Darren Hellwege
Announcer/Producer"The Voice Of Columbia," Darren Hellwege has hosted NPR's “Morning Edition” for over 30 years on KBIA, and serves as host/producer of the “Thinking Out Loud” programs. The series has won a Missouri Broadcasters Association award and gives Darren the chance to "sit and visit" with interesting people from throughout Mid-Missouri and beyond. He also hosts the "Dvorak Diner" and “Vox Humana” on Classical 90.5 FM.
Darren is also a marketing representative for KBIA and Classical 90.5, helping businesses connect with their customers using public radio.
An avid Tiger sports fan, Darren serves as the P.A. announcer for Mizzou Wrestling and Gymnastics. As former KBIA Sports Director, Darren reported on Tiger athletics for more than 10 years. His reports from the 2009 NCAA Women’s Final Four basketball tournament were heard nationwide on NPR, he appeared on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines,” and was a regular guest with Chris Gervino on KOMU-TV’s Sunday night sports program and on sports talk programs in Kansas City.
Darren currently serves as president of the Board of Directors for ACT Services of Columbia. In the past, he’s been a member of the Columbia/Boone County Board of Health and the Boone County Mental Health Board of Trustees, the University of Missouri Campus Safety Committee, and he was a board member for the Central Missouri Humane Society and Rock Bridge Christian Church. Darren coached youth sports for several years with Boys/Girls Club of Columbia, Columbia Diamond Council and Columbia Youth Basketball Association. He’s also been active in community theatre, performing with Maplewood Barn Community Theatre, Theatre NXS, and MoHip. A Columbia Tribune review of a Maplewood production of "Oklahoma!" included the line "Darren Hellwege is no Fred Astaire."
Darren was born in Stillwater, Oklahoma and grew up in Edmond, Oklahoma where he attended the University of Central Oklahoma. Darren and his wife Bonnie have two grown children. Their son Kristian lives in Columbia and daughter Janie Lavelock lives in Kansas City with her husband Jake, and Darren’s beautiful granddaughter Clara.
Prior to coming to KBIA, Darren worked for public radio station KCSC (now KUCO) in Edmond and at Oklahoma City radio stations WKY and WWLS. He’s also worked for KFRU and KFMZ in Columbia and KWRT in Boonville.
Darren is an avid genealogist, and enjoys playing guitar, listening to all kinds of music, and - of course - sports. In spite of the team moving from St. Louis to Los Angeles, he remains a loyal Rams fan, and he is a 4th generation St. Louis Cardinals supporter.
Darren is on Twitter at @kbiamorning where he shares news stories, selfies, and dad jokes.
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KBIA's Darren Hellwege in a conversation from 2006 with Hugo Vianello, founder of the Missouri Symphony. We talk about his musical background, the history of the Symphony, and rescuing Columbia's iconic Missouri Theatre. Thinking Back is a series highlighting some of our favorites from the archives of 15 years of Thinking Out Loud shows on KBIA.
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KBIA's Darren Hellwege speaks with Daniel Eck, Director of the Museum of Art and Archaeology at Mizzou. We meet the new museum head and get an update on the re-opening of the museum, scheduled for this fall.
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KBIA's Darren Hellwege talks with Laine Young-Walker, MD who chairs the Psychiatry Department at the Missouri School of Medicine, and with Wendy Ell, Executive Director of the Missouri Child Psychiatry Project about how MO-CPAP helps family doctors and families get resources to families of children with mental illness.
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KBIA's Darren Hellwege visits with two of our state's preeminent historians, Gary Kremer and Bob Priddy, as the State Historical Society of Missouri gets ready to celebrate its 125th anniversary.
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KBIA's Darren Hellwege talks with Talissa Altes, MD, about the 7T MRI at the Missouri School of Medicine, and how this advance can better detect a range of health care challenges for patients.
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KBIA's Darren Hellwege interviews Megan Tregnago of Easterseals Midwest about this weekend's Bowling For Autism event.
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Darren Hellwege visits with Kasey Lynch, who will be directing the MU Theater Department's production of "The Wolves" this week.
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KBIA's Darren Hellwege talks with Lauren Williams of Daniel Boone Regional Library about this year's "One Read" program and the two books you can vote on for this year's One Read.
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KBIA's Darren Hellwege talks with Lee Ann Garrison, Director of Visual Studies in the College of Arts and Science at MU about the upcoming Show Me Research Week.
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KBIA's Darren Hellwege talks with Katina Bitsicas, assistant professor of Digital Storytelling in the School of Visual Studies, and Abby Blenk, a student in Visual Storytelling and Art. They're discussing an exhibit called "The String and the Labyrinth," Abby's study of how families deal with death and mourning, which will be part of Show Me Research Week.