Cultivating curiosity and conversation across the urban rural divide through podcast episodes and photographs.
Reframing Rural is a project of Tree Ring Records, LLC © 2020.
Preparing for my last "Rural Representations in the Media & Rural Issues in the West" Osher Lifelong Learning Institute OLLI at Montana State University course which will be about all things agriculture. Some of my students don't come from an agricultural background and so I prepared this list of tips for how to engage with farmers and ranchers!
The last time I was at Fairmont Hot Springs I was 8 years old and I drove with my parents the 600 miles from our farm to Fairmont for a Montana Farmers Union Conference. This weekend I got to return as a keynote speaker, delivering my talk "Montana: a Place to Come Home to" about my journey as a storyteller and how, since launching Reframing Rural, I've witnessed the story of rural America evolve from one of division and despair, to one of hope and homecoming. It was inspiring to spend a weekend with the bright minds of Montana's women in agriculture. They are the ones keeping their family farms and ranches going. They see the vital role of childcare access in workforce development. They are leading the way in farm succession conversations. And they are raising the next generation of plant, animal and land stewards. It was an honor to meet them and to close out Montana Farmers Union's 11th annual Women's Conference!
Excited for Montana Farmers Union's Women's Conference starting today!
It is about that time! Montana Farmers Union Women's Conference this weekend in Fairmont time to network, learn, and grow as rural women in agriculture! See you later today!
Reframing Rural may be going on a bit of a hiatus in 2024 while host Megan Torgerson is on maternity leave, but you can keep us close to your hearts with a Reframing Rural t-shirt, long-sleeve, zip-up sweatshirt, tote bag or coffee mug! Reframing Rural is truly a grassroots media project. Support the work of our quality, in-depth storytelling by purchasing our official swag at the link below.
Reframing Rural is a true grassroots media project. Support the work of our quality, in-depth storytelling by purchasing our official swag!
Love to see this great piece of solutions journalism about the local control of a local resource in Sheridan County republished by Montana Free Press!! "Many conservation districts across Montana have water reservations on surface water, Yoder says, but the Sheridan County Conservation District is one of only two districts in the state that manage a groundwater reservation."
In Montana, Sheridan County has found a forward-thinking way to share its groundwater.
Exciting update from Winnett ACES, a producer-led nonprofit featured in our third season! They are now officially seeking a tenant for their historic, false-front main street building.
I'm two weeks into teaching my "Rural Representations in the Media" course for Osher Lifelong Learning Institute OLLI at Montana State University and love the perspectives and questions my students bring to class. Some of them grew up rurally and attended two-room country schools. Others grew up in urban places and retired to Bozeman. A question many of them have is how can we bridge urban-rural divides in the state. It's a question I tried engaging with more during Reframing Rural's first season which sought to highlight the common ground we all share by asking folks from my hometown, Dagmar, what home and belonging means to them. Then, after interviewing the journalist Jake Bullinger in season two, I began to think of "urban-rural" divides as a catch all. "The common divide that is often brought up in the West is the urban rural divide, which becomes a catch all phrase to highlight the political and social and economic differences between small towns, less populated states and their larger counterparts. I think it is important for people to know and for journalists like myself to report accordingly, that there are solutions and problems that are consistent to both small towns and large cities," Jake shared. I believe, that storytelling can help us move past binary modes of thinking and move toward common solutions. As I shared in yesterday's class about the role of storytelling in societal change: 1.) I believe that people crave witness, that we want to know and be known, and that storytelling is a vehicle for this and fosters belonging and togetherness. 2.) Storytelling is a way to move beyond difference and elevate a shared human story. It’s harder to dislike someone after you’ve heard their story. 3.) I believe we get to connection through specificity. The details are what we often remember from stories. And we connect to a story not because we have the same experience, but because we know what it feels like to feel pain, joy, loss, disappointment, elation, etc. This print, from Iskra Fine Art's series "Industrial Pastorale" which hangs in my office, reminds me to blur the edges of difference, and to see parallels of human experience within rural and urban geographies.
Our friends at Working Wild University have launched a new season, "Imperiled," exploring community and landowner-led wildlife conservation on working and tribal lands across the West! From the Big Hole to the Blackfoot Nation, this season does an excellent job of examining community- and landowner-led wildlife conservation efforts in Montana and beyond. Learn more and listen at: https://workingwild.us/ (Photo by Zach Altman)
*Big Life Update* I’m having a baby this spring! I’m incredibly excited for my next big adventure of becoming a mom. It may be the single biggest adventure I’ve ever embarked on, so I am going to cocoon for a little while as I learn to care for myself and a new, little person.
