Beth LaDow is a writer and historian who explores the intersection of clashing cultures and the natural environment in the North American West. She received her Ph.D. from Brandeis University, focusing on the comparative social and environmental history of the United States and Canada, including the work of Wallace Stegner, as well as an M.A. from Harvard University. For over a decade, she served as a speechwriter for the president of Harvard, drafting speeches for global audiences, including “Universities and the Challenge of Climate Change” (Tsinghua University, Beijing) and “Literature and Leadership” (U.S. Military Academy, West Point). She also has been a radio commentator in Boston (for WBUR). Her interest in popular film led to her current project, The Barnstormers, a screenplay exploring the oil boom, early aviation, and colliding values of Native peoples, whites, and African-Americans in early twentieth-century Oklahoma.