Ghost Herd

KUOW News and Information

A true story of family, fraud, land and power in the American West. Ghost Herd is a joint production of KUOW and Northwest Public Broadcasting, both members of the NPR Network.

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Top 10 Ghost Herd Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Ghost Herd episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Ghost Herd for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Ghost Herd episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Introducing Ghost Herd, coming January 10

Ghost Herd

11/23/22 • 3 min

It started as an American success story. The Easterday family took a couple hundred acres of farmland in Eastern Washington and grew it into a farming and ranching empire worth millions. Then, it all came crashing down.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part 4: The Crash

Ghost Herd

01/31/23 • 28 min

Cody's swindle comes crashing down, and it’s all thanks to Covid. When a giant meat operation discovers the truth about his ghost herd, they take aim at Cody.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part 3: The Gamble

Ghost Herd

01/24/23 • 26 min

Why would someone create a ghost herd? Behind Cody Easterday’s swindle was an even-bigger gambling habit on the futures market. That vice may have changed the price of American beef slapping down on your kitchen table. We also look at how all farmin’ is a gamble.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part 6: The Reckonin'

Ghost Herd

02/14/23 • 32 min

Native Americans once owned these lands, and they still treat the Columbia Basin as their sacred home. We’ve all benefited from that taken land, but now corporations are the West’s new settlers. Meanwhile, Cody faces a federal judge and his tight-knit rural community. His sons start taking over what remains of the family’s vast operation and beat-up reputation.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part 5: The Bidding War

Ghost Herd

02/07/23 • 28 min

The Easterday empire is being broken apart. Some of the most valuable farmland in America is up for sale, and the billionaires are coming to town. The bidding war over water-rich lands shows the shift in how America farms.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part 2: The Swindle

Ghost Herd

01/17/23 • 22 min

Cowboy Cody Easterday lies big, creating a “ghost herd” of 265,000 cattle that only exist on paper and bringing in hundreds of millions of investment dollars from companies including a meat-packing giant. It’s fraud on a massive scale. We examine how he carried it out.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part 1: The Empire Builders

Ghost Herd

01/10/23 • 31 min

Meet the Easterdays – ranching royalty rooted in the Columbia Basin in southeast Washington state. But behind the well-known family name hides a dark secret, concealed in spreadsheets and bum invoices, that’s eating away at their vast empire.

Correction, 4:25 p.m., 2/27/2023: An earlier version of this story misstated when the Ice Age megafloods occurred. Most of the Missoula floods happened between 15,000 to 20,000 years ago, and some may have occurred as long as a million years ago.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Introducing: Let the Kids Dance!

Ghost Herd

04/29/24 • 2 min

You know that Kevin Bacon movie where a small town outlaws dancing and the teens fight back? What if I told you that happened in Seattle. In the 90s.

Let the Kids Dance is a new podcast telling an untold story from a famous moment in music history – the rise and fall of Seattle’s teen dance ordinance. A story of moral panic, grassroots activism, and an unstoppable music community that fought for its freedom.

Listen and subscribe here.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Curated by Scott Cowan

FAQ

How many episodes does Ghost Herd have?

Ghost Herd currently has 8 episodes available.

What topics does Ghost Herd cover?

The podcast is about Society & Culture, Documentary and Podcasts.

What is the most popular episode on Ghost Herd?

The episode title 'Part 6: The Reckonin'' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Ghost Herd?

The average episode length on Ghost Herd is 22 minutes.

How often are episodes of Ghost Herd released?

Episodes of Ghost Herd are typically released every 7 days.

When was the first episode of Ghost Herd?

The first episode of Ghost Herd was released on Nov 23, 2022.

Show more FAQ

Ghost Herd

KUOW News and Information

Top 10 Ghost Herd Episodes

Featured in these lists

FAQ

How many episodes does Ghost Herd have?

What topics does Ghost Herd cover?

What is the most popular episode on Ghost Herd?

What is the average episode length on Ghost Herd?

How often are episodes of Ghost Herd released?

When was the first episode of Ghost Herd?

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