Katie Keckeisen

At the end of World War II, a Kansas soldier played a key role in bringing Nazi war criminals to justice. The man from Phillipsburg had to figure out how to construct a courtroom to hold numerous defendants, lawyers, judges, translators and the media - all in one place. Commentator Katie Keckeisen tells us about this Kansas connection to the Nuremberg Trials, which began 79 years ago today.

Do you like food? What about reading about food? KPR Commentator Katie Keckeisen tells us about a woman from Riley County who changed the way we eat, and the way we think and write about food. Listen to the story of Clementine Paddleford, the Kansas woman who became America's first food writer.

Like other places during the late 1800s and early 1900s, Topeka was a hot-bed for spiritualism and seances. Commentator Katie Keckeisen tells us about a fraudster who scammed people in Topeka and Spring Hill, Kansas. Katie will also give a talk about spiritualism on Friday, the 13th of October, at the Topeka Shawnee County Public Library.

A former slave came to Kansas and conquered the competitive business of growing... potatoes. Junius Groves, of Edwardsville, earned millions growing his crop. So, move over Idaho potato growers, Commentator Katie Keckeisen tells us more about this forgotten farmer.

It was 88 years ago today that a massive dust storm descended on western Kansas, blacking out the sun and covering everything in a thick layer of dust. The day came to be known as Black Sunday. Hear why so many Kansas believed it was literally... the end of the world.

Topeka area native Georgia Neese Clark Gray was the first female Treasurer of the United States. But she wasn't the last. Ever since, all U.S. Treasurers have been women. For Women's History Month, Commentator Katie Keckeisen has this remembrance of a remarkable Kansas woman.

Lorenzo Fuller, who grew up in Stockton, Kansas, became a Broadway sensation in the mid 1900s. This singer, musician and performer was the first Black man to have a network TV variety show (nearly a decade before Nat "King" Cole).

In the early 1870s, Dr. Brewster Higley stepped outside his cabin in Smith County, Kansas and wrote a poem to express his love for the land he now called home. His poem became the state song, Home on the Range.