(Note: This interview originally aired last summer.) Our guest is the author and former journalist Rinker Buck, whose book, "Flight of Passage," was praised by The New Yorker as "a funny, cocky gem." Buck's latest book, which he talks with us about, is "The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey." In this bestselling work, the author and his brother travel the original trail -- over some 2,000 miles -- from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Baker City, Oregon. It's a journey made by mule-pulled wagon, no less -- like the pioneers did, a century ago -- and it lasts four months. In offering this fascinating and panoramic travelogue, Buck also presents a lively work of less-familiar American history. Debunking old myths, profiling forgotten places, celebrating a majestic landscape and its varied people, and at times also offering a critique of those same people, Buck introduces us to bygone explorers, trailblazing evangelists, friendly Indian tribes, female pioneers, and even scam artists who flocked to the frontier in order to rip-off the many west-bound emigrants. You can learn more about this book -- and can listen to our free, on-demand chat with Mr. Buck -- at this link.
"The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey" (Encore Presentation)
