Boomtown
In a rugged corner of West Texas, billionaire wildcatters and roughnecks are fueling an oil boom so big it’s reshaping our climate, our economy, and our geopolitics. This modern-day gold rush has sent both big oil companies and scrappy start-ups scrambling to secure a piece of the action. Texas Monthly’s Christian Wallace follows characters along every rung of the oil field ladder, from the executive cutting billion-dollar deals to the itinerant pipeline worker risking life and limb, and from the traveling exotic dancer following the trail of money to those who worry that our planet is on a path to destruction. Meet the people cashing in and those just trying to get by as the world around them is turned upside down.
"A beautiful ride filled with levity, even as it delivers troubling forecasts for the future" - The Atlantic
2021 Webby Award Honoree, Podcast Documentary
Our Editor's Take
The Boomtown podcast is about a place that has been an epicenter of oil production for decades. The documentary focuses on an area of West Texas known as the Permian Basin. The podcast series tells the story of the area. The limited-episode series explains how the region went from a mere desert to a place of massive oil field opportunity. It follows the oil boom from a human angle. The podcast tells intimate stories about the region. It discusses those who profit from the area's oil and gas industry and those who don't. It intersects history, the oil industry, the people of the basin, and the environment. The podcast has candid interviews, expert narration, music, and great storytelling.
Former President George H.W. Bush, author Buzz Bissinger, and podcast host Christian Wallace are all connected to the basin. Former President Bush made money from oil in the basin. Bissinger wrote Friday Night Lights, a book about a local high school football team. As for Boomtown's host and narrator, his hometown, Andrews, is in the Permian Basin. His connection to the area is one of the many humanizing aspects of the podcast. Since 2016, Christian has worked as a Texas Monthly staff writer. He is a National Magazine Awards nominee. He has sold several of his writings to Hollywood for upcoming productions.
On the podcast Boomtown, Christian talks to many people across the region. He interviews people ranging from oil billionaires to family members. The show chronicles the oil boom and the fall of several companies in the area. The Permian is one of the world's most critical swaths of land. It is also the location of Route 285, considered the most dangerous stretch of asphalt in America. It's so dangerous and hectic that it earned the nickname "Highway to Hell." On the podcast, listeners learn about this highway and many exciting stories. Listeners can expect an informative, entertaining, and remarkable show in these twelve episodes.
Episodes