KCUR On Air People

Since graduating from college, Bill has been working in the radio industry for nearly 25-years with a hiatus or two to pursue small business opportunities. He's been with KCUR since 1995 serving in a number of on-air capacities and is currently working the management side of the operation as the station's Program Director. Bill has experience as a reporter, news anchor, talk show host, producer, disc jockey or announcer. He's served in advisory capacities for the BBC, Marketplace Productions and other public radio programs and institutions and was an executive producer for a national broadcast partnership that included WBGO, Newark, New Jersey and XM Satellite radio. He currently is a member of the editorial board for the Public Radio Exchange, an internet based distributor of public radio programming.

Bill loves to laugh and passionately pursues reading, jogging, hiking, water recreation and travel.

Steve Bell, News Reporter
Phone: (816) 235-5173 / email

Afternoon reporter Steve Bell brings more than 40 years of news experience to the KCUR newsroom. Fifteen of those years he served as a news or program director. His first newscast was at KANU in 1958. He has hosted news and talk programs on five Kansas city AM-FM stations and two commercial TV stations, and was for many years the the signature voice of KCPT-19. Since joining KCUR in 2001, Steve has won two first place awards from Public Radio News Directors International -- for best newscast and best feature reporting. He has also received a number of awards from the Missouri Broadcasters Association and the Kansas City Society of Professional Journalists. Steve has a Ph.D. in psychology and dabbles in guitar and banjo playing.

Renee Blanche, Host of Night Tides
Phone: 816.235.1551 / email
Program details

The lovely lilting voice heard on KCUR on Sunday nights belongs to Renee, a native of Detroit Michigan. After ending her first career in the military, Renee landed in El Paso, Texas where her life in radio began. Her skills as a volunteer announcer were honed at community radio station KXCR-FM during a three year stay. Commercial radio was her next stop as weekend announcer for adult contemporary stations K-LITE and B-94 FM. A daughter and a son later and ready to return to the Midwest, Renee moved to Kansas City in 1993. She was hired as the mid-day announcer for KCUR and also served as a traffic reporter for Metro Traffic Control. She started her role as host of the Night Tides program in 1994...the rest is history. A self-described workaholic, Renee manages to find time to perform as a freelance voiceover talent, a volunteer auctioneer for KCPT, and as moderator/facilitator for various community organizations in and around the Kansas City area.

Walt Bodine, Host of The Walt Bodine Show
Phone: (816) 235 -1551 / email
Program details

With more than 50 years in the media, Walt Bodine's background includes staff announcer, program script writer, television reporter, news anchor and new director and stints as news reporter and news director for WDAF TV and radio. As host of the WHB radio show, "Night Beat," Walt helped pioneer the live, call-in radio show format in Kansas City. He is affectionately known as Kansas City's dean of broadcasting, but describes himself as a multimedia public nuisance. Bodine has also served as a professor of communication studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and has written several books. He has claimed to have "two of the most well-worn ears in this metropolitan area." "I listen to more people in a day than a Menninger psychiatrist, " he said. For his work, Walt has received numerous awards including the Kansas City Spirit Award in 1987, recognizing him as the "voice of the people" and "our community conscience." More recently Bodine was the recipient of the Bishop John J. Sullivan Award for Communications.

Michael Byars, Morning Announcer
Phone: (816) 235-6318 / email

Michael started volunteering for the membership drives back in 1997 and has also helped at other KCUR events such as the Great Record Sale I and II, the Ethnic Enrichment Festival, and both live broadcasts of "A Prairie Home Companion" from Starlight Theatre. His on-air career began in December, 2000, as a part-time announcer during classical music. He later became our Saturday afternoon announcer before moving on up to full-time Morning Edition host in November 2002. Occasionally, you might hear his voice on "The Fish Fry", where he serves as a fill-in for Chuck when he's away; he also engineers interview segments and edits the show's archived broadcasts. In his spare time (and yes, he does have some), Michael loves being an uncle to his niece and nephews (Abigail, Hayden, and Nathan, Uncle Mike loves you!) and enjoys ethnic restaurants, listening to live music and sleeping.

