Middle of Everywhere

We are here to give you a quick update on some news about the snail darter and our team. Also, we’re looking for voices! Listen in to find out why.

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @middleofeverywherepod and on Twitter @rural_stories.  Learn more about us at middleofeverywherepod.org. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Do you love getting lost in shows like Yellowstone or 1883 and dream about that ruff and tumble lifestyle out on the range? Well, you probably know, there’s more to the cowboy lifestyle than meets the eye!

Today on the podcast, I’m sharing a fascinating story about real cowboys and the truth about ranching with the help of my friend and acclaimed journalist Melodie Edwards, who hosts the Peabody-nominated podcast The Modern West.  This is the first episode of The Modern West’s newest season, where Melodie explores different kinds of cowboys—from those who chase the dream of becoming “the next rodeo star” to the hardworking (and sometimes intimidating!) ranchers on the homestead. Along the way, Melodie busts all sorts of myths about what it means to measure up to American ideals.

Visit The Modern West at https://themodernwest.org/ or listen wherever you get podcasts.

In our final  episode of The Story of Tanasi, and our last episode of the season, we’re back at the lake to find out what this story means for people today.  People who went through the battle to save the LittleT still gather, hailing from all around the country.  And what about that “stupid little fish,” the snail darter (Percina Imostoma Tanasi) around which the whole story revolved?  Today, the case of the snail darter is taught in law classrooms as an introduction to the Endangered Species Act, because “It set the terms.” The snail darter is now surviving in other tributaries maintained by the TVA, but that is not without consequences.  And the Cherokee, who were the first people to rule this valley, are slowly finding their way back, ironically thanks to the taking of their ancient land for the Tellico project.

None of the new laws coming out of congress in the 60s and 70s could stop the Tellico Dam Project.  But, a different legal approach that sought to protect the religious freedom and sacred sites of the Cherokee could provide a new lifeline.  In this episode, we hear from Eastern Band of Cherokee leaders about uniting with the Tellico farmers and environmental lawyers to honor the river and make one last attempt to stop the dam.

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @middleofeverywherepod and on Twitter @rural_stories.  Learn more about us at middleofeverywherepod.org. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What happens when a radical new environmental law, a tiny endangered fish, and a tenacious young lawyer walk into the highest court in the land? Not what you might expect.  We’ll follow our hero in earth shoes as he journeys through the courts all the way to Washington. He fights alongside the band of farmers who have vowed to fight until there’s nothing left to fight for.  In the process we’ll unveil the system that ensures that government works primarily for the special interests of a few over the many. 

In Part 2 of our series we meet some of the people who once called the Little Tennessee River Valley home, and we hear surprising stories about how they were slighted by the Tennessee Valley Authority and bullied out of their homes.  We retrace how the agency came to have unparalleled power over the Tennessee Valley and how some farmers developed so much loathing for and fear of this agency.  After almost fifteen years of fighting they neared the point of giving up. Then, a young lawyer joined the fight with the help of a tiny fish.

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @middleofeverywherepod and on Twitter @rural_stories.  Learn more about us at middleofeverywherepod.org. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

What is the story behind silos that stick up out of the middle of a lake in the foothills of the Smokies?  As we tour around this lake, we see more sites, like an old bridge descending into the water, a few markers of a deep history of Cherokee habitation, then large, extravagant houses that overlook the water’s edge. It all helps paint a picture of the complex history that lives under the water’s surface, in what used to be a river valley.  This is the first episode in a series we’re calling The Story of Tanasi.  In this series we’ll follow a decades-long battle that took the river’s people all the way to the Supreme Court as they tried to save their way of life in the river valley. 

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @middleofeverywherepod and on Twitter @rural_stories.  Learn more about us at middleofeverywherepod.org. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

While researching for our season all about rivers, we uncovered a story that, when first reported, seemed straightforward.  But the more we dug in the more we understood that this story required more than one episode. Listen as we give a glimpse of the next several episodes.

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @middleofeverywherepod and on Twitter @rural_stories.  Learn more about us at middleofeverywherepod.org. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

What things does a paddlewheel steamboat bring to your mind? Is a “roustabout” one of them? They may not be so familiar but there is a treasury of music surrounding the Black men and women who worked on steamboats in the last two centuries. These roustabouts and chambermaids had tough jobs, and music was one of the things that helped them get through it. We’ll hear and talk about the music of the roustabouts and keeping their history alive.

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @middleofeverywherepod and on Twitter @rural_stories.  Learn more about us at middleofeverywherepod.org. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

We all know we live in a world full of plastic.  But how much plastic gets into our waterways and what happens to it once it’s there? Would you swim an entire river to find out?  We talk to two scientists who put together an epic swim of the Tennessee River to do just that.  We hear all about what it took to pull it off, from using a drone to feed a swimmer to dealing with river monsters, and what they learned in the process.