Shows
Nature RevisitedRevisit: 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.
On 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...
2025-12-1530 min
REAP/SOWWhat’s the problem with offshore aquaculture?Americans now eat more farmed seafood than they do from the wild ocean. That’s turned farming fish into big business, one that consumers have benefited from. But the U.S. imports most of that seafood – we have very few domestic fish farms. Now, though, that might start to change. There are proposals to build massive fish farms in U.S. federal waters. And the Gulf of Mexico is where some of the early action is unfolding. Reporter Boyce Upholt explores the shift from wild-caught to farmed, what it could mean for the environment and economy, and our connection to t...
2025-12-0931 minREAP/SOWWhat’s the problem with offshore aquaculture?Americans now eat more farmed seafood than they do from the wild ocean. That’s turned farming fish into big business, one that consumers have benefited from. But the U.S. imports most of that seafood – we have very few domestic fish farms. Now, though, that might start to change. There are proposals to build massive fish farms in U.S. federal waters. And the Gulf of Mexico is where some of the early action is unfolding. Reporter Boyce Upholt explores the shift from wild-caught to farmed, what it could mean for the environment and economy, and our connection to t...
2025-12-0931 min
Louisiana ConsideredFarming the Ocean: Part 1This is part 1 of a 2-part series exploring the future of farming seafood in the Gulf. Americans eat a lot of farmed seafood — but the vast majority of it comes from overseas. We just don’t farm fish on a big scale in U.S. waters. Now that might start to change. There are proposals to build massive fish farms in U.S. federal waters. And guess which coast is likely to be the first home for these new farms? You guessed it, the Gulf.So is this a miracle cure or a looming ecological disaster?...
2025-12-0524 min
Sea ChangeFarming the Ocean: Part 2This is part 2 of a 2-part series exploring the future of farming seafood in the Gulf. We know this: demand for seafood is soaring. We won't be able to sustainably meet that demand from wild-caught fisheries. And there’s a growing global movement to farm more and more of our seafood. The Gulf is one of the LAST places in the world where there is still a major wild oyster harvest. Lately, though, that harvest…is in trouble. In this episode, we ask: What can the downfall and resurrection of the oyster tell us about a future of fa...
2025-12-0323 minSea ChangeFarming the Ocean: Part 1This is part 1 of a 2-part series exploring the future of farming seafood in the Gulf. Americans eat a lot of farmed seafood — but the vast majority of it comes from overseas. We just don’t farm fish on a big scale in U.S. waters. Now that might start to change. There are proposals to build massive fish farms in U.S. federal waters. And guess which coast is likely to be the first home for these new farms? You guessed it, the Gulf.So is this a miracle cure or a looming ecological disaster?EPI...
2025-11-2130 min
Headlights: Voices from The Progressive SouthEp. 30: Boyce Upholt's SouthlandsSYNOPSIS: Wilderness and untamed landscapes loom large in the South's sense of itself. Southern history and folklore are full of tales of mountains and rivers, swamps and bayous. A new magazine called Southlands aims to explore the Southern outdoors, both literally and literarily. This week Jesse talks to Southlands publisher Boyce Upholt about our relationship to our natural surroundings — and about a new book Upholt has also written, about the history and destiny of the Mississippi River. Also: a look at public employees across the South who are fighting back in court after being fired or punished for co...
2025-11-1743 min
Big Picture ScienceKatrina and the River“The Mississippi River will always have its own way; no engineering skill can persuade it to do otherwise,” said Mark Twain. In this, our final episode marking the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we consider how efforts to control the Mighty Mississippi – a river engineered from its Minnesota headwaters to its Gulf Coast outlet – have responded to the devastating storm, and how New Orleans’ relationship to the river has changed. Can the city keep up with the pressure that climate change is putting on this engineered system, or is retreat the only viable response?
Plus, a wetland recovery p...
