Trista Vaughn

Crosswinds Podcast Focus Group Application Crosswinds News is inviting Native community members to help shape a new podcast designed to better connect our communities with timely, relevant information. As we launch Season 1 of Talking Winds, we are also piloting a new concept: Native News and Events, a short-form, podcast-style newscast focu...

As an avid podcast listener, I’m so excited about this podcast with the team at Crosswinds News. We’ve talked about kicking this off for a while now and now it’s actually here 🤩 Please take a listen and hear more from Crosswinds Cofounders!

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In Season 1 Episode 1 of the Talking Winds podcast, host Russell Sun Eagle (Pawnee) goes in-depth with Crosswinds News Cofounders Kelly Tidwell (Muscogee and Cherokee) and Brittany Harlow about the past, present and future of Crosswinds.

Listen as they share the lived experiences and community needs that led to its creation, and how those early moments shaped their mission to serve Native communities through culturally grounded local news and resources.

Listen on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4bPAPRubVRSgtgPzPgzgxU?si=iNY6bYMkRnOz9e1f147VpQ

Listen on Apple Podcasts here:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s1e1-crosswinds-cofounders/id1861912341?i=1000761321654

Want to be involved with Crosswinds podcasting?

We’re also piloting something new: Native News and Events! A podcast-style newscast focused on timely updates, opportunities, and stories from across the Heart of Indian Country.

Learn more and apply to be part of our 10-person focus group here: https://forms.gle/HsxhrJYjwpCTarca7

Feeling really proud to be part of the Crosswinds News team. 🧡

This project started from a very real moment with my boss and friend, Brittany Harlow. We were traveling to a local news researchers conference in North Carolina together and it hit us how little data actually exists about how Native communities get their news. The question “why is this still the case?” kept reoccurring and decided we were tired of the gap and ready to do something about it.

Fast forward to now, our amazing team, the folks who showed up for our listening sessions in 2025, and the support of Listening Post Collective, we have real data that reflects Native experiences in Tulsa County. And honestly, this is just the beginning.

I’m so grateful to work with coworkers who care deeply and leaders who trust us to dream big. I’m proud of the work we’re doing together and excited about where it’s going. The sky really is the limit for this team.

If you’re around on January 22, I hope you’ll join (virtually) the conversation and help shape what comes next.

You're invited! Join Crosswinds News for a Virtual Community Conversation 🪶

Date: Thursday, 1/22
Time: 7:30–8:30 PM CT
Location: Virtual | Register online via Zoom

We’re sharing early findings from our Native-Focused Tulsa County Information Ecosystem Assessment and continuing the community conversation. Together, we’ll review the insights, ask questions, and validate what we heard during our listening and learning work.

Register to receive early access to the report and the Zoom link: http://bit.ly/4pzBt3r

Your input helps shape what comes next!

Thank you to Listening Post Collective for making this work possible 🧡

This was a tough story to write. I struggled to finish it and passed it along to someone to finish it, to only end up writing it to the end❤️ I have such a great boss Brittany Harlow with her research support and collaboration, and Brian Bull for his expertise on editing. Job well done!

Trapped by Wealth: The Abuse and Trafficking of Katie Fixico This story contains descriptions of alcohol misuse, domestic abuse, exploitation, racial violence, and historical trauma related to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, Two-Spirit and Transgender People (MMIWG2T). Some readers may find this material distressing. Reader discretion is advised...

It’s unpopular, but we have to stay true to ourselves, and to the communities we serve.

Less than 0.4% of philanthropic dollars go to Native-led initiatives - and yet, non-Indigenous outlets continue to receive the majority of funding to tell Indigenous stories.

It’s unacceptable to prioritize funding for Indigenous news coverage to organizations that are not Indigenous-owned or Indigenous-led. And it puts the survival of Indigenous-owned and Indigenous-led media at risk.

True equity means resourcing the people most connected to the stories - the ones living them, protecting them, and carrying them forward long before and long after it’s popular.

✨ Big news! I’m heading to London this November to speak at the JournalismAI Festival! I’ll be sharing how our Indian Country Chatbot is helping fight misinformation and uplift Indigenous communities through tech.

This is a huge opportunity to bring Indigenous voices into the global AI and journalism conversation! BUT I need your help to get there.

If you can donate $5, $10, $20, or whatever feels right, I’d be so grateful! 💛 Every bit helps with travel and lodging.

📲 Donate & share: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-trista-vaughn-bring-indigenous-voices-and-insights-on?attribution_id=sl:a54613d1-7edd-464c-aebd-48f427bb6968&lang=en_US&ts=1753283408&utm_campaign=fp_sharesheet&utm_content=amp13_t1&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link&fbclid=IwQ0xDSwLuVzhleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHjH-EOmbJntu7ehlnQImwO_iHCOWa1SE0HWGZMO-KXQ50jqmA_gYi3iMgMbF_aem_CXBf17eDpq8WV8504oT5Vw

Donate to Help Trista Vaughn Bring Indigenous Voices to London, organized by Brittany Tidwell ✈️ Help Trista Vaughn Bring Indigenous Voices — and Insights on … Brittany Tidwell needs your support for Help Trista Vaughn Bring Indigenous Voices to London

The VNN team is set up at the 16th Annual Conference of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA) 🧡 Come stop by and say hi 👋