Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
We're working to fix a technical issue causing problems with our broadcasts. We'll have it resolved as soon as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Home Of The Adventurous: A Unique Montana Community In A Post-Apocalyptic Setting

Clay Scott

Saint Marie, in a remote part of northeastern Montana, is the site of an Air Force base that was shut down in 1968. Now 500 people live in a town that was designed to house 12,000. Nine out of ten houses are boarded up and choked with weeds. But in this setting - winter temperatures drop to minus 40, the nearest store is 20 miles away, and one resident admits it looks like a war zone - there is a thriving community of hardy souls intent on being left alone.

(Broadcast: "Mountain West Voices," 11/24/14. Listen weekly on the radio on Mondays, 3:00 p.m., or via podcast.)

Beth Anne Austein has been spinning tunes on the air (The Folk Show, Dancing With Tradition, Freeforms), as well as recording, editing and mixing audio for Montana Public Radio and Montana PBS, since the Clinton Administration. She’s jockeyed faders or "fixed it in post” for The Plant Detective; Listeners Bookstall; Fieldnotes; Musicians Spotlight; The Write Question; Storycorps; Selected Shorts; Bill Raoul’s music series; orchestral and chamber concerts; lecture series; news interviews; and outside producers’ programs about topics ranging from philosophy to ticks.
Become a sustaining member for as low as $5/month
Make an annual or one-time donation to support MTPR
Pay an existing pledge or update your payment information