Ep. 25: Thinking About Big History in One Western Place

About this episode

A road trip with Steven Rinella explores 13,000 years of change in the High Plains region.

A road trip with Steven Rinella across the High Plains to the Blackwater Draw Unesco Site on the border of Texas and New Mexico leads to an assessment of 13,000 years of change in one western environment, where people have practiced every kind of life way from hunting elephants to turning the plains into cotton fields and oil country. Subscribe now wherever you listen to podcasts.  YouTube , Spotify , Apple , iHeart , Pandora , Amazon . MeatEater on Instagram , Facebook , Twitter , Youtube , and Youtube Clips Check out more MeatEater's American History audio originals " The Long Hunters " and " Mountain Men " Subscribe to The MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Shop  MeatEater Merch See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Guest: Steven Rinella

Topics covered

• history
• environment
• hunting
• agriculture
• cultural change

Keywords

• Big History
• Western environment
• hunting elephants
• cotton fields
• oil country

Mentioned in this episode

Places: High Plains, Blackwater Draw Unesco Site, Texas, New Mexico

More episodes of The American West

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• Ep. 30: Jesus and Animus Beneath the Bitterroots · May 26, 2026 · 53 min
• Ep. 29: What Were Charlie Russell and L.A. Huffman Trying to Tell Us? · May 19, 2026 · 50 min
• Ep. 28: Understanding Nature in a Southwestern State · May 12, 2026 · 48 min
• Ep. 27: Messages From the Past - The Rock Art of the American West · May 5, 2026 · 52 min