2025-11-031h 07
C-SPAN BookshelfBoyce Upholt on The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the MississippiJournalist Boyce Upholt talks about the history and geography of the Mississippi River and human attempts to control it going back to the Founding Era. He discusses how government-built levees, dikes, and dams have transformed the landscape and ecosystem along the 2,340-mile-long Mississippi and the impact that commerce, floods, and pollution have had on the population along its banks.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
2025-11-031h 03
Q&ABoyce Upholt on The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the MississippiJournalist Boyce Upholt talks about the history and geography of the Mississippi River and human attempts to control it going back to the Founding Era. He discusses how government-built levees, dikes, and dams have transformed the landscape and ecosystem along the 2,340-mile-long Mississippi and the impact that commerce, floods, and pollution have had on the population along its banks.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
2025-11-031h 03
Ten Across ConversationsNegotiating Survival: The Complex Decision-Making Required to Save Louisiana's CoastThe human interventions intended to make Louisiana's coastline habitable and productive over the past century have contributed to the region's most existential threats. Without redress, displaced river sediment, compromised wetlands, and land subsidence will increasingly expose the state to extreme storm surge and sea level rise. In 2007, following the devastating impacts of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Louisiana adopted its Coastal Master Plan. More than 100 projects have been approved under the plan, including the $3 billion Mid Barataria Sediment Diversion. The largest project of its kind, the diversion was designed to regenerate 40 square miles of barrier wetlands by allowing the l...
2025-09-2647 min
Between the LeveesS3:E165 | Capt. David Greer (Ret.) | River TalkRetired Captain David Greer joins me again on the show to share his thoughts and perspective on the industry and his experiences over 4 decades. We discuss a bit on the history of humanity, old mariners, his place in history, books, his life and career, the last episode I published with Captain Sam Schropp, "The Great River" by Boyce Upholt, the Jones act, crew pay back in the day, and more.
2025-09-241h 01
Big Picture ScienceKatrina and the River“The Mississippi River will always have its own way; no engineering skill can persuade it to do otherwise,” said Mark Twain. In this, our final episode marking the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we consider how efforts to control the Mighty Mississippi – a river engineered from its Minnesota headwaters to its Gulf Coast outlet – have responded to the devastating storm, and how New Orleans’ relationship to the river has changed. Can the city keep up with the pressure that climate change is putting on this engineered system, or is retreat the only viable response?
Plus, a wetland recovery p...
2025-08-181h 05Ten Across ConversationsMississippi River Mayors Coalesce to Address Shared Climate RisksRecent Ten Across Conversations episodes have considered how current changes in staffing, research, and responsibilities within federal agencies like FEMA and NOAA may affect disaster readiness and response at the local level. Many cities find themselves pressed to rethink how their own limited resources might secure the information and support necessary to address the growing risks they face. Collaborative regional networks are proving to be one way to achieve much greater returns on investments of local time and funds. The Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative (MRCTI) has become an outstanding example of this type of work. Formed i...
2025-08-1539 min
Adapt: Climate Change and the Built EnvironmentMessing with the Mississippi: Lessons Learned from the Great RiverMonika and Jessica speak with Boyce Upholt, a writer and "nature critic," about his first book, The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi. They discuss the long history of American efforts to control and corral the Mississippi River, the engineering feats that have gone into that project, and some of the consequences of those actions. Links discussed in the show include: Boyce Upholt The Great River a book by Boyce Upholt - Bookshop.org US Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane - Book Review by Bookishelf ...
2025-07-301h 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 minREAP/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 reporter 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 07Ten 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/adchoices
2024-12-3057 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...
2024-09-1225 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 minLouisiana 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 minSea 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/thisishell
2024-07-161h 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/thisishell
2024-07-161h 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 minREAP/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
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
Fuel Your Mind With The Riveting Full Audiobook Now, Story Seekers!The Great River by Boyce UpholtPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/2/audible/62137to listen full audiobooks.
Title: The Great River
Author: Boyce Upholt
Narrator: Gabriel Vaughan
Format: mp3
Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
Release date: 06-11-24
Ratings: 4.5 out of 5 stars, 74 ratings
Genres: Outdoors & Nature
Publisher's Summary:
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 vision: the river was a foe to conquer. In this landmark work of natural history, Boyce Upholt tells the epic story...
2024-06-1110h 18Discover A Full Audiobook That Is Simply Addictive.The Great River by Boyce UpholtPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/2/audible/57110to listen full audiobooks.
Title: The Great River
Author: Boyce Upholt
Narrator: Gabriel Vaughan
Format: mp3
Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
Release date: 06-11-24
Ratings: 4.5 out of 5 stars, 74 ratings
Genres: Engineering
Publisher's Summary:
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 vision: the river was a foe to conquer. In this landmark work of natural history, Boyce Upholt tells the epic story of...
2024-06-1110h 18
WGTD's The Morning Show with Greg Berg6/10/24 "The Great River"Boyce Upholt talks about his new book "The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi."
