Outlaw Beat

What does a seizure actually look like? What do you do when one happens in front of you? And why is Montana one of the states still without a law requiring teachers to know the answer to that question? On this episode of Outlaw Beat, we sit down with Jessica Veach — Regional Executive Director of the Epilepsy Foundation covering Montana, Nevada, and Utah — and Dr. Karla Mora Rodriguez, neurologist...

Meet Jeff Marks, senior author of “Birds of Montana” - the first comprehensive state bird reference since 1921. Jeff is the executive director of the Montana Bird Advocacy, a former editor of The Auk, and has spent decades studying everything from Long-eared Owls to Bristle-thighed Curlews in the Pacific. We met Jeff in Grant, Montana to talk about the best places to birdwatch in the state, the wo...

We’re talking home building and AI-proof trades for Gen Z with President of Southwest Montana Building Industry Association slash owner of Rivers Landscaping Riley Rivers and Career Outreach Coordinator for Bozeman and Gallatin High Schools Karl Schwartz, architect of the new Bozeman Construction Academy. Riley breaks down the real inputs driving building costs in the Gallatin Valley: materials, l...

Big Sky, Montana is technically unincorporated — no town council, no mayor — yet it generates $25 million a year in resort tax revenue and just became the most taxable community in the state. We sat down with Daniel Bierschwale, Executive Director of Big Sky Resort Area District (BSRAD), to break down how resort taxes work, what the new hospital district means for residents, and why Big Sky is ess...

Residents of Big Sky, Montana have an increasing number of options and opportunities, and on this episode, we’ll feature a couple of great examples. Dr. Syd Desmarais of Lone Peak Veterinary Hospital and Jeremy Harder, head of school at Big Sky Community School, join us to talk about what it actually takes to serve a resort town of pet owners with active, sporty kids. We cover some serious ground...

Big Sky PBR, recently crowned 12-time event of the year, will ride again this July 16-18. And I hope you’re hungry, because the lineup of chefs is a murderers row: event organizer and Top Chef alum Emily Hahn, James Beard Award winner Eduardo Garcia, plus some of the most acclaimed chefs in the Mountain West and beyond: Sheldon Simeon (Top Chef, touring his second cookbook), Jamie Lynch (Top Chef)...

Aaron Flint is a retired Army lieutenant colonel with two Bronze Stars, a former conservative talk radio host who spent a decade taking calls from Montanans for four hours a day, and the Republican frontrunner for Montana's open House seat in the western district. And even if he’s qualified, he’s not particularly excited about going to Washington. We sat down with Flint in Bozeman to talk abo...

On this episode, we head deep into Montana ranch country with the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance to figure out how an industry built on horses and grit is now running on GPS collars, data uploads, and conservation science. It’s part cowboy, part tech startup—and somehow still hanging on. We get into the real pressures threatening ranching today: skyrocketing land prices, outside development, enviro...

After the winter that wasn’t, we’re all wondering how extreme wildfire season will be this summer. On this episode, Outlaw Beat is joined by a fire behavior analyst who is qualified to give us answers to all our burning questions. Jon Trapp is the Division Chief of Wildland Fire at Big Sky Fire Department and he is fresh off a regional planning meeting for western wildfires, so it’s a great time t...

The Rocky Mountain area isn’t known for its lakes, but there’s one we’re all pretty proud of. It’s everyone’s favorite terminal saline lake: Utah’s Great Salt Lake that, sadly, is getting less and less great every year. To find out why it’s shrinking, why that matters, and what we can do to turn things around, Outlaw Beat talks to lake expert Eric Edwards, senior fellow at PERC (the Property and E...

May is Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month, so it’s time to become aware of cystic fibrosis (and what it is) with Bozeman’s Cody Dieruf Foundation, named in honor of a 23 year old woman who passed away due to CF in 2005. Outlaw Beat gets a crash course in CF thanks to Foundation Board President Janel Shamblin and Executive Director Pam Western. And with Give Big Gallatin Valley 2026 coming up in a cou...

The 2026 Winter Olympics had it all: triumph, heartache, filthy cheating Canadian curlers, and a delightful clean-cut 23 year old freestyle skier from Helena, Montana named Konnor Ralph.  Konnor joins Outlaw Beat to talk about his experiences in Milan where he did us proud by finishing 5th in Big Air and 9th in Slopestyle. He answers all your burning questions about the Olympic Village, getting me...

