10. “It can never be a long time ago.”

Wilder

Influential Media

Documentary, Books, Arts, History, Society & Culture

4.8 • 574 Ratings

🗓️ 31 August 2023

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

As we talked about in our very first episode, the last line of Big Woods reads, “Now is now, it can never be a long time ago.” That line might be the most accurate description there is of the Little House series. Little House on the Prairie might be about another time, but Laura’s stories are very much alive in our time. We can't seem to let her go. But of course, some of the ways in which Laura is relevant are painful to consider. The story she tells is narrow, contributing to a long held mythology of the American West that prioritizes white narratives. For a final look at Laura’s impact, Glynnis and Wilder producer Emily drive further west, beyond Laura’s homesteads, to understand what we’re missing when we hold on too tightly to one narrative. Could it be time to let Laura go? Go deeper: More on Mount Rushmore and the Black HillsMore on the Gordon Stockade More on the Battle of the Little BighornMore on Buffalo Calf Road WomanMore on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Follow us for behind the scenes content! @WilderPodcast on TikTok@Wilder_Podcast on Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
0:04.5	This recording is being made in the Laura Ingalls-Wilder Library of Mansfield, Missouri,
0:09.9	the home of Mrs. Wilder.
0:12.2	In 1953, 19 years after the first little house book was released,
0:17.9	librarians in California sent Laura Ingalls Wilder a present for her 86th birthday.
0:23.0	They were homemade dolls of every member of the Ingalls family.
0:27.8	To thank the librarians, Laura recorded a response in the Mansfield, Missouri Library.
0:34.4	I certainly do appreciate the gift of these quaint little figures that seem to have walked out of my memories of long ago.
0:43.0	This is the only known recording of Laura's voice.
0:46.3	But more than all, I value the understanding and love for me and my family that prompted the gift.
0:56.0	Little House in the Big Woods, the first book in the Little House on the Prairie series,
1:01.0	was published 90 years ago this year.
1:04.0	As we talked about in our very first episode,
1:07.0	the last line of Big Woods reads,
1:09.0	Now is Now, it can never be a long time ago. That line of the last line of Big Woods reads, Now is now.
1:12.6	It can never be a long time ago.
1:18.4	That line might be the most accurate description there is of the Little House series.
1:21.2	The books still sell millions of copies.
1:24.4	The television show still airs around the world.
1:29.5	Little House on the Perry might be about another time. But Laura's stories are very much alive in our time. We can't seem to let her go. Why is Laura still around?
1:37.1	She's just, this is really honestly going to sound like a ridiculous answer. But like, why is a cup
1:44.0	of tea still around?
	...

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