SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) —Unless you crack open a history book, or do extensive research, it can be hard to learn more about your local history.
Lori Kent has always had a knack for local history.
“Even as a kid, like I have, I’ve always loved going to museums, and I actually have a picture of me, like as a kid, like in a local historical society t-shirt. I just it’s always been my jam,” Local Lou podcast, Kent said.
This passion inspired her to want to help more people understand the history around Sioux Falls.
“As I’ve gotten older, I’m not taking everything as face value anymore. So I want to look into it and understand why these words got on this marker,” Kent said.
Which is why she started a podcast called Local Lou.
“I’m into local history, and that’s what the Local Lou podcast is. So I’m in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and I always say, ‘local is just wherever you are,'” Kent said.
Kent has a focus on looking at historical markers, and breaking down more of the stories that they share.
“What do they really mean? What’s the full story? What are we missing? What’s the incorrect date that makes it onto the marker? Like, just because it’s etched in stone or stamped on a historical marker doesn’t mean it’s true,” Kent said.
“History really is storytelling, but just doing it factually. And she really does do the deep dives, like, I mean, even listening to her talk about how she finds newspaper articles and she literally one time she told me she, like, knows the ground keeper at certain cemeteries like she does. You know what I mean? She does all the checking that a lot of us don’t do,” fellow podcaster Natasha Wittmaack said.
But, the reason she originally started reading historical markers is a bit of a funny story.
“I was really into Pokemon Go, and I actually lived across from the historical marker at a park that I always thought, oh, I wonder what that says. I lived across from it. So I went and I read it, and it was about Jesse James and his brother coming through Sioux Falls after the most famous bank robbery of the Northfield bank robbery that they committed,” Kent said.
Kent covers Jesse James, the hanging of an innocent man, and more stories from around Sioux Falls.
Wittmaack thinks one thing that sets the Local Lou podcast apart from others is how she tells the stories.
“I like that she makes history kind of approachable. It’s not a lecture. It’s more like a story. I like that she does stories about people whose stories aren’t always told,” Wittmaack said.
Kent also tries to appeal to all demographics.
“I think because she does make it approachable is kind of why younger people are into it. You know, when you’re talking about historical stuff, but you’re still using some of today’s slang or putting it in today’s terms, it’s a little you’re like, okay, I get it now. It’s kind of like, you know, the East Coast, West Coast beef,” Wittmaack said.
“History doesn’t have to be for the retired. It can be for a 12 year old. It can be for a 20 year old, 30 year old, whatever. And so I love the idea of these pieces of our history not only making on to historical markers– I want them making it to happy hour,” Kent said.
Helping more people learn more about the city they call home.
“I just love that kind of way of connecting the community and keeping history alive,” Kent said.
