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Fire was a common on the Great Plains. On this date in 1901, residents of Oakes were assessing the damage in the wake of two recent fires. The most destructive of the two destroyed the Soo Line railroad depot. Railroad agent Anderson worked both a day shift and a night shift, essentially living at the depot. He was waiting for the Tuesday night train when he laid down on his cot to rest. When he woke up, he found his office filled with smoke.

Monday, August 23, 2021 - In an excerpt from the Conversations on Healthcare podcast, Dr. Lee Beers, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics comments on their recommendation that all kids aged 2 and older should be masked in school and daycare. She also comments on efforts to communicate the safety and efficacy of the COVID vaccines, and the AAP’s efforts to increase access to mental health services within the pediatric care setting. ~~~ Commentary from Mark Trahant on the criteria for tribal membership ~~~ Ashley Thornberg recently stopped by Assumption Abbey in Richardton, where she had a joyful visit with Brother Louie Bachand. ~~~ Tom Isern is here with a Plains Folk essay titled “Plainsman.”

Society columns were once a popular feature in newspapers. Here are some examples from this date in 1892 from the Fargo society column of the Wisconsin Afro-American.

On this date in 1916, there was a one-paragraph story in the Bismarck Tribune that read: “S. F. Crabbe, state architect, visited the state penitentiary yesterday …” While that might not sound like much, it was, in fact, quite significant.

Sunday, August 22, 2021 - For our Sunday highlight show, we start with comedian Paula Poundstone. After getting postponed twice due to the pandemic, she’ll be performing later this month in Fargo. ~~~ And another event coming up is a commemoration of the life of famed North Dakota vocalist Peggy Lee, who would have turned 101 this year. We visit with Myron and Bonnie Sommerfeld. ~~~ Insects have long been a big part of peoples’ diets. But in the United States, edible bugs like crickets and mealworms are a niche industry. As Harvest Public Media’s Katie Peikes reports, some insect enthusiasts are focused on getting people over the perceived ick factor.

Friday, August 20, 2021 - We begin with a special movie trivia discussion with Matt Olien, followed by this week’s movie review as Matt comments on the film “Annette,” from French director Leos Carax. ~~~ Tom Isern is here with a Plains Folk essay titled “Grass Widows and Fried Rabbit.” ~~~ We also have an extended conversation with news director Dave Thompson. Prairie Public will soon be celebrating 40 years of radio, so Dave and producer Skip Wood take a trip down broadcasting’s memory lane.

Wednesday, August 25, 2021 - Guest interviewer Carol Kapaun Ratchenski visits with Mark Vinz to talk about his new book, The Trouble with Daydreams, forthcoming from NDSU Press. They’ll also talk about life after academia. Now retired from Minnesota State University Moorhead, Vinz has been mentor and teacher to several generations of local writers. As always, Vinz’s poetry rings true and wise and yes, funny. ~~~ We continue with poetry with an episode of “Poetry from Studio 47,” which comes to us from Patrick Hicks, writer in residence and a member of the English faculty at Augustana University in Sioux Falls. Today he profiles poet Joyce Sutphen. ~~~ Ashley Thornberg stops by the Menoken Farm, a crop and ranching operation demonstrating a number of conservation practices. She visits with Jay Fuhrer.

Early on in the greatest novel ever written about life on the Great Plains of North America, My Antonia, Ms. Cather’s narrator and her protagonist agree on something: they concur that people who grew up on the prairies shared a “kind of freemasonry.” Such folk possessed common experiences and attitudes that made them something like a secret society.

It was in 1941 that America’s great Shakespearean scholar, George Lyman “Kitty” Kittredge, slipped the surly bonds of Cambridge, Massachusetts, never more to enthrall and terrify the boys of Harvard. Kitty would not have been at home on the range, but he was a mentor to the greatest of all collectors of western ballads, John A. Lomax of Texas.

Prairie Public has been broadcasting original and PBS television programs since 1964, but on this date in 1981, Prairie Public added radio when KCND 90.5 FM in Bismarck began broadcasting. And from the start, it was a member station of National Public Radio, which had been established ten year earlier.