It was on this date - January 29th, 1861 - that Kansas was admitted to the Union as the 34th state. Three months later, the nation was embroiled in the American Civil War. But let's not think about that. Instead, let's celebrate the state's people, culture and history. Happy Kansas Day!

A new documentary profiles the ranchers of Greenwood County, Kansas. In this excerpt, we learn about the Perrier family and their operation: Dalebanks Angus near Eureka, Kansas.

Another University of Kansas alum has flown into space. Dr. Laura Stiles is part of Blue Origin's latest suborbital mission. She's the fifth Jayhawk to travel to space.

Kansas lawmakers are back in session in Topeka. The governor wants them to address the state's ongoing water problems. But will they? Commentator Rex Buchanan has more on the state's long-running water problems - problems that many are now calling a crisis.

It almost sounds like a bad sit-com: A French aristocrat moves to rural Kansas to start a silk-making commune. But it really happened, more than 150 years ago, and although—spoiler alert—the commune failed, it can still tell us much about what life in the United States was like back then—and what it’s like today.

One legend of the Old West involves a Mexican-American lawman who grew up in Topeka. The lawman once fought off dozens of gunfighters in New Mexico in a battle that lasted more than 30 hours. After 4,000 rounds were fired, the lawman emerged unscathed. Commentator Katie Keckeisen has more on the legend of Elfego Baca and his connection to Kansas.

In 1963, Andy Williams sang: "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year." But is it also the scariest time of the year? KPR's J. Schafer investigates.

You've heard of an apple core. It's the part most people throw away. Today, we'll hear about a different kind of core - a core sample of the Earth. The University of Kansas is creating more space to store and display rock core samples. Commentator Rex Buchanan tells us why we should care.

We may hear others, but do we really listen to them?

The tallgrass prairie is mostly confined to the Kansas Flint Hills in eastern Kansas. But earlier this year, some of that grass - up to 5 feet tall - started sprouting further west, out in the Smoky Hills of central Kansas. What's going on here? Commentator Rex Buchanan explains.