JACKSON, Wyo. — Sound-rich radio stories, local reporting and engaging conversations combine to make a new podcast from KHOL/Jackson Hole Community Radio (89.1 FM) essential listening for local residents and visitors alike.
Launched in late April, “Jackson Unpacked” features in-depth reporting on under-covered topics and critical issues impacting Jackson Hole and the Mountain West. Recent episodes have included stories on resistance in Teton Valley to the proposed expansion of Grand Targhee Mountain Resort and the limitations of Teton County’s down payment assistance program for homebuyers. Past episodes have also featured interviews with Justin Farrell, the author of “Billionaire Wilderness,” a superintendent of a former Indian Boarding School located on the Wind River Indian Reservation and a wilderness paramedic.
“Jackson Unpacked” also regularly includes Spanish-language stories highlighting the voices of local Latino community members paired with English-language interviews about the reporting.
New episodes of “Jackson Unpacked” are released every Friday on Spotify, Apple, Google and wherever podcasts are found. The show also airs locally at 89.1 FM on Mondays at 7:30 a.m., Tuesdays at 3 p.m., Fridays at 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. and Sundays at 12:30 p.m.
Additionally, KHOL now broadcasts a top of the hour newscast each weekday, covering local, state and regional headlines. The NPR-style briefs are informative and easily digestible, all in under four minutes.
These developments come on the heels of major broadcast and staffing changes at KHOL. Over the past two years, the station has diversified its programming, growing from mostly locally produced music shows to airing a mix of locally and nationally produced podcasts on everything from investigative reporting to backcountry search and rescues. KHOL has also added a morning hour of Spanish-language news (6-7 a.m.) and local music hour (3-4 p.m.) while maintaining its beloved crew of volunteer DJs every day from 4 p.m. to midnight.
In the news department, KHOL welcomed its first full-time reporter/producer, Will Walkey, in November 2020 and a new news director, Kyle Mackie, in January 2021. Together, their original reporting has now aired in 10 states across the Mountain West and the Great Plains through KHOL’s membership in the Rocky Mountain Community Radio coalition. KHOL’s news coverage has also been picked up by NPR’s Mountain West News Bureau and the NPR National Newscast. A 2020 station collaboration with RMCR on fossil fuels also recently won second place for public service reporting from the Society for Professional Journalists.
From its infancy in the basement of the Teton Barbershop, as a primarily music format station, KHOL now has a staff of four and dozens of volunteers producing programs that are listened to around the world. KHOL also remains the only nonprofit newsroom focused on Jackson and Teton County and the only community radio station in the State of Wyoming.
Please consider a donation to KHOL during this Old Bill’s Giving Season to show your support for local, independent media.
