Uncovering Kansas

Economic Development in Kansas is changing. A banner program and important effort driving this initiative is the Kansas Framework for Growth, a comprehensive strategy for economic growth in the coming 15-20 years. More than 1,000 Kansans have given their input into the process. We first heard of the strategy and program as citizens. And, wanting to engage in the process as interested citizens, we...

Were you aware that there is a group of Kansans providing thought leadership in the area of caring for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and seniors? In this month's episode, Rachel talks with Mike Strouse, CEO of Goodlife Innovations. Remember KC Pop Co ? They are one of Goodlife's innovative life enrichment and skill development programs. Rachel sits down to listen and...

Rachel describes herself as a self-proclaimed Kansas Ambassador as does this month's guests, Bryan Lisbona. Bryan is driven by the philosophy #lovewhereyoulive, and he invests in that philosophy and takes daily steps to live his truth. Through our conversation listeners will uncover details of Bryan and his family's journey into small town life after their decision to leave one of the state's (sub...

Rachel and Geoff briefly review highlights from the podcast's second (2019) season, and discuss our upcoming 3rd season and beyond. A few side projects are shared with listeners and then -- WOW! Rachel uncovers for our listeners an absolutely fascinating figure from Kansas history. A pioneer, in multiple ways, Emanuel Haldeman-Julius.

Love frozen snacks? How about all natural ingredients, do they make you smile? Does the thought of a small business creating jobs that foster skill development and increased independence for people living with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (ID/D) make you smile from ear to ear? We are yes for all three and that's why Rachel interviewed Ky Kanaman of KC Pop Co for the November '19 epi...

In September, we did an episode about the Kaw Valley Farm Tour. In this episode, you'll hear sounds from the tour and interviews we conducted at the farms

This month's episode features our Get to Know a Kansan format, where listeners about a fellow Kansan's passion and can see Kansas through their eyes. Join Rachel as she learns about Nancy Overmyer's passion for creating art and jewelry out of gourds. You'll learn what it means to 'love the 745s' and how Nancy sees unique patterns in each gourd.   Gooseberry Lane Facebook Page   Sunflower Gourd Pat...

What's a honey tap? Is there lanolin in alpaca? You can learn the answers by listening to the podcast and by attending the Kaw Valley Farm Tour. This year's tour is October 5-6, 2019. It is also the 15th anniversary, featuring 34 farms located in five counties. Attendees are able to get an insider view of working farms and ranches and get to know the people who produce the food they consume and th...

In this short BONUS episode for August 2019, Rachel talks with Bethany Falvey and Katrina Ringler of the Kansas State Historical Society (KSHS) about the special KSHS programming happening in Dodge City in September 2019.

This year is the 10 th anniversary of the Flint Hills Shakespeare Festival, which takes place each September in St. Marys, Kansas. For 2019, the festival features Twelfth Night along with an artisan village of about 50 craft and food booths along a forest path. The festival is a volunteer led event, another example of the power of people coming together to make something happen. Our guest is Ben M...

Most of us have experienced that always exhilarating, and sometimes frightening, feeling when we end up doing something we never quite expected doing. Chris Alexander's path took her from theater to stained glass to metal working. As co-owner of Alexander Artworks, Chris has found herself busier than she ever imagined as she and her co-owner husband try to keep up with orders. Rachel and Chris tal...

Of course anyone can go online and research a trip. But it isn't every day you're able to get vacation planning ideas straight from the Director of a Visitors Bureau. That's exactly what you'll get in this (part II) episode. Rachel talks with Jan Stevens, the Director of the Dodge City Convention and Visitors Bureau and Joni Whitman, the event coordinator for Dodge City Days. Want to learn to mose...

It's finally stopped snowing, and the rains have come, and the kids are getting out of school. You're starting to plan your summer vacation. Part of our mission is to encourage Kansans to get out and learn more about our state, so we've put together a new travel episode series (that we'll post every once in awhile) that allows you to listen to locals share places to see and things to do in their t...

