megantorgerson

Megan Torgerson has some big life news to share and is working with collaborators on the creative direction of the fourth season!

In this final installment of Season 3 “Groundwork,” Reframing Rural founder, host and producer, Megan Torgerson speaks with the podcast’s audio engineer, Aaron Spieldenner and story editor, Mary Auld about the inspiration behind the season and all the work that goes into producing the show’s long-form narrative episodes.

Grace Olmstead is the West’s preeminent author on place. In her book "Uprooted: Recovering the Legacy of the Places We've Left Behind” and in this interview, she speaks to rural outmigration, connection to place, the history of how agriculture was industrialized and the future of agriculture in the West amid suburban sprawl and a call to build more just and resilient regional food systems.

At 21 John Wicks was faced with the decision to stay in college or come home and save his family's farm. Today he is a leader in Montana's organic and regenerative farming movement and an advocate for family farms across the state, serving as the associate director of Montana Farmers Union. Together with his friends Peyton Cole and Paul Neubauer, John is helping further the understanding that the health of our agricultural lands impacts the health of our communities.

Dr. Alison Brennan, MSU Extension's designated mental health specialist, Courtney Brown Kibblewhite with Northern Ag Network and Beyond the Weather, and wellness coach and rancher Lisa Williams discuss mental health resources and stigma around mental health in Montana's rural and agricultural communities. This episode spans data on farm stress, free counseling services for Montana producers and actionable tips for restoring balance and wellbeing to our lives.

Montana has long held a distinctive place within the mythos of America. Today, it’s becoming an ever-more attractive destination for those in search of a stronger sense of community, or an escape, in response to a dizzying and hyper-digital world. In this honest conversation with award-winning, Butte-based journalist, Kathleen McLaughlin, Reframing Rural explores what an influx of wealthy newcomers means for housing access and affordability, open spaces and community cohesion, and how new and established residents of all class backgrounds can work together to create a place where all Montanans can thrive.

After a lifetime farming wheat on the Northern Great Plains, the time has come for Russ Torgerson to retire. In this narrative episode, Reframing Rural producer Megan Torgerson shares the intimate journey of her family’s farm succession, giving listeners an inside look into the emotional, legal and financial factors at play with succession planning. Curious what the next generation of farmers are facing, Megan also interviews the Jorgensens, another farm family from NE Montana who is transferring the management of their farm to their son Tanner. What happens in the transitional space between a farms’ present caretaker and the next? What becomes of a community when, voluntarily or not, a farmer surrenders their plow. And what does the next generation need in order to keep their families’ multigenerational farms going are all questions this episode seeks to explore.

Reframing Rural’s third season will transport listeners to Golden Triangle wheat fields, farmhouse kitchen tables and small mountain town main streets. Combining sound-rich narrative non-fiction episodes with in-depth interviews, season three will shine light on the state of family farming, the resurgence of regenerative techniques in agriculture and the realities of rural gentrification. 

Combining profiles of farmers from the Golden Triangle with soil science, history, policy research and transportive imagery, the award-winning “Common Ground” series is sowing hope in the future for farmers across the West. Written by Emily Stifler Wolfe with transportive photography from photo journalist Jason Thompson, “Common Ground,” illuminates the role of regenerative agriculture in fostering resilient rural economies and communities.

Randi Lynn Tanglen, PhD grew up in the small NE Montana town of Sidney and turned an early love of literature into a career in education. Randi developed a specialty in hidden voices of 19th century Western American Literature including women, Indigenous and Black authors – a niche that has helped her uncover her family’s storied history on the Great Plains. Today Randi leads the statewide humanities council, Humanities Montana, ensuring the public humanities are stewarded in Montana’s rural and Tribal communities.

Benya Kraus is the co-founder of Lead for America, a national nonprofit nurturing the next generation of rural leaders. Benya embodies the virtue of getting proximate to issues most affecting her rural home, while striving to restore solidarity between disconnected cultures and a divided nation.

For an event hosted by the Rural Radio Collective Megan Torgerson sits down with Ed Roberson, the founder and producer of the acclaimed podcast Mountain & Prairie, to hear what he’s learned over the past six years producing intelligent and thoughtful conversations that illuminate the unfolding Zeitgeist of the modern American West.