Maria Carter grew up in a small town in the Missouri Ozarks. She graduated from Reed College in Portland, Oregon with a degree in economics. After a year off, she returned to her home state to study journalism at the University of Missouri, receiving her Master’s degree in 2004. Maria started working at KCUR as an intern and was later hired as a general assignment reporter. She covers local politics and anything else happening in the Kansas City area. In 2006, she spent a month in northern Louisiana, lending a hand at the local public radio station and covering the thousands of evacuees temporarily in the area.

Chuck Haddix, Host of The Fish Fry
Phone: (816) 235 -1551 / email
Program details

Chuck Haddix AKA Chuck Haddock joined the staff of KCUR FM in 1984. Originally hired as a jazz producer, Haddix began producing the "Fish Fry" in 1985. Making its debut on Saturday night at midnight, the "Fish Fry" proved so popular with listeners it quickly moved up to the 8:00 p.m. slot. A year or so later the public radio party spread like a virus to Friday night. Since then the Fish Fry has been featured Friday and Saturday nights from 8:00 until midnight. A faculty member at UMKC, Haddix is the director of the Marr Sound Archives, a collection of 250,000 sound recordings housed in the Miller Nichols Library. He is a writer who has been published in Down Beat and Living Blues Magazine. Well known for his broad knowledge of music, Haddix served as a consultant for a wide variety of theatrical, video and film projects including Robert Altman's Kansas City and Merchant-Ivory's Mr. and Mrs. Bridge.

Shawn Harrel, Weekend Announcer
Phone: (816) 235-1551/ email

Shawn Harrel teaches music and digital media in the Lee's Summit School district. A Kansas City native, Shawn returned to his hometown after completing his master of music in jazz arranging and composition at the University of North Texas – where he first worked in radio as a jazz host, news anchor and music director.

While living in the Dallas area, Shawn worked as a weekend announcer on KERA 90.1 FM, Dallas' NPR affiliate. Always anxious to get back into radio, Shawn kept a close eye on part-time positions at KCUR and was happy to join the station as Sunday afternoon announcer in the fall of 2006.

Shawn lives with his wife and two sons in Greenwood, MO, just outside Kansas City.

Jill Jordan became a phone volunteer at KCUR in 1991, and just couldn't stay away. After an internship assisting "Up to Date" Producer Stephen Steigman, she finally turned "pro" on the telephone as a receptionist for the station two years ago. Jill is now the official Sunday morning announcer on KCUR.

A Fine-Arts-turned-French major from K.U., she was happy to put her Liberal Arts education to use, digging up information for listeners and turning out ideas for programs. She hopes never to settle on any one interest - except for public radio - which she still listens to at home with her husband, two sons, and two dogs.

Gina Kaufmann, co-host of The Walt Bodine Show
Phone: (816) 235-1551/ email

Gina Kaufmann has enjoyed both participating in and reporting on Kansas City's cultural life since 1999. She is best known for her years as an editor and columnist with The Pitch. She has also worked for such treasured local establishments as The Tivoli and The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. About twice a year, she orchestrates and hosts live storytelling events at a downtown neighborhood pub and music venue. Her writing has appeared in ArtNews, Heeb Magazine and Lawrence.com. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in French and Romance Philology (yes, that’s a real word) from Columbia University. Beginning this Summer, she will be pursuing a Masters of Fine Arts in Nonfiction Writing. Gina is thrilled to be working at KCUR alongside Walt Bodine.

Steve Kraske has been the political correspondent for The Kansas City Star since 1994. He covers national, state and local politics with a special focus on the Iowa presidential caucuses every four years. Kraske first came to The Star in 1986 and covered the Kansas City Police Department and state government in Jefferson City and Topeka. Before arriving in Kansas City, he worked at daily newspapers in Iowa and Illinois and at United Press International in Madison, Wis. Kraske is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he received a bachelor's degree in journalism. His parents live in Stillwater, Minn. In 2001, he and a team of Star reporters won the Missouri Press Association's top government-reporting award for a series of stories on the death of Gov. Mel Carnahan. In 1991, he was awarded a John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University. He is the father of two boys, Nick, 13, and Michael, 9. His wife, Kady, is a features editor for The Star's FYI section. They live in Westwood, Kan.

Frank Morris, News Director
Phone: (816) 235-2867 / email

As news director, Frank Morris supervises the reporters in KCUR's newsroom. He has presided over the station's news coverage since 1999.

