Words Out West

Words Out West is a literary podcast spotlighting both established and emerging writers from Montana and the western United States, along with their poems, stories, songs, radio plays and other forms of the spoken word.

The Nuclear Baby Boom 09/02/2024

The Nuclear Baby Boom In this episode, we’ll hear a dramatic reading about two boys growing up in the Atomic Age, and how they changed their small town forever Writer: Jay Kettering. Dramatic reading by Teresa Waldorf of Jay Kettering’s short story The Nuclear Baby Boom: A Children’s Story for Adults. /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/32854327

Words and Music 08/26/2024

Words and Music In this episode, we’ll hear songs from the duo Toy Box, comprised of Beth Melody and LaBarre Bankshot, and learn of Beth’s collaboration with lyricist Gwen McKenna. Songs: Big Guy In the Sky, Cold April, Leave Me Alone (On the Sofa), Somebody Ought to Slap Your Face, Edge of the River, and Too Bad. Episode sponsor: The Bell Pipe & Tobacco Shop at 216 West Broadway in downtown Missoula. When you need the Otis—tobacconist—problem solver. /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/32738382

Big Sky, Deep Thoughts and Mr. Bubble 08/19/2024

Big Sky, Deep Thoughts and Mr. Bubble In this episode, writer Ednor Therriault takes us on a mental road trip through Montana with his stories and songs and even shares some marital advice from Mr. Bubble. Non-fiction excerpts from Big Sky, Big Parks: An Exploration of Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, and All That Montana in Between: A Forgotten Hero in Glacier and Playlists for the Road, and original songs from his various albums: A Cut Above, Mr. Bubble, and Go Butte! /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/32634122

It’s Kind Of About Coffee 08/12/2024

It’s Kind Of About Coffee In this episode, we’ll hear from a singer/songwriter/musician who says he’s wholly unfit to pursue a conventional lifestyle, but musters a peculiar existence relying largely on music, art, luck, and the love of his community. /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/32542972

Lunatic Masterpieces 08/05/2024

Lunatic Masterpieces In this episode, the writer talks about the politics of fishing in Montana, reads about his life and friends, and sings just to make us laugh. Greg Keeler with Greg Owens Greg Keeler: Memoir excerpts: Trash Fish: A Life; Waltzing With the Captain; poetry: variety of poems/sonnets; and songs The Ballad of Billy Montana, Indian In-Law, Little Bitch Creek, MCH, A Song To Go, and Neon Dream. Greg Owens: songs: The Greek Drama Song and Umbrella Song This episode contains some adult language and themes, which may be unsuitable for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised. /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/32440382

Songwriters Showcase 07/30/2024

Songwriters Showcase In this episode, live performances from the March 26, 2023 Words Out West Songwriters Showcase featuring four singer/songwriters who lent their time and talent for our Season 3 fundraiser. Featuring: Rebecca Kelley, Read Barbee, Maria Zepeda and Gabrielle Tusberg with Bethany Joyce This episode contains some adult language and themes, which may be unsuitable for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised. This episode was sponsored by Gallery 709 (at Montana Art & Framing), The Bell Pipe & Tobacco Shop, Rockin’ Rudy’s /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/32340987

Voices from the Oval 08/29/2022

Voices from the Oval In this episode, we celebrate the fruits of a teacher’s labor. You’ll hear from Professor Robert Stubblefield, along with three of his University of Montana students. A selection of poems and non-fiction, with Robert Stubblefield, Jade Taylor, Donna Arganbright, and Cass Sissel. This episode contains some adult language and themes, which may be unsuitable for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised. /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/24195216

A Place in the Sun for Butte 08/22/2022

A Place in the Sun for Butte In this episode, writer, geologist and professor Rob Thomas explains how the amazing history of rocks is related to the mining town of Butte finding its place in the sun. Selections from Roadside Geology of Montana. This episode is sponsored by Mountain Press Publishing Company, Missoula's independent publisher for over seventy years. Mountain Press publishes nontechnical books for adults and children on geology, natural history, western US history, and more. For more information go to or call toll-free at 800-234-5308. /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/24127809

Why the Village Appears on No Map 08/15/2022

Why the Village Appears on No Map In this episode, novelist Claude Alick introduces us to a place of mystery in the island country of Grenada—a village that appears on no map—a place that resides only in wilting memories. /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/24059307

How to Write about Sex and Death and Dreams 08/08/2022

How to Write about Sex and Death and Dreams In this episode, we pair writers who were born to be storytellers—poet Mara Panich, and singer/songwriter Margi Cates, accompanied by guitarist Nick Barr. This episode contains some adult language and themes, which may be unsuitable for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised. /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/23989392

How Stealing Laundry Leads to Success 08/01/2022

How Stealing Laundry Leads to Success In this episode, a struggling writer has a breakthrough when she accidentally steals her neighbor’s laundry. A short play written by Bozeman playwright Greg Owens, directed by Missoula’s own Reid Reimers and read by Missoula actors Hamilton Clement and Az Sacry. /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/23920986

