Jackson Unpacked

The hottest party invite in Jackson this summer is a quinceañera; we have the last in a series following one 15-year-old on her journey to this coming-of-age milestone. In Rock Springs, a community reckons with the memory of a 19th-century massacre of Chinese immigrant workers. We also share a snippet of a StoryCorps conversation with Jackson resident Curt Parker about resilience after tragedy. Lastly, we visit a new locals-only housing complex that tests what trade-offs some people are willing to make to live here. 

Featuring music from Jackson band Cache Funk @cachefunkmusic. 

Jackson Unpacked airs locally at 89.1 FM or via live-stream Mondays at 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and Fridays and Sundays at 12:30 p.m. Support Jackson’s only nonprofit newsroom by becoming a member of KHOL today.

This week we have another bonus episode from “The Modern West,” a production of PRX and our friends over at Wyoming Public Media. In the podcast’s 10th season, “The Gray in Between,” reporters tackle stories from a wolf incident in Sublette County last year that gained worldwide attention, to creative solutions to the affordable housing crisis, to the inevitable death of elk in the Jackson Herd, right here, in our backyard.

Today’s episode is titled “I Am What I Choose To Become” reported and produced by KHOL’s Chris Clements. Five years ago, a Northern Arapaho judge was sent to prison. Now, she helps keep Wind River residents from going back into custody. 

Some would box sailing in, say there’s no way the sport could exist in landlocked Wyoming. We travel to Fremont Lake south of town and find that’s not the case at all. Also, the evolution of a town-wide group chat that shows Jackson’s good, bad and at times, downright ugly. We take a tour of a Jackson nonprofit lab working on brain disease research and we check in on the state of journalism in the Cowboy State after being dealt some recent blows. 

Jackson Unpacked airs locally at 89.1 FM or via live-stream Mondays at 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and Fridays and Sundays at 12:30 p.m. Support Jackson’s only nonprofit newsroom by becoming a member of KHOL today.

This week we have another bonus episode from “The Modern West,” a production of PRX and our friends over at Wyoming Public Media. In the podcast’s 10th season, “The Gray in Between,” reporters tackle stories from a wolf incident in Sublette County last year that gained worldwide attention, to creative solutions to the affordable housing crisis, to the inevitable death of elk in the Jackson Herd, right here, in our backyard.

Today’s episode is titled “Home Again,” reported and produced by Wyoming Public Radio’s Hannah Habermann. Back in the 1930s, a trading post swapped Northern Arapaho artifacts for food and other basic necessities. Decades later, a descendant opened boxes in a storage room of the Episcopal Church in Laramie, Wyoming. 80 years later, the church has finally returned the artifacts to the tribe. We attend the ceremony.

We head to an archaeological dig in Rock Springs that’s leading to discoveries about the town's former Chinatown and a massacre that took place there over a century ago. Then, we get inside the concert halls in Teton Village where the Grand Teton Music Festival is trying to prove its music isn’t just for the highbrow listener. We hear about how a photo camp on the Wind River reservation is becoming a mental health solution for men, and sit down with economist and Jackson Town Councilor Jonathan Schechter to hear why he’s holding on to hope for shrinking Jackson’s wealth gap following the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Mid-episode music this week is “Fountains of Rome,” a tone poem from 20th century composer Ottorino Respighi and performed by the Grand Teton Music Festival orchestra.

Jackson Unpacked airs locally at 89.1 FM or via live-stream Mondays at 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and Fridays and Sundays at 12:30 p.m. Support Jackson’s only nonprofit newsroom by becoming a member of KHOL today.

This week, we have a bonus episode from “The Modern West,” a production of PRX and our friends over at Wyoming Public Media. In the podcasts’ 10th season, “The Gray in Between,” reporters tackle stories from a wolf incident in Sublette County last year that gained worldwide attention, to creative solutions to the affordable housing crisis, to the inevitable death of elk in the Jackson Herd, right here, in our backyard.

Join Wyoming Public Radio’s Melodie Edwards as she heads down to Pinedale to hear what it was like for a newspaper editor to cover the infamous wolf incident by herself after her entire staff was laid off by her corporate publisher.

After federal workers were fired in February, many warned it would be much harder to keep the over 3 million acres in the Bridger-Teton National Forest clean, accessible and safe this summer. We check in. Also, what the passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” may mean for rural hospitals like St. John’s here in Jackson, a chat with a four-member bluegrass band from Victor and a high alpine lake in the southern end of the Wind River Range is the nation's poopiest.

Mid-episode music this week is from the Balsamroots, a four-member band based in Victor, Idaho, that has been playing in and around the Tetons since forming in 2018.

Jackson Unpacked airs locally at 89.1 FM or via live-stream Mondays at 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and Fridays and Sundays at 12:30 p.m. Support Jackson’s only nonprofit newsroom by becoming a member of KHOL today.

This week, we have a BONUS episode from “The Modern West,” a production of PRX and our friends over at Wyoming Public Media. In the podcast's 10th season, “The Gray in Between,” reporters tackle stories from a wolf incident in Sublette County last year that gained worldwide attention, to creative solutions to the affordable housing crisis, to the inevitable death of elk in the Jackson Herd, right here, in our backyard.

Join Wyoming Public Radio’s Caitlin Tan as she takes us to Sublette County, where it’s been over a year since a man brought an injured wolf into a bar.

We learn how more immigrants in Teton County are being transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A new state law could continue the trend. We’ll hear more about how parents are talking with t heir kids about antisemitism, a look at Teton Science School’s efforts to keep students around after some tough years for enrollment. And, there’s lots of talk right now about selling off federal land. What might it look like if states take over management?

Jackson Unpacked airs locally at 89.1 FM or via live-stream Mondays at 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and Fridays and Sundays at 12:30 p.m. Support Jackson’s only nonprofit newsroom by becoming a member of KHOL today.

We learn how more immigrants in Teton County are being transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A new state law could continue the trend. We’ll hear more about how parents are talking with t heir kids about antisemitism, a look at Teton Science School’s efforts to keep students around after some tough years for enrollment. And, there’s lots of talk right now about selling off federal land. What might it look like if states take over management?

Jackson Unpacked airs locally at 89.1 FM or via live-stream Mondays at 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and Fridays and Sundays at 12:30 p.m. Support Jackson’s only nonprofit newsroom by becoming a member of KHOL today.