Shows
PodQueueHistory Is Lunch: Boyce Upholt, "The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi"On July 3, 2024, Boyce Upholt presented “The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi” as part of the History Is Lunch series.
The Mississippi River is central to the United States, both physically and metaphorically. Its watershed spans almost half the country. Mark Twain’s travels on the river inspired the America’s first national literature. Blues and jazz were born in its floodplains and carried upstream.
In his new book The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi, Upholt tells the epic story of the wild and unruly river and the centuries of efforts to control it. For...2025-07-171h 01
PlanetGeo: The Geology PodcastThe Great River - Boyce UpholtIn this exciting episode, we dive deep into the natural and geological wonders of the Mississippi River with Boyce Upholt, author of 'The Great River.' Join us as we unravel the mysteries and magnificence of this iconic waterway, exploring its historical, ecological, and engineering marvels. Boyce shares his personal journey, the challenges of writing this extensive book, and fascinating insights into the Mississippi’s floodplains, levees, and more. If you're ready to rock and roll down the river, hit play and let's get started!Download the CampGeo app now at this link...2025-07-1054 min
REAP/SOWDoes anyone in Biloxi care about seafood fraud?In 2024, the owners Mary Mahoney’s Old French House, an iconic restaurant in Biloxi, Mississippi, pleaded guilty to fraudulently selling more than 29 tons of fish between December 2013 and November 2019, claiming it was locally caught when in fact it was imported. Quality Poultry and Seafood—another iconic Gulf Coast business—had sold mislabeled fish to other restaurants, too. Eventually, both businesses had to forfeit more than a million dollars apiece. In this episode, a partnership with Gravy, a podcast from the Southern Foodways Alliance, reporter Boyce Upholt reports on how mislabeled, imported seafood has damaged local fishing fleets in places like B...2025-07-0825 min
All Across America#66 – Boyce Upholt, New Orleans, LouisianaBoyce is the author of "The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi," and the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the magazine Southlands.2025-06-061h 01
GravyOh, Snapper! Mislabeled Mississippi SeafoodIn “Oh, Snapper! Mislabeled Mississippi Seafood,” Gravy producer Boyce Upholt takes listeners to Biloxi, Mississippi—a town that has
long called itself the Seafood Capital of the World. But in May 2024, shocking news hit the community: Mary Mahoney's Old French House, an iconic restaurant, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to misbrand fish and wire fraud. For years, the iconic 60-year-old establishment had been selling cheap imported fish as premium local Gulf seafood, defrauding more than 55,000 customers.
What makes this story particularly fascinating is the public's reaction, or lack
thereof. Despite learning they'd been deceived, loyal diners packed Mary
Mahone...2025-06-0427 min
Relevant or IrrelevantBONUS: Is This 'Age Of The Delta' Coming To An End?BONUS DISCUSSION: Boyce Upholt, author and nature critic, joins the "ROI" team to discuss, "Is This 'Age Of The Delta' Coming To An End?"The host for the 611th edition in this series is John Kealey, and the history buffs are Brett Monnard and Terri Toppler.Opinions expressed in this program are those of the hosts and the guest(s), and not necessarily those of KALA-FM or St. Ambrose University. This program is recorded at KALA-FM, St. Ambrose University, Davenport, Iowa, USA!2025-05-2413 minRelevant or IrrelevantIs This 'Age Of The Delta' Coming To An End?Boyce Upholt, author and nature critic, joins the "ROI" team to discuss, "Is This 'Age Of The Delta' Coming To An End?"The host for the 611th edition in this series is John Kealey, and the history buffs are Brett Monnard and Terri Toppler.Opinions expressed in this program are those of the hosts and the guest(s), and not necessarily those of KALA-FM or St. Ambrose University. This program is recorded at KALA-FM, St. Ambrose University, Davenport, Iowa, USA!2025-05-2428 min
In A Mississippi Minute with Steve AzarBoyce Upholt, award-winning journalist and author of "The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the MississippiMy guest today on In A MS Minute is Boyce Upholt, award-winning journalist and author of "The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi."2025-05-1541 min
Resilient Futures PodcastThe Nation's Heartbeat: Engineering, History, and the Mississippi RiverThe Mississippi River Basin covers over a million square miles across the southeast and midwest US. Despite growing up far away in the northeast US, Boyce Upholt thinks about the nation's largest waterway more than most: he's the author of "The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi." The book began nearly eight years earlier with a paddling trip, a sunken steamboat, and love-at-first-sight for the iconic southern river.Upholt speaks to our hosts Alysha and Todd about his intertwining passions for history and nature, and why this work centers on "the Great River." The...2025-05-0141 min
the underview.the great river with Boyce Upholt (ep 2, 11).Send us a textthe great river with Boyce Upholt.The Mississippi River is more than just a body of water—it’s a force that has shaped the land, the people, and the very mythology of America. In this episode of the underview, I sit down with Boyce Upholt, author of The Great River, to explore how this river became the backbone of American expansion, the driving factor in Manifest Destiny, and a symbol of American masculinity. We’ll dive into the histories of the rivers, the river’s role in the shaping...2025-02-251h 07