** You may be wondering what this means for Reframing Rural's next season?** Plans are already underway. This winter I met with three incredibly sharp and talented collaborators, Reframing Rural’s story editor, Mary Auld, and multi-media producers Zach Altman and Anthony Pavkovich. We spent two jam-packed days reviewing listener feedback from season three, pinning sticky note ideas for season four to the wall and eating meatballs because that’s what I’ve craved during my pregnancy. We also crafted a fundraising plan, a production timeline and generated activation ideas for the launch of season four. It was a creative dream come true for me to spend an entire weekend envisioning Reframing Rural’s future with three bright minds.
***I’m going to be on maternity leave for most of this year, but have two very exciting storytelling projects in the works that will be coming out later this year.*** And before my maternity leave starts, I am going to be the keynote speaker at Montana Farmers Union Women’s Conference on Saturday, February 10 at Fairmont Hot Springs. I hope to see you there and I can’t wait to share what else I’ve been working on later this year.
While Reframing Rural’s fourth season may not be coming out until 2025, between now and then, I’ll be sharing a few favorite episodes in your feed from past Reframing Rural seasons. Email me at [email protected] and let me know which episode from season 1, 2 or 3 you’d love to see back at the top of your podcast feed! (Thanks Zach Altman for the photos of Andrew and I!!)
Earlier this winter Reframing Rural founder Megan Torgerson met with the podcast's story editor Mary Auld, and multimedia producers Zach Altman and Anthony Pavkovich to consider audience feedback and make plans for the direction of Reframing Rural's fourth season. We're excited to share more on the planning retreat and an update on the future of Reframing Rural through an announcement in your podcast feed later this week! Photos courtesy of Zach Altman.
Check out this moving mini-documentary by Stories for Action about the critical work of Early Childhood Coalition of Beaverhead County, the childcare center that's connecting families across Montana's most-expansive county. Childcare is an issue that impacts everyone in a rural community, not just those with children. It influences who can live and work in rural places, and thus impacts the economic vitality of a community. Montana is lucky to have funders like Headwaters Foundation working on this issue.
In this video, you'll meet father-son duo Roger and Mason and learn about how the Early Childhood Coalition of Beaverhead County supports families when they need it most.
If you live in Bozeman, there are a few spots still open for my Osher Lifelong Learning Institute OLLI at Montana State University course titled "Reframing Rural: Rural Representations in the Media & Rural Issues in the West!" Check out the video below to learn more.
Welcome to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Montana State University. Please enjoy this video featuring soundbite presentations by the spring ...
Honored to be the keynote speaker at this year's Montana Farmers Union Women's Conference!!
Meet our Keynote Speaker, who will be joining us in Fairmont!
Megan Torgerson from Reframing Rural
https://www.reframingrural.org/
Register for either of our 2024 Women's Conferences today at www.montanafarmersunion.com
A look back on 2023! So much to be grateful for: 1.) Moving back to Montana 2.) My Reframing Rural Season 4 Planning Retreat with Mary Auld, Zach Altman and Anthony Pavkovich 3.) Being named a finalist in the impact category by Third Coast International Audio Festival 4.) Reporting in new rural Montana communities 5.) Having my parents save the day when I hit a deer during one of my reporting trips! 6.) Collaborating on a short doc film 7.) Conducting a needs assessment for the Red Ants Pants Foundation's Community Grants program 8.) Having a feature in the Billings Gazette 9.) Attending a Common Ground Project storytelling retreat 10.) Being interviewed on Mountain & Prairie and having the episode come out on my birthday! Read the new blog post on my website to hear my reflections on a great year! https://www.reframingrural.org/post/a-year-in-review-10-highlights-from-2023
Megan Torgerson is teaching a course through Osher Lifelong Learning Institute OLLI at Montana State University in January! The in-person course on rural representations in the media, will explore dominant rural narratives in society, the pervasiveness of "urbanormativity," and the link between rural stereotypes and resource extraction. It will also examine the movement to reframe rural and media that aims to positively impact rural places and people. https://eu.courses.montana.edu/wconnect/CourseStatus.awp?&course=24SOLCRURAL&Publish=ANYWAY
Excellent opportunity from MSU Extension for rural Montana communities: Reimagining Rural is a program to increase volunteer engagement in rural communities. Reimagining Rural communities each host an in-person gathering for their local volunteers and leaders to watch rural-focused speakers via Zoom. Following the speakers, each community has their own local discussion about the ideas they heard from the speaker and how they might apply locally. Apply by Friday at: https://www.montana.edu/extension/communitydevelopment/reimagine-rural.html
Get some Reframing Rural gear for your loved one this Christmas!