2024-06-1045 min
Between the LeveesS2:E132 | Boyce Upholt and David Greer | "The Great River"Author Boyce Upholt joins me on the show along with Retired Captain David Greer to discuss his upcoming book, "The Great River," due to release June 11, 2024. We address his introduction to the world between the levees paddling a canoe downriver, his time researching centuries of information to put this book together, and we hear in detail the trials and tribulations set forth by the engineering feats that maintain the Mighty Mississippi as a carrier of commerce to the rest of the world.
To order your copy of "The Great River," check out...
https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393867879
2024-06-081h 13
The Mississippi Valley Traveler PodcastBoyce Upholt on the Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi RiverSend us a textVery few people today have any memory of a relatively free-flowing Mississippi River. The scale and persistence of river engineering is staggering, and for many of us, the engineered Mississippi is the only Mississippi we have known. That’s one reason journalist Boyce Upholt’s new book is so important. In The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi, Boyce details our century-plus history of tinkering with the natural Mississippi to remake it into a river that suits our wants and needs.In this interview, Boyce and I talk abou...
2024-06-051h 09Louisiana ConsideredSea Change: Redfish Blues Part 2Today on Louisiana Considered, we hear the second part of the latest episode of Sea Change: Redfish Blues. We learn the story of the red drum, better known as the classic redfish, and whether the decline of this fish is a warning of a bigger collapse.This episode was produced in collaboration with the Food & Environment Reporting Network, an independent, nonprofit news organization. This episode was reported and hosted by Boyce Upholt. Halle Parker introduces the show. The episode was edited by Carlyle Calhoun and Morgan Springer. Our managing producer is Carlyle Calhoun. Emily Jankowski is our...
2024-05-3124 minLouisiana ConsideredThe decline of the redfish; look back at New Orleanian who almost became MLB’s first Black pitcherThe red drum, more commonly known as the classic redfish, is a popular fish in the region. But now, the population is starting to decline. What does it say about a bigger collapse of similar species? Boyce Upholt, a reporter for the Food & Environment Reporting Network based in New Orleans, tells us about the rise and fall of this famous fish on the first part of the latest episode of Sea Change. Black baseball history runs deep in the South, and New Orleans fielded plenty of talented teams, including New Orleans Black Pelicans, Crescent City St...
2024-05-2424 minLouisiana ConsideredU.S. Supreme Court upholds La.'s congressional map; ‘Road to Rickwood’ explores Black baseball historyIt’s Thursday, which means it’s time for our look at the week in politics. Stephanie Grace, the Times Picayune/The Advocate’s editorial director and columnist, breaks down the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Louisiana’s new congressional map. The decision means the state’s second majority-Black congressional district will stand for this year’s election.This June, Major League Baseball will host a regular season game at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama as a tribute to Negro League Baseball History. Rickwood Field also happens to more than 100 years old. It’s served not...
2024-05-1724 minSea ChangeRedfish BluesToday, we hear the story of one fish and its journey to fame: the red drum, or more commonly known as the classic redfish. And whether the decline of this fish is a warning of a bigger collapse.This episode was produced in collaboration with the Food & Environment Reporting Network, an independent, nonprofit news organization. This episode was reported and hosted by Boyce Upholt. Halle Parker introduces the show. The episode was edited by Carlyle Calhoun and Morgan Springer. Our managing producer is Carlyle Calhoun. Emily Jankowski is our sound designer, and our theme music is by...
2024-05-1534 min
EcoNews ReportTsunamis, Sea Level Rise, and Humboldt Bay's Spent Nuclear Waste SiteThis week, Cal Poly Humboldt Assistant Professor Jennifer Marlow and Graduate Research Assistant Alec Brown join Jen Kalt of Humboldt Waterkeeper to talk about the 44 Feet Project, which is focused on the future risk of climate and coastal hazards to Humboldt Bay's spent nuclear fuel site above the town of King Salmon. The first privately-owned nuclear plant in the U.S, the Humboldt Bay Power Plant produced electricity from 1963 to 1976, leaving 37 tons of spent nuclear fuel to be stored indefinitely 115 feet from the edge of an eroding bluff just 44 feet above current sea level.Two recent developments...