Ten Across ConversationsInvesting in New Orleans' Future with GNOF CEO Andy KopplinNew Orleans is an extraordinary place that has experienced more than its fair share of adversity. Living below sea level where the mouth of the Mississippi River meets the Gulf Coast, residents have become adept at mitigating a variety of water-related challenges, from the inundation of tropical storms and subsidence to the scarcity issues of saltwater intrusion. There’s a lot we can learn from the people and leaders of New Orleans. The city's pride in its wealth of culture was on display to the nation recently in the pageantry of Super Bowl LIX. But the spirit of New...2025-02-1336 min
Current ConversationsThe Mississippi Unveiled: An Author's JourneyJoin us for an inspiring and thought-provoking conversation with Boyce Upholt, an award-winning journalist and author of The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi . Boyce takes us on a fascinating journey into what led him to write this remarkable book about the Mississippi River, an iconic yet complex force of nature that has shaped America’s history. From his adventurous experiences canoeing along the river to the meticulous research that brought his book to life, he discovered the stories and insights behind his exploration of the Mississippi’s environmental, cultural, and historical significance. Boyce’s profound curiosity...2025-02-0617 minTen Across ConversationsPast and Future Resilience Along the Mississippi with Boyce UpholtIn many ways, modern American engineering was born on the Mississippi. In the early days of westward expansion, the continent’s largest river basin presented both a vital resource for transportation, biodiversity and agricultural production and a complicated barrier. The Army Corps of Engineers was founded in 1802, a year before the Louisiana Purchase. By the mid-1800s, Congress charged the Corps with improving transportation on the river to support the nation’s burgeoning steamboat industry and riverine settlements. Military-trained engineers were enlisted to control the river, using brute force technology, into a predictable path to prevent flooding of commu...2025-01-3140 min
First Draft: A Dialogue on WritingFirst Draft - Boyce UpholtBoyce Upholt is a journalist and essayist whose writing has appeared in the Atlantic, National Geographic, the Oxford American, and Virginia Quarterly Review, among other publications. He is the winner of a James Beard Award for investigative journalism, and he lives in New Orleans, Louisiana. His book is called The Great River: The Making & Unmaking of the Mississippi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices2024-12-3059 min
The Friendly City Books PodcastAuthor Interview - Boyce UpholtPatrick Dean talks with Boyce Upholt, author of The Great River: The making and Unmaking of the Mississippi, his debut book.-Boyce Upholt is a journalist and essayist whose writing has appeared in the Atlantic, National Geographic, the Oxford American, and Virginia Quarterly Review, among other publications. He is the winner of a James Beard Award for investigative journalism, and he lives in New Orleans, Louisiana.-About The Great River: The making and Unmaking of the Mississippi bookshop.org:The Mississippi River lies at the heart of...2024-11-2542 min
Madison BookBeatWe Do Not Make Very Good Gods: Nature Critic Boyce Upholt on the Sinuous History of the Mississippi RiverIn his 1979 Whole Earth Catalog, Stewart Brand wrote, “We are as gods, so we might as well get good at it.” Based on his time on the Mississippi River, however, Boyce Upholt concludes “that we do not make very good gods.” In the final pages of The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi, Upholt reflects, “The river is an unappeasable god, and to react to it with fear and awe is not wrong. . . . Perhaps what people learn after thousands of years of living along one of the world’s greatest rivers is that change is inevitable, that chaos w...2024-11-0453 min
MIT Technology Review NarratedInside the quest to engineer climate-saving “super trees”A Silicon Valley startup wants to supercharge trees to soak up more carbon and cool the climate. Is this the great climate solution or a whole lot of hype?This story was written by Boyce Upholt and narrated by Noa.2024-10-1637 min
Civics 101The Mighty MississippiFor more than two hundred years Americans have tried to tame the Mississippi River. And, for that entire time, the river has fought back. This week we present an episode of our sister podcast Outside/In. Journalist and author Boyce Upholt has spent dozens of nights camping along the Lower Mississippi and knows the river for what it is: both a water-moving machine and a supremely wild place. His recent book, “The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi River” tells the story of how engineers have made the Mississippi into one of the mo...2024-09-1724 min
Gulf StreamsEp. 47 The Mighty MississippiToday we sit down with Boyce Upholt, the author of the new book The Great River which covers both the long history and future outlook of the Mississippi River. Recounting the ways the river has shaped America and we've tried to shape it, Upholt walks us through how this critical body of water has shaped both to our environmental and cultural worlds – and what the river's future tells us about our own.
