Arts & Culture

Today on Can Do: Lessons from Savvy Montana Entrepreneurs, angel funder Pat LaPointe drills into the details of accelerating the growth of early-stage tech companies in Montana, and why it matters.

Somewhere between hunting for gold in Latin America as a geologist and getting married to a new husband, thirty-three-year-old Susan Purvis loses her way.

Susan comes to believe that a puppy and working on ski patrol at the last great ski town in Colorado will improve her life. When she learns about avalanches that bury people without warning, she challenges herself: “What if I teach a dog to save lives?” This quest propels her to train the best possible search dog, vowing to never leave anyone behind.

I first visited Glacier National Park in June. Though winter had only recently loosened its grip on the Crown of the Continent, there were blue skies and sunshine as I hiked up a high-elevation glacial basin. The temperature was a balmy 60 degrees.

Walking through the woods recently, I saw a red squirrel digging in the litter of the forest floor. I assumed it was burying a pine cone, but on closer inspection I found a piece of mushroom. Little did I know I was witnessing a process critical to the survival of a forest.

Empanadas. Panzerotto. Samosas. Knishes. According to The Food Guys, Jon and Greg, you can close your eyes, spin the globe, and wherever you land, there's another turnover. Chinese dumplings and jiaozi (pot stickers), Russian piroschki, Welsh pasties, Italian calzone, and American moonpies: whether it's savory or sweet, made with yeast dough or pastry dough, baked or fried, Greg recognizes its essential turnover-ness.

"Creating employment for musicians is one of my passions," says Erica von Kleist. In 2013, this New York City jazz player, arranger, composer, bandleader and teacher made a life-changing move to Whitefish, Montana. With a bang, Erica began creating opportunities for fellow musicians and music teachers, demonstrating first-hand how an artist can think like an entrepreneur.

On this week’s Can Do: Lessons from Savvy Montana Entrepreneurs, von Kleist lays out her vision for a "biodome" of employment for musicians, and makes the case for teaching young artists how to synchronize their creative and entrepreneurial grooves to build lasting careers. Learn more now from Erica von Kleist.

Renowned animal behaviorist Fred Provenza spent his academic career researching how animals respond to an intricately tuned system of flavor-feedback relationships at the cellular level—a nutritional wisdom that guides them to eat the appropriate combinations of foods to meet their dietary needs. But what about us? Do humans still possess the wisdom to select nourishing diets?

You won't catch The Food Guys, Jon and Greg, curbing their enthusiasm for "the lordly avocado," as Jon calls it. What other fruit's versatility, taste, and high fat qualifies it as a "super food?" They're amused but not surprised by its sudden hipness among throngs of Millennial avocado toast-eaters.

The Moth Mainstage is coming to Missoula April 4 for an evening of stories shared live at The Wilma. Five storytellers take the stage and share true, personal stories involving Occasional Magic. Stories of deception and redemption, sparkly interventions and divine introspections. Abracadabra, kismet and beyond.

Executive Producer Sarah Austin Jenness talks with MTPR's Michael Marsolek about the personal stories that make up the event.

The shocking death of a young woman leads Detective Dave Robicheaux into the dark corners of Hollywood, the mafia, and the backwoods of Louisiana in this gripping mystery from “modern master” (Publishers Weekly) James Lee Burke.