Natural Stories

Natural Stories

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Why do we name places after people?
I used to take place-names for granted. Then I realized how much they say about my culture’s relationship to nature and place.
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John Clayton
8
Thomas Wolfe and the greatest Western novel that never was
Reflections on the role of story in reflecting and shaping culture
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John Clayton
3
Oh the (natural) humanities!
How the humanities transformed Montana's literary landscape, and me
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John Clayton
11
‘National Parks,’ in the traditionally understood sense
Proposed cuts to the Park Service's budget suggest a misunderstanding of the agency’s evolving mission
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John Clayton
7
Good agreements make good neighbors
A mine, a conflict, and small-town trust
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John Clayton
9
Yellowstone explosions, supervolcanoes, and our culture’s apocalyptic hunger
Interpreting the allure of last week's Biscuit Basin surprise
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John Clayton
10
Who will fight the fires?
Professionalization, communities, and our uncertain times
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John Clayton
5
A class on class and nature
In which our hero started telling a story and got confused
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John Clayton
4
America’s coach goes camping
Tim Walz and nature as common ground
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John Clayton
Who is wilderness solitude for?
In Part 2 of the Solitude Trilogy, we look at how wilderness and solitude got tied together
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John Clayton
2
A natural history of short-term rental lodging
The rise of AirBnB and VRBO reflects a relationship between communities and nature
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John Clayton
6
The tiny island dock that may (not) have transformed the National Park Service
Large organizations, culture wars, and Trump’s surprising “Bebe Rebozo problem”
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John Clayton
4
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