2024-09-1655 min
Outside/InThe Mississippi CyborgFor more than two hundred years Americans have tried to tame the Mississippi River. And, for that entire time, the river has fought back. Journalist and author Boyce Upholt has spent dozens of nights camping along the Lower Mississippi and knows the river for what it is: both a water-moving machine and a supremely wild place. His recent book, “The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi River” tells the story of how engineers have made the Mississippi into one of the most engineered waterways in the world, and in turn have transformed it into a bit...2024-09-1223 min
Louisiana InsiderEpisode 194: The Mississippi Rediscovered – A Writer's Search“Down the River” is more than a variant of a poker game. For the writer it can be a stream for words; for the adventurer it can be a highway past great cities and alongside bountiful wetlands. Boyce Upholt, a prolific author who describes himself as a “nature critic” talks to Louisiana Life Executive Editor Errol Laborde, along with Producer Kelly Massicot, about his new book, “The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi.” The greatest of all the continent’s rivers, the Mississippi River provides life for much of the country’s central section. It is also a source of wea...2024-08-2930 min
RootedBook Club Replay: THE GREAT RIVER with Boyce UpholtLast month, author Boyce Upholt joined our book club to talk about his ambitious and riveting history, The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi. There was a vibrant discussion in the book club chat! Folks asked great questions and Boyce captivated us with his knowledge and stories about Earthworks, the Army Corps of Engineers (yes, he makes engineering history interesting!), and the future he sees for flood control on the Mississippi. Boyce will be in Jackson for the Mississippi Book Festival on September 14, so you can get him to sign your book then. And if you’re...2024-08-121h 02
Speaking of WritersBoyce Upholt- The Great RiverFor thousands of years before America’s founding, Native
peoples made their homes in the Mississippi watershed, regarding it with awe and adorning its banks with mounds and silhouetted effigies of animals, humans, and spiritual beings. They respected the “great river” and lived peaceably alongside it. However, when European settlers arrived—and later, when American pioneers put down roots—Native lives and ways of working with the river were upended. White men saw the river as a foe to conquer as they laid claim to land and built America up as an economic power. They engineered levees, jetties,
dikes, and dams t...2024-08-0311 min
Louisiana ConsideredWheelchair Games gives veterans with disabilities a chance to compete; new book explores history of human impact on Mississippi RiverThe Paris Olympics isn’t the only place where athletes can earn medals this summer. New Orleans is hosting the annual National Veterans Wheelchair Games. It's a multi-day competition that brings together hundreds of veterans with disabilities from across the country. Reporter Matt Bloom caught up with a few Louisiana competitors who say it’s about more than just the medals. It's summertime, known to some as prime reading season. And the Sea Change podcast dedicated its latest episode to some of this summer’s hottest books. Journalist and author Boyce Upholt joins reporter a...2024-08-0324 min
Sea ChangeHot Summer ReadingIt's summertime! Otherwise known as prime reading season. And in this episode, you're going to meet the people behind a couple of the summer's hottest books. We talk with Boyce Upholt about his new bestseller, The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi. The book tells the epic story of the Mississippi River, and he writes about how centuries of human meddling have transformed both the river and America. And we also meet Mary Annaise Heglar, who tells us about her new novel, Troubled Waters. It’s a distinctly Southern story about family, Black...2024-07-2435 min
WYPL Book TalkBoyce Upholt - The Great River, Pt. 2
Boyce Upholt is a writer whose work has been published in the Atlantic, National Geographic, and the Oxford American, among others, and he was awarded the 2019 James Beard Award for investigative journalism. Today we’ll conclude our two-part discussion about his debut book, The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi, which is published by W.W. Norton.
