Colorado College student creates podcast mini-series about East Troublesome Fire
Henry Hodde/Courtesy photo
Henry Hodde is currently a senior at Colorado College in Colorado Springs studying environmental science and journalism. Originally from Vermont, he came to Colorado for school and says he quickly “fell in love with the state and all that it has to offer.”
He said that wildfires were not an issue in Vermont, and since living in Colorado he says he better understands the reality of many who live in the West. This moment of realization came during his freshman year summer while he was driving from Wyoming back to Colorado Springs and drove through the burn scars left behind by the East Troublesome Fire.
“Witnessing what that looked like was something I’d never really seen before to that extent and was really eye opening. Just like, a full better understanding of (the) devastation that can occur from wildfires,” Hodde said.
With this better of understanding of the impact of wildfires on communities, Hodde began to dig deeper.
The podcast began when he started working for the State of the Rockies project at Colorado College. The State of the Rockies project encourages students to further their interests in the social and political challenges of living in the Rocky Mountain West. Students working for the project embark on interdisciplinary investigations around the region for their projects.
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Hodde said that while working for the State of the Rockies project he traveled across the west and visited Moab, Utah, which was impacted by the Pack Creek fire in 2021. While in Utah, Hodde got to speak with wildfire experts and learn more about wildfire management.
Last summer, Hodde worked as an intern for NPR and learned about putting together podcasts.
“It was really nice to learn from the people I worked with there and how they went about crafting a podcast. Knitting ideas together and like kind of crafting, a coherent storyline and all those kind of things,” Hodde said.
While the idea behind the project existed years ago, he finally finished the podcast during the summer of 2023 while on break from school.
“Forged By Fire” is the title of Hodde’s podcast series and it can be listened to on Spotify. This podcast was the perfect intersection of research, environmental issues, reporting and creativity for Hodde, who was able to use his skills to produce the three-part series. He is the reporter and producer of the podcast.
The first episode is titled “There’s No Such Thing as Fire Season” and begins with an emotional testimony from a Grand Lake resident who lived through the fire. That resident is Emily Hagen, the executive director of the Grand Lake Chamber of Commerce.
Hodde also speaks with Schelly Olson who founded the Grand County Wildfire Council in 2013.
A wide range of topics are discussed in the podcast by Hodde and his guests including fire mitigation, community healing, climate change, forest management and more.
Episode two titled “Recovery” focuses on the aftermath of wildfires and what communities have done to recover. Episode three titled “Fire in their Blood” tells the story of how a college assignment leads Hodde to a family who fights wildfires together.
Anyone interested in listening to the three-part series can listen to it on Spotify.
This story is from SkyHiNews.com
