Jackson Unpacked

Where does the fall of the Freedom Caucus leave Wyoming’s GOP? And is the Cowboy State a model for what other red states could see next? We partner with the Jackson Hole News&Guide to dig into how, despite the Teton County, Idaho, sheriff’s office lacking a formal agreement with ICE, enforcement tactics tell a story of collaboration. A $105 million gift from a data center developer to Yellowst...

Dedicated fish-lovers use electric currents to stun the critters for their own good. We see what rising grocery prices look like on local shelves. Voters will decide if they want one more property tax cut when November arrives. And for all the statewide and federal contested races, we team up with Wyoming Public Radio to offer interviews. Find the full audio voter’s guide online .  Featuring the s...

The MLB has backed off from building a baseball field in Grand Teton National Park. Wyoming leaders built, and are now trying to dismantle, federal land protections. A Jackson native writes a prize-winning song about exorbitant housing costs. And as early voting kicks off: Why have no Latinos run for local office in Jackson Hole?  Featuring the song “The House on Cherry Street” performed by Clay H...

Jackson Hole’s only community college gets its own building after 50 years bouncing from kitchen to kitchen. Despite some ranches selling off, one near Grand Teton National Park is among many that persist. And as tensions around Flock cameras rise, we hear how another mountain town is considering its surveillance contract.  Featuring the song “Beer Barrel Polka” performed by Jackson’s Hof Band.  J...

We visit the Tetons’ first ranch to control herds by satellite. Jackson Hole’s affordable housing czar, April Norton, has some advice for her successor. And Delta Lake, a darling of TikTok and AI recommendations, gets a much-needed makeover.   Featuring the song “Phases of the Moon” by Jackson band Inland Isle.  Jackson Unpacked airs locally at 89.1 FM or via live-stream Sundays, Mondays and Frida...

The KHOL newsroom reacts alongside Jackson voters and the rest of Wyoming to a somewhat surprising primary election full of upsets and landslides. A curious creature found in the high alpine can be a sign of climate stress. A Jackson filmmaker probes inclusivity in adventure films for a new festival. Another mountain town envisions a future where thin winters become more common and what that means...

Teton Pass drivers don't want to wait for government solutions to make one of the steepest commuter highways in the lower 48 safer. A former park ranger is speaking out about what she believes is a federal effort to censor exhibits at national parks. And a conversation with WyoFile’s Maggie Mullen about controversy surrounding the Wyoming Republican Party’s first pre-primary endorsements.  Featuri...

Wyoming’s upcoming election changes take aim at a rare record of voter fraud. A measles outbreak in Grand Teton National Park could be linked to a cultural shift of 30 years ago. Electricity comes to more homes on the Wind River Reservation.  Featuring the song “Smokestack” by Kitchen Dwellers. Catch the KHOL and Snow King Gondie Session on YouTube.  Jackson Unpacked airs locally at 89.1 FM or via...

One organization is trying to ease the stress for pet owners dealing with after-hours emergencies. Parenting in the age of AI. And a deep dive on how part-time Jackson Hole resident Yvon Chouinard built a fortune with his company, Patagonia, and gave it away.  Featuring the song “Control” by Francis Ambrose.  David Gelle’s book is “Dirtbag Billionaire: How Yvon Chouinard Built Patagonia, Made a Fo...

Congresspeople from Wyoming and Utah and the Trump administration have announced goals to dismantle the 25-year-old National Forest “Roadless Rule.” That protects some 3 million acres around Wyoming from additional road-building.  Any one of three threats could open up nearly 60 million acres across the nation to timber extraction and other degradation, according to the Wyoming Wilderness Associat...

Volunteers at a Hoback ranch pull up the remnants from decades of cattle ranching. This July 4th marks the 45th anniversary of an event that has helped spur tourism and a sense of wonder west of the Tetons. As the United States of America approaches its 250th anniversary, we ask Jackson residents about what this milestone means to them. And we hear from residents at a mobile home park in Colorado...

Hundreds of public comments from Grand Teton and Yellowstone reflect tension over how federal public spaces tell history. We get to know the challenging candidates in Jackson Hole’s election. As hardline immigration policies get adopted in the state, some immigrants are choosing to leave. And a western Wyoming conference taps into the momentum and the money of the budding birding movement.  Featur...

