A People's History of Kansas City

Making the Lake of the Ozarks

By Suzanne Hogan,

Published July 27, 2023 at 3:00 AM CDT

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A group of vacationers enjoying the sandy beaches at the Lake of the Ozarks.

With more shoreline than the coast of California, the Lake of the Ozarks in mid-central Missouri is a popular tourist destination for land-locked Midwesterners. For decades, it's provided financial opportunities for locals and outside interests alike — but at what cost? The story of how this man-made body of water came to be involves corruption, jail time, communities torn apart, and displaced families.

This episode of A People's History of Kansas City was reported, produced and mixed by Suzanne Hogan with help from interns Noah Zahn and Gabriella Lacey and editing by Madeline Fox and Mackenzie Martin.

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Suzanne Hogan

Every part of the present has been shaped by actions that took place in the past, but too often that context is left out. As a podcast producer for KCUR Studios and host of the podcast A People’s History of Kansas City, I aim to provide context, clarity, empathy and deeper, nuanced perspectives on how the events and people in the past have shaped our community today.<br/><br/>In that role, and as an occasional announcer and reporter, I want to entertain, inform, make you think, expose something new and cultivate a deeper shared human connection about how the passage of time affects us all. Reach me at hogansm@kcur.org.

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Noah Zahn

Noah Zahn is the summer 2023 news intern for KCUR and the Missouri Business Alert. He's a recent graduate of the University of Missouri. Email him at noahzahn@kcur.org.

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Gabriella Lacey

Gabriella "Gabby" Lacey is an intern for KCUR Studios. She will begin her junior year at the Missouri School of Journalism in the fall.

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