Men's and women's tees, sweatshirts, coffee mugs and tote bags available at: www.bonfire.com/store/reframing-rural/
BOOK CLUB REGISTRATION IS OPEN!
The next book we have selected is "Uprooted" by Grace Olmstead. Register today at www.montanafarmersunion.com
*Limited copies available for MFU members on a first come first serve basis
In the tiny farm town of Emmett, Idaho, there are two kinds of people: those who leave and those who stay. Those who leave go in search of greener pastures, better jobs, and college. Those who stay are left to contend with thinning communities, punishing government farm policy, and environmental decay.
Grace Olmstead, now a journalist in Washington, DC, is one who left, and in Uprooted, she examines the heartbreaking consequences of uprooting—for Emmett, and for the greater heartland of America. Part memoir, part journalistic investigation, Uprooted wrestles with the questions of what we owe the places we come from and what we are willing to sacrifice for profit and progress.
Reframing Rural now has merch! Pick up a short- or long-sleeve tee, hoodie, coffee mug or tote bag below!
Reframing Rural is a true grassroots media project. Support the work of our quality, in-depth storytelling by purchasing our official swag!
I don't think this kid who made playgrounds of semi cabs and rock piles, would believe the amount of support she'd later receive for an idea to share rural stories that was born from her imagination. It's hard to believe Reframing Rural has been in motion for five years now. It started with an idea to fly home in grad school and interview folks from home, people who knew this little girl and who could illustrate the beauty and complexity of our little corner of Northeast Montana. Now I'm making plans for Season 4! During this reflective season as we enter the threshold of possibility that a new year promises, I'm thinking back on those for whom I'm grateful. They include my parents Renny and Russ who have contributed ideas and regional and agricultural knowledge to all three seasons. My partner in life Andrew who's composed original music for Reframing Rural and made me dinner during long nights spent writing scripts for narrative episodes. All the rural leaders who have opened their hearts and minds to me during interviews. My sickle-sharp collaborators, RR story editor Mary Auld and audio engineers and composers at Hazy Bay Music, along with Zach Altman and Anthony Pavkovich who joined Mary Auld and I at Reframing Rural's Season 4 Planning Retreat earlier this month. The countless authors and journalists, artists and filmmakers, and friends and mentors along the way, who have inspired me, helped me reflect on my experience and identify what impact I want to make on the world. And last but not least, I'm grateful for my listeners. Audio is an intimate medium and I thank you for listening as you go on road trips, wash dishes or walk your dog. I carry the same level of stoke as this little girl for the many people in my life who make Reframing Rural come alive and prosper out in the world.
Just launched 🤩 official Reframing Rural merchandise! Order a tee or coffee mug for a fellow Reframing Rural listener or treat yourself this holiday season!
Reframing Rural is a true grassroots media project. Support the work of our quality, in-depth storytelling by purchasing our official swag!
We're so thrilled to welcome participants this week to our newest program, our Women in Ag Well-Being Retreat! “This new opportunity is rooted in our mission pillars of increasing women’s leadership, supporting working family farms and ranches, and enriching rural communities. Women in agriculture are one of the foundations of Montana communities and we are looking forward to creating a restorative space to serve these hardworking women,” said Sarah Calhoun, executive director of the Red Ants Pants Foundation.
Last week I travelled to the Driftless region of Southeast Minnesota to visit friend and Reframing Rural season 2 podcast guest, Miranda Moen. Miranda is a rural architectural designer, owner of MO/EN Design Practice and Fulbright fellow whose research into Norwegian-American immigrant architecture brought her to Norway last year to study the homes of her ancestors and how the design and layout of rooms link to social practices, class and hierarchies of Norwegian culture. The house pictured here, known as the Vik house, was the first home Miranda's ancestors built when they arrived from Norway to Minnesota in the 1800s. Growing up one of my favorite things to do was walk around the abandoned houses and country schools that edged our fields and pastures. It brought back the same sense of wonder and mystery to peer into the hollow window frames of the Vik house with Miranda and imagine the lives of these early Americans.
