The Oklahoma Today Podcast, August 21, 2023

Download the latest episode here.

Mark Blakeman, executive director of the McKnight Center for the Performing Arts in Stillwater, stops by to talk with editors Nate and Greg on this week’s podcast. First opened in the autumn of 2019, the McKnight Center followed a COVID-abbreviated first season with an increasingly regular slate of knockout performances.

This year’s season is the best yet, says Blakeman, with upcoming shows from Scotty McCreery, the New York Philharmonic, Chris Botti, and Broadway musicals Pretty Woman, Come From Away, and Book of Mormon.

Finding the right balance is hard, but it’s a worthwhile endeavor, he says, especially when so many of the visiting artists go beyond stage performances to teach new generations of actors, singers, and musicians at the McKnight Center and with Stillwater Public Schools students.

Also on this week’s podcast, the editors take a crack at Barbie-mania and hear from a massive number of commenters from social media in Question of the Week. Follow Oklahoma Today on Facebook and Instagram to take part in the conversation.

Podvents from this episode come, as always, from TravelOK.com. Here's what the editors discussed:

Oklahoma Festival of Ballooning, August 25-27 in Muskogee

Wild Brew, August 26 in Tulsa

Salsa Festival, August 26 in Jenks

Maker Faire Tulsa, August 26 in Tulsa

Healdton Oilfield Days, August 25-26 in Healdton

The Oklahoma Today Podcast is sponsored by Bravado Wireless.

Catch up with back episodes of the Oklahoma Today Podcast here.