This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points.(September 2022) |
Bundyville | |
---|---|
Presentation | |
Hosted by | Leah Sottile |
Genre | Political podcast |
Format | Investigative journalism |
Language | American English |
Length | 25-45 minutes |
Production | |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 14 |
Publication | |
Original release | April 25, 2018 – July 15, 2019 |
Provider | |
Related | |
Website | longreads |
Bundyville is a non-fiction true crime podcast created by Leah Sottile based on nine longform stories written and reported by Sottile. The series ran for two seasons and was produced by Longreads in partnership with Oregon Public Broadcasting.
The show is a true crime podcast hosted by Leah Sottile and produced by Longreads and Oregon Public Broadcasting with episodes available on NPR One. [1] [2] Production was done by Ryan Haas. [3] Leah Sottile was the writer and host of the show. It was co-written by Ryan Haas, Peter Frick-Wright and Robbie Carver. Carver created the music for the show. Anna Griffin of OPB and Mike Dang of Longreads provided creative oversight. [4] Sottile spent over two years reporting on the Bundy family. The podcast has limited audio design and is instead focused on reporting. [5]
The first season of the podcast is seven episodes long and focuses on Cliven Bundy and his family. The Bundy family are notorious Western ranchers that fought the government twice and won both times. The first episode of the season introduces the Bundy family from the perspective of national media and discusses the family's conflict with the Federal government of the United States over grazing fees. [6]
The second episode discusses how the US government tested nuclear bombs at the Nevada Test Site in the 1950s. [7] [8]
The podcast discusses how Cliven Bundy owed grazing fees to the Bureau of Land Management for grazing his cattle on federal land. In 2014, Cliven Bundy lead the Bundy standoff because Cliven argued that the federal government cannot legally own land and therefore cannot charge him grazing fees. Cliven stood trial for the standoff, but the case ended as a mistrial because the judge decided the prosecution withheld evidence. Ammon and Ryan followed their father's example two years later. The Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016 was more thoroughly covered in the news so the average American became aware of the Bundys. The occupation was led by Ammon Bundy and Ryan Bundy with support from the sovereign citizen movement. The 40 day occupation culminated with a standoff and shootout with the police. One of the members of the occupation, LaVoy Finicum, was shot by police while reaching for a gun. In the end, 27 people were arrested, including Ammon and Ryan. During the occupation, the occupying force desecrated sacred artifacts belonging to the Burns Paiute Tribe and caused $6 million in damages to the Wildlife Refuge. After the occupation, Ammon and Ryan convinced the jury that they were peaceful protestors and were acquitted and set free. Once the occupation and subsequent trial ended the Bundy family have largely been absent from national news. [1]
Sottile and Haas traveled to the abandoned town of Bundyville to explore the family's history. [1] The podcast discusses how the Bundy family ancestors moved to the American West where they established the town of Bundyville in the 1890s to escape the persecution of Mormons. [9] The Bundy family claim they have legal rights to the land because the land has been in the family for generations, but Sottile was unable to find any evidence that the land is the inheritance of Cliven Bundy. [10] The podcast addresses the fact that the family's religious beliefs are based on the White Horse Prophecy—a fringe Mormon belief that is not officially recognized by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. [11] The show suggests that the religious beliefs of the family are cult-like, radical, and obsessive. The show discusses how the Bundy family came to their extremist views and how their ideology is rooted in white supremacy and the historical omission of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas who lived on the land before the Bundy family. The show also addresses the family's white supremacist beliefs directly by mentioning direct quotes from Cliven and Ryan. In 2014 Cliven said "[black people] abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton," and in 2016 Ryan said "Native Americans had the claim to the land, but they lost that claim... the current culture is the most important." The show addresses how the Bundys' claim they are representative of rural ranchers in America but demonstrates that they are not. [1]
Journalism since the 2016 presidential election has attempted to understand current events and needlessly sympathizes or justifies terrible people. The show tries to understand why the Bundy family would do what they do but does not excuse or justify their actions. Sottile spent two years reporting on the family and extensively researched the Bundy family ideology, and when Sottile interviews Cliven and Ryan they confirm Sottile's research. The show requires an intimate look at the Bundy family and attempts to balance between explaining extremism and unintentionally providing a sympathetic light for the Bundy family. For instance, Sottile compares Cliven to a grandfather that you might feel affection for during her interview with him. The quotes from Cliven and Ryan help balance the reporting. However, Ann-Derrick Gaillot from The Outline criticizes the podcast for how much Sottile focuses on the Bundy's side of things claiming that Sottile inadvertently humanized the family. [1]
