Kansas Helen Podcast

Cole Epley is running for Kansas’ 4th Congressional District in the August 4th Democratic Primary. Learn more about Cole Epley here: https://www.epleyforcongress.com/ Epley and Helen discuss Kansas teacher shortages, the strain on educators, and the reality of people entering classrooms without traditional education backgrounds. Epley talks about his own education degree, student teaching, licensu...

Cole Epley is running for Kansas’ 4th Congressional District in the August 4th Democratic Primary. Learn more about Cole Epley here: https://www.epleyforcongress.com/ Epley discusses gun policy as an issue where he supports stronger safety measures while also thinking about state-sponsored violence and the purpose of the Second Amendment. He says he does not personally own a firearm and talks abou...

Cole Epley is running for Kansas’ 4th Congressional District in the August 4th Democratic Primary. Learn more about Cole Epley here: https://www.epleyforcongress.com/ The conversation turns to education as a way to help people understand science, propaganda, politics, and public policy. Helen discusses writing in plain language so more people can understand political information, and Epley reflect...

Cole Epley is running for Kansas’ 4th Congressional District in the August 4th Democratic Primary. Learn more about Cole Epley here: https://www.epleyforcongress.com/ Epley and Helen discuss Job Corps and what it meant for young people who needed housing, structure, and a path into a trade. Epley says he saw kids moved out of Job Corps, and Helen reflects on people she knew whose lives were change...

Cole Epley is running for Kansas’ 4th Congressional District in the August 4th Democratic Primary. Learn more about Cole Epley here: https://www.epleyforcongress.com/ Epley and Helen discuss education as something that affects children across state lines and debate the role of federal standards with states allowed to exceed them. Epley talks about wanting stronger guidelines around school funding,...

Cole Epley is running for Kansas’ 4th Congressional District in the August 4th Democratic Primary. Learn more about Cole Epley here: https://www.epleyforcongress.com/ Epley discusses foster care reform in detail, especially the rights of foster youth, teenagers aging out of care, and the way children can be treated more like property than people. He explains that he wrote a proposed bill to create...

Cole Epley is running for Kansas’ 4th Congressional District in the August 4th Democratic Primary. Learn more about Cole Epley here: https://www.epleyforcongress.com/ This section focuses on what a grassroots progressive campaign looks like in practice. Helen and Epley discuss door knocking, talking directly with voters, the difference between corporate PACs and good-faith PACs such as unions or i...

Cole Epley is running for Kansas’ 4th Congressional District in the August 4th Democratic Primary. Learn more about Cole Epley here: https://www.epleyforcongress.com/ Epley shares a personal story about his father losing insurance for several months after retiring from the Army Reserve and later dying of a heart attack after struggling to get care. He describes the issue as personal and connects i...

Cole Epley is running for Kansas’ 4th Congressional District in the August 4th Democratic Primary. Learn more about Cole Epley here: https://www.epleyforcongress.com/ Epley discusses why the primary feels more uncertain than the general election and how he thinks candidates can distinguish themselves without personal attacks. He argues that past campaigns have relied too heavily on money and moder...

Cole Epley is running for Kansas’ 4th Congressional District in the August 4th Democratic Primary. Learn more about Cole Epley here: https://www.epleyforcongress.com/ Epley names universal healthcare, immigration reform with abolishing ICE, and higher taxes on billionaires and large corporations as his main priorities. He connects healthcare to reducing costs for Americans, discusses shifting immi...

Cole Epley is running for Kansas’ 4th Congressional District in the August 4th Democratic Primary. Learn more about Cole Epley here: https://www.epleyforcongress.com/ Epley explains that he did not pursue a statehouse race because he feels he already has strong Democratic representation at the state level. The conversation shifts to why he is running federally, the difficulty of watching national...

Cole Epley is running for Kansas’ 4th Congressional District in the August 4th Democratic Primary. Learn more about Cole Epley here: https://www.epleyforcongress.com/ Epley explains that he studied music education before moving into foster care social work and child advocacy. He talks about working with middle-school-aged boys, teenagers with histories of trafficking or risk of trafficking, and ch...

