If you've already tuned in to one of those Christmas music stations on the radio, there's a good chance you have already heard the holiday classic "I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas" this year. Gayla Peevey, the Oklahoma-born original singer of the 1953 song, joins The Oklahoma Today Podcast this week as our featured guest. The song helped raise money to buy the OKC Zoo's first hippo, Matilda. Now the zoo is planning to build a statue a statue honoring Gayla and Matilda in the next year or...

Happy Veterans Day, listeners! To honor the holiday we ventured out to Fort Sill—the 94,000 acre Army post near Lawton—for a visit to the National Field Artillery Museum. Fort Sill has a long history as an artillery school, so it makes sense to of the have artillery museum here. Gordon Blaker, director and curator for the museum, guides us through the collection (which also includes a steel beam segment from the World Trade Center and a fragment of the Berlin Wall) for our guest interview of...

If you've seen the new November-December issue of Oklahoma Today, you've seen country music's newest superstar Zach Bryan on the cover. Bryan, born in Oologah, seems to have taken off on the national scene over night, and he's set for a homecoming victory lap in December headlining three straight nights at Tulsa's BOK Center. How has Bryan been able to climb so high so fast? That's exactly the question writer Preston Jones attempted to answer in his cover story. Jones joins the show to talk...

On the outside we all look different, but on the inside all of us are propped up by a frame of collagen, calcium, and minerals forming the human skeleton. And it's not just us with the bones—most of the animals we see around us have them too. These graveyard greeters might have a grim reputation that often make them a symbol of Halloween, but Ashley Mason Burns-Meerschaert—director of operations and education at Oklahoma City's Museum of Osteology—joins the show today to explain why they...

Another season of the Oklahoma City Thunder is upon us, and many are expecting big things from the team this year. Could this be the year the team brings home the state's first major pro sports championship title? Andrew Schlect of The Athletic and the Down to Dunk OKC Thunder Podcast joins the show as guest to tell us where to put our expectations and introduce the new faces in Thunder blue this season. Also on this week's episode, the editors discuss their dream road trip with Rumble the...

Our double header of podcasts featuring prominent Oklahoma-based musicians continues with Norman's Beau Jennings, who is set to release the new album American Stories and Major Chords with his band The Tigers this Friday. The Tigers have two release shows planned this week, starting at the Blue Door in Oklahoma City on October 18 and then heading up the turnpike to Tulsa's Mercury Lounge on October 19. Jennings also has recently entered the role of interim director of the Prairie House...

At this point, hip-hop artist Jabee is an Oklahoma City icon, but it's about time to take his profile to a more national level. Thankfully he is in good company to do just that. Earlier this year Jabee announced his signing to hip-hop's prestige indie music label, Mello Music Group. His first release with MMG, the eight-song mini-album The Spirit Is Willing But The Flesh Is Weak—featuring a guest verse by underground rap sensation Quelle Chris and production from the likes of Conductor...

For many, thoughts of stage performances churn up images of tear-jerking musical numbers, Shakespearean soliloquies, and highly structured dramas of literary significance. While this type of theater is awesome, the truth is there are no limits to what a stage production can be. Fans who want to experience some truly unique performances would be wise to head to the Theatre Crude Fringe Festival October 10-19 in Oklahoma City's Paseo Arts District. Festival co-founder Adam Brand joins the show...

Ferris wheels, fried foods, and farm animals—you know where to go to find them all. The State Fair in Oklahoma City is over, but fair season lives on in Oklahoma as the Tulsa State Fair begins September 26. Amanda Blair, the Tulsa fair's vice president and chief operating officer, joins this week's podcast as our featured guest to talk about what people can expect from this year's fall-time festival and why she thinks state fairs never go out of style.  Also on this week's show, the editors...

Sometimes things we think will be temporary stops in our life turn into lifelong fixtures. This is exactly what happened to Brandy Adkins, who opened Flo's Burger Diner in Catoosa with the intention of building up her culinary career and eventually selling it off—not realizing she would fall in love with the place. Brandy, who also runs Flo's Smokehouse Eats in Tulsa and the catering company Yes Chef Tulsa, joins this week's podcast to talk about how her food career has taken off in the past...

Any and every good restaurant starts with good people, and few realize that more than Kindt Myers, newly appointed Vice President of People for Oklahoma City-based The Social Order restaurant group. Myers joins the podcast as this week's guest to discuss his new role with the group and its brands, which include the Jones Assembly, Spark, Dave's Hot Chicken, and Fuzzy's Tacos. We're already getting hungry!  Also on this week's show, the editors discuss their favorite food trucks around the...

Art museums are primarily known as spaces to view art, and the OSU Museum of Art in Stillwater certainly has thought-provoking works to capture the imagination of guests. However, the university museum also aims to provide a space for the community to engage with their own creativity. Marketing coordinator Casey Ihde joins this week's podcast to discuss the facility's unique programming and any-time ArtLab that help visitors discover their inner artist. Also on this week's show, the editors...

