Wichita Podcast

We are back again with another great partnership with a local initiative helping the community combat poverty, drug abuse, and assist the foster care system. Sadie Williams is leading the charge in the Wichita community for Care For Every Family and was kind enough to sit down with us and discuss all the great works they do. Check out http://careforeveryfamily.com for more information and go downl...

Did you miss us? We met with the CEO and President of Wichita Festivals, BreAnna Monk who was kind enough to talk more about the history of the Riverfest, what to expect in 2026, and the hopes for the future. When we tell you there are a lot of activities this year... And if you want a full history of the Riverfest, go check out episode #10 of the Wichita Podcast for an even more in depth look! Ch...

We are back with another exciting episode featuring Wichita's own S.J. Crespo. S.J. has accomplished several things in her career working in the public and nonprofit space, and most of it (really all of it) has been to advance the city of Wichita and the state of Kansas. She is usually busy working for Kansas Health Foundation (and previously KMUW) and hosting a show where locals can have rea...

It's 2025 and we've got a brand new episode for you!  We sat down with the owners of Lily Lake - a newish homeschool collective in the greater Wichita area. They offer a unique opportunity for an alternative school experience and are planning on growing those opportunities in the years to come. Sit down, relax, and enjoy another WichiTalk Series with a local business that is sure to get...

We are BACK with another brand new series we thought we'd try out. The 316 Series is going to be a project where we speak with local historians from the towns that make up the Greater Wichita and the 316 area. We want to hear the history, tales, and stories about how these cities were founded and what brought them to how they are today.  Our first episode is with the Mayor of Derby and one of...

We are back with another WichiTalk Series episode where we sat down with Christy, the Director of the WAAL. This is another one of those amazing Wichita organizations that provides so much to our community that you maybe haven't even heard of. Well...listen in and learn a lot about what they do because they help animals and people and all of Wichita every single day. Another great cause! You...

We ventured out west again to meet with the team at Tanganyika so that they could talk about their upcoming future plans for the park. There has been some online backlash due to some of these announcements, and so the team wanted an opportunity to explain their side of the situation and get us all very excited for what is coming soon.  Whether you agree with some of the changes or not, it appears...

We are back with another great episode from our WichiTalk Series - this time with the amazing organization The Treehouse! Once again we left this interview flabbergasted about all the amazing things The Treehouse does for Wichita and strongly encourage you to listen through the entire episode. Jaleen Claassen (Executive Director) and Cristin Coats (Operations Manager) gave us some great insight an...

We are back with another one of our WichiTalk Series this time talking with Scott Newland, the President and CEO of the Sedgwick County Zoo. We say this a lot but this is one episode you are not going to want to miss. Scott has been involved with the zoo for over 30 years and has a wealth of knowledge on the creation of the zoo as well as the path it has taken over the years. He is very detailed o...

We sat down with Mary Sue Dymak who is the Rentals & Inventory Director for Music Theatre Wichita and has been with the organization for almost 50 years! She is a wealth of knowledge and gave us great insight into this incredible organization.  If you were unaware - MTW is a very incredible piece of Wichita entertainment and we are beyond fortunate to have it right in our backyard. You will no...

We are back with another WichiTalk Series where we will be going around to organizations in town to hear their histories first hand from those that work there and/or founded it.  We sat down with Tanganyika Wildlife Park and Matt Fouts, Visionary and Director for the park and son of the founders. This was such a great conversation hearing not only the background of the park but also what is coming...

The Wichita Podcast is back with a brand new series called the WichiTalk Series. We will be going around to organizations in town to hear their histories first hand from those that work there and/or founded it.  We sat down with Legacy Ministries Executive Director, Shelly Westfall, and one of the founders,Miriam Overholt, to hear the miraculous story of how this great organization came to be. The...

We do realize that we refer to us being in April several times in this episode because, yes, we recorded it back then and we finally got around to editing it. Our editing team took a long sabbatical but they are back and so are we! Did you know that you can credit a lot of our national highway system to a man from Wichita? Well you are about to learn!  Woody Hockaday was THE guy who  really pushed...