2023-10-2029 min
Emergence Magazine PodcastSaguaro, Free of the Earth – Boyce Upholt
Imagine a world where the mountains and glaciers, trees and waterways and animals—everything comprising our living, breathing planet—had as much a right to exist, legally, as humans. In this narrated essay, author Boyce Upholt travels to meet with the O’odham peoples of the Sonoran Desert, who have long revered the Saguaro cactus as a being with personhood. As Saguaro are bulldozed to make way for a segment of the US-Mexico border wall through Organ Pipe Cactus National Park, existing legal protections for the cactus come up against human-centric and extractive attitudes towards the Earth. Talking with elders...
2023-05-2341 min
God Knows WhereI Didn’t Say That: Line DrawingsWe love to draw lines, to say this ours, and that is yours, but whether we like it or not, we’ve only got one place to call home: Earth. Jesus wasn’t big on boundaries, especially the ones we draw on maps and lay all over this planet we call home. Let's talk about how Jesus frames our future in light of our past, all the way back to the very beginning.Today's episode, "Line Drawings," is the latest in God Knows Where's first series, "I Didn't Say That." It’s also o...
2023-04-2516 minEmergence Magazine PodcastMonuments Upon the Tumultuous Earth – Boyce Upholt
For thousands of years, the southern Mississippi River has been shaping the land it traverses—and the structures humans have built along it. Over vast stretches of time, Indigenous societies were building hundred-foot pyramids, fifty-acre plazas, and intricate clusters of hillocks along this wild waterway. In this narrated essay, Boyce Upholt charts the shifting course of the river and the civilizations that have emerged alongside it. Beholding the 2,200-mile levee system that now curbs the river’s torrent, he wonders: what do our monuments say about who we are—and the crises we face? Learn more ab...
2023-03-2837 min
This Is Hell!Big Poultry Breeds Bird Flu and asks Consumers to Pay the Price / Boyce UpholtBoyce Upholt returns to This is Hell! to discuss his piece recently published by the New Republic, "The Frightening Cost of Cheap Eggs: Why paying more for eggs could save us from another pandemic". This episode also features this week in Rotten History and new responses to the Question from Hell.
Boyce Upholt is an award-winning freelance writer focused on the way we use and imagine the non-human world. He covers, among other subjects, public lands, exploration, biodiversity, foodways, infrastructure, and the cultural history of ”wilderness.” His work has appeared in The Atlantic, National Geographic, the Oxford American, and many othe...
2023-02-141h 15This Is Hell!Big Poultry Breeds Bird Flu and asks Consumers to Pay the Price / Boyce UpholtBoyce Upholt returns to This is Hell! to discuss his piece recently published by the New Republic, "The Frightening Cost of Cheap Eggs: Why paying more for eggs could save us from another pandemic". This episode also features this week in Rotten History and new responses to the Question from Hell.
Boyce Upholt is an award-winning freelance writer focused on the way we use and imagine the non-human world. He covers, among other subjects, public lands, exploration, biodiversity, foodways, infrastructure, and the cultural history of ”wilderness.” His work has appeared in The Atlantic, National Geographic, the Oxford American, and many othe...
2023-02-141h 15
re: WildJessica Camille Aguirre: The View From SpaceJessica Camille Aguirre is a writer whose work focuses on climate change and extremes.
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[01:41] AFAR Magazine: “The Promise and Peril of Space Tourism”
[05:13] Frank White’s The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution
[06:34] The Space Studies Institute: Gerard K. O’Neill
[08:19] NASA: “Blue Marble”
[08:23] NASA: “Earthrise”
[08:58] Kenneth E. Boulding: “The Economics of the Coming Spaceship Earth”
[09:14] Wikipedia: “Whole Earth Catalog”
[18:02] Harper’s Magazine: “Another Green World”
[22:25] University of Arizona: “Biosphere 2”
[31:56] Bill McKibben’s The End of Nature
[36:40] Southlands new
2022-12-2137 minre: WildJustin Gregg: Us Dumb HumansJustin Gregg is a science writer and animal cognition researcher.
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[0:52] Justin Gregg's If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal: What Animal Intelligence Reveals About Human Stupidity
[9:39] EuroNews: “Explained: Who has nuclear weapons in Europe and where are they?”
[24:58] Arik Kirschenbaum's The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal About Aliens—and Ourselves
2022-12-0729 min
Last Born In The Wilderness335 / Spillover / Boyce UpholtAward-winning journalist Boyce Upholt joins me to discuss his article Will the Next Pandemic Start With Chickens? published at The New Republic.
