To celebrate the centennial of Route 66 in 2026, the very first episode of the year features the life of the Father of Route 66- Cyrus Stevens Avery.

Join Route 66 Podcast host Anthony Arno as he talks with Susan Croce Kelly, author of Father of Route 66: Cy Avery. More than establishing Route 66, Avery was a proponent of the Good Roads Movement and advocated for paved roads at the introduction of the automobile in America.

Highlights from the show include:

• Teaming up with Quinta Scott in 1990 to write Route 66: The Highway and Its People
• Searching for Route 66
• Avery's childhood
• Avery travels west in a covered wagon at age 13
• Awareness of road conditions as a young pioneer
• Populariity of bicycles in establishing paved roads

• Avery pulls America out of the mud
• What did Avery get right?
• Replacing named roads with numbered roads
• Road construction and technology
• Need for proper signage with road travel
• Rapid growth of automobiles with Model T introduction
• Railroad perspective regarding paved roads
• Avery reluctantly accepts the number "66" for his road
• Secretary of Agriculture in charge of road construction
• What did Route 66 get right that the other highways of the day missed out on?
• US Highway 66 Association established to promote the road
• Proposing a 3400 mile coast to coast footrace along Route 66
• The Bunion Derby puts Route 66 on the world map
• The Great Depression years
• Running for governor of Oklahoma
• Providing clean drinking water to Tulsa
• Avery's biggest achievement (not Route 66)
• Modernizing the Tulsa airport
• Reflection
  • Importance of trip west for Avery in a covered wagon
  • Replacing Route 66 with the Interstate Highway
  • 1969 Highway Beautification Act removes local billboards
  • Route 66 as a tourist attraction today

• Centennial Plaza in Tulsa honors Avery
• Newspaper Women of the Ozarks book

At the age of 81 years old, Gene Waylan is operating the lask known Ku Ku Burger from what was one of 200 locations. How does a Kansas boy pivot from wanting to be a farmer to successfully operating an iconic Route 66 burger joint fo over 50 years?

Join Route 66 Podcast host Anthony Arno as he talks wth Gene about his 51 year career of flipping burgers along historic Route 66. Highlights from the show include:

• Transition from farmboy to flipping burgers
• The Griff Hamburger Years
• The Ku Ku Burger
• The McDonalds competition
• Don't Just Ask for a Burger, Ask for Waylans
• Settling down in Miami, OK
• Physical expansion in Miami
• Competing with McDonalds
• It's more than just good food...

• Does Gene run the business, or does the business run Gene?
• Final wishes for the Ku Ku Burger
• Promotional keyrings and car shows
• Trademark attire through the years
• A visit from Bob Dylan
• Secret to cooking a good burger
• Next item on the bucket list
• Reason for limited hours and closed seating
• Expected sale of Waylan's Ku Ku Burger?

Join Route 66 Podcast host Anthony Arno, as he talks with probably two of the most popular authors of Route 66: Jim Ross and Shellee Graham. Together, Ross and Graham have written over ten different books featuring The Mother Road. Their latest book, Route 66:The first 100 Years, covers the complete history of the road- before, during, and after the popularity of America's Main Street.

Highlights from the show include:

• How did two Route 66 advocates ever meet and eventually become a married couple?
• Earliest memories of Route 66
• Living in one of the most remarkable homes on Route 66
• What makes, Route 66 The first 100 Years, different from every other Route 66 book?
• Publishing a Route 66 book with complete artistic control
• What came first: The words or pictures?
• Sifting through hundreds of vintage Route 66 images to include in the book
• The Legend of Route 66
• Route 66 Native American influence
• Trading Post or Tourist Trap?

• Two Guns
• The story of The Apache Death Cave
• Route 66 Renaissance
• Painted Desert Trading Post
• Naysayers of Route 66
• Route 66 Fact or Fiction?
• Route 66 Crossings (Route 66 bridges)
• Deep Tracks Project (Mapping hundreds of Route 66 alignments)
• Traits of a Route 66 traveler

Website: Jim Ross

Website: Shellee Graham