Plainstate: The Podcast

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Plainstate: The Podcast, sponsored by the Department of English, is a podcast about the humanities on the Great Plains and beyond featuring interviews, stories, people, and places.

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Episodes

Gabrielle Owen and Timothy Schaffert

Episode 24 May 24, 2021

Gabrielle Owen discusses her recently published book, A Queer History of Adolescence: Developmental Pasts, Relational Futures, with colleague Timothy Schaffert. This episode is taken from a March 23,…

Saddiq Dzukogi and Jessica Poli

Episode 23 March 9, 2021

Saddiq Dzukogi, Nigerian-born poet and Ph.D. student at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, talks with friend and fellow poet Jessica Poli about his new book, Your Crib, My Qibla. Published by the…

Writing the River: Nebraska Writing Project and Niobrara Scenic River Partnership

Episode 22 February 16, 2021

This episode explores the most recent collaboration between the National Park Service and the Nebraska Writing Project: a planned river float for area high school students to allow them to experience…

Bare Bones: Place-Based Teaching Through Stories of Agate Fossil Beds National Monument

Episode 21 January 27, 2021

A partnership between the Nebraska Writing Project and Agate Fossil Beds National Monument has developed the park's paleontological, geological, and early history of the plains stories into a series…

Place-Conscious Experiential Writing for Students and Teachers

Episode 20 January 4, 2021

The Nebraska Writing Project and Homestead National Monument have partnered together to host the Prairie Visions Writing Festival, and annual workshop for middle and high schoolers. In this episode,…

Blending Place-Based Education and C3WP in Rural Nebraska: A Focus on Civil Discourse

Episode 19 December 14, 2020

In this episode, Pierce High School English teacher Melissa Legate and professor Robert Brooke illustrate how place-conscious education can blend with an emphasis on civic engagement and…

We Are All Immigrants

Episode 18 November 23, 2020

In this episode, doctoral candidate Cara Morgenson and professor Robert Brooke discuss an extensive project connecting high school English learners, UNL college students, and park rangers at…

Being Heard: Students Presenting Live to State Senators on Local Issues

Episode 17 November 2, 2020

The Husker Writers Program brings high school and college students together to research local issues and present advocacy writing to local legislators. In this episode, UNL assistant professor…

Basics of Place-Conscious Education: The Nebraska Experience

Episode 16 October 12, 2020

In this episode, professor and Nebraska Writing Project director Robert Brooke introduces the basic concepts of place-conscious education and how the project is promoting place-conscious education…

Marianne Kunkel and Susan Martens

Episode 15 April 27, 2020

In this episode, Marianne Kunkel and Susan Martens, two English PhD graduates, continue their conversation about their time at UNL and specifically Susan Marten's ongoing career at Missouri Western…

Susan Martens and Marianne Kunkel

Episode 14 April 20, 2020

In this episode, Susan Martens interviews Marianne Kunkel, two English PhD graduates, about her time at UNL and her ongoing career at Missouri Western State University.

Literature and the Environment

Episode 13 April 6, 2020

In this episode, Cory Willard and some of his students discuss their experience in English 317: Literature and the Environment, which took place in western Nebraska in the summer of 2019.

James Gunn Interview (Part 2)

Episode 12 March 2, 2020

In this episode, Michael Page continues his interview with celebrated author and scholar James Gunn beginning with his recollections about Robert Heinlein. 

James Gunn Interview (Part 1)

Episode 11 February 24, 2020

In this Episode, Michael Page sits down with James Gunn, who, at age 96, continues to be a publishing author of Science Fiction as well as a leading scholar in that field. Gunn discusses his…

The Cather Letters (Part 2)

Episode 10 February 16, 2020

In this episode, students, staff, and faculty continue their discussion about their work on The Complete Letters of Willa Cather, a scholarly edition and digital archive.

The Cather Letters (Part 1)

Episode 9 February 10, 2020

In this episode, students, staff, and faculty discuss their work on The Complete Letters of Willa Cather, a scholarly edition and digital archive.

English Student Advisory Board

Episode 8 December 11, 2019

In this episode, members of the English Student Advisory Board discuss life, the universe, and everything.  

Slam Poets (Part 2)

Episode 7 November 19, 2019

Members of UNL's Slam Poetry team continue their conversation from Episode 5.

Nebraska in Opera

Episode 6 November 11, 2019

Dr. Laura White, Professor of English, has written the libretto for the new opera, The Gambler's Son, which premiers in Lincoln on November 15, 2019. In this episode, she discusses converting the…

Slam Poets (Part 1)

Episode 5 November 4, 2019

In this episode, four members of UNL’s Slam Poetry Team – Bianca Swift, Celie Knudsen, Celine Haynes, and Jack Buchanan – sit down to discuss their writing process, how they perform their work, and…

Woman Forever

Episode 4 October 27, 2019

In this episode, three women of color—Linda Garcia Merchant, Jamaica Baldwin, and Claire Jimenez—share creative work and offer context for that work before engaging in a frank conversation about…

Swift and Cohen

Episode 3 October 21, 2019

In this episode, Professor Matt Cohen talks with poet, digital humanitarian, and English undergraduate extraordinaire Bianca Swift.

Crucet and Wabuke

Episode 2 October 13, 2019

Jennine Capó Crucet discusses her recently published collection of essays, My Time Among the Whites: Notes from an Unfinished Education, with her colleague and fellow author Hope Wabuke. They discuss…

Obioma and Reynolds

Episode 1 October 6, 2019

Chigozie Obioma's most recent novel, An Orchestra of Minorities, is a finalist for the Man Booker Prize, one of the most prestigious prizes awarded to books written in the English language.

Production Team

Marco Abel, executive producer

Erin Chambers, producer

Stephen Ramsay, sound engineer

Kathleen Lacey, associate producer