Act 2

Act 3

As we talked about in our very first episode, the last line of Big Woods reads, “Now is now, it can never be a long time ago.” That line might be the most accurate description there is of the Little House series. Little House on the Prairie might be about another time, but Laura’s stories are very much alive in our time. We can't seem to let her go. But of course, some of the ways in which Laura is relevant are painful to consider. The story she tells is narrow, contributing to a long held mythology of the American West that prioritizes white narratives. For a final look at Laura’s impact, Glynnis and Wilder producer Emily drive further west, beyond Laura’s homesteads, to understand what we’re missing when we hold on too tightly to one narrative. Could it be time to let Laura go?

Go deeper: 
More on Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills
More on the Gordon Stockade 
More on the Battle of the Little Bighorn
More on Buffalo Calf Road Woman
More on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

Follow us for behind the scenes content! 
@WilderPodcast on TikTok
@Wilder_Podcast on Instagram

As we talked about in our very first episode, the last line of Big Woods reads, “Now is now, it can never be a long time ago.” That line might be the most accurate description there is of the Little House series. Little House on the Prairie might be about another time, but Laura’s stories are very much alive in our time. We can't seem to let her go. But of course, some of the ways in which Laura is relevant are painful to consider. The story she tells is narrow, contributing to a long held mythology of the American West that prioritizes white narratives. For a final look at Laura’s impact, Glynnis and Wilder producer Emily drive further west, beyond Laura’s homesteads, to understand what we’re missing when we hold on too tightly to one narrative. Could it be time to let Laura go?
Go deeper:  <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/the-strange-and-controversial-history-of-mount-rushmore">More on Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills</a> <a href="https://www.sdpb.org/blogs/images-of-the-past/the-gordon-stockade/">More on the Gordon Stockade </a> <a href="https://blog.nativehope.org/battle-of-the-little-bighorn">More on the Battle of the Little Bighorn</a> <a href="https://amazingwomeninhistory.com/buffalo-calf-road-cheyenne-warrior-woman/">More on Buffalo Calf Road Woman</a> <a href="https://www.nativehope.org/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-mmiw">More on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women</a> 
Follow us for behind the scenes content!  @WilderPodcast on TikTok @Wilder_Podcast on Instagram

Jack Kerouac but make it a girl with braids. Carrie Bradshaw, but without the sex, and also braids. An American Icon. An American Odyssey. American propaganda. Violently so, in some cases. Laura Ingalls Wilder is evergreen. For better or worse. Since the first Little House book was published in 1932, generations of readers have flocked to Laura’s cozy stories of the Ingalls family settling the Western frontier. The series inspired a TV show, pageants, and entire fashion lines. Behind this franchise is a woman who experienced almost a full century of American history. She’d made her first trips in a covered wagon, and eventually flew on a jet plane. Laura Ingalls Wilder’s life and legacy remain as powerful, mesmerizing, controversial, and violent as the America she represents. In a country currently at odds with itself and its history could there be a better time for an exploration of this woman?

Jack Kerouac but make it a girl with braids. Carrie Bradshaw, but without the sex, and also braids. An American Icon. An American Odyssey. American propaganda. Violently so, in some cases. Laura Ingalls Wilder is evergreen. For better or worse. Since the first Little House book was published in 1932, generations of readers have flocked to Laura’s cozy stories of the Ingalls family settling the Western frontier. The series inspired a TV show, pageants, and entire fashion lines. Behind this franchise is a woman who experienced almost a full century of American history. She’d made her first trips in a covered wagon, and eventually flew on a jet plane. Laura Ingalls Wilder’s life and legacy remain as powerful, mesmerizing, controversial, and violent as the America she represents. In a country currently at odds with itself and its history could there be a better time for an exploration of this woman?

Wilder

10. “It can never be a long time ago.”

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/99d26c32-0116-4d4b-b20f-b06f00a9a439/transcript

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