Part 1: Shahid Sheikh, president of the Bentonville Islamic Center, shares the founding story of NWA's Muslim community, the five pillars of Islam, and what it means to build belonging in a place that didn't have a mosque twenty years ago.
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A small Arkansas church, planted in 1843, belongs to one of the oldest and least-known traditions of American Protestantism. Elder Tom Griffin and Deacon Paul Lindsey on Primitive Baptist faith, and a church built to endure rather than grow.
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Pastor Gary Wheat of the Assembly in Siloam Springs explores 24 years of leading an Assemblies of God church born on Arkansas soil, rootedness, hope, community service, and faith across traditions in NWA.
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the underview sits with Walton Family Foundation Home Region Director Robert Burns on the 2030 strategy, belonging, and faith in Northwest Arkansas.
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Minister Marshall Brown of Flagstone Church of Christ in Bentonville explores what it means to be "the least Church of Christ church" and whether that's a departure from the Restoration Movement or a return to its radical origins.
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A Southern Baptist pastor in Greenland, Arkansas on getting too close to the fire of political power, the work of repair after a church divides, the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation, and what the SBC tradition looks like when it's pastoring a place.
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Pastor Jonathan Lowder Sr. of The Historic St. James Missionary Baptist Church in Fayetteville on faith, belonging, the prophetic tradition, and what Northwest Arkansas owes the people who don't yet have a place here.
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Retired pastor Darrel Harvey on forty years in ministry, a life that fell apart, and the permission to doubt. A Northwest Arkansas conversation about faith, belonging, certainty, and wholeness, and why it's hard to follow Jesus inside a superpower's civic religion.
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Rev. Dr. Michelle Morris on FUMC Bentonville's 193-year history from slavery to inclusion, her call to ministry through tragedy, and the Methodist tradition of being handed a community and told to love them.
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Rev. Evan Garner of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Fayetteville explores what it means to belong before you believe, reckon with a history of enslavement, and build a parish where wholeness means all of the people. Not most. All.
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Father Jason Tyler traces 180 years of Catholic life in NW Arkansas from 1847 baptisms of enslaved people to a multilingual congregation of 2,100+ families. A conversation about solidarity, immigration, and belonging at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Fayetteville.
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Historian Rachel Whitaker reveals the KKK's deep integration with 1920s Northwest Arkansas church culture, traces the line from frontier social enforcement to organized violence, and lifts up stories of congregations that chose welcome over exclusion, including one tied to the Little Rock Nine.
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Historian Rachel Whitaker traces faith's arrival in NWA from the 1820s through the Civil War revealing how early churches functioned as institutions of social control, how denominations fractured over slavery, and how enslaved people built congregations as acts of resistance.
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Monica Kumar joins as co-host of Season 3 of the underview, "the faith of Northwest Arkansas." This episode is Monica's story and how she views faith, belonging, and how place is shaped by what people believe.
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A framing for the faith of Northwest Arkansas. Five words the season is built on faith, religion, theology, church, and why discernment begins with holding the terms apart, and what this season is and isn't asking.
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Season 3 explores how faith has shaped Northwest Arkansas. From circuit riders to megachurches, hush harbors to City Councils. This opening episode gives a beginning point of to view religion as both a system of meaning and power.
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in this third season of the underview, the faith of Northwest Arkansas, we trace the faith that built this place, broke this place, and might yet be the thing that heals it.
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A bridge episode sitting in the tension of the current moment. Two seasons traced power in NWA from indigenous removal to present-day displacement, revealing a pattern of accommodation over resistance. When cultural agreement breaks down, force is all that remains.
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Sam Hoisington left Bentonville, built a news startup in Wisconsin, then came home to find no one covering his city. He launched the Bentonville Bulletin in 2024. A conversation about local journalism, civic engagement, and what a community loses when no one is watching.
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Pastor Scott Page of Christ and Neighbor Church in Rogers explains why his congregation joined ULI's Faithful Foundations program. Serving overlooked communities on Rogers' east side, he shares how churches with land can address affordable housing and why this work is central to their mission.
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Candi Adams, Director of Signature Programs for ULI Northwest Arkansas, discusses the Faithful Foundations program from ULI NWA.
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Solomon Burchfield of New Beginnings NWA explores housing as infrastructure, not charity. With homelessness up 23% and housing costs rising 71% in NW Arkansas, he reveals how zoning, economic systems, and community choices create or solve homelessness.
