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Matt Martin

Podcast Producer

About

Matt Martin is a podcast producer who has worked on many different show for KUOW. He pitched and created THE WILD with Chris Morgan, a rich and experiential podcast about ecology and conservation. Matt also produced the Seattle music history podcast Let the Kids Dance and the award-winning Ghost Herd. Before moving to the on-demand side of the station, Matt worked as a producer on The Record, KUOW's local news show. He has also worked as a general assignment reporter and host for public radio stations in upstate New York and rural Alaska. Matt got his start in media as an intern with StoryCorps and Aljazeera America.

Location: Seattle

Languages: English

Pronouns: he/him

Stories

  • Ghost Herd Logo FINAL
    Crime

    Part 6: The Reckonin'

    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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    Crime

    Part 5: The Bidding War

    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.

  • Ghost Herd Logo FINAL
    Crime

    Part 4: The Crash

    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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    Crime

    Part 3: The Gamble

    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.

  • Ghost Herd Logo FINAL
    Crime

    Part 2: The Swindle

    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.

  • Ghost Herd Logo FINAL
    Crime

    Part 1: The Empire Builders

    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.