Wilder on the Prairie

The only podcast that talks about all things Laura Ingalls Wilder, one "Little House" book at a time.

Episode 174 - LW - Christmas in May 11/17/2025

Episode 174 - LW - Christmas in May Episode 174 Ch. 33 of The Long Winter, "Christmas in May". Join us this week as we discuss the tablecloth sitch, yeast cakes/sponge/light bread, seedless raisins, cream of tartar, how far the Boasts' claim was from town, a dripping pan, ways to mash potatoes, the Boasts' winter on their claim, "Where There's a Will There's a Way". /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/39053155

Episode 173 - LW - The Christmas Barrel 11/10/2025

Episode 173 - LW - The Christmas Barrel Episode 173 Ch. 32 of The Long Winter, "The Christmas Barrel". Join us this week as we discuss whaleboned basques, fascinators, what "dove colored" is, Laura's jealousy about the Christmas barrel, talking turkey, and the presence of Mr. Boast. /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/38970325

Episode 172 - Waiting for the Train 11/03/2025

Episode 172 - Waiting for the Train Episode 172 Ch. 31 of The Long Winter "Waiting for the Train" Join us this week as we discuss King Nebuchadnezzar, "The May Queen", positive stereotypes of people of Scottish descent, why the Ingalls air the bedding, what an emigrant car is, and Pa not caring about taking items from the railroad company. /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/38883790

Episode 171 - LW - It Can't Beat Us 10/27/2025

Episode 171 - LW - It Can't Beat Us Episode 171 Ch. 30 of The Long Winter, "It Can't Beat Us". Join us this week as we discuss Carrie not helping with chores (?), no more lessons, Pa not singing his trouble song, Laura's light within her, the Chinook winds, and "beauty is only skin deep". /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/38784820

Episode 170 - LW - The Last Mile 10/20/2025

Episode 170 - LW - The Last Mile Episode 170 Ch. 29 of The Long Winter, "The Last Mile". Join us this week as we discuss how Almanzo treats Prince, what a neckyoke is, what "tugs" are, "Is that the best you can do?", Laura clarifying the timeline of the narrative, what Loftus charges for the wheat, the physcial description of Pa and the toll the Long Winter has taken on him, the respect Pa commanded, "palaver", how they divided up the wheat, and Pa being too proud to ask for help carrying 125 lbs. /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/38636215

Episode 169 - LW - Four Days' Blizzard 10/13/2025

Episode 169 - LW - Four Days' Blizzard Episode 169 Ch. of The Long Winter "Four Days' Blizzard" Join us this week as we discuss Pa yelling at the wind, "Song of the Freed Men/We Are All Here", "It Will Never Do to Give (It) up So", "Great Is the Lord/And Greatly to Be Prais'd", "When I Can Read My Title Clear", chilblained definition, and Pa revealing where he got his seed wheat. /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/38555725

Episode 168 - LW - For Daily Bread 10/06/2025

Episode 168 - LW - For Daily Bread Episode 168 Ch. 27 of The Long Winter "For Daily Bread". Join us this week as we discuss the challenges Cap and Almanzo faced, the morning star (Venus), a buckskin horse, Cap and Almanzo's ages, Lake Henry and Lake Thompson, a "swell", "zenith", the identity of Anderson, wheat prices, "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush". /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/38471495

Episode 167 - LW - Breathing Spell 09/29/2025

Episode 167 - LW - Breathing Spell Episode 167 Ch. 26 of The Long Winter, "Breathing Spell". Join us this week as we discuss Ma's state of mind about the weather, Ma twisting hay, "gee whillikins", elephant nose lengths, Pa's checker-playing abilities. /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/38383535

Episode 166 - LW - Free and Independent 09/22/2025

Episode 166 - LW - Free and Independent Episode 166 Ch. 25 of The Long Winter, "Free and Independent" Join us this week as we discuss the fact there are no Ingalls present in the narration, whittling, tintypes, "Be sure you're right, then go ahead", "Better safe than sorry", "Free, white, and 21". /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/38297910

Episode 165 - LW - Not Really Hungry 09/15/2025

Episode 165 - LW - Not Really Hungry Episode 165 Ch. 24 of the Long Winter "Not Really Hungry". Join us this week as we discuss potato skins, codfish, "chirk", and Laura mentioning Carrie's health. /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/38215575

Episode 164 - LW - Wheat in the Wall 09/08/2025

Episode 164 - LW - Wheat in the Wall Episode 164 Ch. 23 of The Long Winter "Wheat in the Wall". Join us this week as we discuss always being grateful for what you have, Ma putting her foot down and Pa not hunting for the wheat, pouring tea into the saucer to cool it, Pa with his good eye finding the wheat in the wall, and the price of wheat. /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/38120455

