the very first Mormons who fled the Midwest for the Great Basin, they hold a sense of entitlement that confronts both law and...
2020-10-2710h 23
Last Born In The Wilderness250 / God's Country / Betsy Gaines QuammenIn this episode, I speak with historian and conservationist Betsy Gaines Quammen, author of American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God and Public Lands in the West.
This discussion with Betsy begins with an examination of the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and how the theological underpinnings of this religious organization has played an important and instrumental role in the settler-colonialist expansion in the American West since the followers of this faith settled in the region over a century ago. This is especially relevant when we examine how these historical processes have led to the present day...
2020-06-011h 27
New Books in the American WestBetsy Gaines Quammen, "American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God and Public Lands in the West" (Torrey House, 2020)In 2014, the cattle rancher Cliven Bundy entered the national spotlight after a showdown against federal officials over grazing rights on public lands. Two years later, his sons seized the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon and occupied it for forty days with militia and sovereign citizen groups. As journalists rushed to the scene, trying to make sense of the motivations behind their anti-government politics, Betsy Gaines Quammen, a historian working on her history Ph.D., knew something was amiss. She had spent hours at the Bundy home, interviewing them for her dissertation on Mormon settlement in the West. She knew...
2020-05-1849 min
New Books in Environmental StudiesBetsy Gaines Quammen, "American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God and Public Lands in the West" (Torrey House, 2020)In 2014, the cattle rancher Cliven Bundy entered the national spotlight after a showdown against federal officials over grazing rights on public lands. Two years later, his sons seized the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon and occupied it for forty days with militia and sovereign citizen groups. As journalists rushed to the scene, trying to make sense of the motivations behind their anti-government politics, Betsy Gaines Quammen, a historian working on her history Ph.D., knew something was amiss. She had spent hours at the Bundy home, interviewing them for her dissertation on Mormon settlement in the West. She knew...
2020-05-1849 min
Access UtahReligion, The West, & Coronavirus: Betsy Gaines Quammen & David Quammen On Thursday's Access UtahConservationist and historian Betsy Gaines Quammen and journalist David Quammen have been on a virtual book tour, conducted from their home in Bozeman and including special guest Boots the Python.
2020-04-2354 min
Give and TakeEpisode 124: The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life, with David QuammenMy guest is David Quammen. In his new book The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life, this nonpareil science writer explains how recent discoveries in molecular biology can change our understanding of evolution and life’s history, with powerful implications for human health and even our own human nature.
In the mid-1970s, scientists began using DNA sequences to reexamine the history of all life. Perhaps the most startling discovery to come out of this new field—the study of life’s diversity and relatedness at the molecular level—is horizontal gene transfer (HGT), or the move...
2018-09-1951 min