Boyce begins his report, as well as this interview, by describing the troubling conditions in chicken facilities in Butler Country, Nebraska, and, by extension, across the industrialized world. This past spring, a highly deadly and contagious strain of avian influenza swept through bird and other animal populations. Considering the conditions described in his piece, there is a very real possibility of a spillover event occurring in the near future, leading to an influenza pandemic in the human population...
2022-11-1856 minre: WildDefending the ForestMay and Hadley identify as members of the Defend the Atlanta Forest movement.
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[0:05] Atlanta City Studio’s Our Future City report (h/t Charles Bethea at the New Yorker)
[1:18] Defend the Atlanta Forest
[12:41] Resident Advisor: “Inside the American South’s Anti-Cop Raves”
[19:23] Rolling Stone: “The Battle for ‘Cop City’”
2022-11-0234 min
Hakai Magazine Audio EditionThe Marine Lab in the Path of Furyby Boyce Upholt • At the DeFelice Marine Center, researchers and staff are living, working, and adapting to climate change in real time.
The original story, along with photos, can be found on hakaimagazine.com.
2022-11-0125 minre: WildLaura J. Martin: Designing the WildLaura J. Martin is a historian and ecologist who studies how people shape the habitats of other species. She is the author of Wild by Design: The Rise of Ecological Restoration and an environmental studies professor at Williams College.
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[1:21] Laura J. Martin’s Wild by Design
[3:47] The Society for Ecological Restoration
[7:49] “A New Global Framework for Managing Nature Through 2030”
2022-10-1931 min
BATCH, A Bitter Southerner PodcastDown To The Tide LineIn Episode 8, writer Boyce Upholt notes, “There’s a lot of beauty and joy and wonder in the world. And of all the beautiful places in our country, the Southeastern coast is one of our most beloved and extraordinary.” Oh, how we love our beaches! Unfortunately, our coastlines are now some of the most at risk due to the accelerating impacts of climate change, sea level rise, intensifying storms, and flooding. In “Down To The Tide Line,” Boyce takes the long view of this ever changing place where the land meets the sea, reminding us that it’s by cosmic luck...
2022-10-0729 minre: WildWyatt Williams: Life and Death and MeatWyatt Williams is a writer and a former restaurant critic.
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[1:19] Springer Mountain: Meditations on Killing and Eating
[2:01] Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma
[2:04] Food Inc.
[9:45] “Will the Next Pandemic Start with Chickens?” (The New Republic)
[10:58] “When the National Bird is a Burden” (The New York Times Magazine)
[14:09] Joel Salatin’s Polyface Farm
[17:16] Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals
[23:44] “What Went Wrong With Eleven Madison Park's Vegan Menu" (Bon Appetit); “Restaurant Review: Eleven Madison Park's Vegan Menu” (The New York Times)
[28:39] Emma Mar
2022-10-0535 min
This Is Hell!Epidemiology and the Poultry Industry / Boyce UpholtInvestigative journalist Boyce Upholt wrote The New Republic article, "Will the Next Pandemic Start With Chickens?: This spring, a virulent strain of bird flu ripped through U.S. farms. The public hardly noticed. That we could ignore the disease shows just how little we’ve learned about the origin of new viruses."
2022-09-211h 18This Is Hell!Epidemiology and the Poultry Industry / Boyce UpholtInvestigative journalist Boyce Upholt wrote The New Republic article, "Will the Next Pandemic Start With Chickens?: This spring, a virulent strain of bird flu ripped through U.S. farms. The public hardly noticed. That we could ignore the disease shows just how little we’ve learned about the origin of new viruses."
2022-09-211h 18re: WildRien Fertel: The Pelican Holds EverythingRien Fertel is the author of Brown Pelican and three previous books: Drive-By Truckers’ Southern Rock Opera, The One True Barbecue, and Imagining the Creole City. He is currently a Visiting Professor of History at Tulane University.
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Mentioned in this episode:
[1:14] Rien Fertel’s Brown Pelican
[2:25] Fantasy Birding
[2:50] eBird
[9:20] Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring
[15:19] Elizabeth Kolbert’s Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future
[15:58] Walter Anderson
[17:46] Jack Davis’s The Bald Eagle: The Improbable Journey of America's Bird
2022-09-2126 minre: WildJulia Rosen: We Are Grass PeopleIf you're anything like me, when you think of nature the first image that comes to mind is a tree. But, as beautiful as forests are, another ecosystem is even more important to human history: grasslands. For centuries, grasslands have been ignored by Western scientists, sometimes even denigrated as wastelands. Julia Rosen says that's due in part to a bias against grasslands that emerged in Europe and was exported overseas. In this episode of re: Wild, Boyce and Julia discuss grasslands — both their past and the key role they may play in our future.
