Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Do-over, Part One

The History Chicks : A Women's History Podcast

The History Chicks | AIRWAVE

History, Documentary, Society & Culture

4.7 • 8.3K Ratings

🗓️ 26 March 2026

⏱️ 124 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Once upon a time, back in 2011, we shared the story of Laura Ingalls Wilder, beloved author of the Little House series and chronicler of life on the US prairie in the late 1800s. Now, 15 years later, we thought it was time to revisit her with our 2026 eyes (and the mountain of information about her that has been revealed since.) Laura wrote her books based on her life, but how much weight is "based on" carrying? Find out in this episode as we tell her story over the same time span that would later be the setting of her books. She lived a very long life; we'll share the rest of her years in Part Two. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the history tricks, where any resemblance to a boring old history lesson is purely coincidental.
0:07.5	And here's your 30-second summary.
0:10.8	Laura Ingles Wilder lived during a critical and turbulent time in American history
0:15.8	and experienced every stage of 19th century expansion.
0:20.1	Untamed wilderness, the restlessness of the pioneers,
0:23.4	white settlement of the Wild West, the establishment of towns, and modern industry.
0:28.7	She grew up moving from one rough homestead to another as her family chased stability
0:32.6	enduring famine, drought, illness, and financial hardship. It wasn't until her 60s that she wrote her famous little house books, drawing on her childhood
0:42.2	memories to tell stories that shaped how generations all over the world have understood
0:47.3	the American frontier.
0:49.3	The end.
0:50.8	Hello, and welcome to the show.
0:53.4	What?
0:54.1	You're saying, Laura Ingalls Wilder, didn't you cover her like 15 years ago?
0:59.6	We did. And in those 15 years, we were astonished to find out how much studies, how many biographies, how many looks under the rocks of her life have been done since we
1:12.4	covered her. And also we have grown. We have grown also exponentially. Susan just said, however,
1:21.2	if we had been faced all those years ago with the stack of books that are currently occupying
1:27.0	each of our tables.
1:29.0	Yes.
1:29.6	We would have been daunted.
1:31.5	I would have, yeah, I would have like run away.
1:34.2	I would have been like, I can't do this.
	...

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