Episode notes
In this episode of History Through Fiction: The Podcast, Colin Mustful speaks with author Jann Alexander about Unspoken, her Dust Bowl novel set in the Texas Panhandle. Through the terror of Black Sunday, the threat of dust pneumonia, and the wrenching separation of a mother and daughter, this conversation invites listeners into a history that feels both intimate and unsettlingly relevant.
Together, they explore how Alexander used years of research, oral histories, and visual archives to bring the Dust Bowl to life through fiction. The episode moves from the lived realities of families who stayed through drought and storm, to the emotional core of Ruby Lee and Willa Mae's story, to the environmental lessons of overfarming, soil loss, and the long shadow of the Ogallala Aquifer. It is a conversation about survival, memory, and the meaning of home when the land itself turns against you.
Jann Alexander is an author, photographer, and artist whose work often centers on place, loss, and endurance. In Unspoken, the first novel in her Dust series, she draws on extensive research into Texas history to illuminate a lesser-known side of the 1930s Dust Bowl and the women and children whose lives were changed by it.
History Through Fiction is a place for readers, writers, and history lovers who believe stories can deepen the way we understand the past. To explore more episodes, discover historical novels, and connect with the broader community, visit https://www.historythroughfiction.com.