/https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/836fc77/2147483647/strip/false/crop/1400x1400+0+0/resize/1400x1400!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fndpr%2Ffiles%2F201712%2Fpodcast-plainsfolk.jpg)
Plains Folk
Prairie Public
The Dakotas
AUG 15, 20264 MIN
/https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/836fc77/2147483647/strip/false/crop/1400x1400+0+0/resize/1400x1400!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fndpr%2Ffiles%2F201712%2Fpodcast-plainsfolk.jpg)
Description
Not a native of the Flickertail State, nevertheless, in the course of decades, I have acquired a complex of defensive sensitivities about it. Phrases like “Flyover Country” and “Buffalo Commons” stir the little hairs on the back of my neck. I like to think this is because they are examples of sloppy thinking, and not because I am touchy, but self-delusion is a known part of the complex I am describing.

