The Write Question

"Popular Music is both a love letter to music—how it accents, affects, and defines us through varying stages of our lives—and a hilarious and heart-breaking investigation of our relationship to technology, nature, and country. This book is in a class of its own and is simply unforgettable." -- Chicago Review of Books

Award-winning author S.M. Hulse writes to the heart of the new American West. In Eden Mine, collapsed industries, disaffected community members, family loyalties and faith collide in a rich tapestry of storytelling. This interview addresses those tensions as well as ableism, art and what it means to adopt a gender neutral pen name.

The Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Area is one of the crown jewels of the entire Wilderness system. Formed at the conjunction of two of the Rockies’ great mountain ranges, together the Absarokas and Beartooths make up a sublime roadless wilderness that fully deserves this country’s highest level of protection for our shared public lands. In this interview, Traute Parrie, Mary Manning, and Aaron Teasdale discuss this unique area's features as well as tensions and values in preserving wild lands.

What might the humanities teach us about a global health crisis? In this conversation, acclaimed science journalist David Quammen speaks to Samantha Dwyer about how the arts and sciences can inform and comfort us, while we search for action and meaning. Attention is also given to rural states, as we watch national urban epicenters peak. This program is made possible through a partnership between Humanities Montana and MTPR.

A heart-rending tale of family, love and violence… Through these characters, in a prose that can hum gently, then spark like a fire, Wilkins fashions a Western fable which spirals down to a tragic end. Following in the literary roots of Montanans Jim Harrison and Rick Bass, Wilkins packs a lot of story and stylistic wallop into this gripping, outstanding novel.” –Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Free Verse teaches literature and creative writing in juvenile halls across Montana. In this interview, Executive Director Claire Compton and Teachers Nicole Gomez and Taylor White invite listeners into the raw and heartfelt expressions of youth in detention. We discuss oppression and visibility as well as inevitable moments of hope and humor. According to Free Verse, “Our goal is to one day have teachers in every hall in Montana. Our dream is to shut down our organization because there are no

Part 2 of our special series on documentary filmmakers features Willow O'Feral and Brad Heck, the artists behind "Sisters Rising," which screened at the 2020 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival . The film tracks six Native American women reclaiming personal and tribal sovereignty in the face of ongoing sexual violence against Indigenous women in the United States. In this interview, we'll discuss the historical and modern reinforcers of exploitation, obstacles to justice, and powerful stories of

Part 1 of our special series on documentary filmmakers features Carlo Nassise and Eva Rendle, two brilliant artists who screened their work at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival . Though distinct in their content, each film explores relevant socio-cultural themes in the west. In this interview, we'll discuss the craft of cinematography, including story arcs, filmmaking techniques, surprising scenes, and the unique relationships between the filmmakers and subjects.

Jeremy Pataky overwinters in Anchorage, Alaska, before spending early spring through late fall in McCarthy, Alaska . In this urban-rural migration, Jeremy maintains an impressive resume, publishing poems, essays, as well as Edible Alaska magazine. He also directs 49 Writers, a literary nonprofit in the 49 th state. In this conversation, Jeremy addresses the nature of his ice-obsessed poetry, and what it means to listen to voices of the north, as we grapple with a rapidly changing and uncertain

In her best-selling memoir, This Is Not the Story You Think It Is, Laura Munson modeled a vulnerable, fearless approach to the page—one that resisted simple narratives and tidy endings. Now, Laura’s first published novel, Willa’s Grove, brings her back to her first love: fiction. In this earnest and inspiring interview, Laura describes the deeper undercurrents of her work, perspectives on success and failure, and her commitment to community.