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Missouri on Mic is an oral history and audio journalism project collecting stories from Missouri in its 200th year (2021) and beyond. New episodes air every Monday at 8:45 AM during Morning Edition and 4:45 PM during All Things Considered.A team of Missouri School of Journalism students asked Missourians to tell their stories at bicentennial festivals and events throughout the state at the Missouri on Mic traveling audio booth. The collection of stories will be archived at the State Historical Society of Missouri as part of Missouri’s 200th anniversary of Statehood.Partners in this project include the State Historical Society of Missouri (SHSMO) and True False Film Fest. Missouri Humanities and the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) provided support for the series, and the Burney Sisters provided music for the project. You can follow the Burney Sisters on https://www.facebook.com/TheBurneySisters or learn more at https://theburneysisters.com.To learn more about the story behind this collaborative project and how to produce something similar in your community, check out our Tool Box website here.

Mark Johnson and Janet Saidi: "We've got this big like 100-year Pin Oak, and just sitting out on the deck eating a popsicle – that's Missouri for me."

Janet Saidi
/
KBIA

The name Mark Johnson may not sound familiar, but he’s the one responsible for all of your favorite KBIA shows getting to air. He’s our chief engineer. Mark has been in the Show-Me State for about a decade.

He spoke with KBIA Assistant News Director Janet Saidi at this year's True/False Festival held in Stephen's Lake Park.

Saidi grew up in Missouri, and came back to raise her kids here. They spoke about the unexpected beauty they find in the state.

Missouri on Mic is an oral history and journalism project documenting stories from around the state in its 200th year.

Mark Johnson: Here, just driving in on I-70. It's just trees and trees, and acres and miles of trees, and just huge amounts of like, large 100-year oaks and maples.

And just here at Stephen’s Lake, you know, in the pavilion, I'm sitting here in the middle of a lake looking out and there's just like trees all over the place.

And it's something I never had, you know, and in Colorado, it was you go up and you can see the pines or you can see the Aspens and out here, it's just so peaceful to just kind of sit outside and like under a tree and just read a book or have a popsicle with a kid.

I do that with my daughter a lot. My daughter Molly and my son Nolan love going out and eating popsicles on the deck and we've got this big like 100-year Pin Oak, and just sitting out on the deck eating a popsicle – that's Missouri for me.

"I've lived really, you know, a decade in Southern California, and I never got used to the light. I enjoyed it fine, but I just never felt at home and in Missouri – I respond to all the things that you were talking about, Mark, the green, the color and that pace somehow and it's funny how that happens."
Janet Saidi

That's just like, yep, spend the time with the kids and enjoy being under a nice, you know, shade tree and, and seeing acres and acres of trees all around you. It's just... it's so cool.

Janet Saidi: Wow, that is Missouri. It's so funny. You sound like my relatives who are very Missourian you know, like my Dad. He would like nothing more than sitting out and having some kind of ice cream under the shade tree, and that's exactly how he would put it.

He'd be like, "Come on out everybody. Let's sit under the shade tree. Bring your ice cream out here, you know?"

And it's funny how you do respond to a place. You can't really predict it, it's not something that's necessarily rational. You just respond to the color, the pace and the light.

I've lived really, you know, a decade in Southern California, and I never got used to the light. I enjoyed it fine, but I just never felt at home and in Missouri – I respond to all the things that you were talking about, Mark, the green, the color and that pace somehow and it's funny how that happens.

Mark Johnson: Right! And while you were thinking about that – you were saying, you know, about the response – it was taking me back to experiencing lightning bugs.

Like being out in college at Mizzou and just going outside and, you know, seeing all these big old shade trees. It's getting late at night and then just like all the yards just lighting up and it was just amazing. It's just so cool.

You know, there's maybe not as many sunsets as a Colorado, but here you have those like magical like Christmas moments where it just feels like there's magic in the air.

Like somebody's maybe got a fire going, you know, a smoker and you just see lightning bugs just flickering on and off in the middle of the street. Just it's awesome.

Trevor Hook is a reporter, producer and morning anchor for KBIA 91.3 born and raised in New Franklin, Missouri. He graduated from the University of Missouri with both a Master's degree in Audio Journalism in 2020 and a Bachelor's degree in Convergence Journalism in 2018.