Headwaters
Episodes
Switchback | Preview
06 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Switchback is a 20th century history of Glacier National Park. A collection of turning points in the American story as seen from Glacier National...
Switchback | Trailer
06 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This season of Headwaters is a six-episode exploration of the 20th century history of Glacier National Park—asking what it really means to belo...
Switchback | Living with Fire (and each other)
06 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Uncertainty and imagination. A history of fire management in Glacier and beyond, told through three 20th century fires and a visit to the Missoul...
Switchback | A Road to Nowhere
06 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Preserve or protect? After falling in love with driving to the sun, a road is built to nowhere in the 1960s. Mobility for some is restricting for...
Switchback | Objecting to the Good War
06 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Conviction and compromise. Two anti-war movements converge in Glacier National Park in the 1940s. Does moderation belong in the middle of World W...
Switchback | Where Is an Eagle From?
06 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Migration and belonging. A convergence of non-native species helps save, and then scatter, iconic bald eagles. Belonging is not just a feeling: i...
Switchback | The CCC was a Bold Idea
06 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Two stories of the Black experience in National Parks. From the Civilian Conservation Corps to the Civil Rights Movement, America experiments wit...
Switchback | Wild, Scenic, and Dammed
06 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Down into the Hungry Horse Dam in the 1950s and back up through the SKQ Dam in the 2010s. Dams create power, but unequally. This is a colonial hi...
Bonus | How the Going-to-the-Sun Road Got Its Name, and More!
27 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How did the Going-to-the-Sun Road get its name? What's the difference between "the east side" and East Glacier? Take a shallow dip into place nam...
Climate and Electrical Solutions with Katie Pfennigs
30 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A conversation with Katie Pfennigs, who is the Director of External Affairs and Energy Services at the Flathead Electric Cooperative. This episod...
Bonus | How to Win at Glacier
20 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A lively debate between Michael Faist and Peri Sasnett about the best activities in Glacier, moderated by Sophia Britto. If you're planning a vis...
Climate and Living with Fire with Jennifer Gibson
02 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A conversation with Jennifer Gibson, who coordinates post-wildfire response for the National Park Service. This episode was recorded in May 2024....
Bonus | Visiting Glacier in Style
03 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Planning a trip to Glacier and don't know what to wear? We've got fashion tips for you, along with the latest news from the park. Glacier Con...
Bonus | Answering Your Questions
31 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A mini mailbag episode answering listener-submitted questions. Send us your questions for future episodes at [email protected] with the subj...
Bonus | How to Level Up Your Trip Planning
16 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A mini episode on the various ways to plan a trip to Glacier. Tune in to our next bonus episode where we'll answer listener-submitted questions o...
Climate and Health with Dr. Danielle Buttke
14 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A conversation with Dr. Danielle Buttke, who works for the National Park Service at the intersection of human, wildlife, and environmental health...
Climate and History with Elizabeth Villano
30 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A conversation with Elizabeth Villano, from the NPS Climate Change Response Program, about telling climate stories and finding hope. This episode...
Climate and the Future of Forests with Dr. Tyler Hoecker
16 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A conversation with Dr. Tyler Hoecker, who studies forest ecology and the changing dynamics of fire as the climate warms. This episode was record...
Climate and the Cryosphere with Dr. Caitlyn Florentine
02 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A conversation with Dr. Caitlyn Florentine, research physical scientist with the US Geological Survey, who studies snow and ice in Glacier. This ...
Climate and Community with Mike Durglo, Jr.
19 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A conversation with Mike Durglo, Jr., climate coordinator and head of Historic Preservation for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. This...
Climate Interpretation with Diane Sine
05 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A conversation with longtime interpretive ranger Diane Sine about a lifetime of watching change in Glacier. This episode was recorded in May of 2...
Glacier’s Bats: A Story of Grief and Hope
20 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The twin stories of bats facing white-nose syndrome in Glacier, and a volunteer who dedicated so much of his life to studying them. With disease ...
Does Hiking Impact Wildlife? Check the Camera
06 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What do animals do when we’re not around? One way to answer that is by using remote cameras. By focusing on two camera studies in Glacier, we l...
Chasing Waterfalls: The Search for Glacier’s Hidden Wildlife
23 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Chasing one of Glacier’s most elusive species, and getting comfortable in the dark. This is the story of Black Swifts in Glacier. Headwaters...
Art, Science, and Alpine Potatoes
09 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The cutest animal in Glacier may be at risk of disappearing, but it's hard to study an animal that lives under rocks, high in the mountains. How ...
Surviving a Near-Death Fall in a National Park
19 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Morgan Bell spent 10 seasons working on Glacier’s trail crews—one of the toughest and most demanding jobs in the park. Until a single day—a...