In addition to his managerial duties, Morris files regularly with National Public Radio. He’s covered everything from tornados to tax law for the network, in stories spanning six states. His work has won dozens of awards, including four national Public Radio News Directors awards (PRNDIs) and several regional Edward R. Murrow awards.

Morris grew up in rural Kansas, listening to the public radio station out of Hutchinson. He worked as a DJ throughout college at the University of Kansas. After graduating with degrees in Philosophy and Political Science, Morris went to work at an AM news/talk station in Lawrence, Kansas, and later at the Statehouse in Topeka for Kansas Public Radio. He started at KCUR in 1991. He’s married with two fine sons.

Kim Noble, Mid-day Announcer
Phone: (816)235-1551 / email

Kim Noble, Mid-day host, put down roots in Kansas City in 1988 after a few decades of globe hopping and calling Plymouth, England home. With a rich background in theatre, the transition to radio was easy ... she has "never met a microphone without falling in love with it." When Kim is not behind a mic at KCUR, she works as an independent voice talent and in her leisure time enjoys traveling, walking, swimming, golf, painting (pictures, not walls), theatre, movies and cheering on the Royals and Chiefs.

Bill Shapiro, Host of Cyprus Avenue
Phone: (816) 235 -1551 / email
Program details

Bill Shapiro is the creator and host of "Cyprus Avenue" which premiered on KCUR-FM in October of 1978. The weekly radio show has aired on over 50 stations in the United States. He is the author of "The CD Rock and Roll Library," 1988, and "The Rock and Roll Review" 1991, both published by Andrews & McMeel. Bill is a native of Kansas City, Missouri, and a tax and estate planner since 1962. He received his law degree from the University of Michigan.

Linda Sher became the Afternoon Drive Announcer on KCUR-89.3 FM radio in 2000, after completion of a Master of Arts degree in Communication Studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. With a background in music and theater, a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from the Kansas University Medical Center, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of Texas, the medium of public radio was a perfect fit. She grew up in Prairie Village, Kansas and in her spare time enjoys hiking, dancing, crafts and movies. There are two wonderful people who call her mom and make her very proud and happy to be alive. With a passion for creative expression, she hopes to use her talents to inform, entertain, and enlighten her community.

Alex Smith began working in radio as an intern at the National Association of Farm Broadcaster. A few years and a couple of radio jobs later, he is now the assistant producer of KC Currents.

Alex is also a musician and is learning the art of filmmaking.

Laura Spencer caught the radio bug about a decade ago when she was asked to read a newscast on the air on her first day volunteering for KOOP, the community radio station in Austin, Texas. After moving home to Kansas City, she learned the fine art of editing reel-to-reel tape as an intern and later a graduate assistant with the nationally syndicated literary program New Letters on the Air. In 1998, Laura joined KCUR-FM as a part-time producer for the year-long Sound Partners series on children's health issues; since then, she has filled in for almost every on-air weekend and weekday announcing shift, and worked as the local host of NPR's Morning Edition. She now focuses her efforts on writing and producing feature stories as KCUR's Arts Reporter. Laura has been recognized with awards from the Associated Press, Missouri Broadcasters Association, Kansas City Association of Black Journalists, and Society for Professional Journalists.

Stephen joined KCUR in October 2000 as the station's host of classical music. After working in the arts for ten years, Steigman made a somewhat associated switch to public radio. Stephen also worked for a number of orchestras and performing arts organizations - including the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, the Jerusalem Symphony in Israel, the Albany Symphony in New York, and the Aspen Music Festival. Stephen's love of public radio started at a young age when "shushed" by his father who wanted to listen to top-of-the-hour NPR news without interruption. His appreciation increased during high school, college (and beyond) with programs such as Car Talk, Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Performance Today.

Most of all - Steigman's love for public radio and KCUR stems from the idea that public radio enriches our minds through news, commentary, and artistic programming - all important parts of our daily lives. Oh, and KCUR's "all you can drink coffee" policy is a nice bonus, too.

