The Hopeful Locals #3: Erika

This is Episode 3 of The Hopeful Locals for free subscribers (Episode 6 for paying subscribers). Our storyteller today is Erika Warren-Yarber . She’s the COO of the Wind River Development Fund and the Wind River Sage Fund . Please consider supporting their work. And please consider supporting my work by becoming a paying subscriber on Patreon or Substack . Thanks to the Just Transition Fund for connecting me with Erika. I directed a storytelling show for their partner convening, and Erika was one of the storytellers. If you’d like to hire me to direct a storytelling show, or teach a storytelling workshop, or help you craft your story, email me at stories@leathau.com . The champion song that played when Erika got the big news was by Indian Hill at Sho-Ban Festival Powwow 2022 . Thanks, as always, to Paul Dreux Smith for making the music and mixing. Also big thanks to my Associate Producer, Vix Jensen , and my Project Editor, Christina Thyssen , and to Pernille Clifforth for illustrating the series, to Avi Odenheimer for making The Hopeful Locals logo, and to Heather Kitching and Jen Alevizos for their input and support. The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack , where you can also find my new work in its entirety, all of it ad-free. You can join as a free or paid member, so come be part of my community! Or follow my new work in my new public feed, STORIES by Lea Thau, which you can find wherever you get your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You can listen to The Hopeful Locals #3: Erika online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

The Hopeful Locals #3: Erika is an episode from Strangers by Lea Thau.

This episode is 39:43 long.

This episode was published on May 4, 2026.

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