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Trailblazers CEO Victor Gurel joins to talk about how trails can do more than move people; they can connect them. From gravel roads to greenways, we explore how thoughtful infrastructure design can bridge communities, expand access, and build belonging across Northwest Arkansas.
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The Ozark Foundation’s leadership joins the underview to discuss the Arkansas Rural Recreational Roads Initiative (R3) , a bridge-building effort to connect urban and rural Arkansas through cycling, conservation, and community relationships rooted in belonging and shared dignity.
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Andy Chasteen returns to reflect on cycling in Northwest Arkansas — from rural road initiatives to the All Bikes Welcome mural — and how cycling can counter division by fostering inclusion, bridge-building, and community repair.
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Artist Paige Dirksen shares her perspective on the “All Bikes Welcome” mural controversy in Bentonville, reflecting on public art, inclusion, harm, and the deeper question of who belongs in our community.
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Dr. Rachel Olzer of All Bikes Welcome reflects on the “All Bikes Welcome” mural fight in Bentonville — a local debate that exposed national ideological politics, religious nationalism, and deep questions of inclusion, belonging, and community identity.
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In this final episode of season two, host Mike Rusch reflects on the story of Northwest Arkansas from Indigenous removal and slavery to immigration, labor, and power today.
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Barbara Carr, 5th generation descendant of master builder and formerly enslaved Aaron Anderson “Rock” Van Winkle, shares her family’s story of resilience, erasure, and reclamation, closing the season on Northwest Arkansas’s history with truth, memory, and repair.
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Sociologist Jerry Moore helps uncover the life of Aaron Anderson “Rock” Van Winkle — one of the first enslaved people brought to Northwest Arkansas, whose life and labor left a lasting impact on the region’s development.
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Dr. Todd Stockdale examine how thinkers like John Locke, Max Weber, and Karl Marx shaped U.S. ideologies of freedom, property, and power, and how Protestant theology helped justify systems of exclusion, race, and settler colonialism.
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Dr. Jared Phillips explores the rise of Southern Evangelicalism in politics, tracing how faith, race, and power intersected through Jimmy Carter’s presidency and shaped belonging in the Ozarks and beyond.
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Irvin Camacho, a Community Rights Organizer and immigrant advocate based in Northwest Arkansas, shares how his family's experience shaped his understanding of labor, language, and belonging.
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Magaly Licolli of Venceremos explores the lives of poultry workers in Northwest Arkansas. We discuss conditions in the poultry processing industry, the role of immigrant labor, and how grassroots organizing is challenging corporate systems and shaping the future of labor rights in the region.
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Historian Olivia Paschal explores how Walmart, Tyson, and J.B. Hunt shaped capitalism in Northwest Arkansas and how their growth continues to influence housing, labor, immigration, and the deeper question of who gets to belong in our region.
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Dr. Perla Guerrero shares her story from an undocumented immigrant in Arkansas to a U.S. citizen & explains how NW Arkansas transformed from 99% white to multiracial. We examine spatial illegality & how historical patterns of racial control influence immigrant experiences in the contemporary South.
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Dr. Steven Rosales traces Latino immigration to Arkansas, exploring how labor demands, U.S. policy, and corporate expansion drew Latino workers to Northwest Arkansas and what it means for belonging today.
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Dr. Jared Phillips explores how corporate consolidation, industrial agriculture, and political power reshaped the Ozarks, connecting civil rights and labor history to the modern rise of Latino immigration in Northwest Arkansas.
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Alli Thurmond Quinlan unpacks how zoning policies in Fayetteville have been used to exclude and how land use and planning can become tools for repair and justice.
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Tommie Flowers Davis shares the story of Fayetteville’s historic Black neighborhood and the urgent need to protect it through the creation of a Black Historic District.
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Dr. Michael Pierce explores how race, labor, and civil rights shaped Northwest Arkansas—from early union movements to political power shifts—and how those systems still influence who belongs today.
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Brad Sikorski is the new President and CEO of the Excellerate Foundation.
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Emily Pianalto-Beshears shares how Tontitown’s Italian immigrants shaped belonging in the Ozarks through labor, tradition, and memory.
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a film about place, belonging, and repair. Ridge to River: the Arkansas Traverse premiers at the Bentonville Film Festival on June 21st! Don’t miss it! notes. Ridge to River: The Arkansas Traverse is more than an adventure film—it’s a journey through the heart of Arkansas, past and
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Filmmaker Larry Foley unpacks the journey of Italian immigrants from Sunnyside Plantation to Tontitown, Arkansas—revealing a deeper story of labor, faith, and migration in the American South.
