The Oklahoma Today Podcast

Cute animal friends call Hulbert's Sequoyah State Park home. Beavers, a coyote, a fox, and more can be encountered at Sequoyah's nature center. These are animals who, for various reasons, are unfit to live in the wild on their own. Thanks to the efforts of state park naturalists like Sierra (our human guest of the week), these creatures get a new lease on life thanks to the animal ambassador progr...

Thunder up, baby! A day many in this state have long dreamed of came to fruition on June 24, 2025, when the Oklahoma City Thunder celebrated their NBA championship with a parade through downtown that attracted more than half a million happy fans. Our very own host Ben was one of them, and he went out into the streets on this special occasion to get the local reaction to this momentous occasion (an...

Fresh berries are one of the best benefits of summer. There are plenty of places where locally grown blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and more are available for purchase in convenient packages, but it's pretty much scientific fact that berries taste better when you pick them off the bush yourself. So we did just that! Ben and Chris ventured out to the Thunderbird Berry Farm just outside of...

Cruising down Route 66 is the American dream, but it can be a time-consuming one. If you're looking to get some of those famous kicks in under an hour, might we suggest a visit to Puttin' the Park in Elk City? They have totally revamped their miniature golf course in Ackley Park to mimic travel down the famous Mother Road. Featuring Oklahoma icons like the Golden Driller of Tulsa and the Pops bott...

Toys: They teach us a lot as we're growing up. They teach us to value our possessions, to use our imaginations, and how much our parents don't like it when we leave them all over the floor. It's no wonder we end up putting a lot of nostalgic value into them, or that there is a museum dedicated to them in south-central Oklahoma. The Toy and Action Figure Museum in Pauls Valley has thousands of figu...

June has arrived in Oklahoma, which can often mean that a dark room with air conditioning is very appealing. Thankfully an abundance of opportunities for just such an activity is headed for Oklahoma City. We're talking about the return of deadCenter Film Festival, the summertime favorite set to celebrate its twenty-fifth year June 11-15. Our guest this week is deadCenter's founding executive direc...

When it comes to local restaurant brands, 84 Hospitality Group is a heavy hitter. Empire Slice House is known far and wide, and Goro Ramen and Burger Punk have large followings of their own. There is a new name to add to that lineup now. Elisabetta Fine Italian & Wine is now open on North Western Avenue in Oklahoma City. Editor-in-Chief Nathan Gunter had a sit-down conversation with 84 Hospita...

It's the oldest historically black rodeo in the country, and it's back for another year! The Boley Rodeo, in the historic black town of Boley, got its start in 1961. The event has seen ups and downs over the years, but has seen a resurgence under organizer Karen Ekuban. We headed out to Boley to talk with Karen and get a firsthand look at a new art project which will make its debut at this year's...

Oklahoma's vintage scene has a social media king, and his name is Clinton Avery Tharp. Along with childhood friend Eli Hartley, he owns and operates Main Street Vintage in Purcell. Fans of classic 1970s furniture, Kit-Cat Klocks, cigar box ukuleles, or anything cool and novel will get a kick out of visiting this shop of wonders. In this week's episode, Tharp and Hartley lead us on a tour through t...

Another day, another tough challenge for our host. This week Ben gives it his best shot in a Bob Wills themed fashion contest. Bob Wills, known to have reigned over Tulsa's Cain's Ballroom along with his band The Texas Playboys during the 1930s and '40s, was and remains an influential icon of Western chic style. Hie reputation as a sharp dresser is so strong that this year they introduced a fashio...

Ben is mad. Like, really mad. With all that rage, he needs an outlet. It's a good thing Tulsa Stained Glass exists. Though normally a home for art and peaceful crafting, attached to this longtime Tulsa glass studio is a rage room where perturbed patrons can smash and shatter various glass wares for a cathartic release. The rage room is the brainchild of Tulsa Stained Glass owner Richard Bohm, who...

Purchased by the legendary Leon Russell in a deal struck at the diner across the street, Tulsa's Church Studio has become an iconic piece of music history. All-time greats like Tom Petty, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Wonder recorded there while the former real-life church was used as the home of Shelter Records in the 1970s, and the walls still very much contain a musical soul. On thi...

