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Leona Vander Molen moved to Spokane in 2017 for graduate school and couldn’t bring herself to leave due to the sun, scenery, and community. She grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and attended Denison University for a BA in English and Psychology. Following graduation she moved to Japan for a year as a part of the JET program, and taught as an assistant English teacher on the island of Awaji. She returned to the US to pursue an MFA in creative writing, which she received from Eastern Washington University. While listening to Spokane Public Radio Leona likes to knit, pet her cat, or drive to the nearest bakery for a bagel or five.

Tennessee -- despite what the name might make you think -- was born and raised in the Northeast. She most recently called Vermont home. For the last 15 years she's been making radio -- as a youth radio educator, documentary producer, and now reporter. Her work has aired on Reveal, The Heart, LatinoUSA, Across Women's Lives from PRI, and American RadioWorks. One of her ongoing creative projects is co-producing Wage/Working (a jukebox-based oral history project about workers and income inequality). When she's not reporting, Tennessee likes to go on exploratory running adventures with her mutt Murray.

Ryan started his radio career in 2002 working for Austin’s News Radio KLBJ-AM as a show producer for the station's organic gardening shows. This slowly evolved into a role as the morning show producer and later as the group’s executive producer.

Chris comes to KCUR as part of Guns & America, a reporting collaboration between 10 public media stations that is focused on the role of guns in American life. Hailing from Springfield, Illinois, Chris has lived in seven states and four counties. He previously served in the Army, and reported for newspapers in Kansas and Michigan. Chris lives in downtown Kansas City. He roots for St. Louis sports teams, which means he no longer cares about the NFL.

Kate Payne is an Iowa City-based reporter for Iowa Public Radio. Before she came to the Hawkeye State she was a reporter and fill-in host for WFSU, the NPR member station in Tallahassee, Florida. Kate has won awards for her political and feature reporting and her sound editing.

William Jones is a Supervising Editor for Morning Edition and the Up First podcast. He's no stranger to public media, having worked previously as a reporter and producer for New York's PBS station, WNET. During his time there he was nominated for an Emmy for his piece on New York's oldest bar, McSorley's Old Ale House.