Aaron Hay
Announcer/ProducerAaron worked as a full-time on-air host at KBIA from 2017 to 2022. He continues as the Managing Producer on High Turnout Wide Margins.
Aaron Hay hails from the suburbs of Kansas City and he took an unconventional route to KBIA. His love of music, however, has always been constant. From car rides with family and oldies sing-a-longs to trips to Peaches for LPs with Dad to buying that cherished first cassette tape (R.E.M.'s Document, for the curious). Aaron has always had a voracious appetite for new sounds.
Following a career in phlebotomy and retail management, Aaron (with some not so gentle nudging from his then girlfriend and now wife, Amy) began volunteering at a local community radio station in October of 2005. His love of radio has done nothing but grow since that day.
Aaron was an-air host and audio producer for many of KBIA and Classical 90.5's shows including Paul Pepper, Views of the News, Global Journalist and Mizzou Music. He was rarely seen around the office without his trusty Kansas City Royals ball cap and a coffee in his hand.
-
On this final episode of the season, Stephanie Shonekan brought in a special guest: her daughter, Ojurere Shonekan. Together, they unpack “Emotion,” a song by the Bee Gees released in 1994. Destiny’s Child covered it in 2001. The song is a vulnerable confession that the loss of a relationship is taking a serious emotional toll. As Stephanie and Ojurere discuss the song and its reinterpretation from disco to R&B, they take some time to reflect on their own shared memories of loss. -
Stephanie Shonekan sat down with her sister dean, Kimberly Griffin, to talk about “Lately,” a classic breakup song that Stevie Wonder released in 1980. The song itself is a crushing glimpse into a relationship that’s slowly becoming one-sided. And when Jodeci covered the song in 1993, the group members infused it with their own range of emotion (because there’s lots of it to go around during a breakup, even the one-sided kind). In this episode, Stephanie and Kimberly break down the artists’ different approaches to “Lately” and reminisce over the era of ‘90s boy groups.
-
On this episode, Tom Flynn joins host Stephanie Shonekan to talk about “You Can’t Hurry Love,” an original song by The Supremes that Phil Collins covered in 1982. Though the songs were released a couple decades apart, the message is timeless – and, perhaps a bit frustrating: love takes time. Tom and Stephanie discuss their memories of youth, wanting love and how the song can stand as a light-hearted reminder to hold on.
-
Heather Gray joins Stephanie Shonekan during this episode to discuss the Bette Midler and Eddie and Gerald Levert versions of “Wind Beneath My Wings,” a song about love, death and what it does to those who live on. It’s a ballad that especially resonates with people who lost loved ones to the September 11 attacks in 2001. And in this episode, Stephanie and Heather also discuss how this song helps them treasure their relationships with their parents.
-
The third season of Cover Story with Stephanie Shonekan is kicking off with a guest who’s pretty familiar with the show by now: our recording engineer, Nat Kuhn. Nat and Stephanie discuss “Killing Me Softly” and the power music holds to make us feel known, even at a level that’s surprisingly personal. Plus, Nat plugs in his bass to bring you an in-studio performance that mashes up elements of both Roberta Flack and The Fugees’ versions of the song.
-
This episode is dedicated to the memory of George Warren. Host Stephanie Shonekan chats with her good friend, Brian Booton about a song that’s very personal to him - “I’m Here" by Fantasia and Cynthia Erivo. -
This is Cover Story with Stephanie Shonekan, a podcast where we take apart the song covers we love and take a deep dive into the stories behind them. Today, I'm chatting with special guest Jeremy Root about “Respect” Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin -
This is Cover Story with Stephanie Shonekan, a podcast where we take apart the song covers we love and take a deep dive into the stories behind them. Today, I'm chatting with special guest Sheri-Marie Harrison about “Everything I Own” by Ken Booth and Bread
-
This is Cover Story with Stephanie Shonekan, a podcast where we take apart the song covers we love and take a deep dive into the stories behind them. Today, I'm chatting with special guest Ian Chang about “Ghost of Tom Joad” by Bruce Springsteen and Rage Against the Machine
-
This is Cover Story with Stephanie Shonekan, a podcast where we take apart the song covers we love and take a deep dive into the stories behind them. Today, I'm chatting with Tomiwa Shonekan about “I Believe in You and Me” by the Four Tops and Whitney Houston.
