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If you are a frequent listener of the Our Missouri, you might remember the 2021 series “Bicentennial Book Club” that coincided with the state’s 200th birthday and looked at influential books and authors focused on Missouri history. With the United States’ semi-quincentennial arriving in 2026, Our Missouri is launching a 20-episode series entitled, “Origins: A Reflection on Missouri at 250 & Beyond.” From the first people to arrive at the land now called Missouri, to the efforts to bring it into the Union as the 24th state, this series examines major moments in the years prior to statehood as well as Missouri’s complex history in relation to the United States’ 250th. To open the "Origins" series, Greg Olson sits down with host Sean Rost to discuss his award-winning book, Indigenous Missourians: Ancient Societies to the Present. Episode Image: Cottonwood trees in Pike County, 1960 [Missouri Ruralist Photographs (P0030), SHSMO] About the Guest: Greg Olson is a historian and graphic artist who, for thirty-five years, has worked with members of various Indigenous tribes to tell stories of Native presence in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. He is the chair of the For the People Powwow Committee. He is also the author of several books, including Ioway Life: Reservation and Reform, 1837-1860; Voodoo Priests, Noble Savages, and Ozark Gypsies: The Life of Folklorist Mary Alicia Owen; The Ioway in Missouri; Indigenous Missourians: Ancient Societies to the Present.

To conclude the "Cave State" series, Anthony Orazio, superintendent of Rock Bridge Memorial State Park, joins host Sean Rost to discuss Rock Bridge Memorial State Park and the uniquely named Devil’s Icebox. Episode Image: Devil’s Icebox at Rock Bridge Memorial State Park [Image courtesy of Sean Rost] About the Guest: Anthony Orazio is superintendent of Rock Bridge Memorial State Park and the Midwest section of Katy Trail State Park.

Next in the Cave State series, Murphy Kindoll, Natural Resource Ecologist at Missouri State Parks, talks with host Sean Rost about Roaring River State Park. Episode Image: A group relaxing near the entrance to Roaring River Spring Cave, 1956 [Gerald R. Massie Photographs (P0016), SHSMO] About the Guest: Murphy Kindoll is the Natural Resource Ecologist at Roaring River State Park

In this episode, Ed Schott, superintendent of Meramec State Park, joins Sean Rost to discuss Fisher Cave and Meramec State Park. Episode Image: Stalactites in Fisher Cave, date unknown [John F. Bradbury, Jr. Postcard Collection (R1551), SHSMO] About the Guest: Ed Schott is the superintendent of Meramec State Park. Prior to this position, he worked at Route 66 State Park, Hawn State Park, and Onondaga Cave State Park. He holds a bachelor's degree in forestry from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.

In this episode, Sean Rost talks with Nick Kromrie of Missouri State Parks about Grand Gulf State Park. Episode Image: A person gazes out at Grand Gulf [Gerald R. Massie Photographs (P0016), SHSMO] About the Guest: Nick Kromrie is park superintendent of Grand Gulf State Park, Bryant Creek State Park, and Eleven Point State Park

In this episode, Sean Rost talks with Tasha Gabel, senior naturalist for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, about Onondaga Cave State Park. Episode Image: Two teenage girls look at cave formations in Onondaga Cave, 1959 [Missouri Ruralist Photographs (P0030), SHSMO] Banner Image: Interior view of Onondaga Cave, ca. 1945 [Mr. and Mrs. Walter Williams Photograph Collection (P0535), SHSMO] About the Guest: Tasha Gabel is a senior naturalist for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources at Onondaga Cave State Park. She earned a bachelor's degree in wildlife conservation and management from Missouri State University.

Continuing the "Cave State" series, Alice Johnson, superintendent of Graham Cave State Park and the Mid-East Section of the Katy Trail State Park, joins host Sean Rost to discuss the unique features of Graham Cave State Park. Episode Image: Graham Cave Quilt Patch by Linda Ann Eatherton, 2021 [Missouri Bicentennial Commission Records (CA6643), SHSMO] About the Guest: Alice Johnson is Superintendent of Graham Cave State Park and the Mid-East Section of the Katy Trail State Park. She has worked for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources since 2018. She holds a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Missouri State University.

