logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2018
1h 56m

Wyoming (S3.03)

LUKE KELLY, JOE BYRNE, MARK BOYLE
About this episode

Wyoming audio

http://media.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/content.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/80_Days-S03E03_Wyoming.mp3

In this episode we’ll be talking about the US state of Wyoming, also known as “the equality state” and “the cowboy state.”
Admitted to the US as the 44th state in 1890, Wyoming has always been among the least populous states in the nation. Roughly rectangular in shape and located in the western part of the country, straddling the continental divide, Wyoming is the 10th largest state by area, and its current day population is just over 585,000, making it the second-least densely populated state after Alaska. The climate here is semi-arid and continental, drier and windier than the rest of the U.S., with greater temperature extremes.
The state is famous as the home of the first US National Park, Yellowstone and the first US national monument, Devil’s Tower. Historically important industries include coal, cattle and tourism.

Your hosts, as always, are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Hong Kong, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in the UK, and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Switzerland. (Theme music by Thomas O’Boyle @thatthomasfella)

Here are a few things you may want to read/watch more about:

  • To get a good overview of the geography of this place, PBS has a great film that takes you all over the state. You can find it on YouTube.
  • The images of Yellowstone National Park that were promised are in the gallery below.
  • Jim Bridger, the famous ‘mountain man’ who plays a small role in The Revenant is profiled by Brittanica here.
  • The Union Pacific featured prominently in this episode. It’s still going today, and you can learn more about its chequered history over at Wikipedia.
  • Crowheart Butte, the site of the epic battle between two Native American chiefs, is profiled by Wyoming Tales and Trails here.
  • We spoke at length in this episode about the shady story behind women winning the right to vote in Wyoming. You can dive deeper into that whole story thanks to WyoHistory. The site also has tons of deep dives into other elements of the state’s history, many of which were mentioned in this episode.
  • ‘Fantastic Yellowstone’, the archival film that’s featured in this episode, traces the history of the national park and is available here on the Internet Archive.
  • Click to view slideshow.

The music you heard in this episode was from the following sources;

A massive thanks to all of our patrons on Patreon who are supporting season 3. If you’d like to join them and see what rewards are available for supporters, and get a peek behind the curtain check out www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast. We really appreciate every penny!

Up next
May 23
Ceuta (S6.10)
Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/ceuta | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast n this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast we’ll be talking about the autonomous city of Ceuta -- Spanish exclave, military post, and free port on the coast of Morocco, at the Mediterran ... Show More
1h 52m
Feb 2025
Shetland (S6.09)
Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/shetland | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast we’ll be talking about Shetland, a group of about 100 islands, fewer than 20 of them inhabited, in Scotland, 210 km (130 miles) north of th ... Show More
2h 4m
Dec 2024
Minisode: Christmas Quizzes 2024
Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/christmas2024 | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we have some trivia about winter celebrations around the world and also conduct our now-traditional Christmas quiz. We'll see you in ... Show More
37m 42s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2019
574 American Hawaii; Aloha Rodeo; Surfing Groundswell
Historian Sarah Vowell revisits how the Hawaiian Islands became an American territory in the 19th century, then journalist David Wolman tells us how three cowboys from Hawaii's Big Island redefined the American West when they competed at the world's greatest rodeo championship. A ... Show More
52 m
Jul 2024
Utopie, refuge ou isolement : vivre sur une île
Sicile, Ponant, Féroé, Madagascar, Tuvalu... Situés aux quatre coins du monde, ces territoires ont tous pour point commun d’être entourés d’eau. Des paysages paradisiaques qui attirent chaque année de nombreux touristes. Pourquoi les îles nous fascinent-elles ?  Et du côté des po ... Show More
48m 30s
Oct 2024
Season 3, Episode 12: Christina Gerhardt, Sea Change: An Atlas of Islands in a Rising Ocean; With Special Guest, Simona Marinescu
Send us a textJoin Professors Jeffrey Sachs, Christina Gerhardt and UN Senior Advisor on Small Island Developing States, Simona Marinescu as they discuss human induced global warming, the implications of rising sea levels, and Gerhardt’s book, Sea Change: An Atlas of Islands in a ... Show More
37m 34s
Oct 2014
380 The Great Barrier Reef; Kiribati and Vanuatu
Learn about the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia and the serious threats it's facing to its survival. Also, author J Maarten Troost introduces the remote Pacific Island nations of Kiribati and Vanuatu, and we'll learn how people have lived for centuries on a series o ... Show More
53m 30s
Oct 2024
Bonus episode: on culture
What does culture mean to you? Is it the art we create, the traditions we carry, or the values we hold dear? In this mini episode of Our World, Connected, Christine Wilson, Director of Research and Insight at the British Council, delves deeper into the multifaceted nature of cult ... Show More
17m 25s
Jun 19
The Mysteries of Easter Island
In the heart of the Pacific Ocean, over 2,000 miles from the nearest continent, lies one of the world’s most iconic archaeological treasure troves - Rapa Nui, known to the outside world as Easter Island. Famed for the towering stone faces of the moai, the island has undergone ext ... Show More
41m 27s
Nov 2024
Andrew Fleming, "The Gravity of Feathers: Fame, Fortune and the Story of St Kilda" (Birlinn, 2024)
When the last 36 inhabitants of St Kilda, 40 miles west of the Scottish Hebrides, were evacuated in 1930, the archipelago at ‘the edge of the world’ lost its permanent population after five millennia.It has long been accepted that the islanders’ failure to adapt to the modern wor ... Show More
42m 30s
Jul 29
Can Greenland go it alone?
Until this year Greenland rarely made the international news and probably only the islanders themselves took much time to contemplate their future. But then US President Donald Trump said he wanted to annexe it for its strategic position and mineral wealth. So the question has be ... Show More
26m 52s
Jul 14
Nathaniel Mathews | Zanzibar & Oman's Common History & Identities
Nathaniel Mathews is associate professor in Africana Studies at Binghamton University and author of "Zanzibar Was a Country: Exile and Citizenship between East Africa and the Gulf." He tells us about his journey in studying Zanzibar, prompted by his early exposure to Swahili cult ... Show More
1 h
Jul 2024
Sonja Mejcher-Atassi | An Impossible Friendship: Group Portrait, Jerusalem Before & After 1948
This episode was recorded on July 10th, 2024.Check out Sonja's reading recommendations for Palestinian literature from the 20th Century 👉https://www.afikra.com/daftarjournal/sonja-mejcher-atassi-book-recommendationsAnd dive deeper into the history of the King David Hotel 👉https ... Show More
1h 4m