Uncovering Kansas

Kansas is home to a lot of fun museums, and it has been a while since we featured one on the podcast. So, today, we are going to learn about the Motorcycle Museum in St Francis. For those of you with an Uncovering Kansas Travel Journal, you'll find it on page 188. And you can follow along across Highway 36, documenting the things you see, people you meet, and places you love to eat and stay though...

What would it be like to integrate the arts into a thriving and sustainable rural community? This is the question that drove my guest today to create the School for Rural Culture and Creativity in Mattfield Green. I'm talking with Matthew Regier, an artist, homesteader, and co-founder of the School. Our conversation is wide ranging – talking art, religion, rural culture, homesteading, and how all...

Kansas is full of very interesting people and my guest today is probably at the top of the list. I'm talking with Vincent Rodiguez, a coffee roaster, chocolate maker, and bicycle manufacture based in Lenexa. I'm taking you to coffee and chocolate school with Vincent. One of the things I took away from my conversation with Vincent is that when we are curious and want to learn about something, it ca...

Today, I'm talking with Joseph Shephard from Lead for America, a national organization founded by a Kansan and headquartered in Wichita. Lead for America's tag line is Start Where You Live – and of course I have to learn more about any organization that is trying to keep Kansans in Kansas. I thought this episode was going to be about Lead for America, but it is just as much about highlighting a yo...

You may have noticed that this month's episode is a little shorter than normal. That's because it didn't start out as an episode. The Kansas Turnpike Authority contacted us about doing a public service announcement about a change they are making in July. They want to get the word out and thought our podcast would be a good avenue for that.   So, the plan was to record the PSA and then include it i...

In today's episode, I'm talking with Conner Hampton, Executive Director of Flagship Kansas Tech, an organization who's mission is to propel the tech sector within the state through continuous efforts in awareness, education, and the workforce.   Flagship Kansas website Ad Astra Summit website Episode: Goodland Tech Dare to do Dirt - podcast with Rolf Potts and Marci Penner   What You'll Learn in t...

In my day job, I've been working in the software industry for going on 10 years, and so when I hear business incubator, my mind immediately pictures a room full of developers in hoodies with headphones on typing away in the dark at a computer.  But today, you and I are going to learn about a different type of business incubator in Kansas - a business incubator for wineries. We also talk with a cou...

We've interviewed several authors over the years on Uncovering Kansas. And, through that process I met my guests today, Tracy Million Simmons owner and publisher of Meadowlark books and Cheryl Unruh (un roo) a well known, prolific writer who is also the editor of the 105 Meadowlark Reader, a Kansas Journal of Creative Nonfiction.   When I first heard about Meadowlark Books, I was excited to hear t...

In this episode, I'm going to take you behind the scenes to see what it is like to be responsible for the travel and tourism bureau for a city in Kansas.  My guest is Julie Roller Weeks, the Director of  Abilene Convention and Visitor's Bureau. What You'll Learn in this Episode   A behind the scenes look at the role of a Director of Tourism and Vistors Bureau That the Eisenhower Library is one of...

There are 1,200 Master Gardeners in the State of Kansas. But in June, there will be Master Gardeners from across the country coming to Kansas for their conference. Ever wonder what the best tomatoes are to grow in Kansas? Or how to manage Japanese Beetles. Well all of these things have one thing in common: the K-State Extension office. One of the things we like to highlight on the podcast is event...

If you are a cyclist, you already know what Unbound Gravel is. If not, today, I'm going to take you into the world of cyclists and how Emporia Kansas has created an event that draws people from 45 different countries.  I love to highlight how Kansans make their visions come true. Today's episode is a great example of a small group of people who came together around their passion for cycling in the...

Setting Kansas up to succeed in the future means diversifying into industries that have not traditionally been associated with our state.  In today's episode, you are going to learn about a Goodland company that is doing just that. I like to highlight Kansas companies that are having an impact outside of Kansas. Today's guest is not only doing that, but they are also working to change some of the...

We are going to time travel in today's episode. My guest, Ann Anderson is the author of Posts of a Mid-Century Kid, a memoir about 1950s and 60s Kansas. Today's episode is as much about our ability to be present and appreciate what we have - in all aspects of life - as it is an episode about Kansas. There are so many quotes from Ann in this episode that I would love to pull out and put on a t-shir...

I'm trying to help the Kansas Office of Broadband get the word out about the Federal Communications Commission broadband funding deadline that is January 13 2023. It requires that you take action by the 13th to help ensure that Kansas get the appropriate allocation of Federal funding to invest in high-speed internet.     The funding will be based on a map that determines what portion of each state...

We've reached the last episode of the year, and today I'm talking with Branden Dross, the City Manager for the city of Herington Kansas. I have been interested for a while in better understanding what the role of a city manager is, and so I took the opportunity to learn more for myself while sharing what I learn with you. That is the best part of having a podcast. When I want to know more about so...

My guest today, Joe Summers describes Guerilla Art like this - you make a thing and put it out into the world for people to find.  Joe works with his students and children to create robot sculptures that they then take to different locations around the state and leave behind for someone to find. This episode is about Joe and his robot art program, but it turns out to be a travel episode as well be...

Today I'm joined by Shelley O'Brien and Mary Boller, two Kansans working in the State's library system. Reading is my primary hobby - I'm currently sitting at 76 books read so far in 2022 - so as you can imagine, this episode is going to be one I remember for a long time. What I'm hoping you take away from today's episode is what my guest, Mary Boller says - that libraries have become the hub of t...

Have you ever dreamed of just taking off and traveling the world? That's exactly what my guests today did.  1 year, 24 countries, 4 continents…. Their Instagram account says it all: Kansas Meet World. I can't wait for you to meet this Kansas family and learn about their gap year.  This trip was about so many things - seeing the world, learning how to support locals, experiencing other religions, f...

From 0 murals to 25 murals in 2 years seems like an impossible task, but that is exactly what they've done in Clay Center Kansas. Today I'm talking with Brett Hubka who has been spearheading the effort.  I'm no art expert, but I feel like I've noticed a resurgence of murals in towns across the country and it is a welcome trend. Coming into a new town, looking at the murals on the downtown building...

Today's episode came from a trip we made to Sabetha Kansas to have lunch at the Brick Street Furniture Company and Wine Lounge. Friend of the podcast, Kate Miller from Hiawatha recommended that we eat there. And, now I'm recommending it to you too. While we were at Brick Street, Dustin recommended to us that we take a trip 5 miles north of Sabetha to Sycamore Springs. He mentioned that they were r...

We have been doing our format of Get To Know a Kansan for a while now, and thought it would be fun to focus an episode on the stories behind the people that have been named when we ask 'who is your favorite Kansan from history?" So, in this episode, I'm going to talk about the accomplishments of Amelia Earhart, John Stuart Curry, Dwight D Eisenhower, and William Stafford.   What You'll Learn in th...

Cottonwood Falls is a small town - population about 800 - a nationally and internationally known town for its music. The well known Symphony in the Flint Hills is based in Cottonwood Falls and so is the Opera Workshop in the Flint Hills. When you think of Kansas, opera probably isn't in the top 10 - or even 100 - things that come to mind.    But, thanks to my guest, Martha Sharp, people come from...

Monarch Watch is an internationally reaching education, conservation, and research organization dedicated to the monarch butterfly, its habitat, and its spectacular fall migration based right here in Kansas. Join Rachel in this episode where co-founder Chip Taylor takes Rachel to butterfly school.   Monarch Watch website Monarch Watch Facebook page Kansas Eco Regions   What You'll Learn in this Ep...