- Emy DiGrappa works for the Wyoming Humanities Council, and this year, she also participated in the creation of the Wyoming Road Trip Playlist.

That's an annual collection of music and spoken word entertainment designed to keep travelers occupied during our long Wyoming drives.

I'm Steve Peck of Wyoming PBS.

This is "Wyoming Chronicle."

(bright music) - [Announcer] Funding for "Wyoming Chronicle" is made possible in part by Wyoming Humanities, enhancing the Wyoming narrative to promote engaged communities and improve our quality of life.

And by the members of Wyoming PBS.

Thank you for your support.

- I've been looking forward to talking with you about this very fun idea for a while now.

It's the Wyoming Road Trip Playlist.

Wyoming's a big state.

We're here in Jackson, but you told me that in your job with Humanities Council, you have to drive all over the place, including Laramie frequently.

That's a long trip, isn't it?

- Yes, and since we're a statewide council, we generally hold our board meetings all over in different places around Wyoming.

- There just aren't that many short drives in Wyoming, really.

So what's the notion behind the playlist?

- Well, that one, we have a great tourism industry, number one, and so the playlist is a fun way for people to get to know Wyoming and their musicians, and just the array of different musicians that live and work in Wyoming and call this their home.

So this is like going on a road trip with your family and listening to Wyoming music, Wyoming artisans.

- So that's one of the stipulations, correct?

If you're gonna be on the playlist, it has to be a piece of music, or in the case this year, a podcast as well with Wyoming origins.

- Yes, absolutely.

And that's a good point you just made.

This is the first year that we included podcasting.

- This is where you come in, correct?

- Yes, it is.

So I'm the Executive Producer for Wyoming Humanities and I produce two podcasts.

And Wyoming Arts Council is our sister organization.

And so they invited me to be a judge for the podcast portion of it.

And so we had another judge for the music portion of it.

- And what's his name?

- His name is Pat Loken, and he is a sound engineer, a DJ, and he runs concerts.

And he actually is not in Wyoming.

And we did that for a reason, if that makes sense, because what do they say about Wyoming, that it's just one community with a long street going through it, right?

We have a small population.

Everybody knows everybody.

So they wanted someone who is really impartial, and so they chose Pat Loken.

- Who's not from around the world.

He's from Montana.

- Oh yeah, so he's really familiar with the Western themes and the Western state musicians.

And so that's why they chose him.

- So the playlist has been complete now for a couple of months.

We're here right at the end of August.

But people in Wyoming drive these distances all the time.

You might be driving to a football game or a ski trip or as you do for business or for work.

And so it's suitable to listen to all the time.

- That is so true.

And I'm glad you're making that point because it's not just for tourists.

It is for Wyoming.

It is to learn about all the great musicians and podcasters that we have in our state.

- It's available on Spotify.

And I have the playlist up on Spotify now.

So let's listen to an excerpt.

This is from Chris Alma Jose.

And the song is called "Stuck on I-25."

- That's appropriate.

♪ I'm coming down Rocky Mountain ♪ ♪ Little Drive on a holiday ♪ Clouds are rolling in and the sky looks a little gray ♪ ♪ Hey hey ♪ I'm heading up North of 285 ♪ The radio cracked and I feel alive ♪ ♪ Sun is going down, need to go yet I want to stay ♪ ♪ No no way ♪ Because I'm a road tripping ♪ Traffic's all jamming ♪ A little fender bender we're all rubber wrecking ♪ ♪ The 65 miles and now our place is glowing ♪ ♪ The semis and the white knuckle drive ♪ ♪ Guess I'm not gonna make it home by five ♪ ♪ Praying just to stay alive ♪ Stuck on I-25 - We'll be hearing other excerpts from the playlist as we go along, but it's long, it's 30 pieces or more, I believe.

So if you start listening to it, it'll carry you through a lot of miles.

Tell me about the podcasts that are part of it.

This is what your specialty was.

How did you go about choosing what you did?

- So I did the same thing Pat did, where we listened to every entry.

And then from there, we would listen, and he would listen to the music ones and I would listen to the podcast ones.

And then after you listen through them, then you kind of go back and you think about the quality and you think about the story and you think about what people wanna hear, what's gonna keep them engaged.

And so that's how I chose the podcasts.

I wanted it to be a little bit shorter.

So it's a story, but we won't lose people.