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This episode explores the 2025 Arkansas legislative session and its impact on public education—including the ACCESS Act, new laws addressing mental health in schools, and the national effort to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.
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The history of the Trail of Tears in Northwest Arkansas and the development of the mapping of the entire trail routes throughout Northwest Arkansas.
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This episode explores the deep history of Cane Hill, Arkansas—from the Trail of Tears and slavery to the state’s first co-ed college and a thriving Black community.
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In this episode with Dr. Jared M. Phillips, we explore how the geography, agrarian limits, and early settler beliefs shaped the foundation of Ozark identity and the enduring mythology of the region.
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Historian Rachel Whitaker, Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, explores the early formation of Washington and Benton Counties, white settler power, slavery, and Black history in Northwest Arkansas.
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Samuel West Peel, the first native-born Arkansan elected to the U.S. Congress and one of the most powerful political figures to emerge from Northwest Arkansas.
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What does it mean to inherit a legacy tied to land, opportunity, & the first settler? Sixth-generation descendants of one of Northwest Arkansas’s earliest white settlers share how their family is choosing to remember and reckon with a complex past.
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Judge Barry Moehring on the move of Bentonville’s Confederate statue and what it reveals about history, memory, and community.
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The Civil War. Causes, Impact on Northwest Arkansas, and Influences Today.
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Part 2: Arkansas secession, Civil War, and Reconstruction. Unraveling slavery’s grip and its lasting impact today.
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Part 1: How slavery was foundational to Arkansas, shaping its economy, politics, and social structures. The rise of the “second slavery,” the lived experiences of enslaved people, and how its legacy continues to influence economic and social disparities today.
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How the Mississippi River shaped Northwest Arkansas, its land, people, economy, and myths, revealing deeper truths about place and belonging.
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The Quapaw Nation’s resilience, identity, and sovereignty..Barbara Kyser-Collier shares their fight to reclaim history.
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Reviving Quapaw culture, reclaiming history, Betty Gaedtke shapes clay, culture, and identity for future generations.
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Part 2 & 3: Settler colonialism’s lasting impact, Melissa Horner explores Indigenous resilience, systemic harm, and paths to repair.
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Melissa Horner unpacks settler colonialism’s ongoing impact, land, culture, sovereignty, and the systems shaping us today.
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Indigenous culture endures - art, history, and legacy shaping Northwest Arkansas beyond the myths we've inherited.
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Unearthing 14,000 years of history - lost civilizations, hidden stories, and the land beneath our feet.
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the story of Northwest Arkansas - conflict, resilience, and belonging shape the past, present, and future of this place.
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Season 2 Introduction, the story of Northwest Arkansas with Mike Rusch.
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Bill Burckart, the current Bentonville City Council Member for Ward 3, Position 2. We discuss his last four years in office, his accomplishments, his vision for the city, and his campaign as he seeks reelection.
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Kate Schaffer, a candidate for Arkansas State House Representative for District 10. We discuss her involvement in the District, her vision, and her campaign as she seeks election.
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Mindy McAlindon, the current Arkansas State House Representative for District 10. We discuss her last two years in office, her accomplishments, her vision for the District, and her campaign as she seeks reelection.
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Jocelyn Lampkin, a candidate for Bentonville City Council Member for Ward 4, Position 2. We discuss her involvement in the City, her vision for the city, and her campaign as she seeks election.
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Holly Hook, the current Bentonville City Council Member for Ward 4, Position 2. We discuss her last four years in office, her accomplishments, her vision for the city, and her campaign as she seeks reelection.
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Steve Galen, a candidate for Mayor of Bentonville. We discuss his story and background, his work in the community, his vision for the city, and his campaign as he seeks election.
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Stephanie Orman, the current Mayor of Bentonville. We discuss her last six years in office, her accomplishments, her vision for the city, and her campaign as she seeks reelection.
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the final episode of Season 1, features host Mike Rusch. In this episode, Mike addresses the season's central question: "What is the state of Northwest Arkansas?"
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Scotti Moody, Event Director for Arkansas Graveler. Our conversation focuses on the state of Northwest Arkansas and how the Arkansas Graveler is working to connect people to the state and the communities of this state to each other.
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Michael Spivey, President & CEO of the Ozark Foundation. Our conversation focuses on the state of Northwest Arkansas and how the Ozark Foundation is shaping the outdoor recreation industry.
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Emma Willis, Founder of Impact Period. The topic of our discussion is the state of Northwest Arkansas & how the work of equity building is critical to shaping diverse and inclusive community.
