Rural Remix

On this episode we are speaking with Eliza Blue about the art of sourdough bread. Eliza is a folk musician, writer, and rancher residing in one of the most remote counties in the contiguous United States, Perkins County, South Dakota. Listen to learn how we can co-evolve with bread and how bread connects us to our ancestors.

Check out the recipe, show notes, and more on ⁠our website.

Welcome to Rural Food Traditions. We’re starting where many meals across diverse food traditions begin: with bread.

On this episode we visit with Nico Albert Williams about fry bread. We discuss the bread's Native American roots, controversial history, and Nico's personal relationship to the language of food.

Check out the Fry Bread recipe discussed on our website.

Extreme survival stories like the Donner Party’s expedition over the Sierra Nevada or the Uruguayan rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes are sensationalized for the lengths they went to survive, but is what they did really so unbelievable?

Don’t be fooled by stereotypes. Rural people care about the natural resources on which their communities depend. This week Daily Yonder reporter Claire Carlson discusses the importance of specificity in environmental conversations and why environmentalists should listen to rural perspectives

This episode of Rural Remix centers on the story of Jeans Corduroy and his journey as a transmasculine man in East Tennessee. Daily Yonder reporter Lane Wendell Fischer speaks with Jeans to explore growing up rural and queer, and identity’s impact on family, religion, and community. 

Read the full story on ⁠The Daily Yonder.

In the series's fifth and final episode, the narrative links back up with the present. Synthetic drugs like meth and heroin are being seized in their highest quantities to-date, and deadly overdose rates have reached new heights. What can be done? And what can the newfound popularity of harm reduction offer the debate?

Learn more on our website.

While the Nevada suburbs continue to sprawl, a remote stretch of Highway 50 is starting to feel more and more like home for Daily Yonder reporter Claire Carlson. On today’s episode, she discusses a love for open spaces in the state of Nevada. 

As the U.S. found ways to successfully limit domestic production of methamphetamine, Mexican drug traffickers innovated new, high-volume production methods. Meth became very potent and very cheap, and began to infiltrate new American drug markets. What does this new system mean for the illicit drug supply? How does it affect people using and policing meth in the U.S.?

Learn more on our website.

In 1999, the state of Missouri destroyed more than 900 clandestine meth labs. Among the officers tasked with carrying out that constant cleanup process, fear reigned. In response, the state trained an astronomical amount of resources on understanding the problem. A slew of state and federal laws were passed to limit access to meth’s precursor chemicals. But meth cooks got scrappy, replacing older recipes with new, soda-bottle scale techniques. What was it like to police meth in this era? What was it like to use it?

Learn more on our website.