A flag's primary purpose is to be recognized from a distance. That means few colors, no lettering and a clear distinction from other flags. Ideally, it should be simple enough for a child to draw it from memory. So, how did Montana end up with such a complicated flag? Learn more in this episode of The Big Why.

This week on The Big Why, we’re exploring Montana’s 56 counties. A listener from Billings wants to know how they got their shapes. Finding the answer led MTPR's Austin Amestoy down a rabbit hole where he found a saga of boom and bust, backroom dealing and an unlikely folk hero.

This week: A second edition of "The Little Why," where we tackle questions from our younger listeners. Saddle up, grab the reins and ride along with us as we learn about wild horses in Montana.

The word "wildfire" often conjures dramatic images of walls of flame, charred landscapes and one particularly famous photo of elk in a river, surrounded by flames. So, how do wildlife fare during these big fires? This week on The Big Why, a listener asks, why we don't get any statistics on wildlife that die in wildfires.

This week on The Big Why: A listener is curious about recyclables that don’t get recycled in Montana. Namely, why is plastic recycling so limited? "We're all encouraged to recycle. But when it comes right down to it, what happens to the things we actually recycle?"

Montana’s frontier days were stuffed with gold, greed and political corruption — and all three played a part in drawing the state’s western boundary with Idaho. A listener wants to know how that squiggly line came to be. Find out now on The Big Why.

Today's question is about a huge pile of what turns out is not exactly dirt. It's actually a new specialty landfill at the center of a years long controversy over what we do with some of the stuff we throw away and who bears the environmental cost. Learn more now on The Big Why.

Have you ever looked at a mountain and wondered why there were trees on one side but none on the other? Or noticed different species growing on opposite sides? Well, you barked up the right tree. Find out how trees choose sides in the mountain face off, right here on The Big Why.

People have lived in Big Sky Country for a little more than 10,000 years. But living things creeped and crawled and swam around here for hundreds of millions of years before then. A Big Why listener wanted to know when life showed up in the place we now call Montana.

Libraries do more than just lend books. They offer community events, classes, access to computers — and they help preserve cultural knowledge. But, public funding is being slashed, delayed or taken back as the Trump Administration works to cut government programs. After recent federal cuts, one listener wants to know what’s going to happen to rural museums and libraries across the state.