Eco Radio KC

Host Brent Ragsdale speaks with Davis Hammet, President of Loud Light.  Loud Light is a Kansas organization which fosters a culture of citizen participation. Davis Hammet began organizing across Kansas on a variety of issues and turned his attention to voting rights following the 2014 election which had dramatically low youth participation. In 2015, he […]

Climate change is a topic we hear every day, in all areas of our lives.  Public controversy swirls around the topic, however, the scientific consensus on climate change is solid. In a recent Pew Research Center survey, 87% of scientists indicated they believe the earth is getting warmer because of human activity. Is it  time […]

The Missouri River is the longest river in North America. Rising in the Rocky Mountains of western Montana, the Missouri flows east and south for 2,341 miles before entering the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, Missouri.  Host Richard Mabion will discuss the Mighty Mo, from the Nebraska/Iowa border to St Louis, with his guests […]

Host Richard Mabion will talk with the Chairman of the Equity Committee for the Climate Action KC group, Karan Gupta.  They will be defining what Equity really means.  Karan Gupta has been a Project Manager with BuildSmart and he is a leader dedicated to reducing emissions and promoting a thriving, climate resilient Kansas City metro […]

Bob Sommer, environmental activist and Fundraising director for Sierra Club-Kansas Chapter, talks to host Craig Lubow about the environmental grants program by the Sierra Club-Kansas. This program gives grants to educators in Kansas for special environmental projects designed for their students. Two of the recipients, Samantha Swank and Christina McCleary will join us to talk […]

Host Brent Ragsdale will discuss the Why and How of Carbon Removal from the Atmosphere with Alex Smith of Radio Ecoshock and also with Giana Amador from Carbon180.org. Our old model was: if humans double the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, compared to the amount that was in the atmosphere in 1750 (before […]

Dr. Jay Portnoy and Craig Volland join host Craig Lubow to discuss air quality in the Kansas City region and the impact of poor air quality on health. We will discuss the air quality from the annual Flint Hills burning, diesel transportation, open burning, and other activities effecting air quality. We will also focus on […]

EcoRadio KC will have a round table discussion on gardens with Dennis Patton, Johnson County Kansas Horticulture Agent.  Dennis specializes in Ornamentals, Turf and volunteer management of Extension Master Gardeners, but don’t worry, he knows about all growing things! As no table is round in Kansas City without Missouri involvement, Cory Creed, Field Specialist in […]

On this show we have in-studio two distinguished professors from the University of Kansas, Dr. Leonard Krishtalka, Director of the Biodiversity Institute and Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, and Dr. Jorge Soberon, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Senior Scientist at the Biodiversity Institute.  The first half of the show is a recording of a talk Dr. Krishtalka […]

Join hosts Richard Mabion and Dave Bennett Freeling as they sit down with young people who have been learning and teaching others about water quality in the KC area through the Kids About Water program (KAW). Find out how you can help the next generation maintain our waterways for drinking and recreation.  We’ll also be […]

Join hosts Richard Mabion and Dave Bennett Freeling as they sit down with young people who have been learning and teaching others about water quality in the KC area through the Kids About Water program (KAW). Find out how you can help the next generation maintain our waterways for drinking and recreation.  We’ll also be […]

This week we get an update on the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule that have been changed to weaken our health protections over the past year.  It’s been a year since EPA held its only public hearing in KC, KS on proposals to change the rules.  The discussion will be moderated by Host […]

Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) issued permits to the operators of four hog operations on two sites in Phillips and Norton Counties in Kansas and the Kansas Sierra Club filed for judicial review of that permit. On 12/6/19, the Kansas Sierra Club prevailed in the case.  Craig Volland, Agriculture Committee Chair of the […]

John Hickey, Chapter Director of the Missouri Chapter of the Sierra Club will call our studio to discuss negative effects of gerrymandering with our live guest Kevin Grooms of the Thomas Hart Benton Kansas City Missouri Sierra Club group. Their research has shown Missouri voters are relatively split evenly by partisanship, half are Republican, half are […]

First, Coco Castle and Meredith McAllister join host Craig Lubow to discuss composting on behalf of Compost Collective KC. Second, Annie Speicher Joins Craig for a discussion of her film, “Right to Harm”. The discussion will include adverse impacts of CAFOs. Home https://www.compostcollectivekc.com/ Our goal? Keep food waste out of the landfill and make it […]

In the first half, John Kurman joins host Craig Lubow to talk about plastic bag bans. Do they work? What are the unintended consequences? What are the alternatives? John is a long time environmental activist. He is currently associated with Bridging the Gap. During the second half Eco Radio hosts Craig Lubow, Richard Mabion, and […]

On today’s show, Matt Riggs, Outreach Coordinator with Mid-America Regional Counsel (MARC) comes to the KKFI studio to discuss recycling plastics with our host, Teresa Wilke. MARC is a nonprofit association of city and county governments and the metropolitan planning organization for the bistate Kansas City region. MARC serves nine counties and 119 cities. MARC […]

This week host Brent Ragsdale brings Frank Jakob into the studio to discuss all aspects of transitioning our energy sources off of hydrocarbon fuels. Frank E. Jakob, PMP, P.E. is a Technology Manager specializing in Energy Storage with Black & Veatch. We will start with the state of the US energy mix and trends in […]

Richard’s guest this week is Huldah C Blamoville, M.D. Dr Blamoville is a pediatrician in St Louis and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital-St. Louis University and St. Louis Children’s Hospital-Washington University.  She has been active against lead contamination involving children early in life and as they grow.  […]

Please tune in this week when Host Teresa Wilke talks live to Carey Gillam, a journalist, author, and a public interest researcher for US Right to Know, a not-for-profit food industry research group. Hear more about her book, Whitewash and the retaliation she has endured since its publication.  You can read her latest article in […]

This week, we speak to Garrett G. Sullivan MD, a physician practicing integrative, functional, and biophysical medicine about the impacts and implications of Sunlight on our health and ecological well-being.  In addition, Richard will give us an update on the upcoming Metro KC Climate Action Summit. It has been conclusively shown that living things are […]

The owners of Champlin Tire Recyling, Inc. were well aware that mountains of plastic and rubber waste are brought to our landfills and they decided to turn that waste into usable product.  BackAtcha Outdoor Furniture was created.  EcoRadio KC programmer, Teresa Wilke, shares with listeners a tour of the plant in Concordia Kansas.

In the Summer of 2017 Andrés Bernal began supporting the Congressional campaign of former colleague Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a policy advisor and organizer.  His work facilitated the incorporation of the Federal Jobs Guarantee policy onto the official campaign platform and helped in the vetting process of various academic resources. Alexandria would go on to become the youngest […]

Sami Aaron of TheResilientActivist.org joins hosts Brent Ragsdale and Dave Bennett Freeling in the studio to discuss the growing need for “ecopsychology” as a response to emotional and psychological distress that often accompanies awareness of the unfolding climate and ecological crisis.  From their website, https://www.theresilientactivist.org/ , the Resilient Activist is a local program to build...

EcoRadio KC is a magazine show, including live segments, prerecorded stories, and interviews. The weekly explores our interdependence with the rest of the world, showing the connections between the ways we choose to live and the health of the whole community of life.