Steigman served as KCUR's afternoon drive host from 2001-2002 and began producing Up to Date with host Steve Kraske in August 2002. The show has earned awards from the Kansas City Press Club, Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (PRNDI), the Kansas City Association of Black Journalists, and others. Stephen enjoys fixing up an 85-year old airplane bungalow in the Midtown/Brookside area where he shares his construction dust with his wife Tamara Falicov, a professor of film studies at the University of Kansas and their infant son, Ilan.

Dan has covered Kansas City area news since 1974. He began a career in journalism more than 40 years ago in Chicago’s suburbs. The switch from newspaper to radio came during two years in the U. S. Army and by 1968 he was firmly convinced that radio was his medium. He has covered breaking news, blizzard, tornado and flood. The Federal District Court was his daily beat for years. He was one of the few radio reporters able to continue broadcasting during Hurricane Katrina and it’s immediate aftermath. He concedes, KCUR is one of his passions. Dan has been honored by the Missouri Broadcasters’ Association, The Associated Press and United Press International. He is inducted into the hall of fame of the Kansas City Media Professionals. When not covering news, Dan is partial to reading American history and tinkering with an old tractor. His wife Sylvia is his best critic. They have two daughters and a son.

Contributing arts reporter Steve Walker joined the station in the fall of 1998 as the oxymoronic regular free-lancer. Besides reporting on theater for KCUR, Walker also teaches creative writing classes at the Kansas City Art Institute. His B.S. and M.Ed. from the University of Missouri-Columbia led to his job at The Wyandot Center for Community Behavioral Healthcare Inc. as a consultant and trainer in peer counseling and HIV prevention programs for several area high schools. His writing has previously appeared in such national magazines as The Advocate and Theater Week and several area publications, including The Kansas City Star, The Kansas City Business Journal, Ingram's and Review. Steve spends every free cent travelling or on biscuits for his black lab mix, Reno.

Jenny began her radio career in 1994 as a news reporter for KSMU in Springfield, MissouriSouthwest Missouri State University. She moved to Kansas City in 1996 and worked as an intern for New Letters On the Air. Jenny volunteered at KCUR while completing her degree in mass communication at UMKC and has been here ever since. She has since filled many roles at KCUR: working in the news room, hosting Morning Edition, producing the Walt Bodine Show, filling-in at the front desk, and data entry for membership. You can hear Jenny on the air every Saturday morning on KCUR and from time-to-time during the week when she fills-in for other announcers. This mother-of-four also works as a voice talent in her spare time and is a member of AFTRA.

Susan B. Wilson, Host of KC Currents
Phone: (816) 235-6423/ email

A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Susan admits that her “first love” was radio, being an avid listener since childhood. However, she spent much of her career in mental health, healthcare administration, and sports psychology (Susan holds a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Bloch School of Business at UMKC.) In the meantime, Wilson satisfied her journalistic cravings by doing public speaking, providing “expert” interviews for local television, and being a guest commentator/contributor to KPRS’s morning drive time show and the teen talk show “Generation Rap.”

Wilson has a passion for people and wide ranging interests in world cultures, sports, the arts, science and politics. She serves as Associate Dean at the UMKC School of Medicine. She is also a treating clinician and consultant to the National Football League. A mother of two, in her free time Wilson enjoys gardening, traveling, drawing and live music. Wilson is a member of Kansas City Association of Black Journalists, the American Psychological Association and Delta Sigma Theta, a national public service sorority.

In 1993, she came back to Kansas City as the Midwest correspondent for National Public Radio. Among the stories she covered - the floods of 1993, the ongoing farm crisis and rural affairs, and presidential campaigns.

After the birth of her 3rd child, Laura returned to KCUR as producer of Under the Clock, a weekly talk show broadcast live from Union Station. It was hosted by former Kansas City mayor Emanuel Cleaver. When he was elected 5th district Congressman in 2002, Laura returned to KCUR as a part-time reporter and producer.

Laura has won numerous awards for her work, including three Edward R. Murrow awards.

In 1992, Laura was awarded a Jefferson Fellowship in Journalism with the East West Center at the University of Hawaii which took her to China, Japan, Burma, Bangladesh and Thailand. In 1990, she was part of a reporting trip to the then -Soviet Union with the American Center for International Leadership.

She, her husband, and their three children - Julia, Ellie, and Benjamin, live with Laura's father in the house in which she was born.

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