Because podcasting can go from 10 minutes to two hours.

So I wanted to keep them short, but I wanted them to really give people the flavor of Wyoming.

- And both of you were pleased I take it with the submissions that we got.

There's a lot of talent in the state.

- Oh my gosh.

So much, so much.

And that's what was so fun.

And the stories that you can listen to just really intrigue you about our history and our place.

- So the podcast was your purview in this year's list.

How many did we end up including on the playlist?

- We chose five different podcasts.

- Tell us about one or two that stand out in your mind still.

- Dan Peterson has a podcast called "This Doesn't Happen Every Day."

And he tells a story of a building built on a cemetery and what got left behind.

And so he's taking you on this journey he's having and taking you to this place and having this conversation with the proprietor of this building.

And so it's just fun because you're like kind of spooky, but interesting and historical.

So I really appreciate that.

- Let's hear a portion of that now.

- [Nicki] I worked for the library from 1990 to 2016.

As I'm crossing the front desk area, on my right ear, I hear somebody right up to me go, "Nicki."

I kinda looked around, nobody, no reactions.

I thought, "Okay?"

And then a bit later walking across, I hear, "Nicki," and it's like, it's like breath on your head.

It happened three times.

And Marilyn, she said, "You've got a funny look on your face.

What's wrong?"

And I says, "Okay, don't think I'm crazy, but somebody said 'Nicki' in my ear."

And then she looked a little funny.

I says, "What?"

And she says, "They've been doing that to me all week."

- [Dan] On this episode of "That Doesn't Happen Every Day" in which we interview everyday people about things that don't normally happen every day, we go to the Sweetwater County Library in Green River, Wyoming, and I get a little bit more than I'd bargained for.

- You're with the Wyoming Humanities Council, which we should say has been a very cooperative supporter and partner with Wyoming PBS.

- Absolutely.

- Wyoming Humanities Council I think is a name that people in Wyoming have probably heard but might not know too much about.

How would you define what your agency is?

- We support the cultural infrastructure of Wyoming, and we do that in a number of ways.

We are a big grant making organization, so we fund projects large and small all across the state.

We also, whether it's a library or a museum, whether it's the University of Wyoming, when they have a special project going on, each of their offices always different.

We fund different speakers that come into Wyoming and travel across Wyoming.

And really we invite Wyomingites to tell their stories through history, through critical thinking.

We have a lot of work that we do in the realm of civility and how civility affects all of us.

And how in our politically divided day and age, we want people to come together and learn about each other.

And so we offer a lot of different programming where we host conversations where people can talk about difficult issues.

- I get the feeling that you're very busy and that your job has lots of different things coming into it from all angles.

Can you describe what you do?

- So I'm Executive Producer for Wyoming Humanities.

And so I do two podcasts.

One is called "What's Your Why?"

- [Steve] So you're a podcast host yourself?

- Yes, I do host "Winds of Change" and "What's Your Why?"

And "Winds of Change" is very Wyoming-centric.

It's all about the people and places in history of Wyoming.

And then "What's Your Why?"

is really authors and speakers and people who come through Wyoming who have really inspiring stories.

And I meet them in so many different ways.

And so I'll invite them to be on "What's Your Why?"

Why do you do what you do?

What has been your journey?

Who inspired you?

And why does it matter?

- Why is the realm of humanities important?

- Oh my gosh, that's the million dollar question because the humanities is what you do every day, just like what we're doing right here.

It's the human experience.

It's how we relate to each other.

It's archeology, sociology, psychology, literature, art, culture, all the things that make us human.

And that is the humanities.

And that's why the question of why is at the core of that.

And so when you say, what are the humanities, you're asking like a realm of questions in that.

- Do you get the feeling ever that the humanities as sort of a subject area or area of interest is sort of under the gun these days at all?

We've done lots of different kinds of "Wyoming Chronicle" shows related to what we call the STEM fields.

But we also did one recently on the new PhD program in storytelling that the University of Wyoming is putting together.

And they said it was the first humanities-based doctoral program that the university has ever done.

Our guests there noted that there's been a, in the university setting, for example, a little bit of a decline in enrollment in the humanities fields.

And to me, someone who has a job kind of like yours, interesting Wyoming people, places, history, I was sorry to hear that because it seems to me the humanities is sort of what has human in it.

It's what separates us from the other creatures, I guess, right?