For further reading, se...
2022-09-0723 min
The Mississippi Valley Traveler PodcastBoyce Upholt on the Plan to Rebuild Louisiana's Coastal MarshesSend us a textFor decades, Louisiana has been losing coastal marshes in areas around the mouth of the Mississippi River. The biggest causes for the loss of land are the levees built along the Mississippi and the hundreds of canals cut through the marshes for oil and gas exploration. Hurricane Katrina helped renew the determination to not only stop this loss but find ways to restore the Mississippi River’s ability to build land again. Journalist Boyce Upholt wrote about one of the plans to rebuild land in a recent article. In this episode of the Mi...
2022-08-3152 minre: WildPeter Alagona: The Nature of CitiesCities and suburbs across the U.S. are filled with wildlife, from squirrels to hawks to coyotes and bears. Indeed, you're more likely to run into a bear outside of Newark, New Jersey, than outside of Anchorage. How did this come to be true? That's the subject of The Accidental Ecosystem by environmental historian Peter Alagona, the guest on this episode of re: Wild.
2022-08-0937 min
The Garrett Ashley Mullet ShowVoluntary Sterilization, River Management, and Whether Man Should Engineer NatureMark Tooley recently interviewed Joshua Mitchell for Providence Magazine to discuss the relationship between conservative political action and Protestant Christianity. In the interview, Mitchell remarks that our policy discussions in America still center around Protestant Christian concepts like transgression and propitiation, even though Protestant Christianity per se has been largely removed from public life.Consequently, insofar as identity politics has reorganized and redefined what we identify as either iniquitous or righteous, in the absence of Christ serving as our ultimate scapegoat, whole classes of people in American society are now regarded as stand-ins where Christ formerly was...
2022-08-021h 11re: WildLyndsie Bourgon: Tree ThievesThe act of carving up a tree on public land can seem like a desecration: our forests are our natural cathedrals, after all, at least according to the classic cliché. But as writer and oral historian Lyndsie Bourgon points out in her new book Tree Thieves, crime in the forest is a bit more complicated.
2022-07-1237 minHakai Magazine Audio EditionThe Controversial Plan to Unleash the Mississippiby Boyce Upholt • Our long history of constraining the river through levees has led to massive land loss in its delta. Can we engineer our way out? And at what cost?
The original story, along with photos and video, can be found on hakaimagazine.com.
2022-07-1235 min
re: WildMarcia Bjornerud: TimefulnessSometimes we like to seek landscapes that feel timeless, as if they've been set adrift from the tyranny of the clock. But perhaps we need to start seeing the world as timeful.
Marcia Bjornerud is a professor of geology and environmental studies at Lawrence University, and the author of two books, Timefulness: How Thinking Like a Geologist Can Help Save the World, and Geopedia: A Brief Compendium of Geological Curiosities.
In this first episode of re: Wild, I talk to Marcia about deep time, and how developing "timefulness" might be key to a better relationship...
2022-06-2131 minEmergence Magazine PodcastSaguaro, Free of the Earth – Boyce Upholt
In this narrated essay, Boyce Upholt travels to the US-Mexico border, where the O’odham peoples have long revered the saguaro cactus as a being with personhood—a belief that is congruous with the recent rights-of-nature movement. As legal protections for the cactus come up against the push to build a wall through Organ Pipe Cactus National Park, Boyce meets with elders from the Tohono O’odham Nation who are acting on behalf of the rooted beings of the desert. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
2022-04-0539 min
The Deckle EdgeBoyce UpholtA conversation with Boyce Upholt, a freelance journalist based in New Orleans. His writing has appeared in National Geographic, The Atlantic, and Mother Jones, among other outlets, and he received the 2019 James Beard Award for investigative journalism for his feature story in The New Republic about the farm chemical dicamba. His forthcoming book about the Mississippi River will be published by W.W. Norton.
2022-03-2134 minHakai Magazine Audio EditionThe Quest for a Floating Utopiaby Boyce Upholt • Can casting away from established society to inhabit sea-based colonies save us from the problems of modern life—or are we bound to repeat our mistakes?
The original story, along with illustrations by Chad Lewis, can be found on hakaimagazine.com.
2021-04-0642 min