We’re talking about building Big Sky on this episode with help from a couple of locals who are doing the heavy lifting… JoDean Bing of Blue Ribbon Builders and Becky Brockie of Big Sky Community Housing Trust. Blue Ribbon Builders has been building well-known Big Sky infrastructure and homes since day one in the early 1970’s and the Housing Trust is doing important work to accommodate an increasin...

To oversimplify, powwows are big, colorful Native dance competitions. And if you’ve never been to one, have we got a doozy for you…  Montana State University’s 50th annual powwow is coming up March 27th & 28th at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse, and who better to preview the massive milestone event than the co-presidents of the student-led organization responsible for putting it together, the Ame...

Strip down to your skivvies! We’re getting hot and cold with Bozeman’s new rejuvenation destination, Umvelt (pronounced OOHM-velt) Bathhouse, where owner Paul Byrne shows off the luxurious sauna/steam/soak experience he has created in a 1936 Frank Willson building just off Main Street.  Paul also helps us understand the history and health benefits of the ‘Slavic banya’ style spa and the way that ‘...

For 90 years, the Bridger Ski Foundation has promoted, organized, and created opportunities for skiing as an activity in the Gallatin Valley. And up to this point, it has done so without a building to call a homebase. Just schlepping gear from van to storage closet to garage to ski-swap like Nordic nomads. But that changes now. Board President Natalie Flowers and Board Member Peter Belschwender ho...

We’re talking about what makes the American West different (for better and for worse) in this episode with help from local historian and author Dr. Betsy Gaines Quammen. Her latest book “True West: Myth & Mending on the Far Side of America” explores how myths of the American West fuel modern polarization, extremism, and conflict over land and identity.  Betsy’s area of expertise is extremism a...

Bozeman Children’s Theatre is a machine that churns out 8 live productions a year, but their upcoming dark comedic musical “Heathers” both cuts deep and helps the wounds heal. Thanks to partnerships with Bozeman Health and Howlers Ridge, all the performances will feature a mental health-focused talkback immediately to follow. Based on the 1988 movie and featuring a cast of high schoolers from acro...

Joey Morrison was elected Mayor of Bozeman in November 2023 so naturally he was just sworn in last month. We talk to arguably the youngest mayor in city history about that unique systematic oddity. We also discuss another of his triumphs, the creation of a local tenants union, plus the hollow victory of banning urban camping, and the small-town challenges presented by federal efforts to crack down...

We’re putting the “wood” in Hollywood this episode as Outlaw Beat visits a shuttered particle board factory that is the new home of Story House Montana, Missoula’s new 47-acre film and TV studio with deep-rooted connections to affordable housing efforts in the Rocky Mountains. Co-founder/CEO Sean Higgins joins us to talk about the new endeavor and its potential creation of over 400 Montana jobs. W...

On this episode, the interrogator becomes the interrogated as retired FBI Special Agent Dan Brunner stops by to let Outlaw Beat ask the questions here. Dan lives in Bozeman, but you might recognize him as a frequent guest expert on national news. Dan draws on his 20 year career as a SWAT Tactical Operations Team Leader specializing in RICO cases involving skinheads and cartel gangs to discuss grou...

Williams Plumbing began in Bozeman as a one-man pipe-wrench operation in 1979 but it has grown into a 350 employee residential/commercial behemoth that’s one of the largest job creators in Montana plus a growing trade school training tomorrow’s blue collar professionals to work in an AI-proof field. Williams’ Chief Business Officer Josh Montanye joins Outlaw Beat to discuss the origin and future o...

Outlaw Beat has emerged from the hibernation of focusing exclusively on Montana State Bobcat football and we are ready to learn all about Eagle Mount, Bozeman’s longtime nonprofit that provides therapeutic recreation for people with disabilities & young people with cancer.  We’re talking skiing, horseback riding, aquatics, climbing… flying planes? Yeah we’ll get to that one. Board President Ch...

For the first time in 41 years, the Montana State Bobcats brought home an FCS national title yesterday, defeating the Illinois State Redbirds 35-34 in overtime. Montana’s Senior U.S. Senator (and MSU alum) Steve Daines joins Outlaw Beat from Washington D.C. to celebrate the thrilling victory. A lifelong ‘Cats fan who was present in Nashville for the game, Senator Daines looks back on the past and...

Live from the spiritual capital of Bobcat sports fever — Bozeman’s Rocking R Bar — Flint Rasmussen and Outlaw Beat’s Joe Borden preview this weekend’s “Super Brawl” with help from former players like Tommy White, Ty McCullouch, and Rylan Ortt. Watch the full interview: hoarymarmot.net/episodes/superbrawl Brought to you by…  The Bobcat Collective: https://bobcatcollective.com Ever-green Roofing &am...