Answers to your questions — big or small — about anything under the Big Sky.
The Big Why (get it?) is part of MTPR’s commitment to community-led journalism, telling the diverse stories of Montanans like you.
Join us in this collaborative! Ask your questions about anything under the Big Sky and we’ll help dig up the answers.
No question is too big or too small for the Big Why. Let's see what we can discover together!
Join us in this collaborative! Ask your questions about anything under the Big Sky and we’ll help dig up the answers.
No question is too big or too small for the Big Why. Let's see what we can discover together!
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Everywhere you look in Montana, there are places to gamble. Odds are good you've seen machines in bars, liquor stores and of course, gas stations. How did Montana end up with so many "casinos," and what does it have to do with bingo? The only sure bet is that The Big Why team has the answers.
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Montana’s frontier days were stuffed with gold, greed and political corruption — and all three played a part in drawing the state’s western boundary with Idaho. A listener wants to know how that squiggly line came to be. Find out now on The Big Why.
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In this special episode of The Big Why, A New Angle host, Justin Angle, joins Austin Amestoy to answer two questions.
Your questions answered
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The Ninepipe wetlands cover thousands of acres across the Mission Valley. Nearly 15,000 acres are protected by federal, state and tribal agencies, and many more are on private lands. It’s a sprawling complex of wetlands and grasslands tucked at the base of the Mission Mountains. A listener wants to know how the wetlands there formed and if climate change poses a threat.
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The Pekin Noodle Parlor in Butte is the oldest, continually operating family owned Chinese restaurant in the country. But the story behind the Pekin is not just the story of one restaurant. It's a story about the Chinese-American experience of a distinct, authentic culture and cuisine that was created in this chaotic mixing bowl of the American West.
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A wildfire burned through the small town of Denton, MT in December of 2021. It burned more than 10,000 acres and destroyed 25 homes. So how is the town of Denton rebuilding, and what does wildfire resilient construction look like?
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One listener wants to know why non-Natives make up a majority of the population on the Flathead Reservation. Another listener asks how much land Montana’s reservations lost to White settlement. The answer goes back to an 1887 law that ramped-up the federal government's efforts to assimilate Native people and erase their cultures.