1991 brought a devastating tornado to the greater Wichita area. Tornados are no strangers to the midwest and something we deal with often. The history behind this tornado (and others that were similar in size) reminds us all to keep safe when those sirens sound. And did you know those sirens started in Wichita? Follow/Like Us! Website - https://www.wichitapodcast.com/ Instagram - https://www.insta...

We had the ultimate privilege of sitting down with Scott Carter, the resident expert on all things Father Emil Kapaun, to not only figure out how to pronounce his name (spoilers we didn't) but also to hear the story of the life of this incredible (almost) Wichitan both before and after his death. Scott makes the remark that Father Kapaun might be the most famous person buried in Wichita and h...

David had the privilege of sitting down with Kristin Martin - Marketing Director for the Museum of World Treasures to find out the history of this incredible museum right in our own city.  Kristin walked us through how and why the museum first opened up, how it has changed over the 20 years, and where they are heading in the future. This is really such a unique spot that Wichita has to offer so ge...

The boys sat down to discuss all things McConnell Air Force Base from the inception as a municipal airport to who McConnell is named for all the way to what McConnell looks like today. This is a jam packed episode full of a lot of history and many details and for sure one you will walk away from learning many new facts about a staple in Wichita we all know. Also, David's father Kim stopped by...

On this episode of the Wichita Podcast David sits down with local thespian and historian Mark Barlow to discuss the Caldwell Murdock Building as well as the namesake - Louise Caldwell Murdock. Wichita's first skyscraper still stands today at the corner of Douglas and Main and has some interesting history. Listen in to learn about the building, the lady behind the building, Sasquatch, and more...

The boys are BACK in the #NewCollectiveBasement ready to talk about the history of municipal golf in Wichita. Andrew takes us through a look of golf first coming to Wichita, how it was developed over the years, and the golfing community today in the greater Wichita area. So grab your headphones, go hit the links to play a round, and listen in to this fun filled episode about the history of golf in...

You know you are from Wichita when you pronounce the words talked about on today's podcast exactly like we do. Whether it be towns in Kansas, streets in Wichita, or a certain river - Wichita (and Kansas) has a certain way of pronouncing words and we stand behind it! Join us for our 50th episode as we dive into the reasons why we pronounce things the way we do with plenty of laughs to share ar...

The boys are back this time with Rachel Banning (Executive Director) and Barney Byard (Theatre Director) to hear about how the Orpheum is thriving today, the booking process of bringing the acts through Wichita you want to see, and what the next 100 years has in store for Lady O.  While the Orpheum is doing well, it still needs the support of the Wichita community through donations or volunteers t...

We sat down with Stacee Olden, Development Director for the Wichita Orpheum Theatre, and Delmar Klocke, Board Member and resident Orpheum Historian to hear about the history of the Wichita Orpheum. The Orpheum hits its 100 year anniversary on September 4th, and so we thought it would be the perfect subject to explore the ups and downs of the theatre for the last 100 years. It was the first atmosph...

You probably never knew that Northrock Lanes has a very rich history surrounding not only the development of northeast Wichita but also the entire sport of bowling. Andrew walks us through the history of this bowling alley from the inception and why it was built, to the changes it made to the bowling world, and where it is headed in the future now that it was recently bought out. So plug in your h...

We sat down with Sara and Charity Harmon - award winning sister film makers. They were kind enough to talk to us about their film For Your Amusement: The Wonderland Park on Ackerman Island and the history behind Ackerman Island in general.  Wait - you didn't know there used to be an entire amusement park AND baseball field smack dab in the middle of the Arkansas River?! Well this episode is f...

The Wichita Wind Surge may not have a long history as the minor league baseball team in Wichita but baseball in Wichita (as we've covered before) does. We sat down high up in the broadcasting booth to talk about the Wichita Wind Surge, how the organization founds its way to Wichita, the new stadium, and the team name.  We also got to sit down with Tim Grubbs - the Director of Broadcasting and...