A new season of college football is finally upon us—practically an annual holiday in the state of Oklahoma. Every new season brings a new sense of excitement and opportunity, but it's perhaps never been more true than this year. OU and Texas are leaving the Big 12 conference for the SEC, leaving OSU to hold down the fort in a conference that has newly added Utah, Arizona, Arizona State, and Colorado. What will life be like for the Sooners in their new home? We're bringing on none other than...

There is no doubt that Oklahoma City's food profile nationally has risen in the past several years—in no small part due to the contributions of the James Beard Award Southwest winning chef Andrew Black. We recently caught up with Chef Black at his newly opened restaurant Perle Mesta, located inside Oklahoma City's historic Skirvin Hilton hotel, which is the same location the chef got his culinary start in Oklahoma at the former Park Avenue Grill. In this new interview, Chef Black discusses...

What started as a story in Oklahoma Today is now a full-fledged book. Writer Susan Dragoo—a frequent contributor to Oklahoma Today magazine—published her new historical nonfiction account of the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach route, titled Finding the Butterfield: A Journey Through Time In Indian Territory, in July. The old mail route stretched from St. Louis, Missouri, to San Francisco, California, cutting through the Rocky Mountains and a stretch of modern-day Oklahoma in Indian...

When it comes to states with wild historic stories, Oklahoma can go toe-to-toe with any. From Indigenous dwelling pre-contact to land runs and oil booms, this state has produced a lot of big moments and unforgettable characters. Thankfully, we have the Oklahoma History Center Museum in Oklahoma City to document all those twists and turns. As summer break ends and schools return to session, the History Center plays a big role in stimulating young minds. Museum Deputy Director Sarah Dumas joins...

Schools might be going back into session soon, but summer is not over yet. Savor those final days of freedom during Red Brick Nights, which bring fun, games, food trucks, and live music to historic downtown Guthrie. Red Brick Nights occur during the first Saturday or every month May through September, including this Saturday (August 3). Make your plans to head to Guthrie this weekend to see Oklahoma-favorite headliners Beau Jennings & The Tigers. Event organizer James Long joins the show...

Good news for all your Olympic fans out there: The summer games return better than ever this week! After a couple of the international games being subjected to pandemic restrictions, Paris 2024 will bring the Olympics back in full force. Oklahoma is a state with numerous Olympic ties, and one of those is the USA BMX headquarters and Olympic training facility in Tulsa. The Oklahoma Today Podcast partnered with USA BMX for a series of interviews with USA BMX athletes headed to Paris for the...

Don't ask to see Aunt Meg's place when you venture out to Wakita in far-northern Oklahoma—if you remember Twister well enough, you know the house doesn't make it to the end credits. But die-hard fans of the 1996 cult-classic disaster film won't be disappointed when they visit the tiny town's Twister Movie Museum—dedicated to telling the story of Wakita's brush with Hollywood since before the movie even premiered. As the long-awaited sequel Twisters hits theaters across the country this week,...

Downtown Tulsa is home to one of the most storied live music venues not just in the state, but in all the country. Cain's Ballroom, first made famous in the 1930s as the home of Bob Wills' radio broadcasts, celebrates 100 years in 2024. The springy wooden dance floor is one of the best places to see a show, but don't just take our word for it. Ask the parents of pop star du jour Chappell Roan, who recently relayed their affection for the place to Cain's co-owner and operator Chad Rodgers....

The July Fourth holiday is here again, and there are countless ways to celebrate in Oklahoma. One of the best is with a trip to Pawhuska and scenic Osage County for the Pawhuska Freedom Celebration and The Pioneer Woman Mercantile's Patriotic Party on the Prairie. Pawhuska Chamber of Commerce director Mike McCartney joins the show to talk about the full day of activities planned in the town for Independence Day. Also on this episode, the editors share their plans for the upcoming holiday and...

One of the most iconic crew members from Hollywood's golden age is the focus of a new standout exhibition at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Edith Head—the eight-time Academy Award winning costume designer who worked with a who's who list of stars including Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, John Wayne, and Elvis Presley—has seventy of her career costume work on display in the exhibit Edith Head: Hollywood's Costume Designer, which is open at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art now through September...

Many trains have come through the old Bristow train depot over the years, but now a new touring exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution is making its stop. Voices and Votes: Democracy in America is on display at the Bristow Historical Society and Museum now through July 13. The multi-part walk-through display incorporates interactive components and historical artifacts to take viewers through the history of voting and access to democracy in the United States. Bristow has made the exhibit its...

Tito Jackson is a lot of things: an original member of the Motown legends Jackson 5, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, and father of three talented sons. And now there is one more label he can add to that list: Oklahoman. That's right, for the past year Tito Jackson has been living on several acres out in northeast Oklahoma, and Oklahoma Today was fortunate enough to sit down with Jackson at his new residence for a quick Q&A. In the interview, Jackson shares the reason for his new place of...