If you are from Missouri, you know at least one thing: the weather in the state is always changing. In the summer, we have record-breaking heat waves. And here’s the thing, when winter comes along, there will be days when the temperature struggles to get above zero. Traveling along the state’s roadways—maybe you are doing so right now—you may also notice billboards proclaiming the subterranean wonders of Missouri. Some of these billboards even remind you that these caves are cool on hot days and warm on cold days. It’s the best of both worlds. Now, while Missouri is known as the Show-Me State, it also has a second nickname, “The Cave State,” due to the thousands of caves located within its borders. To kick off Season 8, Our Missouri travels underground to learn more about “The Cave State.” To open the "Cave State" series, host Sean Rost is joined by Guerric Good, Interpretive Resource Coordinator at Lake of the Ozarks State Park, to talk about Ozark Caverns. Episode Image: A group of men stand near the entrance to a cave, date unknown [Maximilian E. Schmidt Photographs (P0001), SHSMO] About the Guest: Guerric Good has worked at Lake of the Ozarks State Park since 2020 and has been able to employ all his passions for natural and cultural resources through his position of Interpretive Resource Coordinator.

To conclude the 2025 Summer Series, Coby Ellison joins host Sean Rost to discuss the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis. Episode Image: Wabash, Frisco and Pacific Live Stream Miniature Railroad, 1950. [Arthur Witman Collection (S0732), SHSMO] About the Guest: Coby Ellison is the Museum Curator at the National Museum of Transportation

Next up in the 2025 Summer Series, host Sean Rost talks with George Guastello, President and CEO of Union Station Kansas City, about one of the city's most recognizable landmarks. Episode Image: Postcard of Union Station, Kansas City, Missouri, date unknown. [Martin Eichenlaub Postcard Collection (P0009), SHSMO] About the Guest: George Guastello II is President & CEO at Union Station Kansas City. Guastello, a native Kansas Citian, earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration in Marketing and a Masters Degree in Business Administration in Finance, both from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. Prior to joining USKC, Guastello’s previous positions included President and CEO for the American Royal Association, Vice President Marketing and Business Strategy for the Starlight Theatre Association and Senior Vice President of Marketing & Strategic Development for the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.

Next up in the 2025 Summer Series, host Sean Rost talks with Kenneth C. Barnes about his new book, Mob Rule in the Ozarks: The Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad Strike, 1921-1923. Episode Image: Scene on the “Devil’s Eye Brow” near Seligman, Missouri, date unknown. [John F. Bradbury, Jr. Postcard Collection (R1551), SHSMO] About the Guest: Kenneth C. Barnes earned a PhD from Duke University and is professor emeritus of history at the University of Central Arkansas. He is the author of several books, including Nazism, Liberalism, and Christianity: Protestant Social Thought in Germany and Great Britain, 1925-1937; Journey of Hope: The Back-to-Africa Movement in Arkansas in the Late 1800s; Who Killed John Clayton?: Political Violence and the Emergence of the New South, 1861-1893; Anti-Catholicism in Arkansas: How Politicians, the Press, the Klan, and Religious Leaders Imagined an Enemy, 1910–1960; The Ku Klux Klan in 1920s Arkansas: How Protestant White Nationalism Came to Rule a State; and Mob Rule in the Ozarks: The Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad Strike, 1921-1923.  

Continuing the 2025 Summer Series, we return to an earlier episode featuring Joel P. Rhodes, newly named executive director of the State Historical Society of Missouri, discussing his book, A Missouri Railroad Pioneer: The Life of Louis Houck. Episode Image: Academic Hall, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, ca. 1908. [Missouri Postcard Collection (P0032), SHSMO] About the Guest: Joel P. Rhodes holds a PhD in History from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He served as an associate dean and professor in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Southeast Missouri State University. In 2025, he was named the new executive director of the State Historical Society of Missouri. He is the author of The Sixties in the Lives of American Children: Growing Up in a Land Called Honalee, The Voice of Violence: Performative Violence as Protest in the Vietnam Era, and A Missouri Railroad Pioneer: The Life of Louis Houck.

