For Native Americans, the story of pandemics started the moment European colonizers stepped foot off their ships. Savannah Maher's tribe the Mashpee Wampanoag experienced that first Great Dying. Arapaho and Shoshone descendant Taylar Stagner tells the history of how those diseases came West as a form of biological warfare.

The Great Dying: Shall Furnish Medicine Part 1

Exploring the evolving identity of the American West. Produced by Wyoming Public Media and PRX, The Modern West takes you on a sound-rich journey into some of America's most iconic landscapes. Guided by host Melodie Edwards' personal connection to the region, it's an unflinching look at the American West--its problematic history, its modern-day struggles and resilience, and how its present and future are being shaped.

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Recidivism rates in the U.S. are some of the highest in the world, and in Wyoming, 33 percent of inmates are back in prison within the first year. But studies show that animal therapy can help reduce that by teaching things like responsibility, nonviolence and empathy. Most programs pair inmates with dogs. But Wyoming has a special program – one of only five in the country – that teaches inmates how to tame wild horses.

The Tamers and the Tamed - Part Five of High Altitude Tales

In the resort town of Jackson Hole, WY, the housing shortage is so bad that people are finding crazy workarounds for how to live there. Like this guy, living in his van. "It’s cold when you come back. And then the issue is, like, all your water freezes and all your stuff is frozen. And trying to dry ski stuff or anything like that it’s a pain - but once the heaters are goin it gets crankin' in here!"

Chasing the Dragon - Part Four of High Altitude Tales

The story of two wolves in Colorado’s North Park, a father and a son, and how the community is – or is not – coming to terms with their presence."Wolves represent a lot of what farming and ranching is about, which is like, you have no control ultimately."Wolves #2101 and #2301: episode 3 of our series High Altitude Tales.

Wolves #2101 and #2301- Part Three of High Altitude Tales

Take a bike ride into a tiny forgotten historic mining town that sits at the intersection of two beloved through trails. For hardcore bikers and hikers, this town is an oasis. And for a community used to cycles of boom and bust, there's hope this boom could last.

The Sixth Boom - Part Two of High Altitude Tales

Exactly 100 years to the day after a woman named Eleanor Davis became the first recorded woman to ever climb the Grand Teton – a nearly 14,000 foot-tall mountain that’s the namesake for Grand Teton National Park – an all-female group of climbers is summiting the peak to celebrate her legacy. Hannah Habermann tagged along for the adventure.

The Great Dying: Shall Furnish Medicine Part 1

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