The podcast argues that the success of the Bundy standoff and the Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge were not accidents or coincidence but are the sign of shifting perspectives on public land and protests. The show anticipates that bad things will happen if people like the Bundys continue to gain political power. [1]
Season two was a seven part series. [12] The second season was released in July 2019. [13] Season two explores anti-government extremism more broadly. [14] Sottile notes that the patriot movement contributed to the 2021 United States Capitol attack. [15]
Title | Running time | Original release date |
---|---|---|
"Bundyville Trailer" | 2:16 | March 25, 2018 |
"Bundyville: The Remnant Trailer" | 2:11 | June 26, 2019 |
"Bundyville Live Q&A, July 2019" | 60:34 | August 7, 2019 |
"Cat People - A new podcast from Longreads" | 3:37 | January 31, 2020 |
"Timber Wars: A New Podcast for Bundyville Fans" | 31:54 | November 19, 2020 |
No. | Title | Running time | Original release date | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "The Battle" | 43:24 | May 14, 2018 | |
This episode discusses the Waco siege and the Ruby Ridge siege | ||||
2 | "The Bomb" | 25:09 | May 14, 2018 | |
This episode discusses how the US government tested nuclear bombs at the Nevada Test Site in the 1950s. The episode also discusses Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City bombing. | ||||
3 | "The Prophecy" | 24:08 | May 14, 2018 | |
This episode discusses the Bundy family's faith in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the White Horse Prophecy. | ||||
4 | "The Living Room" | 29:45 | May 14, 2018 | |
This episode includes an interview with Cliven Bundy at his home in Bunkerville, Nevada. | ||||
5 | "The Followers" | 25:29 | May 14, 2018 | |
In this episode Sottile and Haas travel to the abandoned town named Bundyville to discuss the Bundy family history. | ||||
6 | "The Murders" | 25:06 | May 14, 2018 | |
This episode discusses the consequences of the conflicts involving the Bundy family. | ||||
7 | "The Future" | 32:00 | May 14, 2018 | |
This episode discusses Ryan C. Bundy and why he ran for governor in the 2018 Nevada gubernatorial election. |
No. | Title | Running time | Original release date | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "The Explosion" | 27:43 | July 15, 2019 | |
This episode discusses a 2016 bombing that occurred in Panaca, Nevada. | ||||
2 | "The Bomber" | 35:56 | July 15, 2019 | |
This episode discusses the 2016 bombing of a Bureau of Land Management cabin. The episode also discusses how the bombing was connected to the patriot movement. | ||||
3 | "The Martyr" | 31:57 | July 15, 2019 | |
This episode discuss how LaVoy Finicum became a martyr for the patriot movement. | ||||
4 | "The Homeland" | 23:31 | July 15, 2019 | |
This episode discusses how Stevens County, Washington has a history of white supremacist and anti-government violence. | ||||
5 | "The Politician" | 24:42 | July 15, 2019 | |
This episode discusses how extremist language has been adopted by politicians such as Matt Shea. | ||||
6 | "The Preachers" | 38:33 | July 15, 2019 | |
This episode discusses Marble Community Fellowship in Stevens County and their millenarianist eschatology. | ||||
7 | "The Bombshell" | 38:10 | July 15, 2019 | |
This episode discusses how the 2016 bombing in Panaca was connected to the patriot movement. |
The podcast had over one million listens in early October 2019 and three million listeners by late October 2019. [16] [17]
Nicholas Quah wrote in Vulture that the show was "tenacious, shedding light on an unsettling, often under-covered slice of American society" and the findings of the show were "surprising and surreal." [18] [19] Toby Ball wrote in Vulture that the show was a "fascinating and harrowing listen." [20] Mitch Ryals wrote in Inlander that the show was "deeply reported and totally bingeable." [21] Angela K. Evans wrote in Boulder Weekly that the show is a "long-winding journey of discovery, ending with prescient questions and observations" that are relevant to current events. [22] Laura Jane Standley and Eric McQuade wrote in The Atlantic that "the podcast succeeds as an indispensable document on the clashes between ranchers and the feds." [23] Laura Krantz commented on the podcast saying that Sottile "is a great storyteller [who] goes in and has conversations that are hard to have." [24]
Award | Date | Category | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Society of Professional Journalists | 2019 | Reporting Series | Runner-up | [25] |
Online Journalism Award | 2018 | Excellence in Audio Digital Storytelling, Small Newsroom | Finalist | [26] |
National Magazine Awards | 2019 | Podcasting | Finalist | [27] |
National Magazine Awards | 2020 | Podcasting | Finalist | [28] |
Bunkerville is a census-designated place in Clark County, Nevada, United States. The population was 1,303 at the 2010 census.
Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) is the primary television, radio and digital public broadcasting network for most of the U.S. state of Oregon as well as southern Washington. OPB consists of five full-power television stations, dozens of VHF or UHF translators, and over 20 radio stations and frequencies. Broadcasts include local and regional programming as well as television programs from the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and American Public Television (APT), and radio programs from National Public Radio (NPR), American Public Media (APM), Public Radio Exchange (PRX), and the BBC World Service, among other distributors. Its headquarters and television studios are located in Portland.
The Independent American Party of Nevada (IAPN) is a right-wing American political party and the Nevada affiliate of the Constitution Party. The party was founded in 1967 and affiliated with the Constitution Party after its forming in 1999. It was one of four Constitution state parties that did not change their names to "Constitution Party".
