Midwesternish

From Mideast To Midwest: A Burger Tycoon's Journey

By Gina Kaufmann,

Matt Hodapp, Andrea Tudhope, Sylvia Maria Gross

Published February 28, 2017 at 2:00 AM CST

Nabil Haddad, pictured shortly after arriving in the United States from Baghdad, Iraq.

There's no question that the McDonald's Happy Meal was invented in Kansas City, Missouri. The question is...who invented it? To find an answer, we go on a journey from 1950's Lebanon to Salina, Kansas.

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Music: The Silver Hatch, Rally, Manele, and Heliotrope by Blue Dot Sessions; all have been edit.

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Gina Kaufmann

People don't make cameos in news stories; the human story is the story, with characters affected by news events, not defined by them. As a columnist and podcaster, I want to acknowledge what it feels like to live through this time in Kansas City, one vantage point at a time. Together, these weekly vignettes form a collage of daily life in Kansas City as it changes in some ways, and stubbornly resists change in others. You can follow me on Twitter @GinaKCUR or email me at gina@kcur.org.

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Matt Hodapp

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Andrea Tudhope

Andrea Tudhope is an award-winning multimedia journalist based in Kansas City, Missouri. She is currently coordinating producer for America Amplified, a national public media community engagement initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

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Sylvia Maria Gross

Sylvia Maria Gross is storytelling editor at KCUR 89.3. Reach her on Twitter @pubradiosly.

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