Rural Conversations with National Reach
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Rural Conversations with National Reach 〰️
A free, weekly, hour-long rural radio program from the Daily Yonder and the Center for Rural Strategies.
Latest episode: 129
We begin this week with Jana Rose Schleis, a news reporter with KBIA in Columbia, Missouri. She visited a nuclear power plant in Callaway County to learn about the financial and technical barriers to expanding the state’s nuclear power capacity.
Then, we hear from Heather Dawn Thompson, who spearheads the World Wildlife Fund’s efforts to support indigenous communities as they restore and harvest buffalo populations.
Then, we head to Vernonia, Oregon, to learn how a community rail-to-trail gained official status from the National Park Service as a National Recreation Trail.
Finally, reporter Nicole Musgrave takes us behind the scenes of West Virginia’s viral hip-hop songwriting contest, “Dear West V,” which swept across the Mountain State this summer.
Our featured musician this week is Wyatt Espalin, singer, songwriter, and lifelong entertainer from North Georgia.
Tune in for all that, and more, on Yonder Radio.
We’d love to hear your feedback about Yonder Radio. Please email us at info@yonderradio.com and let us know what you think.
Download Episode 129
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Episode 129 Timing
Learn More
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Yonder Radio is a new, free, hour-long show that is fresh every week and designed to help fill programming gaps. We’ll feature nuanced stories that represent the 60 million people who live in rural America, and the distinct communities they call home.
Each week will start with a news round-up: think of this as the top headlines read through a rural lens. For instance, how does a government shutdown affect federal workers living in rural communities? Or, what do changes in Medicare policy mean for small town hospitals? We’ll also talk with reporters for in-depth but conversational segments going beyond the headlines, exploring their coverage on topics shaping rural communities. We’ll highlight how these stories unfold across different regions, offering local nuance with a broader perspective.
Yonder Radio is not just news. It’s also a show focused on rural lives and livelihoods. That means weekly human-interest stories, hearing from hunters, farmers, gardeners, and shopkeepers; conversations with artists supporting and reimagining traditions; performances by regional musicians; and vibrant analysis of rural representation in pop culture. Add in a round of engaging trivia, and you’ve got a show that’s as rich and varied as the places it comes from.
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Public media just took a $1.1 billion hit, thanks to recent Congressional cuts, and as we’ve all seen, it’s rural broadcasters that bear the brunt. And even before these cuts, the rural communities we all cover have felt the consequences of a media landscape transformed by conglomerates, consolidation, and the declining resources available to local outlets.
Yonder Radio is designed to fill programming gaps for those stations struggling to find quality content. It will be formatted to fit stations’ needs with internal breaks built in. Yonder Radio gives stations an accessible, flexible, high-quality hour of content every week.
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Yonder Radio is produced by the Center for Rural Strategies, publisher of the Daily Yonder. Centering rural stories with nuance, context, and care has made the Daily Yonder the nation’s preeminent source for rural news for nearly two decades. Rural Strategies’ additional programs, including Rural Assembly, Rural Faith Initiative, and Living Traditions, will provide enriching voices and stories to this collaborative radio show. Yonder Radio is hosted by Jared Ewy, a veteran radio personality and regular contributor to the Daily Yonder.
FAQS
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Yonder Radio will be available on PRX, as well as through downloadable files on our website. It will also be available for online streaming, wherever you get your podcasts.
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We would love for you to run the full hour of Yonder Radio. But yes, if it’s more conducive to your programming needs, you are welcome to use fractions of the hour.
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Yonder Radio will be distributed at 4 pm ET on Thursdays, beginning in March, 2026.
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Yes! You can publish Yonder Radio for free on your website.
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We would love for you to contribute to this show. We’re looking for a range of contributions, including short (2-7 minutes) pre-produced segments, suggestions for people for us to interview about rural communities, projects, or organizations, and recommendations for featured music and musicians. We’d also love to hear about interesting events, celebrations, and traditions in your community. Email the team at info@yonderradio.com with your pitches or to set up a conversation about potential contributions.
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The Center for Rural Strategies is the organization behind Yonder Radio. It is a nonprofit created to tell deeper, richer stories about life in rural places.
Rural Strategies is the publisher of The Daily Yonder, a digital news platform that covers rural news for a national audience. Rural Strategies is also the parent organization of The Rural Assembly, which works at the local, regional, and national levels to build more opportunity and better policy for rural communities across the country. Other Rural Strategies projects include The Yonder Report, Rural Remix podcast, Living Traditions, and Rural Faith Initiative.