Wilder on the Prairie

Latest Episodes:

Episode 161 - LW - Antelope! Aug 18, 2025

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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 160 - LW - Where There's a Will Aug 11, 2025

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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 159 - LW - Merry Christmas Aug 04, 2025

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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 158 - LW - Seed Wheat Jul 28, 2025

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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 157 - LW - Fair Weather Jul 21, 2025

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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 156 - LW - No Trains Jul 14, 2025

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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 155 - LW - One Bright Day Jul 07, 2025

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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 154 - LW - We'll Weather the Blast Jun 30, 2025

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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 153 - LW - Alone Jun 23, 2025

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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 152 - LW - Pa Goes to Volga Jun 16, 2025

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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.

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