Episode 163 - LW - Cold and Dark 09/01/2025

Episode 163 - LW - Cold and Dark Episode 163 Ch. 22 of The Long Winter, Cold and Dark. Join us this week as we discuss patching coats, Ma allowing them to dip their bread in their tea, "The Speech of Regulus", "Old Tubal Cain", "Mary Had a Little Lamb", "Little Bo Peep", "Paul Revere's Ride", "The Romance of the Swan's Nest", selling hay to burn, hauling hay while the sun shines, Mary twisting hay, Ma snapping at Pa again, David Livingstone, "Bonny Doon", saleratus, "Home of the Soul". /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/38038950

Episode 162 - LW - The Hard Winter 08/25/2025

Episode 162 - LW - The Hard Winter Episode 162 Ch. 21 of The Long Winter, "The Hard Winter". Join us this week as we discuss the price of beef, searing meat, a recipe for pot roast, Ma losing her temper, "the dickens", "pride goes before a fall", the core message if The Long Winter, "Canaan Together Let Us Sweetly Live"/"On Jordan's Stormy Banks I Stand", and BROWN FOOD TASTES GOOD. /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/37938870

Episode 161 - LW - Antelope! 08/18/2025

Episode 161 - LW - Antelope! Episode 161 Ch. 20 of the Long Winter "Antelope!" Join us this week as we discuss pronghorn, cartridges for Pa's rifle, "counting your chickens before they hatch", sawing on the bit, tender-mouthed horses, "You're a mighty hunter before the Lord", Spirit Lake, Almanzo's sense of direction, Lady is *not* a colt, scraping down a horse, and the change in narrator. /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/37852390

Episode 160 - LW - Where There's a Will 08/11/2025

Episode 160 - LW - Where There's a Will Episode 160 Ch. 19 of The Long Winter "Where There's a Will". Join us this week as we discuss twisting hay, Laura wearing Pa's old overcoat, Mary's collge money, the telegraph, the high cost of flour, grist mills, coffee mill dimensions, axle grease, a sourdough bread recipe, and a snapshot of 1881 for context. /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/37749040

Episode 159 - LW - Merry Christmas 08/04/2025

Episode 159 - LW - Merry Christmas Episode 159 Ch. 18 of the Long Winter, "Merry Christmas" Join us this week as we discuss Youth's Companions, The Advance, The Pioneer Press, Banker Thomas Ruth, the bluing bag, boiling the starch, what superintendents are responsible for, 25 cents for a pound of flour and for suspenders, the current price of flour, cross-stitching on cardboard, and hair switches. /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/37652310

Episode 158 - LW - Seed Wheat 07/28/2025

Episode 158 - LW - Seed Wheat Episode 158 Ch. 17 of The Long Winter "Seed Wheat" Join us this week as we discuss heifers, the reappearance of "The Blue Bonnets", fatmeat, shifts in the narrative, 125-pound sacks of wheat, "a daisy", and the phrase "nothing is certain but death and taxes". /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/37568140

Episode 157 - LW - Fair Weather 07/21/2025

Episode 157 - LW - Fair Weather Episode 157 Ch. 16 of The Long Winter, "Fair Weather". Join us this week as we discuss igloos, the word "Eskimos", how old an "old" horse is, roller towels, "to rassle", David Allison Gilbert, and (Lake) Preston, SD. /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/37472050

Episode 156 - LW - No Trains 07/14/2025

Episode 156 - LW - No Trains Episode 156 Ch. 15 in The Long Winter, "No Trains". Join us this week as we discuss the fact that there was a whole heater I wasn't paying attention to, Ma's little red Morocco pocketbook, mother-of-pearl, kerosene, Charles Ely, what "per thousand" means in terms of lumber, the Chicago Inter-Ocean, braiding and sewing a rag rug, wasn't the lace supposed to be a gift for Mary?, Mary's hair length on p. 145, the origin of the word "jiffy", and the record snowfall in South Dakota. /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/37392130

Episode 155 - LW - One Bright Day 07/07/2025

Episode 155 - LW - One Bright Day Episode 155 Ch. 14 of the Long Winter "One Bright Day." Join us this week as we discuss Laura pinning up her braids, the origin of the word "Sol", wild chokecherries, what an awl is, how salt works, and a recipe for rich tomato preserves. /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/37295390