A KHOL data analysis finds the majority of Teton County’s ICE holds were arrested for driving-related charges. Across the state, during a single week in mid-April, the Laramie County Sheriff Office says it had the highest number of immigration arrests of any local or state enforcement agency in the country. We get up close and personal to some critters helping prevent fires with new technology. An...

Businesses in Jackson could benefit from public money for homeschooled students. A study of trails near Snow King shows bikers and bears can coexist. We talk with Jackson filmmaker and pro skier Vanessa Chavarriaga Posada about her own ambivalences with a majority-white sport. And we get inside the mental, emotional calculations for an age-old Jackson question: Do I deserve to live here?  Featured...

  When folks in employee housing change or lose their jobs, their housing goes, too. How is Jackson Hole grappling with that tradeoff? There’s regional controversy around the same surveillance cameras that towns like Jackson use to fight crime. And Republicans of all stripes reflect on the future of the state's Freedom Caucus.  Featuring song “Pale Moonlight" from Oregon-based band dadweed.   Jack...

  Infighting in Teton Valley over wastewater management goes back 20 years but has reached a tipping point. Tim Sandlin fans remember the late Jackson-based novelist who helped the valley understand itself. A Colorado housing expert talks solutions from other mountain towns. And we hear what it was like in the courtroom for the sentencing of the man who brought a live, injured wolf into a bar two...

The hidden homes of the super-wealthy help and strain the Jackson Hole workforce. How plow drivers and Teton Pass patrollers hold up a culture of collaboration and safety. The airport shuttle might end with a whimper, but begs bigger questions about transit goals. And how abortion bans impact a state’s workforce and economy.  Featured music from Michael Batdorf and Michelle Dickson.  Jackson Unpac...

Strict limits on abortion access have prompted questions for the state’s few providers. We hear from a staunch immigrant advocate in east Idaho and west Wyoming who has voted for President Trump three times. And Mark Engel brings us original tunes and creativity wisdom. He’s an Olympic skier-turned-full-time Jackson Hole musician.  Jackson Unpacked airs locally at 89.1 FM or via live-stream Monday...

Scientists and citizens search together for some mangy mammals that have struggled in recent years. What a particularly warm winter means for the regional ski economy. What we can learn from a few of the Wyoming women featured in a new book from Jackson-based photographer Lindsay Linton Buk. And why, every two years, states such as Wyoming put on the pressure to balance a massive budget.  Featured...

Where to turn as cancer and autoimmune treatments dwindle in east Idaho. On the open slopes of Grand Targhee Resort, Jaelin Kauf remembers skiing the same run over and over with her family to create bumps like the ones she’s now shredding at the Olympics.  Why a bar in Lithuania keeps tight tabs on Jackson Hole’s downtown webcam. And in a Colorado ski resort town, what began as a labor dispute has...

With recent Teton protests mirroring national frustration with immigration enforcement, we ask advocates about what’s effective. We get on the slopes with Teton Village Olympian Anna Gibson, whose meteoric rise in the debut sport of ski mountaineering has been a long time in the making. And what Wyomingites are asking their lawmakers before a hotly anticipated legislative session.  Featured music...

We remember Max Martin, a Jackson native turned professional skier and trainer, whom friends say never let a day go to waste. Mental health professionals share the network of resources that understand grief in a mountain town. Why Wyoming lawmakers are considering doing away with all taxation on land used for housing. And how Wyoming’s coal performed in 2025 after the Trump administration threw it...

A cowboy suddenly finds himself at-odds with Grand Teton National Park. Ski patrollers across the Mountain West fight for better pay. And why Wyoming’s Supreme Court upheld abortion access.  Music from The Buckskin Boys, recorded at KHOL.  Jackson Unpacked airs locally at 89.1 FM or via live-stream Mondays at 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and Fridays and Sundays at 12:30 p.m. Support Jackson’s only no...

A theater educator checks her new healthcare premium estimates for the first time. With Affordable Care Act price hikes around the corner, Jacksonites and their healthcare providers wonder what to do.  Ski and music legend Bill Briggs shares some wisdom learned over 93 years.  And the United States Forest Service is building affordable workforce rentals on public land on Jackson’s eastern edge. To...

In the midst of war, Ukrainian civilians are redefining the meaning of van life. After his death, a Cody-based country star lives on through newly-released music and the mental health work of his family, including Jackson’s former mayor. A leading state lawmaker takes us to church, a place that inspires his political vision and that of many fellow Freedom Caucus members.  Music is “The King is Bac...