Robert Hall
Robert Hall was born and raised on the Blackfeet Reservation where he is the director of Blackfeet Native American Studies Program for the Browning Public School District. Robert is working on revitalizing the Blackfoot languages and is one of the youngest speakers of the Blackfoot language. Robert is involved in the Native American Speaks program because he promotes his tribe and people in a positive light and bring a better understanding to the culture, land, and history of the people. Over the course of two episodes, he speaks with Kathleen McLaughlin about his work in the Browning School District, the relationship between language and sovereignty, and the importance of the land.
Mark T. Johnson
Mark T. Johnson is an associate clinical professor in the Institute of Educational Initiatives at the University of Notre Dame. In this episode, he discusses the history of Chinese people and culture in the context of his book The Middle Kingdom Under the Big Sky: A History of the Chinese Experience in Montana, published by the University of Nebraska Press.
Dave Martens
Dave Martens is the founder of Lost Sounds Montana, a record label whose mission is to “preserve, archive, showcase and make accessible the music and associated history of Montana across the decades.” Our team traveled to Havre to visit with Dave in the KNMC studios on the campus of MSU-Northern, where Dave used the studio’s turntables to share some of Montana’s obscure musical history with us.
Verlaine McDonald
Dr. Verlaine McDonald is a Professor of Communication at Berea College in Berea, Kentucky, and the author of the book The Red Corner: The Rise and Fall of Communism in Northeastern Montana. She grew up in Sheridan County in northeast Montana, which was the site of a very active Communist Party in the early 20th century. Plentywood, Montana was also the site of Communist publications and newspapers such as the Producer’s News. In this episode, McDonald discusses this little-known chapter of Montana history and talks about her book, which was published by the Montana State Historical Society Press in 2010.