Cole Epley is running for Kansas’ 4th Congressional District in the August 4th Democratic Primary. Learn more about Cole Epley here: www.epleyforcongress.com In this opening section, Epley talks about officially getting on the ballot after driving to Topeka that morning. He discusses when he started campaign paperwork, when he publicly announced, and that four candidates are running in the Democra...

Cole Epley is running for Kansas’ 4th Congressional District in the August 4th Democratic Primary. Learn more about Cole Epley here: (https://www.epleyforcongress.com/ In this full conversation, Epley discusses the launch of his campaign, getting officially on the ballot, and why he chose to run for Congress instead of pursuing a Kansas House race. He explains that his background began in music ed...

Bryant Jacobs is running for Governor of Kansas in the 2026 election. Jacobs closes by restating that he is a non-affiliated applied anthropologist running for Kansas governor to push a systemic audit of state violence. He says winning does not stop or define the work. He asks people to help with petitioning if they want to support the campaign and says people who want to donate money should suppo...

Bryant Jacobs is running for Governor of Kansas in the 2026 election. Jacobs describes policing as domestic terror and connects that view to police patrols, surveillance, impoverished neighborhoods, gun violence language, gang lists, constitutional rights, fines, fees, incarceration, and class. He argues that police violence should be discussed as a system rather than reduced only to the tool used...

Bryant Jacobs is running for Governor of Kansas in the 2026 election. The discussion focuses on deescalation, officer training, and the police response in the Deandre Hill case. Helen discusses questions about trainees, use of force training, hallway safety, backup, how officers knocked and announced themselves, and whether the officers followed their own deescalation policy. See the full intervie...

Bryant Jacobs is running for Governor of Kansas in the 2026 election. This section discusses using public records requests to collect police data, including incidents where officers pulled guns, officer training records, body camera footage, demographics, and police reports. Helen explains why she wants to collect the data herself instead of relying only on outside summaries, and Jacobs discusses...

Bryant Jacobs is running for Governor of Kansas in the 2026 election. This section discusses using public records requests to collect police data, including incidents where officers pulled guns, officer training records, body camera footage, demographics, and police reports. Helen explains why she wants to collect the data herself instead of relying only on outside summaries, and Jacobs discusses...

Bryant Jacobs is running for Governor of Kansas in the 2026 election. Helen discusses the Michael Gonzalez case, including vandalism at a Catholic church, media coverage, mental health, self-medication, jail, solitary confinement, and the lack of treatment options. The section focuses on how a property crime became part of a larger discussion about prosecution, rehabilitation, public pressure, and...

Bryant Jacobs is running for Governor of Kansas in the 2026 election. Helen criticizes local media for repeating police narratives instead of independently investigating deaths, crashes, and police violence. The section discusses police scanners, official statements, family perspectives, watchdog journalism, corporate media ownership, and how public narratives are shaped before the full facts are...

Bryant Jacobs is running for Governor of Kansas in the 2026 election. This section discusses elected officials who say they cannot speak publicly after a police killing. The conversation covers First Amendment rights, legal advice, city interests, police department interests, political careers, and the difference between saying someone cannot speak and saying they choose not to speak. See the full...

Bryant Jacobs is running for Governor of Kansas in the 2026 election. Helen discusses documenting people who say they or their families were harmed by the Wichita Police Department. The section covers the process of collecting names, folders, claims, records, and family stories, while also protecting sources and deciding what can be made public. Jacobs connects the discussion to his view that poli...

Bryant Jacobs is running for Governor of Kansas in the 2026 election. This section discusses local elected leaders, national political language, Christian nationalism, MAGA values, and how national political forces can show up in local government. The conversation also covers the difference between calling out public officials, criticizing their choices, and connecting local power to broader polit...

Bryant Jacobs is running for Governor of Kansas in the 2026 election. The discussion covers online communication, repeated responses, reactionary posting, and Jacobs’ use of symbols, satire, and a distinct online persona. Jacobs explains that his online style is intentional and says it is different from how he communicates in person. The section also discusses the internet as a place where people...