Three Minds Driving 07/25/2022

Three Minds Driving In this episode, writers Chris La Tray, Fred Haefele, and Chris Autio take us on three distinct and heady road trips. Chris La Tray: Comet (poem) Three . . . Two . . . One . . . Blast off! Fred Haefele: excerpt from A Life in 12 Pickups (vehicular memoir) When a pickup truck transcends mechanical essence, rises to become comrade, ally and intimate. Chris Autio: Truck Topper (poem) We go on an archeological dig. Chris Autio: Bad Auto Points in Augusta (poem) We find a stranger in a strange land. /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/23846114

I Don’t Understand Snow 07/19/2022

I Don’t Understand Snow In this episode, singer/songwriter Spencer Kellum performs some ‘modern spirituals’ as Separate Circles, with piano accompaniment by Cole Grant. /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/23786492

Much More Than a Bartender 07/11/2022

Much More Than a Bartender In this episode, Joan Melcher finds her perfect saloon, and chats with the bartender who has the same name as his bar—Moose. A selection from her non-fiction books Watering Hole: A User’s Guide to Montana Bars and Montana Watering Holes: The Big Sky’s Best Bars. /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/23705342

The Glitter and The Glamour 07/04/2022

The Glitter and The Glamour In this episode, we get up close and personal with Bobby Lee Springfield, a singer/songwriter who gives us the skinny on the ups and downs of show biz. This episode contains some adult language and themes, with references to alcohol, tobacco and drugs, which may be unsuitable for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised. This episode is sponsored by The Bell Pipe & Tobacco Shop, located at 215 West Broadway, across from the courthouse in downtown Missoula. Home to the Otis—tobacconist—problem solver. /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/23623007

A love affair with prison 06/27/2022

A love affair with prison /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/23555741

In love with peace — Obliged to war 06/20/2022

In love with peace — Obliged to war The narrator in Sean Gallagher’s short story laments the damage done to his older brother after becoming a soldier — the brother who taught him, "That no one wins a fight." Morning Is My Favorite Time, short story from the podcast MT3K. This episode contains some adult themes, violence, and references to combat and war wounds, which may be unsuitable for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised. /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/23482223

It's All Just Noise 06/13/2022

It's All Just Noise In this episode, playwright Jay Kettering, introduces us to a couple recounting how they met, fell in love, and ultimately broke up, and let’s just say, it gets a bit noisy. This episode contains some adult language and themes, and sexual references, which may be unsuitable for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised. /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/23411888

WOW S2 E04 Caroline-Patterson 06/06/2022

WOW S2 E04 Caroline-Patterson /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/23342429

Songs in the Key of Keys 05/30/2022

Songs in the Key of Keys In this episode, Caroline Keys and Nate Biehl share their original songs along with poems from Caroline and her young student writers. /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/23269298

One Sentence At A Time 05/24/2022

One Sentence At A Time Chris La Tray doesn’t need many words to tell a damn fine story. In this episode featuring Métis storyteller Chris La Tray, we celebrate words, and the way even very few words, in the right hands, can capture the wonder in every single day. (from One-Sentence Journal: Short Poems and Essays From the World At Large and Descended from a Travel-Worn Satchel: Haiku & Haibun, as well as other poems.) /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/23210795

You Hate These Roads 05/16/2022

You Hate These Roads In this episode, novelist Richard Fifield puts us in a car going way too fast up a narrow mountain road, and that’s only the beginning of our troubles. /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/23126057

Love and Gunpowder 06/28/2021

Love and Gunpowder In this bonus episode, Words Out West’s own Jay Kettering writes about a kid who’s willing to blow up his world for love. /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/19606445

Who is My Dad? 06/14/2021

Who is My Dad? In part one of his radio play trilogy, My Dad and Pre-Socratic Thought, Jay recalls the crazy stories his father told him in an attempt to find meaning. /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/19463615

The Ticking Of The Clock 06/01/2021

The Ticking Of The Clock In this bonus episode, Words Out West’s own Jay Kettering looks back to a time when everything was a mystery—especially time. /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/19310519

A Mysterious Relationship 05/03/2021

A Mysterious Relationship In this episode, our season finale, Words Out West’s own Jay Kettering writes about a mysterious relationship. This episode contains some adult language and themes, which may be unsuitable for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised. /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/18325643

Personal Landscapes 04/26/2021

Personal Landscapes In this episode, Mark Gibbons, Shaun Gant and David E. Thomas explore their own personal landscapes. One ventures to where there are no fences, one observes an explosion of life in her own backyard, while another stays close to the tracks. /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/18325637

Fleeting Nature of Time 04/19/2021

Fleeting Nature of Time In this episode, David Allan Cates, Sheryl Noethe and Robert Lee mull over the fleeting nature of time. One takes a nostalgic leap of faith, another explains how life never stops, while another makes a plan for when he’s a ghost. /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/18325628

Grab Bag 04/12/2021

Grab Bag In this episode, we hear from Shane Wheeldon, Freya Jones and Chris Sand, three writers who are hard to put in a box. Therefore, it’s our first installment of the Grab Bag. /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/18325619

Searching 04/05/2021

Searching In this episode, writers Sheryl Noethe, David E. Thomas, and Sarah Aronson are in the process of searching. One is searching for stories from strangers, another seeks magic from a natural phenomenon, while the other is tracking those who want to get to their destination in the quickest way possible. /episode/index/show/wordsoutwest/id/18325616

Words Out West

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