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.
This time, The Show is talking food. But, not anything cooked in a fancy kitchen — or in a kitchen at all.
It's a solar oven throw down. Last month, more than 400 engineering students at the University of Arizona took part in the obviously outdoors competition using no gas and no electricity, just the Sonoran Desert sun to heat up their ovens.
Byron Hempel, a professor of practice in the Chemical and Environmental Engineering Department at UA, says he’s taken part in the solar over throw down for the past few years, and in fact, this was the first year he wasn’t an active participant. Hempel spoke with The Show about the event.
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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.
