This Week's Essay is an unapologetic spoof on the Essay of the Week by Diane Josephy-Peavey (DJP) heard in Idaho on NPR affiliates. For many years, Idahoans have heard her romanticize and glorify ranching in the West through her radio essays, claiming that livestock herds are good for the environment and that ranchers are environmental stewards of the land. She is married to an Idaho sheep/cattle rancher whose family has been entrenched in Idaho politics for generations. The Peaveys graze their herds on public lands in some of the most degraded areas in the state.
This Week's Essay serves not only to ridicule DJP’s familiar reading and writing style, but also to bust some of the ranching myths she (and her corporate and lobbyist sponsors) perpetuates through these essays. It should be noted that Idaho tax dollars also support DJP's work.
We also use the This Week's Essay format to convey thoughts on issues of local interest. Last week you heard:
Weeds: This essay is the most obvious DJP spoof to date. Read in a similar voice, using similar clichés, discussing DJP’s favorite subject—sheep—this essay addresses just two of the many invasive non-native weeds spread by livestock across the West: Canada Thistle and Leafy Spurge. Joanne Sheepsley-Peasy’s delivery is just as cheerful and insipid as the real thing.
