Podcast – American Countryside: Recent Episodes

Andrew McCrea

Your Tour Guide to America

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On this edition of The Scenic Route, Andrew talks to Paula Neuman Gris, who was just three years old when her family was broken up...

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It all began with a lumber yard in Indianola, Iowa.  Of course, today you don’t know this company for its lumber.  You instead know it...

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The next 40 years are predicted to bring an ever increasing population both here and around the world.  Food needs will rise and agricultural jobs...

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It used to be that controversies in agriculture revolved around which color of tractor to buy or what kind of seed to plant.  Those debates...

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If you’ve ever flown into the Las Vegas airport, you may have noticed a colorful Cessna airplane hanging from the ceiling over the baggage claim...

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You may recall we recently discussed a pair of brothers in Mississippi who in 1935 set a record by keeping an airplane in flight for...

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The longest nonstop commercial flight in the world is currently a Singapore Airlines route from Newark to Singapore.  It’s in the air over 18 hours...

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For the past few days we,ve been in Greenfield, Iowa, home to the Iowa Aviation Museum.  You probably never realized how many aviation firsts are...

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Chalres Lindburgh was the first person to fly an airplane across the Atlantic Ocean.  But lost in our history books in the name of a...

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Today, aircraft carriers and the planes they transport play a vital role in country’s military might.   However, have you ever given any thought to...

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Al can tell you plenty about building airport runways.  Of course, most of those he helped build were on surfaces like coral under the threat...

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There is definitely an art to tracking and calling a wild turkey.  Jerry Law had no trouble tracking this turkey.   That’s because the turkey’s...

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In front of the Luna Café, on old route 66 near Mitchell, Illinois, you’ll find a beautifully restored neon sign.  The bright lights include a...

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She was a very unlikely candidate to manage a cattle feedyard in central Nebraksa.  She grew up in Palm Beach County, Florida and knew next...

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Many radio stations have interesting stories of how they were born.  This station in central Nebraska was the product of one of the worst blizzards...

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In some parts of the Midwest, you can buy a brand new car for the same price as one acre of farmland.  That’s land that’s...

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Today we meet the district farmer of the year.  A lady growing ten acres of corn–a farmer adopting some of the latest technology she can...

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Drive through farm country and you can find plenty of shiny new grain bins to hold ever increasing yields. Drive through farm country here and...

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Many farm events and banquets in the US begin with prayer.  This farm meeting opened with a joint prayer of Chritian and Muslim farmers.  They...

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Our best of 2012 continues today with a lady named Barbara who was a teenager living in Japan when World War II ended. Her country’s...

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When people began attending funerals here, many had the exact same reaction. They mentioned that when they passed, they wanted a funeral just like that....

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It’s been over 150 years since Illinois soldiers faced Santa Anna in the Mexican War. However, traces of that battle fought over 1500 miles to...

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Today a transcontinental flight from New York to L.A. might take about five hours. But do you know how long the first such flight took?...

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It’s a tradition the last week of each year we give you the “Best of the American Countryside.” And in 2012 we interviewed 110 year...

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It was Christmas 1945. German POWs at Camp Algona in Algona, Iowa would be returning to Europe the next year. This was the final Christmas...

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At first glance, it might appear to be an odd request. A U.S. commander asked a group of German POWs to construct a nativity scene...