Hunting the western toad, recognizing courage, and delving into the novel Stripland

Erim Gómez lives his childhood dream: catching frogs, toads, and salamanders. The doctoral student in environmental studies hunts for the western toad along the Snake River, as he works to determine the biodiversity of amphibians on the Palouse prairie. 
Also in this episode:

• Carla Peperzak risked her life and freedom in World War II as a member of the Dutch Resistance. She was only 16 when she secretly saved a number of Jews by making fake IDs. Now a 96-year-old Spokane resident, Carla was honored as Washington state Person of the Year for 2020.
• Joan Burbick, a retired English professor at Washington State University, talks about Stripland, her novel that explores trauma, perceptions of reality, violence, and connected relationships in the aftermath of a shooting of a Nez Perce man by a white police officer. Her powerful and moving book references the steep stretch of road in Lewiston, Idaho, that slices through the valley from the Snake River to the Nez Perce reservation.

Read more about disappearing amphibians, Carla Peperzak's life, and the novel Stripland.

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