Episode Details

Kyle Pasewark

Wendy Corr:

Well, hey there, folks. Welcome to The Roundup. I'm your host, Wendy Corr. We have a reputation now, I can say this - I think we've got a reputation for bringing conversations to all of you with really interesting people in the Cowboy State.

And the people that we meet every week here on The Roundup cover such a wide range of interests and a wide range of specialties. And our guest today brings us a whole different direction. Kyle Pasewark - he's in Clark right now, but he started life in Cheyenne and Laramie.

But his work and the things that he has done has taken him across the country. And I'm very, very interested and very excited to introduce you all to Kyle, and talk about everything from tribal issues to political and theological and educational topics, because those are the ways in which Kyle is making his name known out there in the bigger world.

So I wanted to say thank you, Kyle. Hello, Kyle. We're so glad to have you on the round up today. How are things in Clark today?

Kyle Pasewark:

They're a little breezy, but, yeah, not a little bit of snow, but not much. But they're beautiful. I love winter as you know, so it's fine with me.

Wendy Corr:

And I love the fact that you love Clark. When we were first corresponding, I said something about, oh, you're in Clark, I hope you're doing okay out there in the wind. And he said, I love it. There's jack rabbits out here. You're looking on the bright side. Kind of guy, Kyle.

But you know, starting off in Cheyenne and Laramie, you got the weather. Started out early in your life. Tell us about your life growing up in Laramie. I really want to know how you got from Laramie, Wyoming to all of these really interesting places and interesting directions in your career.

Kyle Pasewark:

Well, I was the son of a professor at the University of Wyoming who started out actually at the State Department of Mental Health in Cheyenne. They moved approximately from Pennsylvania. But neither of them, before they came to Wyoming, had ever been west of the Mississippi.

So they kind of were kind of sober conservative folk. They took kind of a ride on Wyoming and loved it.

So I was, you know, born in Cheyenne, then my dad got a position at the University of Wyoming, moved to Laramie and grew up there, just as a Laramie kid.

Wendy Corr:

And so you, though, took your time in Laramie, and said, You know what, I don't just want to go to the University of Wyoming. It's a great school. I want to go someplace else. I want to expand my horizons. What was it in you that said, I want to seek my education elsewhere.

Kyle Pasewark:

You know, part of it was accidental. Part of it was the way we were raised. We were, you know, our parents raised us to get out of the house. That was kind of, kicking you out of the nest. You are mature kids. Now, go do what you want. I did go two years to the University of Wyoming and then transferred because they had a terrific debate program in this small college in Western Illinois, Augustana College. Transferred to that college. My wife Suzanne also went there at the same time, but we didn't know each other. Then we met, what, 30 years later, in New York.

Wendy Corr:

No kidding. Oh my gosh, that's so fun.

Kyle Pasewark:

So, you know, went there and then became a Christian while I was there. It's a small Lutheran College, and thought, you know, this religion stuff is kind of interesting. So then I went to graduate school at the University of Chicago for my PhD.

And there really weren't any