The 1930s were a collective hellhole for Americans; not only were they suffering from the Great Depression, but decades of agricultural malpractice and a serious drought led to one of the worst environmental disasters in US history. Thankfully, there is light at the end of the dust cloud. Join Emileigh and Morgan as they discuss humanity's stewardship of the Earth, and its harsh consequences. 

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Sources:

“Dust Bowl” (Oct 27 2009, updated May 28 2025)

https://www.history.com/articles/dust-bowl

“The Real Story Behind the ‘Migrant Mother’” by Sarah Pruitt (May 8 2020, updated May 28 2025)

https://www.history.com/articles/migrant-mother-new-deal-great-depression

“The Dust Bowl” 

loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/great-depression-and-world-war-ii-1929-1945/

“The Dust Bowl (c. 1930-1940)” 

https://www.science.smith.edu/climatelit/the-dust-bowl/

“Public Land: Whose Land is it?” 

https://www.nebraskastudies.org/en/1900-1924/reforming-beef/public-land-whose-land-is-it/

“Homesteading in the Badlands” 

https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/homesteading.htm

“Dust Bowl Facts and Timeline” by Russell Yost (Nov 21 2020, updated Nov 4 2023)

https://thehistoryjunkie.com/dust-bowl-facts-and-timeline/

“Timeline: The Dust Bowl” 

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/dust-bowl-surviving-dust-bowl/

“What Caused the Dust Bowl?” by Maria Trimarchi (Sept 14 2023)

https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/dust-bowl-cause.htm

“The Dust Bowl” 

https://drought.unl.edu/DustBowl/

“1988 U.S. Drought/Heatwave” 

https://www.hsdl.org/c/timeline/1988-u-s-droughtheatwave/

“The Drought of 1988 was the worst since the Dust Bowl” by Tom Skilling” (Jul 21 2018)

https://wgntv.com/news/the-drought-of-1988-was-the-worst-since-the-dust-bowl/

“‘89 Drought Feared as a World Catastrophe” (Oct 2 1988)

https://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/02/us/89-drought-feared-as-a-world-catastrophe.html#

“Remembering the Drought of 1988”

https://www.glenallenweather.com/upload/history/significant/early-events/1988/1988.pdf

Sound Credits:

“Running Tile” by waveformwanderer [https://audio.com/waveformwanderer/audio/running-tile]

“Calm-Piano” by Martyn Odonnell [https://audio.com/martyn-odonnell/audio/calm-piano] 

“Deep Wind Gusts” by sonicfableforge [https://audio.com/sonicfableforge/audio/deep-wind-gusts]

“Stormy Winds” by Hertzheirloomvoyager [https://audio.com/hertzheirloomvoyager/audio/stormy-winds]

“Gale Force Winds” by echopulsemystic [https://audio.com/echopulsemystic/audio/gale-force-winds] 

“Dedpression” by krym1964 [https://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-dedpression-339994/]