What's Your Why?
What’s Your Why? The Authors Journey
Every writer has a story—long before the first word is written. "What's Your Why?" is the podcast where authors share the journeys, inspirations, and defining moments that shaped their craft. Whether you're a book lover, an aspiring writer, or simply fascinated by the creative process, this show takes you beyond the pages and into the minds of storytellers.
Join Emy diGrappa, Executive Producer, Wyoming Humanities, as we explore the passion, struggles, and triumphs that drive authors to write. Through in-depth interviews and solo reflections, we uncover the why behind the words—because behind every book, there’s a journey worth telling.
Tune in and get inspired by the voices behind the stories.
- Update frequency
- every 16 days
- Average duration
- 25 minutes
- Episodes
- 154
- Years Active
- 2017 - 2025
Wyoming Women To Watch: Artist Sarah Oregon
Sarah Ortegon is an enrolled Eastern Shoshone and also is Northern Arapaho. She is number 10 in a family of 12 kids. In 2013 she graduated from Metropolitan State University of Denver with a bachelor…
Wyoming Women To Watch: Artist Jennifer Rife
"They each have a different perspective. They each in their own way... And I can say this just based on how I've heard them talk about this and from what I think you'll see in this wonderful video ab…
Wyoming Women to Watch: Artist Leah Hardy
Leah Hardy, an amazing artist, is 1 of 5 Wyoming artists selected for Women To Watch. The 2024 exhibit is the National Museum of Women in the Art's biennial exhibition series that features underrepre…
Juan Martinez: Spirit of Conservation Award Recipient & Founder of Fresh Tracks
Juan Martinez received the 2022 Rising Leader Award given to outstanding young professionals in the field of conservation. He received his award alongside famed ethologist and global conservation ico…
Patricia McInroy: The Storytelling Art of FIlmmaking
Patricia McInroy, a filmmaker, is a former photojournalist who grew up in Wyoming and graduated from Casper College in 1989. After graduating from the University of Missouri, she returned to Wyoming …
Travis Helms: Poetry, Spirituality, & Conversation
Travis Helms is the author of Blowing Clover, Falling Rain: A Theological Commentary On The Poetic Canon Of The ‘American Religion’ (Wipf & Stock). His poetry and prose has been published, or is fort…
Jason Baldes: Native American Ecology
Jason Baldes, an Eastern Shoshone who lives on the Wind River Reservation, is the Tribal Buffalo Coordinator for the Tribal Partnerships Program at the National Wildlife Federation. He works to resto…
Tyler Rogers: Author And Inspiration For The Wyo Youth
Megan Kate Nelson: Writing The West
Megan Kate Nelson is a historian and writer, with a BA from Harvard and a PhD in American Studies from the University of Iowa. She is the author of Saving Yellowstone: Exploration and Preservation in…
Sarah Ortegon: Dancing for Native America
Sarah Ortegon was born in Denver, Colorado and is an enrolled Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho. In 2013 she graduated from Metropolitan State University of Denver with a Bachelors degree in Fine…
Gregory Hinton: A Rainbow in Wyoming
Willow Belden: What Was Lost "Out There" Will Be Found
Mark Pedri: Listening to the Wind
Mark Pedri is an expedition-based documentary filmmaker and writer from Southwestern Wyoming where he tells stories from off the beaten path. His character-driven style of storytelling is reminiscent…
Sam Lightner: Professional Rock Climber, Author, & Historian
Anna Sale: Death, Sex & Money
"'I know how to research. I know how to tell stories. I don't know what to do with a microphone or audio editing, but I want to learn,' and they hired me, and that's how my journalism career started …
Robert Martinez: Turning A Paintbrush Into a Microphone
Robert Martinez was born in Wyoming on the Wind River Reservation in the small city of Riverton. His lineage is Spanish, Mexican, Scotts Irish, French Canadian, and Northern Arapaho. He graduated Riv…
Robbie Bonds: 2021 Murie Spirit of Conservation Rising Leader
Darla Worden: Ernest Hemingway in Wyoming
Darla Worden is editor in chief of Mountain Living magazine and founder/director of the Left Bank Writers Retreat in Paris. A Wyoming native and life-long Ernest Hemingway fan, Worden discovered that…
Senator Doug Jones: Justice Delayed, But Not Denied
“I am a product and lifelong resident of Alabama. I was born in Fairfield, Alabama to a father who worked for U.S. Steel and a stay-at-home mom. One of my grandfathers was a steelworker and the othe…
Jerry Enzler: Author & Historian of Jim Bridger: Trailblazer of the American West
Jerry Enzler might just be the best living expert on the famous mountain man, Jim Bridger, and his exploits as a trapper and explorer. Today, we become experts of the expert, as Jerry takes us throug…