Welcome to our 2025 Summer Series which is all about the history of railroads in Missouri. You know the names, the Hannibal and St. Joseph, Northern Missouri, St. Louis and Iron Mountain, Missouri and North Arkansas, Wabash, KATY, Frisco, Rock Island, Missouri Pacific, Kansas City Southern, Houck Line, BNSF, AMTRAK, and many others. From the depot, to the roundhouse, to the shops, and to the tracks, this series takes us all across Missouri and neighboring states to learn about the bygone era when train travel provided the main source of transportation for many Missourians. We will also stop in to visit some historic sites that are preserving the history of railroads. So, all aboard. To open the 2025 Summer Series, Kyle Chattleton, Manager of Volunteer & Public Programs, and a Public Historian, at the Durham Museum in Omaha, Nebraska, joins us to talk about the Durham Museum and Omaha's role as a gateway to the West. Episode Image: Quincy, Omaha and Kansas City Railroad train leaving Novinger, Missouri, ca. 1920s. [Cyrus R. Truitt Scrapbooks (C1432), SHSMO] About the Guest: Dr. Kyle Chattleton is The Durham Museum's Manager of Volunteer & Public Programs and Public Historian. In addition to regularly sharing stories from the past with the public, he has presented his research at the Society for Ethnomusicology, the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, and the Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities. He is originally from Southern California, where he graduated from Chapman University before studying the history of local protests and sounds in Charlottesville, Virginia and at the University of Virginia, where he earned his PhD in 2022. Prior to working at The Durham Museum, he led over 2,000 tours for over 30,000 visitors at Monticello, the historic home and plantation of Thomas Jefferson.

Did you know that Missouri is tied for 1st place (alongside Tennessee) as the state that borders the most states in the United States? For the second half of Season 7, Our Missouri heads out to the state line to talk with our neighbors about their history, culture, and historical organizations.  Next up in the State History series, Jennifer C. Core, executive director of the Tennessee Historical Society, joins host Sean Rost to discuss the Volunteer State. Episode Image: Frances Moulder exploring a cemetery in Tennessee, ca. 1950 [Moulder Family Papers (CG0012), SHSMO] About the Guest: Jennifer C. Core is the executive director of the Tennessee Historical Society.  At THS, she was previously the director of membership and programs and the state coordinator of Tennessee History Day. Core is a folklorist and educator by training with masters degrees from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Indiana University, Bloomington. She formerly held positions at the Tennessee Arts Commission and the Grand Ole Opry archives. She is co-founder and director of the Tennessee Sampler Survey, a not-for-profit devoted to documenting Tennessee’s needlework heritage. Her areas of research have included Tennessee outsider and folk art, Middle Tennessee baskets, and West Tennessee Choctaw crafts. As a folklorist specializing in historical ethnography and material culture, she combines methodology from the fields of folklore and history. Core is a former classroom teacher, a native of Knoxville, a resident of Nashville since 2001, and a proud Volunteer. She is the co-author with Janet S. Hasson of Tennessee Samplers: Female Education and Domestic Arts, 1800-1900.

Did you know that Missouri is tied for 1st place (alongside Tennessee) as the state that borders the most states in the United States? For the second half of Season 7, Our Missouri heads out to the state line to talk with our neighbors about their history, culture, and historical organizations.  Next up in the State History series, Scott Alvey, executive director of the Kentucky Historical Society, joins host Sean Rost to discuss the Bluegrass State. Episode Image: Kentucky Culture Caravan, 1961 [Arthur Witman Photograph Collection (S0717), SHSMO] About the Guest: Scott Alvey, a 30-year museum professional, is the executive director of the Kentucky Historical Society, where he is responsible for directing the organization’s mission, values, and strategic priorities through programming, publications, exhibits, and other public resources. His career began as an education volunteer for the Museum of History and Science in Louisville. Over the next 15 years, Alvey played an integral role in implementing a long-range strategic plan to transform the museum into the Louisville Science Center. He joined KHS as design studio director in 2008, became deputy director in 2012, and was named executive director in July 2018.