• Season 1 Preview
    Feb 21 2020

    Reframing Rural's mission it to cultivate curiosity and conversation across the urban rural divide. The first season, Coming Home, is set in Sheridan County, Montana, which borders Canada, North Dakota, and the most rural county in the United States. Coming Home reflects on geography's role in our understanding of home and features stories of hope and resilience from the Northern Great Plains. Hosted and produced by Megan Torgerson, this narrative nonfiction podcast reframes the narrative on rural America.

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    5 mins
  • Season 1 Episode 1: Preservation and Motherhood on the Northern Great Plains
    Mar 6 2020

    Kim Rudnigen is a mother of four, working as an environmental compliance officer in the oil and gas industry in Northeast Montana. In Reframing Rural's first episode, we'll learn from Kim what it is like to raise a family in a county where there are two people per square mile and how the Rudnigens are helping to reinvigorate the community surrounding Dagmar, MT.

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    23 mins
  • Season 1 Episode 2: The Scary Prairie Will Not Get the Best of Me
    May 1 2020

    Margaret Hoven and David Anderson moved to Plentywood, Montana from Washington D.C. 15 years ago. Northeastern Montana culture, political memory, change and the power of music are themes explored in this episode named after Margaret's original song "The Scary Prairie Will Not Get the Best of Me" from a play the couple co-wrote, "Dead Thing On the Wall."

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    25 mins
  • Season 1 Episode 3: Unearthing the Indigenous Narrative in Northeast Montana
    Jul 30 2020

    Eddie Hentges grew up and later taught history on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Northeast Montana. A descendant of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, he discusses the politics behind looking Native, the history of the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes and how he approaches teaching U.S. high school history through a multicultural and decolonial lens.

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    28 mins
  • Season 1 Episode 4: Faith the Size of a Mustard Seed
    Oct 13 2020

    Ralph Summers is a mailman, bus driver, taxidermist and preacher living in Dagmar, Montana. In this episode, we explore the history of rural mail delivery, the value of neighbors, and what it means to have faith.

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    25 mins
  • Season 1 Episode 5: A Snapshot of Family Farming Amid Cycles of Modernization and Migration
    Feb 19 2021

    The Torgersons have farmed for as far back as the family has record of, at least the 1500s, but likely much longer. Beginning with the onset of industrialization, this episode tracks the story of a family who left Norway for the promise of a better life in America nearly 150 years ago, and how this family continues to preserve its farming legacy in Northeastern Montana despite a dwindling population, unpredictable weather and an unfavorable commodity market.

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    31 mins
  • Season 1 Episode 6: A Mother's Day Celebration of Rural Womanhood
    May 9 2021

    This special Mother's Day episode features Kay Brinkman and Renny Torgerson two old friends and rural Montana farm women who have lived in the Scandinavian farming community of Dagmar, since the 1970s. From braving a whiteout with a herd of cattle, to teaching in a two-room school house, these matriarchs are an example of the integral role women play in small towns and rural communities across the country.

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    28 mins
  • Season 1 Bonus Episode: The Modern West
    May 31 2021

    Looking for another podcast set in the American West that weaves family stories, personal inquiry and cultural analysis to uncover issues affecting beloved rural places? Look no further than The Modern West's Ghost Town(ing) series! In this episode you'll hear from host Melodie Edwards who will transport you to Walden, Colorado where she interviews her parents about their enduring love for their small town and what compels them to stay.

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    30 mins