Excited to play some music for Women in Ranching's Confluence gathering this week! This Fall’s Confluence is taking a deep dive into entrepreneurship both on and off the pasture. We will hear from speakers who are building and sustaining businesses, the challenges they have faced, and how they navigate through them. The two days will be filled with inspiring narrative stories, learning opportunities, tools and skills for success in getting started, and, as always, some creative surprises. https://www.womeninranching.co/fallconfluence-23
* Confluence Speaker Highlight
Megan Torgerson
Hailing from the windswept Great Plains of Dagmar, Montana, Megan Torgerson is a writer, creative entrepreneur and founder of Reframing Rural, the original podcast series working to cultivate curiosity and conversation across geographic, class and cultural divides. Megan holds an MFA in Arts Leadership from Seattle University and a BA in English with a creative nonfiction emphasis from the University of Montana. For her work producing Reframing Rural, Megan was awarded the inaugural Public Humanities Fellowship from Humanities Washington in 2022 and the 2020 fellowship from Guest House Cultural Capital Residency in Richland, Washington. Reframing Rural has received awards from Humanities Montana, Headwaters Foundation, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, Greater Montana Foundation and Seattle Office of Arts & Culture. Fueled by storytelling’s ability to bridge divides, Megan splits her time between producing Reframing Rural stories, helping on her family's wheat farm and providing communications, storytelling and fundraising services for nonprofits including the Red Ants Pants Music Festival and Foundation, and the Jeannette Rankin Foundation.
More about Reframingrural.org here
Honored to be the "Featured Montanan" in MSU Extension's annual magazine! I love my work in rural Montana communities and am grateful for the opportunity to share my story with the amazing community surrounding MSU Extension. Thank you for all your work in the state and to Erika Malo for the heartfelt article! https://store.msuextension.org/Products/Lives-and-Landscapes-Fall-2023-LL21__LL21.aspx
Fall, and its gifts of grouse and good company, hushed walks through the prairie and crisp morning air.
What was your favorite episode, or episodes, from this season and why? What kind of stories would you like to see more of? Do you have an episode idea (an interview guest, or an issue or a rural community in the West suitable for an immersive story) that you think would be fitting for Reframing Rural to explore? Tell us about your listening experience in our Season 3 Listener Survey! Visit the our homepage via the link in our bio to access the short survey.
Incredible opportunity for women in ag from our friends at Red Ants Pants Foundation!
We’re so excited to share this new opportunity with you – please consider applying and/or sharing with anyone you know who might benefit from our new Well-Being Retreat for Women in Agriculture! This opportunity will be free for participants thanks to funding from the Montana Department of Agriculture. The retreat will be November 15-16th, 2023 in White Sulphur Springs, Montana. Applications are due by November 1st! https://redants.submittable.com/submit/9933ea36-6477-4062-8b20-4e0af7051ff3/2023-women-in-agricultural-communities-well-being-retreat
That's a wrap on Season 3! Share what resonated with you most this season and ideas you have for future stories in our Season 3 Listener Survey. Or if you'd prefer, share your feedback/ ideas to reframingrural(at)gmail.com.
Thank you for listening to Reframing Rural and for taking 5 minutes to complete this survey! All prompts are optional. - Megan Torgerson, Reframing Rural Founder
Just released! The final installment of Season 3 Groundwork: “Creator Roundtable: A Behind-the-Scenes Conversation with Reframing Rural’s Audio Engineer, Story Editor and Producer/Host.” Featuring Reframing Rural story editor, Mary Auld, composer and audio engineer, Aaron Spieldenner and founder, host and producer, Megan Torgerson, this behind-the-scenes episode explores the inspiration behind season three, how Mary and Megan work together to create sound-rich, long-form narrative stories and how Aaron and his team at Hazy Bay Music work their audio magic to improve audio quality and compose original, immersive soundscapes for Reframing Rural! Support for Season 3 comes from Humanities Washington Humanities Montana Headwaters Foundation The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and Montana Farmers Union. Listen most anywhere podcasts are found.
