I've never heard Artie use Dr. Langston although he has a PhD in music from UT in Austin. He is truly a humble man who lives by the Buddhist guideline of "be kind to everyone and if you can't be kind, at least do no harm." One show could not begin to cover the wealth of stories he has in his book of life. Artie was raised and 'schooled' by the best in Jefferson City, New Orleans, San Francisco, Kansas City, New York, and more. He is back in Missouri taking care of family, playing locally, and still doing gigs in the US and Europe. We've included a number of songs he played on and think you'll really enjoy the show. At the time of airing, Artie will be part of the live music in Disenchanted in Jefferson City.

Phil Johncock created one of the first online college courses in the country (1994) and has never stopped taking risks, finding or creating "best practices" to apply to a new problem, sharing his findings while crediting all team members, and evolving a powerful skill set that is always geared towards empowering others. His latest book, Small Town, Big Problem: Solutions for Homelessness, is becoming a catalyst for taking community efforts to the next level. His course, GrantPro101, guarantees skill building in grant writing. What an inspiring individual. You don't have to reinvent the wheel, check out these links: Laundrylove.org; DignityonWheels.org; Built for Zero; homeshareoregon.org; Project Turnkey; American Rescue Plan; Grant Professional Certification; Rogue Retreat; Hip Housing; Zen Desk; and Phil on LinkedIn.

As her colleague for 20 years at Lincoln University, I knew she did some research on campus that provided income and experience to psychology majors, but I had no idea the extented research she was doing beyond campus. Mara Aruguete is a dynamic presenter and easy to connect with individual who truly cares about her students and many social justice issues. She is open to new contacts and can be found at [email protected].

Lee Ruth has played music from coast to coast, from a Ranger lookout mountain cabin in Oregon to Greenwich Village in NYC, and many music festivals in between. He and his wife Rena live in Columbia and have kids and grandkids here and there. Lee tells stories of the music scene in Columbia, his KOPN show Radio Omega, plays and sings for us, and shares a song from a 2003 KOPN anniversary album. A real treasure to KOPN and Columbia, he shares how Covid cut him off from playing gigs and teaching classes. His show is every Wednesday from 3-5 AM.

Jane Mudd got her BFA in St. Louis and moved to the country close to Fulton, MO with her husband, Tom. Log cabins, 3 kids, farming, driving a school bus and more never slowed her painting down much. Her Masters at MU connected her to Frank Stack and others and put her in the classroom teaching. William Woods hired her and she grew her craft learning through teaching art history and many other art subjects. Jane is part of Orr Street Studios in Columbia, MO and was promoting a "Thank you, friends of Orr" party and fundraiser. Her passion is so positive!

Doug Wright III knows well the school to prison pipeline and is determined to provide the space, programs, and care needed to break it through Building Community Bridges. Alicia Edwards grew up in the foster care program and sees Building Community Bridges as a small business incubator to nudge and encourage people out of poverty that the system of entitlement has trapped there since this country began. Food pantry, disaster help, dance, boxing, art, community gardens and dialogue are a few of the programs volunteers have brought into BCB. Many more are on the way. These two have the vision, passion, and persistence to see this baby through to old age. A more humane Jefferson City is coming.

Ray grew up in Columbia and was sweet on Celestine from the moment she arrived in 1957. She enrolled at Hickman and he transferred from Douglas the next year. She had started piano lessons at age 11 and is still teaching piano in her home today. Ray was gradually drawn into the ministry by perceptive church leaders, went to St. Paul's in Kansas City, had several assignments in the mid-west, and landed back in Columbia at St. Luke UMC where he pastored until his retirement in 2016. Celestine taught music 47 years at Ridgeway Elementary plus being pianist/organist/choir director at St. Luke.

Planet of the Humans takes us behind the scenes of our environmental crisis. Solar panels, wind turbines, and burning bio-mass for energy production have a greedy back story at the expense of all lives on the planet, including ours. Outright lies from leadership in the movement become mantras for the young people that inherit the ecocide of industrialization. Do we plant trees or cut them down by the millions as the bio-mass industry is doing? Who comes to the table to seriously discuss global change to heal what is left? How does change happen? Please watch the movie and create discussion hubs around the world. If it is to be, it is up to US!

George Smith was already a quiet celebrity in Columbia, Missouri when news came that he received a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2018. He got to Mizzou in 1975 and retired in 2015. He met Margie Sable there in the 70s. She had come from St. Louis because of KOPN starting up. They married and had 2 kids. The interview goes into his upbringing, his reaction to the Vietnam War, his collaborative nature, his singing and bike riding, his holy anger over the evil occupation of Palestine, his passion for research and how the new vaccines work, and more. 

Tracy grew up as an 'other' in Missouri and established roots in Columbia. Mizzou J-School and her simultaneous writing projects such as Adelante gave her enough academic clout to be hired on as Mizzou faculty. She was deeply involved in Columbia's debate over wastewater management and the eventual solution of Eagle Bluffs Wetlands (Tracy is quoted in the article) spearheaded by then Lupus mayor, Doug Elley. Tracy is no stranger to conflict zones such as Standing Rock and the US-Mexican border. As the founding editor of The Esperanza Project, Tracy does all she can to bring understanding of the 'other' of the US and Latin America who are so often marginalized or ignored. I looked up a couple of songs about hope. The first is in Spanish called Esperanza. The second is a cover of "Get Together." Tracy stokes my hope.