A New Angle

This week’s guest is Katie Deuel, Executive Director of Home ReSource, a non-profit community sustainability center in Missoula, Montana. Home Resource offers reused building materials, job training, education and zero waste programs. In this conversation, we frame up some ideas around closed loop systems, material supply chain disruption, and the links between community support and climate; all o...

This week’s guest is Rick Ridgeway, legendary alpinist, adventurer, activist and writer. Rick’s new book Life Lived Wild is a fantastic collection of adventure essays that trek through the deep relationships he forged with the outdoors and friends across shared objectives and profound experiences. In our conversation, we follow the cairns of Rick’s journey from the hills of the Los Angeles basin,...

Incentives & Instincts is a monthly series on A New Angle in which host Justin Angle speaks with economist Bryce Ward about some of the broader challenges facing our society. For the month of December, Bryce and Justin are joined by our dear friend Dr. Sara Rinfret, professor of Public Policy and Administration, and Acting Dean of University of the Montana's Blewett School of Law. Together, we bre...

This week’s guest is Doug Chabot, Director of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center. Doug is a prototypical man of the mountains - he’s put up new climbing routes all over the world, been arrested by border guards in Tajikistan, rescued countless stranded mountain travelers, and built an incredible team and invaluable community resource at the Avalanche Center. With winter fast approaching...

Justin recently did an interview with Ashby Kinch, Associate Dean of the University of Montana Graduate School, for the Confluence Podcast. Check it out...and check out Confluence for more interviews with interesting folks at UM. https://www.umt.edu/grad/telling-our-story/confluence-podcast/default.php This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to...

This week’s guest is Elliott Woods, multimedia journalist based in Livingston, Montana. Elliott is a veteran and his work has been published in Outside Magazine, the New Republic, and the Wall Street Journal among other prominent outlets. In our conversation, we discuss Elliott’s recently released podcast, Third Squad: a powerful and sobering account of the war in Afghanistan and its enduring effe...

This week’s guest is Abe Streep, author of Brothers On Three, a chronicle of the Arlee Warriors boys basketball team’s amazing run of state championships and their role in promoting suicide prevention. In our conversation, we discuss the style of immersive journalism Abe pursued this story with, the systemic hurdles and technical fouls that the team and community faced, as well as the unique combi...

Incentives & Instincts is a monthly series on A New Angle in which host Justin Angle speaks with economist Bryce Ward about some of the broader challenges facing our society. This month, we discuss how the COVID-19 Pandemic has affected childhood education: from enrollment to social & emotional learning and the ripple effects yet to come. Transcript here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1s-Wi_B...

Brenda Solorzano is CEO of the Headwaters Foundation, an organization dedicated to a Montana in which all people, especially those most vulnerable, are healthy and thriving. Headwaters is a relatively young foundation and Brenda is a relatively new Montanan. But in a sort time, Headwaters has made incredible impact, not only though funding many organizations in need, but also doing so through new...

This week’s guest is Craig Hurlbert, co-founder and co-CEO of Local Bounti, an AgTech start up headquartered in Hamilton, Montana. The company’s ambitious mission is to scale production and distribution of high quality produce grown indoors, using 90% less water and land than traditional farming. Craig is a seasoned entrepreneur with deep experience in the energy sector and private equity. In our...

Today’s guest is Marty Mornhinweg, University of Montana Hall of Fame quarterback and a long time coach in the NFL. During Marty’s career, he coached five different pro-bowl quarterbacks, including Brett Farve, Steve Young and Donovan McNabb, won a Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers in 1997 and served as the head coach of the Detroit Lions in 2001 and 2002. Marty recently launched the Camp Mart...

This week at MTPR we’re celebrating music and stories from 1971 to commemorate 50 years of National Public Radio. To celebrate this history, we’re joined today by UM College of Arts and Media professor Jeff Brandt. Perhaps best known for teaching UM’s most popular class, The History of Rock and Roll, Jeff lays down why 1971 was a pivotal year for the music industry and its reverb felt throughout A...

Incentives & Instincts is a monthly series on A New Angle in which host Justin Angle speaks with economist Bryce Ward about some of the broader challenges facing our society. This month the two consider income and wealth inequality. Is it a problem? And if so, what can we do about it? Transcript here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17Fz5UDX4XAmrMVxezqD1eoOgven9rg7Rkj2Gb6AbTL4/edit?usp=sharing...