The podcast assumes a more serious tone this time around as we reflect on the thirtieth anniversary of the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in downtown Oklahoma City, still the largest-scale and most deadly domestic attack in the nation's history. As a result of the attack, 168 people (adults and children) died. Today our guest is current OKC Fire Chief Richard Kell...

Spanning nine centuries of armor worn by the iconic and fascinating warriors of old Japanese society, the new Samurai exhibition at Philbrook Museum of Art gives viewers a deeper understanding of the culture, lifestyle, and art of the day. Coming to the Tulsa museum from the Collection of Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller, Samurai is on display now through August 3. Nathan and Chris paid a visit to...

The name of the baseball team in Oklahoma City might have changed for this season, but it'll be the same familiar fun times at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark this spring and summer. Known last year as the Oklahoma City Baseball Club while the organization underwent rebranding efforts, the newly dubbed Oklahoma City Comets take their inspiration from "The Commerce Comet," a nickname of Oklahoma-born...

Chalk it up to a good time: Our guest today is Jacquelyn Knapp, art professor at the University of Sciences and Arts in Chickasha and organizer for the annual Montmartre Festival of chalk art on campus. Though not quite as big as its famous namesake festival in France, USAO's Montmartre Festival is one of the best times to visit Chickasha. Part of the USAO Spring Triad on campus, the festival coin...

Chances are, you're due for a visit to the Oklahoma State Capitol. Even if you have seen all the significant restoration and art upgrades made in the past few years, you probably haven't seen the newly reopened Betty Price Art Gallery. Housed on the Capitol building's second floor, this room features works from the State Art Collection, with big-name artists like Ed Ruscha and Allan Houser represe...

Going with the flow is easier said than done for some of us, but it is the name of the game in improv, the stage art of unscripted comedy. Founded in 2009, OKC Improv is both an organizer for great community events and a training and performance vehicle for actors and comics of both the serious and aspirational varieties. Executive Director Kendon Lacy is our guest on the show this week. He talks...

Bob Wills' Texas Playboys were synonymous with Tulsa's Cain's Ballroom through America's Great Depression years, becoming national stars with daily radio broadcasts. Wills died many years ago, but the band's legacy lives on, currently led by Jason Roberts. Roberts and the Texas Playboys band will once again return to Tulsa this week for the annual Bob Wills Birthday Bash. Later in the week the wil...

The Oklahoma State Meal—which became an official state symbol in the 1980s—is a legendary spread: chicken-fried steak, biscuits with sausage gravy, barbecue pork, cornbread, grits, okra, squash, corn, black-eyed peas, strawberries, and pecan pie. Isla's Southern Kitchen in Tulsa is currently the only restaurant in Oklahoma where diners can order the entire state meal. Though it comfortably feeds 2...

This week's featured guest is RC Davis-Undiano, executive director of the World Literature Today magazine and organization based in Norman. World Literature Today is an internationally recognized literature and culture magazine heralded by the Nobel Prize committee as “one of the best edited and most informative literary publications” in the world. Davis-Undiano is a Mexican-American writer who ad...

Yes, that Fear and Loathing. This week our guest is British artist and illustrator Ralph Steadman, most famous for his collaborations with famed gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, including the iconic novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. He has a new career retrospective exhibit titled Ralph Steadman: And Another Thing on display now through May 10 at the OSU Museum of Art in Stillwater. Our ph...

Chocolate isn't for everyone (we're looking at you, dogs), but it sure is for us! Oklahoma's chocolate lovers will find the most creative and culinary cacao creations at this year's Chocolate Decadence event Thursday, February 6, at Leadership Square in Oklahoma City. The annual event benefiting the Automobile Alley district and Lights on Broadway will feature unique chocolate dishes from beloved...

A summer trip to the Oklahoma Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain State Park in southwestern Oklahoma is a time of creative enchantment for many high-school-aged artists around the state. Applications are now open for teenage creatives who'd like to make the trek this year. Wren Pfal, communications and outreach officer for OSAI, joins the show this week to talk about the amazing opportunity for stu...

Whether you first heard about them on America's Got Talent, on the popular FX television series Reservation Dogs, or pushing their CDs and merch around the Oklahoma City metro area, no one can deny the brotherly hip-hop and entertainment duo Lil Mike & Funny Bone (known collectively as MikeBone) were destined for stardom. The local legends and authors of the popular song "Rain Dance" joined us...