- That is disappointing to hear for a lot of reasons because people don't really understand that we are the humanities, whether we're a scientist or a doctor, you're always asking that question, why?

What's ethical, what's unethical?

People have just kind of boxed it in this one place, and it's not in a box.

And nothing could be further from the truth is that the arts and sciences come together in beautiful ways in every field.

But if we go to the university and you're like, I'm getting my degree in computer science, I'm getting my degree in history, I'm getting my doctorate in medicine, you've kind of blocked yourself into this one place when really, as a doctor of any sort, you're gonna deal with humanity.

You're gonna deal with people's emotions, their history, their psychology.

And I feel that it's been a mistake for us to put up those fences and have these hard definitions.

- Science has a history.

- Exactly.

Good point.

Why is it important for you to be a doctor?

Why is that research important?

Who's it gonna help?

Why should anyone care about that?

So they have to answer those questions.

- So music clearly is something that helps in this effort.

Here's one from the artist Kalyn Beasley.

The song is "That's All she Wrote."

Let's hear an excerpt.

(upbeat music) ♪ Well it was just one line and her name ♪ ♪ What hurt worse was goodbye ♪ Now I'm feeling like a cow ♪ Staring at a gate ♪ As I held it in front of my eyes ♪ ♪ Well it couldn't have taken more than three seconds ♪ ♪ For her to write that note ♪ I was hoping for maybe a few more words ♪ ♪ But buddy, that's all she wrote ♪ ♪ Now I'm wondering why she's leaving ♪ ♪ And I'm wondering where she's gone ♪ ♪ She didn't leave me any clues ♪ ♪ And she turned off her telephone ♪ ♪ I ain't no detective ♪ I ain't no Sherlock Holmes ♪ Oh but something is saying she ain't coming back ♪ ♪I got a feeling that's all she wrote ♪ - We want to encourage Wyoming artists, musicians, and podcasters.

And so maybe next year, we'll just do a podcast playlist and a music playlist.

Or maybe we'll still do the combination.

This was the first year that we did the combo.

And we don't wanna take for granted that it should be one or the other or it should be together.

And maybe people who listen to music don't listen to podcasts, for example.

And so this has been a good year to test that out and see what people think.

And I hope, I hope, I think it's fun when you're driving down the road and then all of a sudden there's a story coming on about a history and a place, and it kind of gives you that little break.

And then you go back to listening to music.

But at the same time, I appreciate that some people just wanna listen to music.

- Well, it goes to a style I guess I'd say of entertainment that used to be prevalent, even dominant.

And I'm of an age where I remember driving along, you'd turn the radio on and see what was there.

And what you were listening to was an assortment of music typically that had been assembled and curated almost by somebody else who knew something about it, who thought about it and said, "Listen to this."

It reminds me of a story I often tell about my son, who was a teenager at the time, and he had an iPod, I think, which is now incorporated into the smartphones.

And he says, "Let me get this straight, Dad.

You listened to music and you didn't know what song was coming next?"

Because that's the only way he knew how to do it.

He picked all of his stuff, he sorted it the way he wanted it.

But I said, "Well, that was part of the interest.

The anticipation.

The excitement of it."

Do you remember a radio of that sort and listening to music in that way?

- Oh, absolutely.

- Not saying it's gone, but this is a nice way to do it still.

- Oh yes, and I agree.

With my kids as well, they create their playlist, and then they hook their phone up to their car, and then that's what they're listening to.

And they'll skip around in their playlist, but they've already designed it.

- And that's good of course.

But there's something to this other thing too, where you're listening to the Wyoming Road Trip Playlist and not sure what's coming next, but you're interested to find out.

- You're interested.

And it could be like a nice surprise, you just learned about a new musician that you'd never heard of.

You heard a story or something about history that you never knew.

So I think the inquisitiveness, and that kind of like what's next?

- Sort of dovetails in with your description of the humanities and the value of it.

Why are we listening to this?

What's coming in?

- Why are we doing this?

Because we're curious.

One of the things that I find intriguing about the playlist is that connection with musicians.

And then if there was an opportunity for them to connect back and tell us their dates, tell us where they are, tell us where are we playing next.

I don't know that there's anything that exists like that, but that would be really cool.

Just where you can go hear different bands, different Wyoming bands.

- Live music.

- Live music, yeah.

- A great part of life, isn't it?

- Yes, - It sure is.

