About Ryan Tate

Ryan Driskell Tate writes on fossil fuels, climate change, and the American West. He holds a Ph.D. from Rutgers University, and is completing a book on fossil fuel development in the Powder River Basin.

Ryan Driskell Tate writes on fossil fuels, climate change, and the American West. He holds a Ph.D. from Rutgers University, and is completing a book on fossil fuel development in the Powder River Basin.

Ryan's website

NBN Episodes hosted by Ryan:

Katherine Wiltenburg Todrys, "Black Snake: Standing Rock, the Dakota Access Pipeline, and Environmental Justice" (U Nebraska Press, 2021)

September 1, 2021

Black Snake

Katherine Wiltenburg Todrys
Hosted by Ryan Tate

The controversial Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) made headlines around the world in 2016. Supporters called the pipeline key to safely transporting Ame…

Aaron Goings, "The Port of Missing Men: Billy Gohl, Labor, and Brutal Times in the Pacific Northwest" (U Washington Press, 2020)

March 2, 2021

The Port of Missing Men

Aaron Goings
Hosted by Ryan Tate

In the early twentieth century so many dead bodies surfaced in the rivers around Aberdeen, Washington, that they were nicknamed the "floater fleet." W…

Laura J. Arata, "Race and the Wild West" (U Oklahoma Press, 2020)

October 1, 2020

Race and the Wild West

Laura J. Arata
Hosted by Ryan Tate

After Laura Arata first visited Virginia City, Montana in graduate school, she became fascinated by the story of one historical figure—Sarah Bickford,…

Betsy Gaines Quammen, "American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God and Public Lands in the West" (Torrey House, 2020)

May 18, 2020

American Zion

Betsy Gaines Quammen
Hosted by Ryan Tate

In 2014, the cattle rancher Cliven Bundy entered the national spotlight after a showdown against federal officials over grazing rights on public lands…

Christian Wright, "Carbon County, USA: Miners for Democracy in Utah and the West" (U Utah Press, 2020)

May 6, 2020

Carbon County, USA

Christian Wright
Hosted by Ryan Tate

During the early 1970s, a movement of rank-and-file coal miners rose up in Appalachia to challenge mine bosses and stodgy union officials. They sought…

Kristen Millares Young, "Subduction" (Red Hen Press, 2020)

February 19, 2020

Subduction

Kristen Millares Young
Hosted by Ryan Tate

Kristen Millares Young’s debut novel, Subduction (Red Hen Press, 2020), provides a lyrical exploration of cultural encounters in the Pacific Northwest…

Jim Rossi, "Cleantech Con Artists: A True Vegas Caper" (2019)

January 6, 2020

Cleantech Con Artists

Jim Rossi
Hosted by Ryan Tate

After Jim Rossi began writing his M.A. thesis in History at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the project took an unexpected turn. His research on …

Joshua Specht, "Red Meat Republic: A Hoof-to-Table History of How Beef Changed America" (Princeton UP, 2019)

December 30, 2019

Red Meat Republic

Joshua Specht
Hosted by Ryan Tate

Why do Americans eat so much beef? In Red Meat Republic: A Hoof-to-Table History of How Beef Changed America (Princeton University Press, 2019), the h…

Serin D. Houston, "Imagining Seattle: Social Values in Urban Governance" (U Nebraska Press, 2019)

November 6, 2019

Imagining Seattle

Serin D. Houston
Hosted by Ryan Tate

In Imagining Seattle: Social Values in Urban Governance (University of Nebraska Press, 2019), the geographer Serin Houston complicates Seattle’s liber…

David D. Vail, "Chemical Lands: Pesticides, Aerial Spraying, and Health in North America’s Grasslands since 1945" (U Alabama Press, 2018)

October 15, 2019

Chemical Lands

David D. Vail
Hosted by Ryan Tate

Over fifty years ago, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962) scolded the agricultural industry for its profligate spread of “poison” and pesticides “ind…

Erik Loomis, "Empire of Timber: Labor Unions and the Pacific Northwest Forests" (Cambridge UP, 2015)

August 30, 2019

Empire of Timber

Erik Loomis
Hosted by Ryan Tate

In Empire of Timber: Labor Unions and the Pacific Northwest Forests (Cambridge University Press, 2015), the historian Erik Loomis examines the relatio…

Lukas Rieppel, "Assembling the Dinosaur: Fossil Hunters, Tycoons, and the Making of a Spectacle" (Harvard UP, 2019)

August 2, 2019

Assembling the Dinosaur

Lukas Rieppel
Hosted by Ryan Tate

After the discoveries of dinosaur fossils in the American West in the late nineteenth century, the United States became world renown for vertebrate pa…

Elaine Hampton and Cynthia Ontiveros, "Copper Stain: ASARCO’s Legacy in El Paso" (U Oklahoma Press, 2019)

July 17, 2019

Copper Stain

Elaine Hampton and Cynthia Ontiveros
Hosted by Ryan Tate

In Copper Stain: ASARCO’s Legacy in El Paso (University of Oklahoma Press, 2019), Elaine Hampton and Cynthia Ontiveros tell the story of how a Mexican…

Douglas Sheflin, "Legacies of Dust: Land Use and Labor on the Colorado Plains" (U Nebraska Press, 2019)

July 10, 2019

Legacies of Dust

Douglas Sheflin
Hosted by Ryan Tate

The “Dust Bowl” remains a mainstay in American history textbooks. When dust storms swept over the southern plains in the 1930s, they upended farming c…

Nick Estes, "Our History is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline" (Verso, 2019)

June 24, 2019

Our History is the Future

Nick Estes
Hosted by Ryan Tate

The historian Nick Estes traces two centuries of Indigenous-led resistance and anti-colonial struggle. Our History is the Future: Standing Rock Versus…

Heather Mayer, "Beyond the Rebel Girl: Women and the Industrial Workers of the World in the Pacific Northwest, 1905-1924" (Oregon State UP, 2018)

June 20, 2019

Beyond the Rebel Girl

Heather Mayer
Hosted by Ryan Tate

The Pacific Northwest was a hotbed of labor radicalism in the early twentieth century, where the revolutionary Industrial Workers of the World (common…

Federica Goffi, "Time Matter(s): Invention and Reimagination in Built Conservation" (Routledge, 2013)

November 23, 2016

Invention and Reimagination in Built Conservation

Federica Goffi
Hosted by Ryan Tate

Assistant Professor Federica Goffi fills a blind spot in current architectural theory and practice with this book, Time Matter(s): Invention and Re-Im…

Katerina Bodovski, "Across Three Continents: Reflections on Immigration, Education, and Personal Survival" (Peter Lang, 2015)

April 8, 2016

Across Three Continents

Katerina Bodovski
Hosted by Ryan Tate

Dr. Katerina Bodovski, Associate Professor of Education, Department of Education Policy Studies, College of Education, Penn State University, joins Ne…