David Hanzlick is a native Kansan who has written a book titled Benevolence, Moral Reform, Equality: Women's Activism in Kansas City, 1870-1940. Most of us have forgotten that the women's movement started long before we started burning our bras in the 1960s. In the early days of Kansas City —when we were still a frontier town and a newly forming society— the women of Kansas City had a national voi...

The Kansas Sampler Foundation is dedicated to connecting Kansans across  rural communities. One way they do this is through the Big Kansas Road Trip. This happens May 2-5 in 2019, and the Road Trip will be in Cheyenne, Sherman, and Wallace counties in northwest Kansas. Here's how Marci Penner, founder of the Kansas Sampler Foundation describes the event. "Create your own adventure at your own pace...

Angie Pickman is a Kansas artist with a national reputation. Angie imagines and creates  artwork in her Lawrence studio that is a modern twist on the traditional Chinese art form of paper cutting. Her love of nature is front and center in her work and growing up in Kansas provided her with a wealth of inspiration. In this Uncovering Kansas episode, Rachel talks with Angie about her round trip jour...

Once upon a time… That's a classic way to begin a story. And it's the best way to begin this episode. This month we share with listeners the story of the Kansas Storytelling Festival that takes place the last weekend in April in the town of Downs, Kansas. Rachel talks with Glennys Doane, one of the organizers of the Kansas Storytelling Festival who offers insights into an event that draws  people...

Andy Wise found himself unmotivated by the conference rooms at his office filled with blank walls. Andy longed to see whiteboards at his workplace covered in art. A trip to his local library gave him an idea to create a robot that could be attached to the white board and draw whatever picture it was asked to draw. And, so Andy created what he calls a drawing robot. He is an example of someone part...

This mini-episode contains on-location interview with Wichita native and Kansas City Developer Dan Clothier, who gave us a tour of the Cedar Point Mill during the Chase County Christmas event (see episode 10). Cedar Point Mill is on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of the most fascinating buildings Geoff recalls ever having come across (Kansas is not immediately thought of as a...

Kansas is known, often infamously so, as a flat state. For those of us who have done some exploring, we know that isn't true. There are plenty of flat stretches, certainly. But there are also areas where the hills undulate and take your breath away. The Flint Hills are spread across the central part of Kansas, and Manhattan is situated toward the upper end the expanse. In this episode, we will tal...

In November 2017, on Small Business Saturday, the Saturday during Thanksgiving weekend, we took a day trip to Chase County for their Country Christmas Festival. It was the community's official Christmas season kick-off. Here's a fun fact: The very first recordings we did for this podcast are in this episode! We needed to practice. More importantly we knew we'd return to Cottonwood Falls in Novembe...

While on the Big Kansas Road Trip, I came up with an idea to set up a pop-up restaurant in small towns in Kansas that can't support a wide variety or large number of restaurants. I think it would be fun, but can't pull it off by myself.  If you are interested in joining the effort to establish a pop-up restaurant in Kansas small towns, let me know - there is a form on our website that you can subm...

This is the second episode of the 3-part series about the 2018 Big Kansas Road Trip. Th is episode focuses on the experience we had on the trip. Specifically, the people we met. As a reminder, the Big Kansas Road Trip (BKRT) is hosted by the Kansas Sampler Foundation – whose mission is to preserve, sustain, and grow rural culture by educating Kansans about Kansas and by networking and supporting r...

This is the first in a three-episode series about the Big Kansas Road Trip. 2018 was the inaugural year for the Big Kansas Road Trip (BKRT), a cultural event conceived by the Kansas Sampler Foundation , whose mission is to preserve, sustain, and grow rural culture by educating Kansans about Kansas and by networking and supporting rural communities. Three Kansas counties and a specific weekend were...

On this episode, we uncover a unique program in Johnson County Kansas that enables and encourages commercial art-making by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Papercrete Works is a program created by Johnson County Developmental Supports (JCDS) that marries art, commerce, and recycling to create an opportunity for clients of JCDS to earn an hourly wage. I learned of the progra...