Here's one I enjoyed.

The artist is Wolves in Sheep's Clothing.

And the song is called "Loose Ends."

Let's hear a bit of it.

(upbeat music) ♪ Growing up I learned to drive a car ♪ ♪ And played my notes ♪ To tie a tie and mend the rips and tears ♪ ♪ But now I have to learn some empathy ♪ ♪ And how to care ♪ My soul is really gasping for air ♪ ♪ I've got all these loose ends ♪ ♪ That are hanging off of me ♪ Like the dragging tattered hems of my old jeans ♪ ♪ Time to get a handle ♪ On the life that's going wrong ♪ ♪ I got to tie them up before I'm gone ♪ - What if I don't want to get a grant and I'm not sponsoring an event, but I want to involve myself or be exposed to what the Humanities Council is doing?

- Well, you can go to our website all the time, you can see all the events.

You don't have to be the sponsor, or you don't have to receive a grant to be involved in the humanities.

But attending the programs is crucial.

I think that that's one of the ways that we as Wyomingites share our history and our stories is by connecting with each other in different programs in different ways.

I do a program called "Tribal Talks," which connects people with our Native American neighbors, which is truly critical to learn their history and their culture and their stories that people don't know about.

But we open the doors and offer many programs for free.

So it's all accessible.

- And there's a lot going on.

I visited the website, and boy, there's lots of things to click on, to read, to get interested in, to plan for, to schedule.

There's a series of essays available there too written by different people on topics of interest, which I just, again, I would certainly recommend people read that as well, or they're thoughtful, unpredictable sometimes.

What brought you to this line of work?

Well part of our show always or that I enjoy is when people have unusual or unique or nearly unique jobs and how they got there.

What's your story?

- Well that's interesting, because when I started working for Wyoming Humanities, I was actually the Marketing Director for the theater company here in Jackson.

And they were looking for a very part-time person to reach out to people and just kind of be a connection kind of person with their supporters and donors.

So I started doing that and it was funny because when I tell you that the humanities is something that people do every day and they don't even know it.

So when they hired me, they said, "Emy, the reason we hired you is because you were doing the humanities."

And I said, "Oh my gosh."

Because I had a dance company and it was called Mosaic in Motion, and we did a Hispanic history through dance program all over, all over the states.

And in that program, we took people from Spain to Mexico and into the American Southwest.

And we did that through dance, through costume, through history, through poetry.

- There you have it.

- I was doing it.

And so when they saw my resume, they were like, "Oh my gosh, she's doing the humanities."

And a lot of times that's why I say people don't recognize they are telling a story, they are sharing history.

So that's really, I was already in love with the humanities.

I just hadn't like put those things together.

I hadn't connected it.

- It's not a part-time job anymore.

- No no no no, no, it's not.

But that's why I love podcasting because you know, I love hearing people's stories, just like I'm sure you love doing what you do.

- So a couple of podcasts, not yours, are on the playlist.

If we want to hear your podcast, which is produced how often?

- One week it'll be "Winds of Change" and the next week it'll be "What's Your Why?"

And then "Winds of Change."

- I wanna listen to those, where do I find them?

- So go to thinkwy.org, that's one way, on our website.

Or you can go to Apple, Google, Spotify.

- Wherever the podcasts are.

- Yeah, wherever you wanna listen.

- And we search for what?

- "Winds of Change" or "What's Your Why?"

- Emy DiGrappa, I really appreciate you being with us and telling us more about what you do, what your agency does, what your role was in this fun playlist of Wyoming music and spoken word entertainment as well.

Thanks for being with us on "Wyoming Chronicle."

Let's go out with the artist is Boxelder.

The song is called Arrows.

(upbeat music) ♪ Watched you take aim for my chest ♪ ♪ Of everything I've learned I know you never miss ♪ ♪ Felt like needles digging in ♪ How do I move this stone beneath my skin ♪ ♪ Why can't I learn anything ♪ The first time ♪ What is it I just cannot seem to leave behind ♪ ♪ How many arrows must it take for me to find ♪ ♪ Where to go where I'm not pinned inside your sights ♪ ♪ Whoa ♪ Whoa ♪ Whoa ♪ Watched your feathers start taking flight ♪ ♪ My mind was split as I felt the blow ♪ ♪ Felt the shock as I was thrown off of my feet ♪ ♪ Things could've been different if only ♪