Boomtown begins with a trip to western Texas’s U.S. Route 285, nicknamed “Death Highway” due to its often-fatal accidents involving oil-related semitruck traffic. The highway is just one of the unexpected places the Boomtown host Christian Wallace takes listeners, as he explores the state’s Permian Basin during what was the biggest oil boom in U.S. history—before oil prices dropped dramatically during the pandemic. Wallace grew up in the area and worked on a rig, so his profile of the people living in boomtowns brings the story out of black-and-white politics and into full color. The cast of characters is long and varied—roughnecks, tycoons, grieving families, industry experts, and even Wallace’s own mom and dad. The journalist and former sex worker Susan Elizabeth Shepard guest-hosts for two episodes and offers necessary insight into how the sex industry follows boomtowns. The show is a beautiful ride filled with levity, even as it delivers troubling forecasts for the future.