Jan 10, 2019
Maya Rao lived on the oil fields of North Dakota for a year,
writing about America's modern day gold rush. She worked behind a
cash register at a truck stop, meeting 'outsiders, outcasts
and hustlers'.
In this interview, Maya talks about the transient life of
fortune-seeking men, their sense of adventure and risk-taking
behaviour. Alongside the oil wells, she also found a culture of
toxic masculinity bubbling to the surface.
This episode is based Maya Rao's piece, Outsiders,
Outcasts, Hustlers: A Year Reporting on the Modern-Day
Frontier. Her book "Great American Outpost: Dreamers,
Mavericks, and the Making of an Oil Frontier" was published in
April 2018.