22 min listen
Yardwork: Lawn and Order
FromOutside/In
ratings:
Length:
27 minutes
Released:
Aug 11, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
Welcome to Yardwork, a summer yard and garden miniseries from Outside/In. We’re sharing three stories about our relationships with the land around us: the front yard, the backyard, and down the block. This is part one.Americans love a lawn. Green grass grows everywhere: on baseball fields, in backyards, in front of strip malls. Collectively, we spend billions of dollars every year keeping them fertilized and watered.But lawns cost more than money in Western states like Utah. Despite a severe drought, residents of Utah’s towns and cities use more water per capita than any other place in the nation, and a majority of that water goes right into lawns. That’s helping fuel an environmental disaster that could wipe out one of America’s largest inland seas.In part one of Yardwork, we trace the 600-year history of lawns, explore how they became a symbol of power, wealth, and Whiteness in America, and share tips on how to make a yard more environmentally responsible.Featuring: Malin Curry, Ira Curry, Kelly Kopp, Zach Frankel, Karen Stenehjel SUPPORTOutside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In. Subscribe to our FREE newsletter.Follow Outside/In on Instagram or Twitter, or join our private discussion group on Facebook LINKSCheck out Malin Curry’s essay on the history of Black Americans and yard work. To read more about how agriculture and outdoor watering is contributing to the disappearance of the Great Salt Lake, take a look at these two studies. ProPublica published an excellent investigation into why one of the West’s driest states often rejects aggressive water conservation efforts. For some great history on lawns, read Paul Robbins’ Lawn People and Virginia Scott Jenkins’ The Lawn: A History of an American Obsession CREDITSHost: Nate HegyiReported and produced by Nate HegyiEditing by Taylor QuimbyAdditional editing help from Justine Paradis, Felix Poon, Rebecca Lavoie and Jessica Hunt. Rebecca Lavoie is our Executive ProducerSpecial thanks to Sherry Lund, Zach Renstrom, Karry Rathje and Ken Fox. Music for this episode by Walt Adams, Sture Zetterberg, OTE, Headlund, Roy Edwin Williams, El Flaco Collective, Pulsed, Jimmy Wahlsteen, Both Are Infinite, Airae, and Alfie-Jay Winters.Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio
Released:
Aug 11, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
Pier Pressure: In 1998, Forest Quimby spent thousands of dollars building one of the most beautiful, most elaborate docks on Franklin Pierce Lake in New Hampshire. There was just one problem – it was illegal. In this story, we hear about Quimby’s seventeen-year battle with the NH Department of Environmental Services, and find out why small-scale environmental regulations are so hard to enforce. by Outside/In