Recording the West

IT’S BEEN A RED-HOT YEAR for Western audio journalism as new podcasts reflect on the West’s changing communities and try to imagine a better future. Recent miniseries ask: Why are we doing things this way, and how can we improve?

and are a quartet of high-quality podcasts created by NPR member stations, an independent journalist and even a local museum. Each explains the issues behind an entrenched system and features the people working to change it. In every podcast, change is happening at a different rate. makes a convincing case that Wyoming’s juvenile justice system is in need of reform, but change feels remote, while in Craig, Colorado, as shows, change is imminent, with the town’s coal-fired plants and mines closing by the end of the decade. highlights innovative women ranchers from Washington to Montana, and traces the history, science and culture of nuclear energy and asks questions about a future already in progress.