These Ozarks Hills

In this month's segment of These Ozarks Hills, longtime storyteller and folklorist Marideth Sisco compares the region's pandemic recovery to its traditional response to a storm:  Ozarks residents dust off, then do what needs to be done. 

In this episode of These Ozarks Hills, longtime storyteller Marideth Sisco reflects on how the human psyche deals with catastrophe, bringing in parallels between the 2020 pandemic a major earthquake that occurred decades earlier. 

In this episode of These Ozarks Hills, master storyteller and folklorist Marideth Sisco reflects on the humorous, flawed ways some of us Ozarkers have spoken about our anxieties in the past. 

Listen to the episode below:

In her monthly radio essay, These Ozarks Hills, longtime storyteller Marideth Sisco peels back the layers of time—as well as limestone and soil—to once again appreciate the wondrous geology that makes up our region.

You can hear the audio essay by clicking the "Play" icon below.

In this segment of KSMU's monthly program These Ozarks Hills, master storyteller and folklorist Marideth Sisco reflects on the protests and turmoil of the country as seen from her youth, and wonders if America can unite the way it once did.

Listen to the essay here:

In this segment of These Ozarks Hills on KSMU, longtime Ozarks storyteller Marideth Sisco ponders whether the days pre-coronavirus are really what we should aspire to return to. 

You can hear the audio segment here: 

In this episode of These Ozarks Hills, longtime storyteller Marideth Sisco encourages those who are alone right now to think of solitude, rather than isolation. Hear the audio from the segment below:

This is Marideth Sisco for These Ozarks Hills. Once again, as we come into the shadow of the Long Dark, the giant clock that marks our time on this planet is winding down with an almost audible ticking. We feel it in our bones, the tap, the beat, the sound of days ratcheting away.

Surely that’s one cause for our frenetic dashing about this month, grabbing the tree, the turkey, one more present for the pile, chestnuts for the fire, satsumas for the stockings.

This is Marideth Sisco for These Ozarks Hills.  Try as I might, although I always yearn for Autumn, I cannot await its coming without realizing that it signals more than anything the end of things. Not everything. But some. Several. And certainly some I am loth to see depart.

In this month's segment of our series These Ozarks Hills, master storyteller Marideth Sisco evaluates her own family history and subliminal psychology behind hoarding food--and what she refers to as "Depression Thinking."

In this segment of These Ozarks hills, storyteller and Ozarks native Marideth Sisco reflects on tornadic Ozarks storms past, present and future after this week’s outbreak on Tuesday.

You can listen to the essay by clicking the “Play” button below.

In this segmet of These Ozarks Hills,  storyteller and Ozarks native Marideth Sisco is on her way back from a cousin's funeral, where she was reminded of her deep roots and familial journey. 

You can listen to the essay by clicking the "Play" button below.

This is Marideth Sisco for These Ozarks Hills. In this week of wacky weather I was looking really hard for a metaphor and maybe a song to describe the springtime Ozarks and its unique weather pattern.

I thought of the image of a yo-yo to illustrate the ups and downs, but I went all the way through a semi-famous American rapper, a hip hop artist from the Punjab, a venerable Hostess snack cake and a beloved Asian cellist before I got to the toy, so - so much for that icon. 

In this segment of These Ozarks Hills, longtime storyteller, musician and folklorist Marideth Sisco talks about the disruptions that Ozarks weather patterns sometimes bring, and how we learn to live around them.

Click the "Play" button below to hear the audio essay.

This is Marideth Sisco for These Ozark Hills. Time out of mind, the people of these hills have endured the whimsical and often severe weather common to the region.

This is Marideth Sisco for These Ozarks Hills.  As Autumn graces us with one last splash of splendor this week before the rains finish stripping the trees of their showy palette, it offers a parallel skill of sweeping our minds clear of our troubles for a moment, offering one last grace note of honest-to-goodness goodness to our thoughts.