The Write Question
Twice weekly on Thursday at 7PM, Sunday at 5:30AM
The Write Question is a weekly literary program hosted by Lauren Korn that features authors from the American West—and beyond—including James Lee Burke, Kate Lebo, Anne Helen Petersen, Robert Wrigley, Jess Walter, Stephen Graham Jones, Hoa Nguyen, Maggie Shipstead, Elissa Washuta, and others.
TWQ’s 2025-2026 season is supported by a co-op of independent bookstores in Montana, encouraging a lifetime of learning through storytelling and conversation:
This week on ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with Miriam Toews, author of the memoir ‘A Truce That Is Not Peace’ (Bloomsbury Publishing). Note: This conversation contains explicit references to suicide. If you or someone you love is struggling with a mental health crisis or in immediate danger, please call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
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Picture Book Picnicker Lauren Korn invites beloved singer-songwriter Raffi on a picnic to talk about his newest sing-along picture book, ‘Mama Loves It’ (Knopf Books for Young Readers).
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This week on ‘The Write Question,’ a celebration of mothers in all forms—a conversation with poet Preeti Vangani, author of ‘Fifty Mothers’ (River River Books). -
This week on ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with Kim Fu, author of ‘The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts’ (Tin House Books; Zando Projects). -
This week on ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks to anthropologist Sally Thompson, author of ‘Black Robes Enter Coyote’s World: Chief Charlo and Father De Smet in the Rocky Mountains’ (Bison Books; University of Nebraska Press). In this, the second half of their conversation, Lauren and Sally discuss Chiefs Victor and Charlo and the relationship between Jesuit missionaries and Montana’s native people. The two also talk at length about Chief Charlo’s 1876 speech, a lament of white politicians and settlers who evicted his people from the Bitterroot Valley after the tribe had always/only helped them, beginning with Lewis and Clark. -
This week on ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks to anthropologist Sally Thompson, author of ‘Black Robes Enter Coyote’s World: Chief Charlo and Father De Smet in the Rocky Mountains’ (Bison Books; University of Nebraska Press). In this, the first part of a two part conversation, Lauren and Sally discuss how this book was conceived and they dig into the figure of Father Pierre-Jean De Smet, his history and his motivations.
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During this episode of ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with University of Montana journalism professor Jule Banville and audio producer Jad Abumrad about ‘The Obit Project,’ a collaborative podcast created by the UM School of Journalism and the Montana Media Lab that combines the art of audio storytelling and the obituary form to spotlight the multi-dimensional lives of real Montanans. This conversation was recorded in advance of Jad’s 2026 Dean Stone Lecture and University of Montana Democracy Summit Keynote Lecture, which takes place on April 13, 2026. -
This week on ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with Wyoming-based author Nina McConigley about her novel, ‘How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder’ (Pantheon; Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group). Nina is a spring lecturer for the Elk River Arts & Lecture series; she will appear in Livingston on April 16, 2026. -
This week on ‘The Write Question,’ for a live, pledge week episode, host Lauren Korn speaks with Allison De Jong: the Montana Natural History Center’s Communications Coordinator and the editor of ‘Montana Naturalist’ and ‘Field Notes.’ -
This week on ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with memoirist Fred Haefele, author of ‘The Essential Book of Pickup Trucks’ (Bison Books). -
This week on ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with University of Montana alum Andrew Martin (MFA ‘13), author of ‘Down Time,’ published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. -
This week on ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with poet, author, and educator Maya Jewell Zeller about her memoir-in-essays, ‘Raised by Ferns’ (Porphyry Press).
