BONUS: A chat with Melissa Gilbert

Wilder

Influential Media

Documentary, Books, Arts, History, Society & Culture

4.8 • 574 Ratings

🗓️ 10 August 2023

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We’re nearing the end of our series, but before we go we have a surprise for you. Is it tin cups and peppermint sticks? A pig’s bladder? No! It’s our extended interview with the one and only Melissa Gilbert! No one knows what it’s like to shoulder the legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder quite like Melissa. 50 years ago, she was cast as Laura Ingalls on the Little House TV show at just 9 years old, which means Melissa has spent close to a lifetime with Laura and all of her complications. She talked to us about that experience, as well as what it was like working on the TV show, finding agency as a young actor, her business Modern Prairie, her activism, and even her thoughts on Rose. We hope you enjoy this interview as much as we did! Go deeper: Melissa Gilbert’s memoirs Prairie Tale and Back to the PrairieModern Prairie Follow us for behind the scenes content! @WilderPodcast on TikTok@Wilder_Podcast on Instagram We want to hear from you! If listening to Wilder has changed your thinking on Laura Ingalls Wilder and the Little House books, send a voice memo to wilderpodcast@gmail.com. You might be featured in our final episode ;) 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.
0:02.4	Guaranteed Human.
0:04.2	Hello, Wilder listeners.
0:06.1	This is producer Emily, taking over for Glenith today because we are still
0:10.5	prepping for our final episode.
0:12.7	Thank you to everyone who's come this far with us, and especially thank you to those who
0:16.9	have reached out to share about their relationship with Laura in their life.
0:20.8	We're incorporating a
0:21.7	bunch of your feedback into our grand finale episode, but while you wait for that, we have a
0:26.9	surprise for you. There are so many things we haven't been able to include in this series, moments from the
0:32.8	road, more background on Laura and Rose's lives, and of course, all the fascinating things are guests said in
0:40.1	interviews. We wanted to release one of those full interviews, so we present to you our extended
0:45.6	Melissa Gilbert interview. If you grew up loving the Little House television show, you know Melissa
0:51.7	Gilbert. I know that when Glennys first started talking to me about a
0:55.5	podcast about Laura Ingalls Wilder, the first image that popped up in my head was 10-year-old
1:00.6	Melissa running down that grassy hill with braids in a floral calico dress. Of course, now we know
1:07.6	that Laura is so many things, and no one understands that legacy better than
1:12.4	Melissa, who's been shouldering a part of it for the past 50 years. We're so thankful that she was
1:18.1	willing to talk to us about what that experience has been like. Our conversation ranged from
1:22.8	her time on the TV show with Michael Landon and the rest of the cast, to finding agency as a young actor,
1:29.5	to her business, Modern Prairie,
1:31.9	to her activism,
	...

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