-
Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, via Wikimedia CommonsIn The Children’s Blizzard, David Laskin seeks to unpack the complex history of Anabaptist emigration to the Great Plains and the eventual tragedy of the 1888 blizzard, which took the lives of hundreds of people, many of them children. There are many points where Laskin might impart some sense of cosmic morality to these events, such as when he repeatedly notes that the land that lured these settlers from their Mennonite communities in Europe had been violently seized from the Indigenous peoples who had inhabited it for millennia by the U.S. military and railroad companies. -
Tune in to Classical Music Amarillo this week to hear performances by the Harrington String Quartet as we gear up for the ensemble’s season opening concert on November 9th!
-
Hello friends, I’m Huascar Medina, Former Poet Laureate of Kansas, here for Poets on the Plains. I hope you are well and finding laughter. I’m excited to share more wonderful poetry from Kansas poets. Today, I will be sharing the poem “What You Allow, Lingers” by Annette Hope Billings. -
Hi, this Alan Erwin from Amarillo. I just finished reading The Children's Blizzard, by David Laskin. As I write this, Amarillo's extended weather forecast calls for multiple days over 100 degrees. -
Damar, Kansas, is a tiny town in northwest Kansas with a population of less than 115 people, some of whom can trace their lineage back to the early immigrant settlement of the area in the 1880s. -
It takes a lot for us to embrace an outsider writing our stories. I sat with Duane West, the prosecutor of the murders of the Clutter family, in his living room for three hours in 2017, and he had quite a bit to say about his distaste for Truman Capote. While I don’t have the same personal animus that our mournfully departed Mr. West had for In Cold Blood, I’ll admit it’s tough for a New Yorker to “get it,” and the readers of this book club often just know when someone has it right. -
On January 12, 1888, what began as an ordinary winter morning across the Great Plains became one of the deadliest weather disasters in American history. A sudden Arctic front swept across the prairie with little warning, trapping children on their way home from one-room schools, isolating families, and forever changing the communities that survived it. -
This week we are celebrating a towering figure in American music history: Leonard Bernstein. -
This week, Luke celebrates the opening of deer season with a brand-new recipe for venison steaks! -
Your soil might not need amending, but how do you know? And do you know much about how your soil is structured? Knowing this, and how to treat it if you've got a lot of clay in your yard, can really make a huge difference. This week, we'll talk about this, and the value of compost in improving your conditions! -
Thank you for joining us at the High Plains Public Radio Station. My name is Jessica Sadler. I can usually be found in a secondary science classroom, but I am currently a Teacher Professional Development Fellow at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. I am here with the other book leaders to discuss The Wonderful Wizard of OZ by L. Frank Baum. -
Hi, I’m Tarfia Faizullah, here again for Poets on the Plains. Today, I’m excited to share a poem with you by Emmy Perez, a poet I fiercely admire and look up to. Emmy Pérez’s Paper america: New and Selected Poems was published in March 2026 (TCU Press, Texas Poet Laureate Series).
