Saguaro Land is a series from The Show looking at the Sonoran Desert — the lushest, hottest desert in the world that happens to be our home.
The stories will examine the desert season by season, through music, art, literature, food, drink, flora and fauna — and maps, starting with a look at where exactly the Sonoran Desert is.
But as it turns out, that’s not as straightforward a question as you might think. Mapping the desert is a challenging job and one that doesn’t have many clear-cut answers.
To try to get a sense of where the Sonoran Desert is — and where it isn’t — The Show reached out to Matthew Toro, director of maps, imagery and geospacial services at Arizona State University Library.
More Saguaro Land stories from KJZZ
-
The Show's Amy Silverman reflects on the Saguaro Land series, and the plight of the iconic Sonoran Desert cactus that is its namesake. -
The Show is exploring the desert season by season in the series Saguaro Land — through music, art, literature, food, drink, flora and fauna — and now through design. -
Journalist Caroline Tracey has watched as Instagram and other platforms have turned a spotlight on the desert in ways she finds both refreshing — and troubling. She spoke to The Show more about the trend and what it means. -
In The Show's newest installment of Saguaro Land, we learned about using the desert to make music from Kyle Bert, who has been turning agave stalk into didgeridoos for 25 years. -
Tempe artist Safwat Saleem used baking as a metaphor for describing how he and his young daughter are learning to thrive in the Sonoran Desert.