Living Seasonally: Advice from a Lifelong Ranger
05 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We sit down with Chuck Cameron, a lifelong Glacier Ranger, to learn about his incredible and unusual career. Headwaters is created by Daniel ...
Can Ranger Traditions Survive into the Future?
21 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We meet a ranger who lives in one of the wildest corners of Glacier—a place where age-old tools and skills are still practiced daily. But do tr...
A Growly Bear and the Invention of Bear Spray
07 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Bear spray saves lives, but where does it come from? We follow a Glacier grizzly to learn the story. Learn how to use bear spray, in the St. M...
Bonus | Vehicle Reservations
13 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As parks become more and more popular, what do we want the visitor experience to be like? In this bonus episode, learn how Glacier is trying to a...
Becoming | (Re)colonized
24 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A young national park wages biological warfare and nature finds a way. This is a history of wolves in Glacier. Glacier Conservancy: https://g...
Becoming | A Destination
17 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This is the history of how a corporation marketed Glacier National Park into existence. We use art to study how the Blackfeet took control of the...
Becoming | Landowners
10 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The twin stories of homesteading and allotment explored through baking and quilting analogies. How Euro-Americans came to settle inside the Glaci...
Becoming | Forgotten Soldiers
03 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Why doesn’t anyone remember the first rangers? We trace a Buffalo Soldiers expedition across the park and ask how history becomes preserved. ...
Becoming | Empire Builders
26 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Great Northern Railway changed Northwest Montana forever. Who else but Americans could have built it? Glacier Conservancy: https://glacie...
Becoming | A Market Place
19 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We biography Joe Kipp and join an archeological adventure in order to understand the fur trade. Then, music helps heal the traumatic legacy of hi...
Becoming | Portraits of the West
12 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Lewis and Clark are celebrated yet controversial. If you know what to look for, their names still echo through the park today. We examine their l...
Becoming | Unfrozen
05 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Tracking down 600 generations of history. We venture out to the edge of the Ice Age to see how people lived and loved when this place was buried ...
Becoming | Stained by History
04 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Glacier has a history of oil extraction. We travel to Many Glacier to see the consequences, and the causes of climate change. Along the way we ta...
Becoming | Prologue
03 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Consider this an extended warm up for season three of Headwaters. This episode includes two interviews about time, landscape, and history, that s...
Becoming | Trailer
22 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Season Three of Headwaters is a history of Glacier National Park. From whiskey running and the war on wolves, to drilling for oil and dreaming of...
Whitebark Pine | Chapter Five
13 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Trees, fish, and ferrets—what is our relationship with nature? The Glacier Conservancy: https://glacier.org/ Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Founda...
Whitebark Pine | Chapter Four
06 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Collecting pinecones, planting seeds, and other acts of hope. The Glacier Conservancy: https://glacier.org/ Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundati...
Whitebark Pine | Chapter Three
30 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Mountain pine beetles, an invasive fungus, and climate change—is whitebark pine doomed? The Glacier Conservancy: https://glacier.org/ Whiteb...
Whitebark Pine | Chapter Two
23 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An entire ecosystem held together by one tree. The Glacier Conservancy: https://glacier.org/ Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation: https://whi...
Whitebark Pine | Chapter One
16 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Journey across the Flathead Indian Reservation to the most important tree you’ve never heard of. The Glacier Conservancy: https://glacier.o...
Whitebark Pine | Trailer
20 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Season Two documents the generational effort to restore whitebark pine in five chapters. It’s also a story about the purpose of national parks ...
Confluence | Goat Haunt
06 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
You should always bring food, water, and plenty of layers when you go hiking in Glacier—but sometimes you might even need… a passport? In thi...
Confluence | Lake McDonald
06 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How does fire affect our relationship with the park? In this episode of Headwaters we explore our relationship to fire through different lenses. ...
Confluence | Logan Pass
06 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Headwaters we visit one of Glacier’s most popular and unique destinations: Logan Pass. First, we’ll learn about the road t...
Confluence | Many Glacier
06 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Many Glacier is home to some of the park’s most popular trails, like the Grinnell Glacier trail. Many want to see Grinnell because—like the o...
Confluence | North Fork
06 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, the Flathead River reveals our own notions of wilderness, and remarkable fossils. We learn about a glacier with a complicated pa...
Confluence | St. Mary
06 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Headwaters, we visit St. Mary, looking for experiences that are disappearing from the world. After hearing about the legendary...
Confluence | Two Medicine
06 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Glacier National Park, a place often celebrated for its natural scenery, offers an equally diverse and rich cultural landscape. In this episo...
Confluence | Trailer
25 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Glacier National Park has always been a confluence of conflicting and competing forces that come together in unexpected ways.