Episode 154 - LW - We'll Weather the Blast 06/30/2025

Episode 154 - LW - We'll Weather the Blast Episode 154 Ch. 13 of The Long Winter, "We'll Weather the Blast" Join us this week as we discuss Jerusalem crickets/potato bugs, "humdinger", how tall an average door is, why Laura sets the chairs to the table in the morning, the heater footrest, dinner vs. lunch, the coldest temperature ever recorded ever in South Dakota, "In the Sweet Bye and Bye", "Jesus Is a Rock in a Weary Land", and "Evergreen Shore". /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/37209000

Episode 153 - LW - Alone 06/23/2025

Episode 153 - LW - Alone Episode 153 The Long Winter ch. 11 "Alone" Join us this week as we discuss the Masters family who boarded with the Ingalls during the Long Winter, knitting lace, "the Lord helps those who help themselves", the origin of "lickety-split", "gosh all hemlock!", "Little Annie Rooney", "Old Grey Mare She Ain't What She Used to Be", and the Highland Fling. /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/37105240

Episode 152 - LW - Pa Goes to Volga 06/16/2025

Episode 152 - LW - Pa Goes to Volga Episode 152 Ch. 11 of the Long Winter, "Pa Goes to Volga." Join us this week as we discuss the big cut near Tracy, Volga, South Dakota, the reappearance of Mr. Hinz, "let 'er go, Gallagher!", "Roll the Old Chariot Along", "to dandle", and currency conversion for the chapter - selling livestock and Mary's college fund. /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/37016075

Episode 151 - LW - Three Days' Blizzard 06/09/2025

Episode 151 - LW - Three Days' Blizzard Episode 151 The Long Winter ch. 10 "Three Days' Blizzard." Join us this week as we discuss Charles Barker, Almanzo's true age, working for 50 cents a day, buckwheat pancakes, ironstone, seed wheat, and a peck of wheat. /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/36908800

Episode 150 - LW - Cap Garland 06/02/2025

Episode 150 - LW - Cap Garland Episode 150 The Long Winter, chapter 9, "Cap Garland" Join us this week as we discuss shoes of the 1880s, George Bradley, Mary Power, Minnie Johnson, Cap Garland, "patent" desks, Florence Garland, Ben Woodworth, Arthur Johnson, the date of the blizzard, Mr. Foster/Silas Holmes, the Beardsley girls, the Wilmarth boys, Mead's Hotel, and Couse's Hardware. /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/36807270

Episode 149 - LW - Settled in Town 05/26/2025

Episode 149 - LW - Settled in Town Episode 149 Chapter 8 of the Long Winter, "Settled in Town". Join us this week as we discuss the Long Winter being translated for the Japanese market after World War II, how long it takes for wood to weather grey, who was Ellen's calf's father?, John Carroll, roll-top desks, Thomas Power, Daniel Loftus, the difference of straw vs. hay, the definition of "all hollow", the Sherwood family, the Garland family, the Owens family, "to bach", and Mr. Foster. /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/36705290

Episode 148 - LW - Indian Warning 05/19/2025

Episode 148 - LW - Indian Warning Episode 148 The Long Winter ch. 7, "Indian Warning" Join us this week as we discuss the third person omniscient narrator, where Royal and Almanzo homesteaded, which tribe the Native American may have been from, outdated depictions of Native Americans vis a vis language used, origin of the word "geezer", Ellie vs. Nell Boast, "to ceil", Laura not being allowed to stack hay in town, and Psalm 55:6. /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/36616620

Episode 147 - LW - Indian Summer 05/12/2025

Episode 147 - LW - Indian Summer Episode 147 Ch. 6 of the Long Winter, "Indian Summer". Join us this week as we discuss the origins of the phrase "Indian summer" and dovkies. /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/36526175

Episode 146 - LW - After the Storm 05/05/2025

Episode 146 - LW - After the Storm Episode 146 Ch. 4 of The Long Winter, "After the Storm". Join us this week as we discuss tar paper nailed to the roof, what an "Indian summer" is, why Laura wore a shawl instead of a coat, "to scud", Mary not believing Laura's "queer notions", great auks, and why snow melts in the south. /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/36378690

Episode 145 - LW - October Blizzard 04/28/2025

Episode 145 - LW - October Blizzard Episode 145 Ch. 6 of The Long Winter, "October Blizzard". Join us this week as we discuss Pa's sunflower song, baking soda in the bean broth, changing the bean water, cambric tea, "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny", "All the Bluebonnets Are Over the Border"/"The Blue Bonnets". /episode/index/show/wilderontheprairie/id/36330900

Wilder on the Prairie

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