Speaker 1: She's a Hollywood Western. She's Jack Kerouac, but in a
Speaker 1: nap dress with braids.
Speaker 2: She is one of the most important American children's authors
Speaker 2: of the twentieth century.
Speaker 1: She's the basis for a television show still watched around
Speaker 1: the world. I literally wake up in the middle of
Speaker 1: the night and go somebody somewhere is watched Little as
Speaker 1: of their.
Speaker 2: Women will come up to me, cry and saying, my
Speaker 2: childhood was miserable. In Little House in the Prairie was
Speaker 2: my escape.
Speaker 1: She's been called a hero, a racist, a feminist, and
Speaker 1: a propagandist.
Speaker 3: Consider a Native child in their classroom reading it aloud,
Speaker 3: and they come to that sentence, the only good Indian
Speaker 3: is a dead Indian.
Speaker 4: She is Laura Ingalls Wilder. Did you know she was
Speaker 4: a real person.
Speaker 1: In the nineteen thirties, Laura Ingles Wilder wrote the nine
Speaker 1: Little House on the Prairie books, based on her childhood
Speaker 1: on the American frontier. One way or another, She's been
Speaker 1: with us ever since.
Speaker 4: Oh, I love I loved that.
Speaker 2: I loved Little House on the Prairie.
Speaker 4: It's just a perfect book.
Speaker 1: I've loved Laura for as long as I can remember.
Speaker 1: As a kid, I used to map out her travels
Speaker 1: on my parents Atlas, and I'm not alone. Every summer,
Speaker 1: thousands of people from around the world pilgrimage to her
Speaker 1: little houses in tiny towns in.
Speaker 4: The middle of the country. Now I'm going too. We're
Speaker 4: literally on the Perry. I went in search of Laura,
Speaker 4: the real Laura. Who is this person I love so much?
Speaker 4: Should I love her?
Speaker 1: The story of Laura is just as complicated as the
Speaker 1: story of America, because she is America for better and worse.
Speaker 2: As if we pretend the past was not as controversial
Speaker 2: and difficult and racist as it was, then how are
Speaker 2: we going to deal with the racist issues we're grappling
Speaker 2: with today in.
Speaker 1: A country currently at odds with itself and its history.
Speaker 1: Could there be a better time for this exploration? There's
Speaker 1: never been a better time than now.
Speaker 4: I'm Glennis McNichol, and this is Wilder.
Speaker 1: Wilder launches June Nate's Listen on the iHeartRadio app or
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts.