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Outside/In

Is 'Yellowstone' ruining Montana?

Outside/In

NHPR

Society & Culture, Documentary, Natural Sciences, Nature, Science

4.71.5K Ratings

🗓️ 14 December 2023

⏱️ 30 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It’s tough to see your hometown portrayed in television and movies. New Englanders roll their eyes at overly quaint shots of church steeples and fall foliage. Minnesotans balk at the over-the-top accents in ‘Fargo.’ And now Montanans are struggling with the way the state is portrayed in the hit television series ‘Yellowstone.’ The show stars Kevin Costner as the gravelly-voiced patriarch of the Dutton ranching family. They own a sprawling cattle operation on the edge of Yellowstone National Park and they will do whatever it takes – including a whole lot of murder – to protect their way of life from wealthy outsiders.  But in the real world, Montanans are accusing the show of attracting wealthy outsiders to move to the state and change their way of life. Since the show first aired in 2018, home prices have nearly doubled, and – anecdotally – real estate agents are leaning on Yellowstone’s appeal to sell property.  Host Nate Hegyi and Rebecca Lavoie, television critic and head of podcasts at NHPR, dive deep into how a fake show is changing a very real place and what ‘Yellowstone’ gets right – and wrong – about Native Americans, women, and the West.  Featuring: Taylar Stagner, Maggie Slepian   SUPPORT Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.  Subscribe to our newsletter (it’s free!). Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook. Submit a question to the “Outside/Inbox.” We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837).   LINKS As of December 2023, Certain Women is currently streaming for free on Tubi.  You can find Taylar Stagner’s criticism on books, television and more at High Country News.  Maggie Slepian wrote an essay about the impact of ‘Yellowstone’ on her hometown of Bozeman for Outside magazine.    CREDITS Host: Nate Hegyi Reported and produced by Nate Hegyi Edited by Taylor Quimby The Outside/In team includes Felix Poon and Justine Paradise. Rebecca Lavoie is our Executive Producer Music for this episode by Northside and Blue Dot Sessions Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey, this is outside in. I'm Nate Hedgy here today with someone whose name you hear often in our credits,

0:06.2

Rebecca Laveoy.

0:07.2

Hello.

0:08.2

Rebecca's a TV and podcast critic and a podcast host in her own right, but she's also

0:12.3

NHPR's director of on-demand audio.

0:14.6

That's your title, right?

0:15.4

Director of on-demand audio?

0:16.8

I'm the head of podcast, it's just a lot easier to say.

0:19.4

Well, I wanted to use on-demand because I gave you a demand recently to binge watch the show Yellowstone.

0:28.0

Yes, Val ain't mine.

0:31.0

Come and get it.

0:32.0

I plan to.

0:34.0

This is survival.

0:36.0

Kill or be killed.

0:38.0

You leave now.

0:39.0

So, Yellowstone first came out in 2018.

0:42.0

It's five seasons deep.

0:43.4

Kevin Kostner plays the lead, and it's got

0:46.6

cowboys, cattle ranches, big sweeping shots

0:49.9

of the Rocky Mountains.

0:51.6

And public radio audiences may be surprised to hear this, but Yellowstone

0:57.2

was the most watched cable TV show in 2022. So Rebecca, what did you think of it? I watched the whole thing. I hated it and I

...

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