Episodes

  • Chapter 9: Bought the Farm

    Chapter 9: Bought the Farm
    Oct 8 2025
    After 8 episodes of The Only Thing That Lasts, looking at the deeply complicated history of farmland in America, host Sarah Mock brings us into the present day, with an episode on the factors working to both a) lessen our collective amount of farmland and b) make it more challenging for aspiring farmers to get their own plot. It's a challenging situation, but Sarah doesn't despair: She speaks to farmers and farmland investors who are working to consider new ways to approach the land question. Not all hope is lost!
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    54 mins
  • Chapter 1: Is the U.S. Running Out of Farmland?

    Chapter 1: Is the U.S. Running Out of Farmland?
    Sep 6 2025
    In the first episode of our 8-episode limited series, agriculture journalist Sarah Mock unpacks the dire warnings advocates are making — namely, that we're losing thousands of acres of U.S. farmland every day. What does this loss actually mean, contrasted with issues like our lack of affordable housing? And, perhaps more importantly, should we be worried about our food supply?
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    35 mins
  • Chapter 5: Raise Less Corn and More Hell

    Chapter 5: Raise Less Corn and More Hell
    Sep 6 2025
    Long before "populist" became a nebulous buzzword used to describe everyone from Bernie Sanders to Donald Trump, the farmer-founded Populist Party was a formidable force in American elections, fighting against monopolies and corruption in defense of the everyday citizen. In this episode, host Sarah Mock looks back to look forward, connecting the fiery history of agrarian politics with the elections of 2020 and 2024.
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    48 mins
  • Trailer

    Trailer
    Sep 6 2025
    Uncovering the mysteries of American farmland.
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    1 min
  • Chapter 8: The Land Is Dead, Long Live the Land (part 2)

    Chapter 8: The Land Is Dead, Long Live the Land (part 2)
    Jul 18 2025
    You probably know about the trolley problem, where someone is forced to make a decision between inaction that kills five people, or making an effort that kills only one. In this episode of The Only Thing That Lasts, host Sarah Mock looks at this quandary from an agricultural lens. As in, when do we let nature simply take its course, or when do we take action to minimize harm — even when there can be other, peripheral harms? It's an episode that explores differing views on conservation, and how we manage agriculture in America.
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    37 mins
  • Chapter 7: The Land Is Dead, Long Live the Land

    Chapter 7: The Land Is Dead, Long Live the Land
    May 29 2025
    We tend to think of farmland and nature as distinct and easily distinguished, but in this episode, our host Sarah Mock poses the question: What if these boundaries are far more fuzzy than we imagine? How do the effects of intensive agriculture bleed into the surrounding environments, and how do our natural ecosystems dictate what can and can't be farmed? This may sound like a philosophical exploration, but it's also highly practical. Let Sarah explain why "farmland" — the very subject of this podcast — is an exceedingly complicated descriptor.
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    34 mins
  • Chapter 6: The Wine of Wrath

    Chapter 6: The Wine of Wrath
    Jan 30 2025
    Let's talk about the Dust Bowl. This distinctly American sliver of history, which most of us were schooled on with The Grapes of Wrath, was more than an act of God — it resulted from a host of short-sighted policy and farming practices. But the Dust Bowl's cloud of consequences have persisted to this day, helping shape virtually every element of modern agriculture. In the latest episode of TOTTL, Sarah Mock explores this complicated legacy, and how many mistakes are doomed to be repeated.
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    53 mins
  • Chapter 4: It's Highway Robbery

    Chapter 4: It's Highway Robbery
    Jul 25 2024
    "As through this world I’ve wandered, I’ve seen lots of funny men. Some will rob you with a six gun, And some with a fountain pen." Woody Guthrie's lyrics are a fitting frame for this episode of The Only Thing That Lasts, looking at the government taking land from its rightful owners — and the outlaws who fought back.
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    50 mins