Prairie Journal

What can the rise of the Kansas City Chiefs tell us about Kansas history? Mark Dent and Rustin Dodd are the authors of Kingdom Quarterback: Patrick Mahomes, the Kansas City Chiefs, and How a Once Swingin' Cow Town Chased the Ultimate Comeback.

Shakespeare's A Comedy of Errors gets a western twist in this all-female production by the Lady Shakes Theatre Company of Topeka.

The National Center for the Book has just named its 2024 Great Reads from Great Places for Kansas.  We'll hear from Susan Jonusas, author of "Hell's Half Acre: The Untold Story of the Benders" and Grant Snider, author of "One Boy Watching."  We'll also revisit a conversation with KJ Dell'Antonio, author of "The Chicken Sisters," coming to the Hallmark+ Channel next month.

In May 1955, the town of Udall, Kansas, was devastated by an F5 tornado, the deadliest in Kansas history. Jim Minick tells the story of that harrowing night and the resilience of the people of Udall in his book, "Without Warning: The Tornado of Udall, Kansas."

What can Mother Earth and indigenous wisdom teach us about climate change? Dan Wildcat's latest book is On Indigenuity: Learning the Lessons of Mother Earth. Dr. Wildcat teaches at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas.

We kick of our 2024 Kansas Notable Series with Alex Grecian, author of Red Rabbit -- a story of witches, ghosts, and cowboys set in the Wild West.  We'll also hear from Brian Daldorph, author of Words is a Powerful Thing: 20 Years of Teaching Creative Writing at Douglas County Jail, winner of the 2024 Hefner Heitz Prize for Literary Nonfiction.

Ben Lerner is the author of The Topeka School, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction and finalist for a Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award.  The Topeka School is a prequel to Lerner's 10:04 , which was just named one of the Best 100 Books of the 21st Century by the New York Times.  

How has the role of First Lady changed over time? Dr. Diana Carlin is the co-author of the first textbook examining the often-overlooked importance of FLOTUS, the office of the First Lady of the United States.

Dick Lehr is the author of "White Hot Hate: A True Story of Domestic Terrorism in America's Heartland," the story of the 2016 plot to bomb Somali immigrants in Garden City, Kansas.

Travel writer Rolf Potts is the author of "The Vagabond's Way: 366 Reflections on Wanderlust, Discovery, and the Art of Travel." Kate Benz is the author of "Nothing But the Dirt: Stories from an American Farm Town."  Both books were named Kansas Notable Books by the State Library of Kansas.

It's a sneak peek at this year's Free State Festival, with films, music, art, and ideas. This week's show features a conversation with Festival director Marlo Angell and Academy Award-winning filmmaker Kevin Wilmott, director of The Heroic, Real-Life Adventures of Alvin Brooks.

What role should the U.S. play in the ongoing war in Ukraine? General Philip Breedlove, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, was the keynote speaker at the 2024 KU Security Conference.

Morels, Devil's Dipstick, Chicken of the Woods -- everything you ever wanted to know about Kansas mushrooms.  Sherry Kay, Benjamin Sikes, and Caleb Morse are the authors of A New Guide to Kansas Mushrooms , a Kansas Notable Book. 

We're celebrating National Poetry Month with Kansas Poet Laureate Traci Brimhall. Dr. Brimhall teaches creative writing at Kansas State University and is the author of several books, including Come the Slumberless to the Land of Nod.

Where does the Nile River begin and who were the men who risked everything to find it? That's at the heart of Candice Millard's "River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile."

The Brown v. Board National Historic Park and the KU School of Education are co-sponsoring "Brown v. Board at 70," a two-day conference marking the 70th anniversary of the landmark desegregation case. Kaye McIntyre visits with Dr. Jim Williams, superintendent of the Brown v. Board site in Topeka, about the April 18th and 19th conference.

More than 40 partners will come together this week in Lawrence to spotlight digital storytelling. It's the Stories for All Festival, April 18th, 19th, and 20th, a partnership between the Hall Center for the Humanities and the Institute for Digital Research in the Humanities at the University of Kansas.

"Hot Times in the Heartland" will be screened April 4th as part of this year's Global Climate Teach-in at the University of Kansas. Filmmakers Dave Kendall, Laura Mead, and Rex Buchanan preview the documentary on this week's KPR Presents.

The University of Kansas is joining hundreds of other schools around the world in holding a Global Climate Teach-in this week. Emily Ryan, director of The Commons, previews some of the events taking place April 2-8 at KU.

This week on KPR Presents, what the experts get wrong about our national security...and the increasingly important role that Kansas plays in keeping America safe.

In celebration of Women's History Month, a Kansan who made football history. In 2020, Katie Sowers became the first woman to coach on an NFL staff in the Super Bowl. She spoke at KU's Dole Institute of Politics for this year's Elizabeth Dole "Women in Leadership" lecture.

The National League of Cities kicked off its 100th anniversary year with a return to Lawrence and the University of Kansas, where it was founded in 1924. Clarence Anthony, CEO and executive director of the National League of Cities, talks about some of the challenges facing cities today and the changing nature of city government.

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly calls for greater civility in politics in this Kansas State University Landon Lecture, given February 16, 2024, in KSU's Forum Hall.

In connection with Black History Month, Washburn University is hosting the Kansas premiere of "Brothers of the Dust" by award-winning playwright Darren Canady this weekend. This family drama tells the story of siblings that return to their family farm in 1958 with very different ideas about the land and their legacy. Shows run from February 23rd through March 3rd.

A new exhibit at the Topeka-Shawnee County Public Library explores the impact of Brown v. Board on the community, while a companion exhibit looks at racial stereotypes found in thrift store items.