Katelynn McIlwain
Assistant News DirectorKatelynn McIlwain, originally from Freeport, Illinois (go Pretzels!), is the managing editor for KBIA. She assists KBIA newsroom leaders in planning, supervising and producing news programming for radio broadcast, including daily news and in-depth reports, as well as public affairs programming.
She joined KBIA in 2023 after receiving her bachelor’s degree in 2022 and her master’s degree in 2023, both from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. While studying journalism at MU, Katelynn worked at Vox Magazine as the editor in chief and was a morning and afternoon anchor for KBIA.
She enjoys all things pop culture, including (but not limited to) K-Pop, cartoons, anime, Ed Sheeran and YA fiction. When she's not working, she spends much of her time serving and living life with her church community. But you can also probably find her diving deep into her rotating hyper-fixations (which is currently Avatar: The Last Airbender and Frieren: Beyond Journey's End) and talking way too much about the Enneagram (1w9).
You can contact her at mcilwaink@missouri.edu or 573-882-5107.
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The fifth season of "Cover Story with Stephanie Shonekan" concludes with a very special guest: U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo. A highly acclaimed writer and artist in her own right, Harjo joined the podcast to discuss Bob Dylan's “All Along the Watchtower," as well as Jimi Hendrix's classic cover. -
In this episode of "Cover Story with Stephanie Shonekan," Jordan Embrack, a vocalist and graduate of the University of Maryland, joins Stephanie to discuss "Home," Dorothy's finale song in the 1975 Broadway musical The Wiz. "Home" was first performed by Stephanie Mills, and Diana Ross sang it for the film adaptation of The Wiz that premiered in 1978. Jordan and Stephanie discuss the song's national impact and the personal meaning it holds for Jordan as she begins her career as a singer and entertainer.
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In this episode of "Cover Story with Stephanie Shonekan," University of Maryland graduate Mekhi Abbott joined Stephanie to discuss the thematic differences between “Bound” by Ponderosa Twins Plus One and “Bound 2” by Kanye West. The original song, released in 1969, is full of affection and yearning, and was relatively unknown until Kanye West sampled it in 2013. But Kanye's interpretation of the song is a lot more coarse, and it’s often viewed as a dark twist on a love song.
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University of Maryland Associate Director of Bands Andrea Brown joins Stephanie Shonekan on this episode of "Cover Story with Stephanie Shonekan" to discuss "The Way We Were" by Barbra Streisand and Beyoncé. The tear-jerking ballad was produced for a film by the same name in 1973, and the feeling of longing for a love gone by is still just as touching decades later.
