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Today’s stories are sponsored by Tulsa Ballet, presenting The Nutcracker, December 7-21

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Russell Cobb

Dr. Russell Cobb is an author and professor at the University of Alberta. His latest book is titled Ghosts of Crook County: An Oil Fortune, a Phantom Child, and the Fight for Indigenous Land (Beacon Press, 2024). His book The Great Oklahoma Swindle: Race, Religion, and Lies in America’s Weirdest State (Bison Books, 2020) won a Director’s Special Merit Award from the Oklahoma Department of Libraries in 2021. His nonfiction writing has appeared in Slate, NPR, the New York Times, and The Nation, among other places. Follow him on IG at @Scissortail74.

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This Land

Among The Tribe Of The Wannabes

Why do so many white people—from Elizabeth Warren to Miley Cyrus to Iron Eyes Cody—fashion a Native identity out of thin air?

August 6, 2025
Tulsa Lore

America First, Political Violence And Intimidation In Early Tulsa 

When two men were killed less than 24 hours apart in 1918, the city’s elite cheered.

June 18, 2025
Tulsa Lore

The True Story of Tulsa’s Forgotten Antihero, Sadie James

And a walk downtown in search of her saloon, the Bucket of Blood

January 23, 2025
This Land

South By Midwest: Or, Where Is Oklahoma?

Reflections on Oklahoma's complex regional identity.

November 25, 2024
This Land

Backwards Christian Soldier

When Tulsa's Rev. Billy James Hargis was at the height of his powers in the 1960s, he was considered a far-right extremist by Republicans and Democrats alike.

November 18, 2024
This Land

Brave New Park

Politics, philanthrocapitalism, and public investment define the origin story of Gathering Place, America's largest privately-funded park.

November 15, 2024