The Wide Open
4 February 2025 - 1 hour 1 minLast week, we delved into story of how the Tennessee Valley Authority, which started out as a public institution, ended up acting like a private for-profit company, and the lawsuit that attempted to finally bring the TVA to its heel. Today, Montana Public Radio’s podcast The Wide Open tells the story of a different lawsuit against the TVA that had even bigger consequences. In the 1970s, the fight to save a tiny fish called the snail darter turned the Endangered Species Act from a minor bit of federal law into the most powerful and controversial piece of environmental legislation of the past 50 years.
The Wide Open
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Series Episodes
The MAPL Test
Canada reshaped its music industry with a quirky radio rule that changed who got heard.
40 mins
2 June Finished
100 Objects #2: 60-Degree Screw
A tiny screw. A precise angle. How America built a hidden empire, one standard at a time.
35 mins
29 May Finished
Drug Story: Ivermectin
What started as a revolutionary treatment for river blindness became something far messier.
48 mins
26 May Finished
100 Objects #1: The Century Safe
A locked iron safe, sealed for 100 years. What objects did Americans choose to remember?
30 mins
19 May Finished
Ask Your Doctor About
As wild and random as they might seem, a lot of work—and even poetry—goes into coming up with today's catchiest, most unforgettable drug names.
32 mins
12 May Finished
A History of the United States in 100 Objects Trailer
100 objects. 100 stories. A new history of the US hiding in plain sight.
3 mins
8 May Finished