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Episode 31 is a discussion with Jake Newell, CEO & Founder of Newell Development. Our conversation about the state of Northwest Arkansas and how housing developers are shaping our communities, our relationships, and ultimately our quality of life.
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Sarah Moore, Executive Director & Co-Founder, Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition | Fayetteville City Council Member, Ward 2, Position 1. The topic of our discussion is the state of Northwest Arkansas and the intersection between housing policy, poverty, and our criminal justice systems.
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Sharon Killian, Co-Founder and Chairperson of the Board, NWA Black Heritage. Our conversation is about the state of Northwest Arkansas and the hidden history of the Black communities that shaped this place.
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Part 2: Dr. Nick Ogle, PhD. Our conversation about the state of Northwest Arkansas pauses momentarily to dive into the fundamental aspect of communities, which is the relationships we have with each other.
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Dr. Debbie Jones, Bentonville Schools Superintendent. The topic of our discussion is the state of Northwest Arkansas and how our schools contribute to the forming and shaping of our community.
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Part two of how community is shaped during times of emergency or disaster. The topic of our discussion is the state of Northwest Arkansas and how the recent tornados and storms in Northwest Arkansas have made an impact on our community.
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How community is shaped during times of emergency or disaster. The topic of our discussion is the state of Northwest Arkansas and how the recent tornados and storms in Northwest Arkansas have made an impact on our community.
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Srividya Venkatasubramanya founding member and Executive Director for Ra-Ve Cultural Foundation. How a community is using Indian performing arts create a sense of belonging and pathways for participating in the shaping of NW Arkansas.
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Allyson de la Houssaye, Exec Dir of People for Bikes NW Arkansas, Board Chairwoman for the Women of Oz, Bentonville Parks & Rec Board, and Commissioner for Arkansas Natural & Cultural Resource Council. Outdoor rec & transportation is helping to build communities where all can be included.
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Ginny Mooney, Co-Founder & Executive Director of 99 Balloons. The topic of our discussion is the state of Northwest Arkansas & how we build an inclusive community where people are known.
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Olivia Barraza, Founding Executive Director, Latinas en Bici. The topic of our discussion is her story of coming to a new community, her story of persistence and strength, and how she is using the bicycle to build & connect communities.
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Gayatri Agnew, Ward 1 Position 2 Council Member, City of Bentonville. Understanding how cities are confronting the challenges of growth, how city-level decisions are influenced by urban planning needs, & ultimately, how we are preparing our cities for the people arriving in NW Arkansas every day.
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Wes Evans, Evans Family Farm & Benton County Farm Bureau President. How the region's growth is impacting the county and farm families. How Benton County residents are welcoming the Arkansas Rural Recreational Roads initiative.
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The underview episode 18 is a discussion with Andy Chasteen, Rule of Three, Oz Gravel NWA, Rural Recreational Roads. Our topic of discussion is the State of Northwest Arkansas and how the growth of cycling in the region is shaping our region.
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Nick Ogle, PhD. Our conversation about the state of Northwest Arkansas pauses momentarily to dive into the fundamental aspect of communities, which is the relationships we have with each other.
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Mireya Reith, Founding Executive Director of Arkansas United. Our topic of discussion is “What is the state of Northwest Arkansas?” Our conversation centers around serving new immigrant communities that now call Northwest Arkansas home.
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Chris Seawood. Our conversation centers around understanding the work of building a beloved community here in Northwest Arkansas.
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Two Parts with Beckie Seba, Ward 1 Position 1 Council Member, City of Bentonville. How cities are facing the challenges of growth, how city-level decisions are impacted by city planning needs, and how are we preparing our cities for the number of people that are coming to NW Arkansas every day.
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A discussion with Jeff Webster, CEO & President of the Excellerate Foundation. Our topic of discussion is the state of the people in Northwest Arkansas and how the growth in the region impacts the people who live here.
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Never Deep Enough a poem by John Ray The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.
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Jonathan Curth, Development Services Director for the City of Fayetteville & John Ray a long-term resident of Fayetteville and Executive Director of The Abide Collective.
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Rod Sanders, a member of the Bentonville Planning Commission & Chris Rechtsteiner a new resident of Northwest Arkansas.
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Megan Brown of the Urban Land Institute's Northwest Arkansas Council. The topic of our conversation is how Developers work with Cities to decide how our Urban landscapes are created, what gets built where, how it impacts people, and how it forms the communities we live in.
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