In this final episode of Season 3 “Groundwork,” Reframing Rural founder, host and producer, Megan Torgerson speaks with the podcast’s audio engineer, Aaron Spieldenner and story editor, Mary Auld about the inspiration behind the season and all the work that goes into producing longform narrati...
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The last time I was at Fairmont Hot Springs I was 8 years old and I drove with my parents the 600 miles from our farm to Fairmont for a Montana Farmers Union Conference. This weekend I got to return as a keynote speaker, delivering my talk "Montana: a Place to Come Home to" about my journey as a storyteller and how, since launching Reframing Rural, I've witnessed the story of rural America evolve from one of division and despair, to one of hope and homecoming. It was inspiring to spend a weekend with the bright minds of Montana's women in agriculture. They are the ones keeping their family farms and ranches going. They see the vital role of childcare access in workforce development. They are leading the way in farm succession conversations. And they are raising the next generation of plant, animal and land stewards. It was an honor to meet them and to close out Montana Farmers Union's 11th annual Women's Conference!
Listen to "Groundwork" Episode 6: Winnett ACES: Strengthening Community & Keeping Ranchers on Working Lands, anywhere podcasts are available! Charlie Ahlgren: If you were to ask what’s one of your largest concerns, it’s absolutely out of state absentee land owners buying up property and either just hunting on it or letting it sit idle. It’s probably one of the number one threats we have in agriculture and even in Petroleum County, it's being bought up left and right. Diane Ahlgren: How do we make it cool for a rancher to say I gave someone an opportunity rather than I sold my place for $10 million? Like I say, we’re attempting to put our money where our mouth is, and so I’m hoping people are thinking about o.k., we need to get people back on the land. Austin Kiehl: Hopes for the community? I guess, that kind of is my hope that people want to invest in the community and want to be here. I want people to stay here. I want our school to at least hold its numbers steady, you know? Keep young families here. https://www.reframingrural.org/season-3-episode-6-winnett-aces
Out now 📢 Reframing Rural's Season Three "Groundwork" Preview! "Groundwork" will transport listeners to Golden Triangle wheat fields, farmhouse kitchen tables and small mountain town main streets. Combining sound-rich narrative episodes with in-depth interviews, season three will shine light on the state of family farming, the resurgence of regenerative techniques in agriculture and the realities of rural gentrification. Listen to the full preview at reframingrural.org/season3-trailer or anywhere podcasts are found. "Groundwork" is funded in part by Humanities Washington, Humanities Montana and listeners like you.
Jake Bullinger's Bitterroot Magazine article, "Rethinking my Hometown," was the seed for our latest episode that explores how leaving was both a marker of and prerequisite for success in his small hometown of Mountain View, Wyoming and many other small towns across the West. Listen to the second episode in our "Sowing Possibility" series and ponder whether this get-out logic, ubiquitous with rural America, impacted the trajectory of your life.
Red Ants Pants Music Festival holds special meaning for people across Montana and beyond! In Reframing Rural's recent bonus episode, hear from festival attendees, musicians and demo area leaders on what memories and wisdom they're taking home with them after the festival.
From breaking bread with Republicans and Democrats to being an advocate for more dance halls, there is a lot Sarah Calhoun and her network is doing to revitalize rural. What revitalization efforts stood out to you from Sarah's Reframing Rural episode? What strategies would you like to implement to sow possibility in your own community? reframingrural.org/season2episode1
The fate of rural America matters to everyone, no matter where you live. Check out our season two trailer to hear how we aim to uplift the resiliency of rural communities, stretch our social imagination and call attention to our interconnectedness, through our new 10 episode season. reframingrural.org/season2
After a fun-filled summer working on the family farm, dancing at the Red Ants Pants Music Festival and reconnecting with friends, it's back to the grindstone for Reframing Rural! Here's a small taste of what's in store for Reframing Rural's second season!
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Reframing Rural is dedicated to sharing stories directly from those living in geographically remote and sparsely populated regions through audio stories, photographs and touring audio-visual exhibits. By elevating unexplored stories and everyday wisdom directly from rural residents, the initiative adds color and complexity to the larger cultural narrative while celebrating culture, preserving history and cultivating empathy.
Listen to the trailer by visiting reframingrural.org and check out new episodes from our first season “Coming Home!”
Reframing Rural Founder, Megan Torgerson