Richard Ivan Mack is the former sheriff of Graham County, Arizona and a political activist. He is known for his role in a successful lawsuit brought against the federal government of the United States which alleged that portions of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act violated the United States Constitution. He is a former lobbyist for Gun Owners of America (GOA) and a two-time candidate for United States Congress. Mack is also the founder of Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA), and established the "County Sheriff Project" movement, both of whom reaffirm what they claim is the constitutional power to refuse to enforce federal laws. Further to this, he sits on the board of directors of the Oath Keepers, a far-right militia group.
The 2014 Bundy standoff was an armed confrontation between supporters of cattle rancher Cliven Bundy and law enforcement following a 21-year legal dispute in which the United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) obtained court orders directing Bundy to pay over $1 million in withheld grazing fees for Bundy's use of federally owned land adjacent to Bundy's ranch in southeastern Nevada.
Cliven D. Bundy is an American cattle rancher known for his role in the 2014 Bundy standoff. Bundy has advocated a philosophy opposed to what he views as federal government overreach. He is the father of Ammon Bundy, who in 2016 also led another armed standoff against the government, the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.
On January 2, 2016, an armed group of far-right militants seized and occupied the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon, and continued to occupy it until law enforcement made a final arrest on February 11, 2016. Their leader was Ammon Bundy, who participated in the 2014 Bundy standoff at his father's Nevada ranch. Other members of the group were loosely affiliated with non-governmental militias and the sovereign citizen movement.
Citizens for Constitutional Freedom (C4CF), later also known as People for Constitutional Freedom (P4CF), was the name taken on January 4, 2016, by an armed private U.S. militia that occupied the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters in the U.S. state of Oregon from January 2 to February 11, 2016. The leader of the organization was Ammon Bundy, son of Cliven D. Bundy, who engaged in a standoff with the federal government over grazing rights on federal land.
Ammon Edward Bundy is an American anti-government militant and activist who led the 2016 occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. He is the son of rancher Cliven Bundy, who was the central figure in the 2014 Bundy standoff in Nevada regarding unpaid grazing fees on federally-owned public land.
Robert LaVoy Finicum was one of the American militants who staged an armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in January 2016. After it began, the occupying force organized itself as the Citizens for Constitutional Freedom, of which Finicum was a spokesman. He was the only fatality of the occupation.
This timeline of the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge describes the progression of events leading up to, during, and after the occupation. The 2016 event played out over several weeks of public statements, occupying activity, and rallies.
United States v. Hammond was a court case in Oregon, United States, culminating from 20-year-long legal disputes between Harney County ranchers Dwight Lincoln Hammond Jr., 73, his son Steven Dwight Hammond, 46, and federal officials. In 2012, both Hammonds were charged with several counts in relation to two fires in 2001 and 2006, and eventually convicted of two counts of arson on federal land. Knowing they would face the statutory minimum of five years, the men waived their right to appeal these convictions in exchange for dismissal of several unresolved charges. After this mid-trial agreement was entered, the Hammonds were sentenced to a few months in jail, which they served. In 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated these sentences because they were shorter than the statutory mandatory minimum. The Ninth Circuit remanded to the district court for resentencing. The district court subsequently re-sentenced both Hammonds to the mandatory minimum of five years in prison, with credit for time served.
From January 2 to February 11, 2016, the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR) in eastern Oregon were seized and occupied by an armed group, later called Citizens for Constitutional Freedom, affiliated with private U.S. militias and the sovereign citizen movement following an earlier peaceful march in protest of the prison sentences for ranchers Dwight Hammond and his son, Steven Hammond, who were convicted of arson on federal land, sentenced to five years' imprisonment, and sought clemency from the U.S. president. The occupation received widespread coverage from media outlets.
Leah Sottile is an American journalist, writer, and podcast host who lives in Portland, Oregon.
Ear Hustle is a non-fiction podcast about prison life and life after incarceration created by Earlonne Woods and Antwan Williams, both formerly incarcerated, and Nigel Poor, an artist who volunteers at San Quentin State Prison. In 2016, it was selected by the Radiotopia network as the winner of its Podquest competition, and the following year released its first season. It was the first podcast to be entirely created and produced inside a prison.
Ryan C. Bundy is an American cattle rancher and former Independent candidate in Nevada's 2018 Gubernatorial Election. He is the brother of Ammon Bundy and the son of Cliven Bundy, who was a central figure in the 2014 Bundy standoff in Bunkerville, Nevada over his unpaid grazing fees on federally-owned public land. Ryan Bundy was noted as a participant and leader in both the 2014 Bundy standoff and the 2016 occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.
Nicholas Quah is a journalist for Vulture and is the creator of the Nieman Lab newsletter Hot Pod News.
Running From Cops is a podcast hosted by Dan Taberski and produced by Pineapple Street Media and Topic Studios.
Two Minutes Past Nine is a podcast hosted by Leah Sottile and produced by BBC Radio 4.
When the Moon Turns to Blood: Lori Vallow, Chad Daybell, and a Story of Murder, Wild Faith, and End Times is a book written by Leah Sottile and published by Twelve Books.