Shows
More Than: A PodcastEpisode 11 - IlluminatorsIn this final episode, Michelle and Emily welcome 5 guests to give short lightening thoughts that help illuminate their very human hopes for the future of the Mountain West - all inspired by the morethanhuman in their midst. The hosts hope you will share their dreams and work to make them a reality. 2025-05-1636 minMore Than: A PodcastEpisode 10 - Travelers: Stars, Monarchs, and Road KillIn this episode, Emily and Michelle think about movements that matter in the Mountain West. Road kill, monarchs and stars all figure in this episode about travelers. They welcome Will Wright, historian at Augustana University. He is an environmental historian who writes about the history of the monarch butterfly. His advisor in graduate school was Mark Fiege, a historian we quote in the episode!2025-05-081h 00More Than: A PodcastEpisode 9 - Framers: Cities, Rodents, and ArchivesIn this episode, Emily and Michelle take the listeners on a wild exploration of the urban morethanhuman and ask that we become aware of the importance of cities to the "nature" of the Mountain West.2025-04-3045 minMore Than: A PodcastEpisode 8 - Reminders: BirdsIn this episode, Emily and Michelle go it alone because they had too much to say! Birds remind us of the morethanhuman on a daily basis and they have inspired many of the most important developments for conservation science in the United States beginning in the 19th century.2025-04-1850 minMore Than: A PodcastEpisode 7 - Persisters: CoyoteIn this episode, Emily and Michelle invite listeners to engage with the oft maligned Coyote. Trickster in Native traditions, danger in rancher lore, nuisance in urban imaginations, the Coyote shows how the morethanhuman is differently understood but always experienced as present and even ubiquitous. The hosts then welcome the foremost authority on the history of Coyote, Dan Flores.2025-04-1053 minMore Than: A PodcastEpisode 6 - Builders: BeaversEpisode 6 Synopsis- In this episode, Emily tells a terrific story about parachuting beavers and asks us to think about all the ways these animals have helped to build (literally and figuratively) the Mountain West. She and Michelle are then joined by animal rights lawyer Asha Ramakumar and New York Times bestselling author of Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America, Leila Philip. This episode is a little longer because we were having just too much fun conversing with Asha and Leila. And we have fewer sources to list below because most of the episode...2025-04-0258 minMore Than: A PodcastEpisode 5 - Interlopers: Cows, Elk, and BuffaloEpisode 5 Synopsis- In this episode, Michelle and Emily chew the cud about the furry ungulates who have captivated imaginations, inspired national conservation movements, and stimulated endless debate. In this episode, it is just the two co-hosts who have much to say about the ways in which cows, elk, and buffalo make us rethink binaries and boundaries as they lope through the history of the Mountain West.2025-03-2554 minMore Than: A PodcastEpisode 4 - Supporters: PlantsIn this episode, Michelle and Emily ask listeners to consider the presence and importance of plants in the region. Wandering among cottonwoods, willows, cholla, ponderosa forests, and even the grocery store, the hosts offer stories of the ways in which plants are present in our daily lives and have long altered the actions of human beings historically. They welcome Boise State University historian John Bieterand University of Arizona history major Gabby Vanover both of whom explain how trees provide vital information about the past that we can use to think about the future. Even if you...2025-03-191h 13More Than: A PodcastEpisode 3 - Helpers: InsectsIn this episode, Michelle and Emily jump into an investigation of the history-making power of insects. The hosts welcome guest Molly Hunter, an entomologist at the University of Arizona. Hunter explains how insects are all around us "living their best lives." The goal of the episode is for listeners to hear some examples of insects propelling humans to act in particular ways over time.2025-03-1250 minMore Than: A PodcastEpisode 2 - Givers: WatersIn this episode, Michelle and Emily dive into a discussion of water and its mutli-faceted meanings for people and the morethanhumans who make the Mountain West home. In a region largely defined by aridity, water is (literally) life. The hosts welcome guest Heather Whiteman Runs Him, member of the Crow nation, associate clinical professor of law at the University of Arizona and the Director of UArizona's Tribal Justice Clinic. Episode 2 takes us on a journey down rivers and into aquifers in order to begin to think about how the false dualisms of nature/culture and nature/technology...2025-03-051h 04More Than: A PodcastEpisode 1 - Cultivators: SoilIn this episode, Michelle and Emily introduce the podcast and welcome guest Marie-Anne de Graaff, a soil scientist at Boise State University. Episode 1 takes us on a journey into the muck to learn that soil has laid the foundation for history. From the fascinating cryptobiotic crust on the Colorado Plateau to the role soil has long played in Indigenous agriculture to the efforts of the US government to conserve soil especially after moments of disaster like the Dust Bowl, this episode (literally) grounds the podcast and provides introductions to the ideas that root More Than.2025-02-261h 00
ContextThe Legacy of Cecil D. AndrusJohanna is thrilled to be joined by Dr. Emily Wakild from Boise State University to learn more about one of Idaho’s most beloved governors, and the last Democrat to serve as governor of Idaho, Cecil D. Andrus.
Dr. Wakild is a professor of environmental studies and the Cecil D. Andrus Endowed Chair for the Environment and Public Lands at Boise State University. Raised in eastern Oregon, she earned her B.A. from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon in 1999 and her PhD from the University of Arizona in 2007. Dr. Wakild’s main academic research exca...2024-05-1346 min
New Books in Environmental StudiesE. Wakild and M. K. Berry, "A Primer for Teaching Environmental History: Ten Design Principles" (Duke UP, 2018)Emily Wakild and Michelle K. Berry have written a practical, informative, and inspiring guide to teaching environmental history. It also happens to be fun. A Primer for Teaching Environmental History: Ten Design Principles (Duke University Press, 2018) offers strategies and approaches that educators can apply in a variety of settings: from high school classrooms to college courses, and from environmental history and environmental studies courses to US and world history surveys. Wakild and Berry draw on their years of experience in the classroom to describe not only the how, but also the why of effective teaching. They thereby empower readers...2019-12-3152 min
New Books in EducationE. Wakild and M. K. Berry, "A Primer for Teaching Environmental History: Ten Design Principles" (Duke UP, 2018)Emily Wakild and Michelle K. Berry have written a practical, informative, and inspiring guide to teaching environmental history. It also happens to be fun. A Primer for Teaching Environmental History: Ten Design Principles (Duke University Press, 2018) offers strategies and approaches that educators can apply in a variety of settings: from high school classrooms to college courses, and from environmental history and environmental studies courses to US and world history surveys. Wakild and Berry draw on their years of experience in the classroom to describe not only the how, but also the why of effective teaching. They thereby empower readers...2019-12-3152 min