Our Missouri Podcast

Welcome to Our Missouri, a podcast about the people, places, culture, and history of the 114 counties and independent city of St. Louis that comprise the great state of Missouri. Your host is SHSMO oral historian and lifelong Jefferson City resident Sean Rost, who earned his PhD from the University of Missouri specializing in twentieth-century US, Missouri, and African American history.

Engaging with subject matter experts, each episode focuses on a topic related to the state's complex history and culture, from publications about Missouri’s history to current projects undertaken by organizations to preserve and promote local institutions.  Join Rost as he explores what makes Our Missouri.

Our Missouri is free and generously provided thanks to the support of State Historical Society of Missouri members and donors. Books featured on the show are available for purchase through the SHSMO Richard Bookstore; purchases support the State Historical Society of Missouri.

New episodes are posted twice a month. You can also subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher.

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Region
Topics
Season

Episode 88: Dewey Short - Hali Allen (Historic Missourians, Part 5)

In this episode, SHSMO archivist Hali Allen joins host Sean Rost to discuss her new Historic Missourians biography on the "Orator of the Ozarks," Dewey Short.

 

Episode Image: Dewey Short giving a speech, ca. 1950s. [Dewey Short Papers (C4515), SHSMO]

Banner Image: Dewey Short campaign speech, Galena, Missouri, ca. 1930s. [Dewey Short Papers (C4515), SHSMO]

Episode 87: Ralph Foster & RadiOzark - Haley Frizzle-Green (Historic Missourians, Part 4)

In this episode, SHSMO archivist Haley Frizzle Green joins host Sean Rost to discuss her upcoming Historic Missourians biography of Ralph Foster, and the traveling exhibit "Broadcasting the Ozarks: A History of RadiOzark Enterprises," which is on display at the Center for Missouri Studies in Columbia until December 2023.

 

Episode Image: Ralph Foster, no date [Image courtesy of the Ralph Foster Museum]

Banner Image: Ralph Foster and Jerry Hall, date unknown [KWTO Newsletters (R0834), SHSMO]

Episode 86: Arvarh Strickland - Bridget Haney (Historic Missourians, Part 3)

In this episode, Bridget Haney, SHSMO Historian, joins host Sean Rost to discuss her new Historic Missourians biography of Arvarh Strickland.

 

Episode Image: Arvarh Strickland, ca. 1987 [ Arvarh E. Strickland Papers (CA4995), SHSMO]

Banner Image: Read Hall on the University of Missouri campus, Columbia, Missouri, ca. 1915 [Missouri Postcard Collection (P0032), SHSMO]

Episode 85: Mary Jane Guthrie - Doug Genens (Historic Missourians, Part 2)

In this episode, Doug Genens, SHSMO Oral Historian, joins host Sean Rost to discuss his new Historic Missourians biography of Mary Jane Guthrie.

 

Episode Image: Rocheport Cave, one of Mary Jane Guthrie's bat collection sites, ca. 1900 [Rocheport, Missouri, Photograph Collection (P0089), SHSMO]

Banner Image: Swallow Hall on the University of Missouri campus, Columbia, Missouri, ca. 1900 [University of Missouri Photograph Collection (P0088), SHSMO]

Episode 84: Paul Henning - Sean Rost (Historic Missourians, Part 1)

To open Season 6 of Our Missouri, the roles are reversed as special guest Kathleen Seale sits in the host chair and talks with Sean Rost about the new podcast series on Historic Missourians as well as a biography he co-authored with Doug Genens on Paul Henning.

 

Episode Image: Postcard labeled “Down Home in the Ozarks,” ca. 1970s [Missouri Postcard Collection (P0032), SHSMO]

Summer Series 2023: Platte City & the Red Crown Tavern (Part 4)

With law enforcement still investigating the Union Station Massacre, the Barrow Gang quietly pulled into Platte City’s Red Crown Tavern. By the time they left, in a hail of gunfire, they were arguably one of the most wanted gangs in the United States. In Part 4, co-hosts Sean Rost and Kathleen Seale conclude the Summer Series by recounting the events that unfolded at the Red Crown Tavern, and how its aftermath set the Barrow Gang on a path towards the end of the road.

 

Summer Series 2023: Polk County to Kansas City (Part 3)

Only days after the shootout in Columbia, Pretty Boy Floyd and Adam Richetti stopped at a repair shop in Polk County. Within hours of their visit, they were in Kansas City, just in time for an event that would later be known as The Union Station Massacre. In Part 3, co-hosts Sean Rost and Kathleen Seale trace Floyd and Richetti’s travels from Polk County to Kansas City to parts unknown.

 

Episode Image: Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, date unknown [Martin Eichenlaub Postcard Collection (P0009), SHSMO]

Summer Series 2023: The Intersection of Highway 40/Highway 63 (Part 2)

On June 14, 1933, Missouri State Highway Patrolman Ben Booth and Boone County Sheriff Roger Wilson were called to the intersection of Highway 40/Highway 63 in Columbia to set up a roadblock due to a bank robbery. In Part 2, co-hosts Sean Rost and Kathleen Seale discuss how the roadblock altered the lives of all involved and left Missouri law enforcement agencies scrambling to find the occupants of a mysterious car.

 

Episode Image: Missouri State Highway Patrolman on a Harley Davidson motorcycle, ca. 1935 [Charles Trefts Photographs (P0034), SHSMO]

Summer Series 2023: The Barrow Gang in Southwest Missouri (Part 1)

In 1933, a crime wave gripped many parts of the United States, including Missouri. During this 4-part summer series, co-hosts Sean Rost and Kathleen Seale examine the history and legacy of the events of the Summer of 1933. In Part 1, Rost and Seale discuss the Barrow Gang and their travels through southwest Missouri during the 1930s.

 

Episode Image: Empire District Electric Company, Joplin, Missouri, date unknown [Whitaker Family Collection (SP0076), SHSMO]

Episode 83: History Keepers - Christine Peoples (African American Heritage in the Ozarks, Part 8)

To conclude Season 5 and the series “African American Heritage in the Ozarks,” this episode features Christine Peoples, Timmons Hall Education Coordinator for the Springfield-Greene County Park Board, highlighting upcoming programs at Timmons Hall and the legacy of the History Keepers.

 

Episode Image: Timmons Hall, Springfield, Missouri, 2021 [Courtesy of Andrew Olden]

Banner Image: Alma Clay showing documents to Sean Rost, Haley Frizzle-Green, Christine Peoples, and Kathleen Seale, Springfield, Missouri, 2021 [Courtesy of Andrew Olden]