Good History

Can stories change history? Join Kallie Kosc as she sits down with Matthew Spellberg in our series on the history and power of storytelling. Prof. Spellberg is Dean of Faculty at Outer Coast and a scholar of the history of dreams, the imagination, and Tlingit oral literature. This wide-ranging discussion covers the importance of dreams in challenging the historical status quo, the use of storytelling as pedagogy, the power of interdependence, and how one book can change a life.

What is the purpose of storytelling? Join Kallie Kosc as she sits down with Sarah Milligan, the Hyle Family Endowed Professor and Head of the Oklahoma Oral History Research Program at Oklahoma State University. In this episode, we explore what can be learned from the study of folklore, the transformative nature of storytelling, what is lost when certain stories are suppressed, best practices in oral history, and the new opportunities and challenges posed by AI technologies on the future of story collection and storytelling.

Join Doug Miller as he sits down with Mike Johnson, archivist and reissue producer at Rhino-Warner Records. From a childhood transistor radio sparking a Beatles obsession to working on iconic projects for The Grateful Dead, Ray Charles, Fleetwood Mac, and Curtis Mayfield, Johnson reflects on his part in preserving music history — as well as bigger questions about what music gets preserved for future generations and what doesn't.

In this second episode of Good History's fall 2025 special series on music and history, OSU History professor Doug Miller speaks with Steve Jenkins, Senior Director of the Bob Dylan Center, about music as a historical medium and the work of curating Bob Dylan’s archive in Tulsa. From a childhood in Los Angeles filled with the Beatles and Bob Dylan to teenage punk-club discoveries to a professional career creating exhibitions about Dylan's social and political impact, Jenkins explores how music makes history. Tune in!

In this episode of Good History, OSU History professor Doug Miller speaks with entrepreneur and preservationist Teresa Knox about music, memory, and place. From her roots in West Tulsa to owning Leon Russell’s famed Church Studio, Knox shares how community pride, creative labor, and the Tulsa Sound shape her mission to preserve Oklahoma unique history for future generations.