Today's guest is Amanda Eggert of Montana Free Press. Amanda covers environmental issues and has written a series of deeply reported articles about the complex and confusing access and ownership issues in Montana’s Crazy Mountains. The Crazies are a magnificent, wild, sacred and mysterious island range in central Montana. Transcript here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uu7zSyiM-gVWtx2SooQSYFF...

Today's guest is Brendan Leonard, the man behind SEMI-RAD and other creative pursuits. I started following Brendan’s SEMI-RAD feed on Instagram several years ago. It has a playful sensibility and an uncanny knack for making you consider the ordinary or obvious from a different perspective. Brendan is also the author of several books, including my personal favorite "Bears Don't Care About Your Prob...

Today's guests are Dr. Cathy Whitlock, Regents Professor of Paleoecology at Montana State University, and Dr. Steven Hostetler, Hydrologist at the Northern Rocky Mountains Science Center of the US Geological Survey. These two are the lead authors of the recently published Greater Yellowstone Area Climate Assessment. The front matter of the assessment perhaps says it best: "The Greater Yellowstone...

Incentives & Instincts is a monthly series on A New Angle in which Justin Angle, marketing professor at the University of Montana College of Business, chats with prominent economist Bryce Ward about some of the broader issues facing our society. This month, we tackle the increasing frustration folks are feeling about the rapid changes happening in Montana. Transcript available here: https://docs.g...

Today's guest is Dr. Kimiko Barrett of Headwaters Economics. Kimi is the Lead Wildfire and Natural Hazard Researcher at Headwaters where she also leads their Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire Program. She grew up in Bozeman, attended Montana State University and earned her Ph. D. in Forestry from the University of Montana. Transcript available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iPZ...

Today's guest is Robert Rowe, CEO of Northwestern Energy, provider of electricity and natural gas to over 700,000 residential and business customers in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. Bob has been CEO since 2008 and prior to that served as chair of the Montana Public Service Commission for 11 years. He’s also served in leadership roles for various organizations committed to improving the effic...

Today's guest is Dierdre Wolownick. What first captures many people’s attention is the fact that Dierdre is mother to world-renowned climber, Alex Honnold, but that just scratches the surface of this woman’s story. She’s a mother to two athletic and activist children, a teacher, a writer, an artist, a conductor, a runner and a climber, to name but a few of her many identities. Dierdre’s book, The...

Incentives & Instincts is a monthly series on A New Angle in which Justin Angle, marketing professor at the University of Montana College of Business, chats with prominent economist Bryce Ward about some of the broader issues facing our society. This month, we try to make sense of the labor markets, both nationally and here in Montana, and attempt to separate signal from noise. Transcript availabl...

This episode features Dr. Philip Higuera, Professor of Fire Ecology, and Kyra Wolf, Ph. D. Candidate in Systems Ecology both at the University of Montana’s Franke College of Forestry and Conservation. Phil and Kyra and their colleague Bryan Shuman recently published some alarming findings on what we’re experiencing right now with wildfire. The title speaks for itself: “Rocky Mountain sub-alpine fo...

Today's guest is legendary Montana political journalist Chuck Johnson. During Chuck’s forty-five year reporting career he covered twenty-two Montana legislative sessions and eight governors. Known by his colleagues as the Dean of Montana politics, Chuck gave Montanans line of site to many of the state’s most transformation political moments. Transcript available here: https://drive.google.com/file...

Today’s we bring you Winona LaDuke, an internationally renowned activist, economist, and organizer working on sustainable development, renewable energy and smarter, more secure food systems. She’s also a two time United States Vice presidential candidate, running both times with Ralph Nader. Winona visited the University of Montana recently to give the Presidential Lecture Series address. It was g...

Today’s conversation is with Conrad Anker, legendary mountaineer and leader in the outdoor community. He's climbed some of the hardest routes on the most notorious mountains around the world, from Everest to Antarctica. Conrad is a mentor, philanthropist and activist. In particular, he is working to raise the volume on the climate crisis, along with his colleagues at Protect Our Winters - a nonpro...