Reporters
Primarily a magazine journalist, this is Jacob Baynham‘s first foray into audio storytelling. He’s a graduate of the University of Montana School of Journalism and a National Magazine Award winner in profile writing. He spent part of his childhood in India, where Pit, the elephant in his story, was born, and now makes his home in Montana, where Pit remains. He teaches writing and reporting at UM.Â
Charles Bolte spent the better part of his 20s in the U.S. Army before landing in southwest Montana seeking a new direction. After several years of wandering, he realized he was into storytelling with a keen interest in photography and audio. When the weekend is long and the weather good, you’ll catch him rolling up to the trailhead—ready for the next hike, ski, or game of cribbage. Charlie has worked with Darknet Diaries, the Confluence Podcast, Yellowstone Public Radio, Montana Public Radio, Teton Gravity Research, and Love Street Media.
Ruth Eddy is an audio journalist living in Bozeman, Montana. Growing up, she believed there were tiny people living inside radios who made the sounds that came out. Now, she considers herself lucky to be a person who makes sounds come out of radios and also to be full-sized. You can find her work at www.therutheddy.com
Bayliss Flynn is an award-winning reporter and editor and a journalism major at the University of Montana. She has earned national recognition as a winner of the Hearst Journalism Podcast Competition and a Society of Professional Journalists Regional Narrative Podcast Award. As former Audio Editor for the Montana Kaimin newspaper, she led podcast production and helped elevate student audio storytelling. Beyond journalism, Bayliss is a Division I goalkeeper for the University of Montana Women’s Soccer team. Next year, she will continue her academic and athletic career at the University of Texas at Austin, where she plans to pursue a master’s degree in journalism while playing soccer.
Paul Hamby reports on public safety and Indigenous issues for the Billings Gazette. He was raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, and served five years in the U.S. Army as a linguist before attending the University of Montana. He graduated in 2020 with degrees in history and journalism.
Sophia Marsolek is a third-year journalism student at the University of Montana with a minor in Climate Change Studies. A Missoula native, she enjoys telling stories grounded in community, place, and lived experience. Her time studying abroad in Northern Ireland broadened her perspective and strengthened her interest in global storytelling. When she’s not writing, Sophia can be found traveling, hiking, skiing, or seeking out her next adventure.
Izaak Opatz is a songwriter and leatherworker based in Missoula and a graduate of the University of Montana’s Environmental Science and Natural Resources M.A. program. He loves cycling, novice hockey, and hearing other people’s stories.
Lotus Porte-Moyel is a 2026 graduate of the University of Montana School of Journalism, where she formed a love for narrative audio journalism. She also enjoys spending her time teaching, making theater, and playing music. Lotus works as the program assistant for the Montana Media Lab, supporting curriculum development and educational programming for journalism workshops offered to students around rural Montana. She hopes to continue reporting stories on death, interesting people, and how we choose to remember each other.
Kathleen Shannon is the assistant producer on The Obit Project. She is a farmer-turned-writer and audio producer most interested in relationships between humans and the natural world. Her work has appeared in High Country News, NPR and elsewhere. Find her work at kathleen-shannon.com
Elinor Smith graduated from the University of Montana with a degree in journalism in 2024. She went on to host All Things Considered for Montana Public Radio for two years.
She now lives in the Portland area.
Megan Torgerson is a farmer’s daughter and storyteller from the windswept Great Plains of Dagmar, MT. In 2019, she founded the documentary podcast Reframing Rural which introduces listeners to rural people, history and culture that don’t always get the spotlight. Megan earned an MFA in arts leadership from Seattle University and a bachelor’s in English with a creative nonfiction emphasis from the University of Montana. She lives in Missoula, MT with her husband and son.
JoVonne Wagner has been the Helena reporter for the Montana Free Press since 2023, where she covers elections, politics and community affairs. Previously, she was a Legislative Fellow at MTFP covering the American Indian Caucus. She is a graduate of the University of Montana School of Journalism, and interned at Buffalo’s Fire and ICT, formerly known as Indian Country Today. She has also contributed work to the Montana Media Lab. She was born and raised in the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in northwestern Montana, and she’s always had a passion for storytelling, especially if it means highlighting voices and issues that have been overlooked.
Logo Design and Art
Max Mahn created the artwork for The Obit Project. Born and raised in Montana, Max has been creating limited edition screen prints out of his hometown of Missoula under the pseudonym ‘Twin Home’ for over 10 years. Over those years, Max has worked with a wide array of clients, both big and small. His work ranges from illustrating shirts for his local college radio station (KBGA!) to designing bottles and packaging for nationally distributed breweries. However, his true passion will always remain in the art of gig posters. The surreal opportunity to work directly with the bands that Max idolized as a kid cannot be explained. As a one-man operation, Max not only strives as an illustrator to create the bizarre and uniquely fitting imagery for all of his clients, but also screens prints the majority of his work himself. Combining his years of expertise in these two crafts has allowed Max to work with some of the nation’s largest touring acts, including Wilco, Dave Matthews Band, Phish, and many more. Find his work at twinhomeprints.com.