2024-07-2030 min
Buffalo Roamer Outdoors#92 The Great River - Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi w/ Boyce UpholtBoyce Upholt is a writer and author of The Great River - The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi. We talk all about the Mighty Mississippi River, canoeing, history, barges, Locks and Dams and more. Join Will on the River! Summer and Fall 2024 Guided Canoe trips available at www.buffaloroamer.com/tripsBrought to you by:Soda Peak Outfitters - Experience true Wyoming Wilderness With Soda Peak Outfitters. DIY and Guided Pack trips, fishing trips and more. Nestled in the Greater Yellowstone Area, Soda Peak calls the stunning Bridger Teton National Forest an...2024-07-1956 min
Skipped HistoryLearning from the Many Missteps Along the MississippiAmid the political headlines over the last few weeks, one piece of news went under the radar: how freaking hot it’s been. To bring us back to earth, I thought I’d share a recent conversation with journalist Boyce Upholt about the Mississippi River.In The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi, Boyce delivers a winding history of the “chaos” of the river, and American efforts to tame it. In conversation, we discussed the ever-changing nature of the Mississippi and the transformation of surrounding areas from Indigenous homeland into private property. There are lessons...2024-07-1940 min
This Is Hell!Everglades Non-Profit Sues Former Scientist for Stealing Trade Secrets / Boyce UpholtAward-winning investigative journalist Boyce Upholt returns to discuss his article at The New Republic, "An Everglades Scientist on Trial in Ron DeSantis’s Kingdom: A powerful nonprofit, closely allied with the Florida governor, sued one of its former scientists for stealing trade secrets. What was it really after?" "Rotten History" follows the interview.
Check out Boyce's article here: https://newrepublic.com/article/182364/everglades-scientist-trial-ron-desantis-florida
Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access weekly bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell2024-07-161h 15This Is Hell!Everglades Non-Profit Sues Former Scientist for Stealing Trade Secrets / Boyce UpholtAward-winning investigative journalist Boyce Upholt returns to discuss his article at The New Republic, "An Everglades Scientist on Trial in Ron DeSantis’s Kingdom: A powerful nonprofit, closely allied with the Florida governor, sued one of its former scientists for stealing trade secrets. What was it really after?" "Rotten History" follows the interview.
Check out Boyce's article here: https://newrepublic.com/article/182364/everglades-scientist-trial-ron-desantis-florida
Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access weekly bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell2024-07-161h 15
Mississippi Arts HourThe Mississippi Arts Hour| Boyce UpholtLarry Morrisey visits with writer Boyce Upholt. He writes articles on the natural world for a wide range of publications. Upholt has just published “The Great River,” a book on the history of man’s attempts to control Mississippi River. The book includes looks at the mound builder civilizations who built along the river, through the steamboat era and to today. Upholt examines the damage to the Mississippi from various efforts to control it over the years and its ability to change and adapt around the controls.. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB. https://donate...2024-07-1547 minMississippi Arts HourThe Mississippi Arts Hour| Boyce UpholtLarry Morrisey visits with writer Boyce Upholt. He writes articles on the natural world for a wide range of publications. Upholt has just published “The Great River,” a book on the history of man’s attempts to control Mississippi River. The book includes looks at the mound builder civilizations who built along the river, through the steamboat era and to today. Upholt examines the damage to the Mississippi from various efforts to control it over the years and its ability to change and adapt around the controls.. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB. https://donate...2024-07-1547 minWYPL Book TalkBoyce Upholt - The Great River, Pt. 1
Boyce Upholt is a writer whose work has been published in the Atlantic, National Geographic, and the Oxford American, among others, and he was awarded the 2019 James Beard Award for investigative journalism. Today we’ll begin our two-part discussion about his debut book, The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi, which is published by W.W. Norton.
