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Frozen Force, Juneberries, Mobile Medicine on the Plains & Firefly Love

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From left, University of North Dakota Frozen Force team members Aubrey Baril, Helena Lind, Charlotte Fuller and Caroline Kelley helped lead the team to its first national championship.
UND
From left, University of North Dakota Frozen Force team members Aubrey Baril, Helena Lind, Charlotte Fuller and Caroline Kelley helped lead the team to its first national championship.

Today's Segments

✈️ National Champions in the Skies

UND Frozen Force Soars to Victory in Air Race Classic: The University of North Dakota’s Frozen Force flight team made history this summer by claiming first place in the Intercollegiate Division of the 2025 Air Race Classic. From Fairhope, Alabama to Spokane, Washington, these four young aviators—Aubrey Baril, Helena Lind, Charlotte Fuller, and Caroline Kelley—navigated a grueling cross-country course to earn their school’s first-ever win. We hear their reflections on teamwork, strategy, and what this milestone means for the next generation of women in aviation.

🍇 Love and Longing in the Wild Fruit Patch

Plains Folk: Young Love in the Juneberries: In this essay, historian Tom Isern transports us to 1898, when a North Dakota soldier overseas pined not for peaches or plums—but for the native juneberries of home. His yearning speaks volumes about how settlers began to romanticize and adopt wild prairie fruits as symbols of rootedness and community. Isern also explores the complexities of this cultural embrace, which often came at the expense of Indigenous traditions and stewardship.

🏥 Rolling Relief for Rural Tribes

Our Living Lands: Mobile Clinics Close the Gap: In the arid landscapes of Nevada, climate change is making healthcare access harder for Indigenous communities. Enter the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe’s innovative solution: a mobile health clinic that delivers critical care directly to remote reservations like Lovelock. Funded by a USDA grant, the clinic is making a tangible difference—especially for elders—by reducing travel barriers and improving continuity of care.

🔦 Love at First Flash

H2O Radio: Fireflies, Romance, and a Changing Climate: Georgia the firefly has only a week to live—and a mate to find. In this whimsical-yet-scientific dispatch, H2O Radio introduces us to the glowing world of firefly courtship in Colorado wetlands. As scientists fight to save the species amid climate disruption, they stage an insect dating game that’s equal parts The Bachelorette and conservation biology.

⚡ A River Runs Through It—For Now

Hydropower’s Hidden Struggles in the Heartland: Hydropower supplies energy to 25 million American homes, but the future of this clean energy source is far from certain. With aging dams, low energy prices, and a complicated federal relicensing system, even long-running plants face the threat of shutdown. We explore why some operators are reconsidering their investments—and what it could mean for America’s energy grid.

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