the underview.
The underview is an exploration of the shaping of our place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness. The underview is a series of discussions within and about the community of Northwest Arkansas. The underview explores our collective understanding and beliefs about the place we live. These discussions will include topics that are foundational to the identity of our region, the history of our communities, the truth of conflict with the land and its people, and the current challenges and opportunities for our community.
Episodes
In the late 1800s, a group of Italian immigrants left the mountain villages of Northern Italy in search of opportunity and land in America. What they found instead was exploitation, malaria, and broken promises on the cotton fields of Sunnyside Plantation in Southeast Arkansas.
In this first of a two-part series, filmmaker and journalist Larry Foley joins us to trace their story—how they came, what they endured, and h...
In this episode of the underview, we sit down with Dr. Debbie Jones, Superintendent of Bentonville Public Schools, to explore the sweeping changes unfolding across Arkansas and the nation that are reshaping public education. Fresh off the end of the Arkansas legislative session, Dr. Jones helps unpack the implications of the newly signed ACCESS Act, the need for focus on behavioral health legislation, and other new ed...
In this episode of the underview, we sit down with John McLarty—geographer, regional planner, and longtime researcher with the Arkansas Chapter of the Trail of Tears Association. Over the past two decades, John has helped uncover and preserve the routes, burial sites, and stories of the Trail of Tears that run directly through Northwest Arkansas. From his early work mapping the Butterfield Stagecoach Route to the crea...
In this episode of the underview, we travel to the southern edge of Washington County to explore Cane Hill—one of the earliest white settlements in Northwest Arkansas—and speak with Vanessa McKuin, Executive Director of Historic Cane Hill. Vanessa brings her personal and professional insight as a preservationist and native Arkansan to help us understand how this small community became a cultural, educational, and hist...
In this first part of our conversation with Dr. Jared M. Phillips, we take a necessary pause to consider not just what happened in the Ozarks, but how it began to feel. Before this region had a name, it had an identity-forming—shaped by those who came here looking for something hard, rugged, and remote.
Dr. Phillips helps us explore how the geography of the Ozarks, its agrarian limits, and the beliefs of early settler...
In this conversation with historian Rachel Whitaker of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, we trace the early formation of Northwest Arkansas through the lens of power, policy, and people. Rachel offers an expansive look at how settler colonial decisions—such as the displacement of Native nations, the introduction of slavery, and the establishment of counties like Washington and Benton—shaped the region’s economic and...
In this episode of the underview, we explore the life and legacy of Samuel West Peel — the first native-born Arkansan elected to the U.S. Congress and one of the most influential political figures to emerge from Northwest Arkansas. Historian Chelsea Stewart of the Peel Museum joins us to trace Peel’s rise through family connections, legal influence, and public office, and to help us confront the deeper complexities of...
In this episode of the underview, we sit down with brothers Steve and Rusty Anderson, sixth-generation descendants of Col. Hugh Allen Anderson—believed to be one of the first white settlers to arrive in Northwest Arkansas in the early 1800s. Through their family’s oral history and deep regional roots, we explore a story that reaches back before the Cherokee Trail of Tears, into the era of westward expansion, and throu...
In September 2020, Bentonville’s Confederate statue was removed from the downtown square and relocated to a new park near the city cemetery. The decision came after years of debate, heightened by the national reckoning on racial justice following the murder of George Floyd.
In this episode, Benton County Judge Barry Moehring reflects on the process that led to the statue’s removal, the tensions and perspectives that s...
the civil war with Dale Phillips.
In this episode of the underview, historian Dale Phillips, retired Superintendent of Lincoln Home National Historic Site, explores the Civil War’s impact on Arkansas, particularly Northwest Arkansas, and why its legacy still matters today. With over 40 years in the National Park Service, he unpacks the state’s role in secession, the battles fought on Arkansas soil, and how the war resh...
the weary land with Dr. Kelly Houston Jones, part 2.
In the weary land with Dr. Kelly Houston Jones, part 2, we examine Arkansas’s secession and the Civil War’s impact on slavery. Dr. Jones explains how Governor Henry Rector and state leaders saw slavery as essential, with even Unionist Arkansans supporting it for economic stability. We explore how fear, paranoia, and political power drove secession and how enslaved pe...
the weary land with Dr. Kelly Houston Jones, part 1.
In this first episode of a two-part series, Dr. Kelly Houston Jones, author of A Weary Land: Slavery on the Ground in Arkansas, explores how slavery was foundational to the state’s formation—shaping its economy, politics, and society from the beginning. We examine the rise of the “second slavery,” the daily lives of enslaved people, and the ways Arkansas’s geography ...
the great river with Boyce Upholt.
The Mississippi River is more than just a body of water—it’s a force that has shaped the land, the people, and the very mythology of America. In this episode of the underview, I sit down with Boyce Upholt, author of The Great River, to explore how this river became the backbone of American expansion, the driving factor in Manifest Destiny, and a symbol of American masculinity. We’ll d...
the downstream people, the elders with Barbara Kyser-Collier.
In this episode of the underview, Barbara Kyser-Collier, a leader and elder of the Quapaw Nation, shares the history, resilience, and cultural restoration of her people. From the impact of federal policies that led to the loss of full-blood Quapaw to the ongoing fight for sovereignty and identity, Barbara’s story sheds light on the enduring strength of Indig...
the downstream people, the elders with Betty Gaedtke (ep 2, 09).
In this episode, we sit down with Betty Gaedtke, an elder of the Quapaw Nation and the only known Quapaw potter actively reviving the traditional art of her ancestors. Through her work, Betty is not only shaping clay but reclaiming history, restoring cultural identity, and ensuring that Quapaw traditions endure for future generations. She shares the deep ...
In part three of the underview with Melissa Horner, we explore how settler colonialism continues to impact Indigenous communities today, from intergenerational trauma to systemic challenges. Melissa highlights the importance of shifting from deficit-centered narratives to celebrating the resilience, agency, and cultural beauty of Indigenous peoples.
The discussion addresses the Vatican’s 2023 repudiation of ...
In part two of the underview with Melissa Horner, we delve into the enduring impacts of settler colonialism on relationships with land, community, and identity. Melissa contrasts Indigenous relationality, rooted in responsibility and reciprocity, with Western notions of ownership and possession.
From historical land dispossession to modern systems like conservation, medicine, and capitalism, she unpacks how ...
In this episode of the underview, Melissa Horner introduces listeners to the foundational principles of settler colonialism and its enduring impact on U.S. society. Beginning with her personal story, Melissa shares how her identity as a Métis citizen and descendant of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa informs her work and perspective. She frames settler colonialism not as a historical event but as an ongoing framew...
the origin culture with Jazlyn Sanderson.
Episode 5 of Season 2 of the underview takes a deep dive into the story of Northwest Arkansas through the lens of art, culture, and history with Jazlyn Sanderson, Director of the Museum of Native American History in Bentonville. Jazlyn’s passion for preserving Indigenous narratives reveals how the art, tools, and traditions of the past connect to the land and its people.
This e...
the beginning with Dr. Melissa Zabecki.
Episode 4 of Season 2 of the underview takes us deep into the rich history beneath our feet with Arkansas State Archeologist Dr. Melissa Zabecki.
From her childhood obsession with Egypt to her work uncovering the stories of Arkansas’s past, Dr. Zabecki shares how archeology reveals the vibrant lives of the people who came before us.
She discusses the importance of preserving cult...
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