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The Kyle Rittenhouse murder trial captured militias’ attention like no other criminal case in recent memory.For them, Rittenhouse embodied the way they see themselves: protectors, keeping their communities from anarchy at the end of a rifle. His acquittal was seen as vindication for them and a green light to continue self-styled armed security.That worries a lot of people. But what’s more worrisome is the celebration of the killings at the heart of the case. The country is starting to get more comfortable with political violence and the Rittenhouse case might be just the beginning.

Former federal prosecutor Mary McCord is trying to put militias out of business and she’s got their attention. She’s working on a national strategy to get prosecutors and law enforcement to enforce anti-militia laws she says are on the books in every state. And it’s already starting to work. She won a lawsuit against militias who came to the deadly White supremacist Unite The Right rally in 2017. And now she’s suing a New Mexico Civil Guard militia for their role in an Albuquerque protest that turned violent and ended with a protester shot.Bryce Provance, who led the militia, at the protest thinks the consequences could be dire.“Oh, I think it'll completely abolish any sort of militia.”

Jennifer Ellis has lost friends and received threats in her fight to get the Idaho GOP out of the grips of an increasingly far-right ideology. But she’s no liberal – she’s a conservative rancher who knows her way around firearms and has been a behind the scene player in GOP politics for years. Now she’s trying to pull her party back from its increasing coziness with militias, anti-vaxxers and other far-right groups.Her activism is part of a growing cohort of anti-extremism groups around the country that have increased as once-fringe views have started seeping into mainstream politics. Ellis and other anti-extremist activists have an uphill battle in ruby red Idaho, but they’re fighting and winning some battles. And no battle could be bigger than the upcoming election.

Way up in the Northern Rockies there’s a sort of mythical 51st state. It’s called the American Redoubt and it encompasses Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and parts of Oregon and Washington. Adherents to its philosophy believe in a kind of theocratic limited government utopia, one with lots of guns.Alex Barron is the movement’s self-appointed “bard” and his rhetoric has all the violence of a Shakespearean tragedy.“What are you willing to kill for?” he asks a crowd of far-right activists wondering about where the line should be when responding to the government with force.Redoubters like Barron talk about their movement like evangelists and in a way they are – they are recruiting people to move there, live off the grid and run for office. And it’s working – they are reshaping their communities in Idaho and surrounding states, and as far as they’re concerned, those who disagree can leave.

J.R. Majewski was in Washington D.C. the day of the Capitol insurrection, hoping to see millions of U.S. votes thrown out to overturn the presidential election of Joe Biden. Now he wants your vote, at least if you live in Ohio between Cleveland and Toledo.Majewski has also dabbled in the baseless QAnon conspiracy but redistricting means he may have a chance to unseat the longest-serving woman in Congress, Democrat Marcy Kaptur. The partisan redrawing of election maps also means there’s more Majewskis out there. People who would have been fringe candidates in the past now have a chance to gain power at the polls.

Kelsey Scott’s ancestors had no problem feeding themselves before white settlers arrived on the great plains. Now, she’s restoring food sovereignty to her people – the Cheyenne River Sioux – by raising grass fed beef on the reservation and selling primarily to tribal members. Kelsey believes that tribal sovereignty starts with food sovereignty.

Rachel Beaubien says she doesn’t know much about birds but she loves the fact that every year, thousands of them land in her irrigated hay fields to rest and refuel on their long migrations. Ranchers in her part of eastern Oregon may be providing some of the last best wetland habitat for birds, but can that continue as the west dries up and tensions rise?A transcript of this episode is available.

Waking up in the middle of the night and missing German class are part of the job when you’re a 14 year old sheep rancher. Meet Maloi Lannan of Red Clover Lambs in Montana and find out what the next generation of regenerative ranchers is doing to change ranching in the West.A transcript of this episode is available.

Hey, I’m Ashley. I used to be a vegetarian. Then I moved rural, started meeting ranchers and herding cows on horseback - and wondering: could we raise beef better? That question launched me on a journey, across the west. Turns out, women are leading the charge in the regenerative ranching movement. Come meet them.Projects like these are made possible by Boise State Public Radio members. Give now to support future podcasts.

When Idaho Gov. Brad Little left the state in April 2019, his second in command wasted no time asserting her authority as acting governor.Lieutenant Governor Janice McGeachin gathered members of a prominent militia outside the Idaho capitol and administered an oath similar to one taken by new U.S. troops.This was just the latest move for the far-right, militia-adjacent politician.She led a full-on rebellion against the state's pandemic measures and became a fixture at rallies of the paranoid conspiracy group The John Birch Society. She even sent a Facebook post of encouragement to a militiaman imprisoned for pointing a rifle at federal agents.McGeachin is leading a kind of anti-government government and now she and her allies are making a play to take over.