2024-07-1329 min
Everything is Somewhere Podcast#6 - Boyce Upholt Boyce Upholt is the author of 2024's The Great River: The Making & Unmaking of the Mississippi River. As I read this instant classic, I was reminded of David Ambrose's Undaunted Courage, Kevin Fedarko's Emerald Mile and John McPhee's Coming into the Country. But more than any of these, Upholt tells the tale of early surveying along the Mississippi and writes the history of 200 years of river management infrastructure in interesting and exciting detail.2024-07-1252 min
REAP/SOWRedfish bluesBoyce Upholt's report on the environmental threat to redfish on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana anchors this episode of REAP/SOW. It dives deep into the cultural history of this fish that was made globally famous by Paul Prudhomme’s blackened redfish dish, while also engaging with the modern-day politics driving how much – if at all – it should be taken from the water. This episode was produced in partnership with WWNO’s “Sea Change” podcast. 2024-07-0939 min
RootedBook Club Replay: THAT PINSON GIRL with Gerry WilsonLast month, author Gerry Wilson joined our book club to talk about her richly imagined Southern Gothic novel, That Pinson Girl. She talked to us about writing about the influenza epidemic of 1918 while in the early days of the COVID pandemic, the family stories that served as inspiration for her characters, and the difficulty—and fun—of writing from a villain’s POV. Our book club members (me included!) really loved the novel. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly suggest picking up a copy of That Pinson Girl from your local bookstore or library.You can...2024-07-0859 min
Nature RevisitedEpisode 125: Boyce Upholt - The Great RiverBoyce Upholt is a “nature critic” and author whose writing explores the relationship between humans and the natural world, especially in the U.S. South. Originally from Connecticut, Upholt moved to the Mississippi Delta in 2009, where he discovered an unexpected wilderness amid an agricultural empire: the Mississippi River. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Boyce describes the natural and human histories of the wild and unruly Mississippi River and the centuries of human efforts to control it. Ambitious and sometimes contentious programs of engineering -- government-built levees, jetties, dikes, and dams -- has not only damaged once-vibrant ecosystems but may not...2024-07-0830 min
Let's Grab CoffeeThe Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi with Boyce UpholtEpisode Notes
Memphis goes by many names – Home of the Blues, BBQ Capital, and the Bluff City. The last one a reference to our location on the Bluffs of the Mighty Mississippi River. But how much do you know about the muddy waters flowing in our backyard? Today I’m joined by Boyce Upholt, author of The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi. We talk about our own personal relationships to the water, some of the people and events that have shaped the river, and what the future may hold for the communities and ecos...2024-06-2451 min
Rick Kleffel:Narrative Species–The Agony Column2213: A 2024 Interview with Keith DonohueBoyce Upholt discusses his book The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi.2024-06-1400 min
St. Louis on the AirCenturies of engineering have altered the Mississippi River. A new book examines its effectsSpanning more than 2,300 miles, the Mississippi is one of the longest rivers in the world. The waterway has the distinction of being both a significant ecosystem and a commercial navigation route, which often leads to tension and competing visions for its future. In his new book “The Great River: The Making & Unmaking of the Mississippi” journalist Boyce Upholt traces the history of the river and presents deep questions about the consequences of infrastructure and where the boundaries of nature lie.2024-06-1249 min
Unlock This Thrilling Full Audiobook And Feel The Difference.The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi by Boyce UpholtPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/753676to listen full audiobooks.
Title: The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi
Author: Boyce Upholt
Narrator: Gabriel Vaughan
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 10 hours 18 minutes
Release date: June 11, 2024
Genres: Animals & Nature
Publisher's Summary:
A sweeping history of the Mississippi River—and the centuries of human meddling that have transformed both it and America. Over thousands of years, the Mississippi watershed was home to millions of Indigenous people who regarded 'the great river' with awe and respect, adorning its banks with astonishing spiritual earthworks. But European settlers and American pioneers had a different vi...2024-06-1110h 18
God Knows WhereVBS: Chance the RapidsI hope y’all are ready to start VBS! Grab some snacks, maybe a vanilla cookie, and some juice. Pull up a carpet square and let’s start talking about some very basic stories this summer! We’ll begin at the beginning. We all know the story of the Garden of Eden, but there’s a big part we overlook every time we read it. An important truth we forget when we jump a head to the trees and the fruit and the shame. Let’s look again!VBS: Very Basic Stories is a collection of 12 quintessential VBS stories fo...2024-06-1118 min