KPR Presents
KPR Presents is an opportunity to showcase high-profile, thought-provoking lectures, discussions and dialogues recorded throughout the region. There are so many fascinating people who come to this area, everyone from Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor to syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts. KPR Presents is a great way to share some of those lectures with our listeners. We have also been able to expand the program to cover a broad range of topics, including the Kansas Sesquicentennial, the National Day of Listening and the Kansas Reads program sponsored by the State Library of Kansas, just to name a few. Subscribe via your favorite podcast platforms.
Latest Episodes
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Renowned journalist Bill Moyers passed away recently at the age of 91. In this special encore broadcast, we revisit his remarks from the 2016 Bennett Forum on the Presidency, sponsored by the Truman Library Institute. Moyers was joined at this event by presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. -
Historian Ian Shaw takes us back to Coffeyville in 1892, the double bank robbery that brought the Dalton Gang to an end, and the surprising story of the gang's lone survivor. -
We celebrate Pride Month with the story of the fight for gay rights on campus. Kathy Rose-Mockry is the author of "Liberating Lawrence: Gay Activism in the 1970s at the University of Kansas." We also hear from Matt Keenan, executive director of Kansas Legal Services, KPR's Community Spotlight organization for June. -
We get a sneak peek at the 2025 Free State Festival — six days of movies, music, and more — with Festival director Marlo Angell and Backer Hamada, co-director of the documentary "Trauma: The New Epidemic." Also, we visit with KPR's new Morning Edition host Matthew Algeo. -
Seventy years ago, the town of Udall was devastated by an F5 tornado — the deadliest in Kansas history. Jim Minick takes us back to the summer of 1955 in his Kansas Notable book, Without Warning: The Tornado of Udall, Kansas. Also, this month marks the 20th and final Symphony in the Flint Hills. We visit with Sandy Carlson, program manager of the Symphony's Signature event, taking place Saturday, June 14th, in Chase County. -
Having trouble staying focused nowadays? Best-selling author Johann Hari explores some of the causes in "Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention — and How to Think Deeply Again." Hari is coming to Lawrence's Liberty Hall on June 11th, sponsored by the Lawrence Public Library. Also, we visit the Topeka-Shawnee County Public Library as they reopen their newly-redesigned children's room. -
The State Library of Kansas has just released its 2025 Kansas Notable Books list, 15 of the best new books by Kansas authors or about Kansas. State Librarian Ray Walling and Notable Books facilitator Brett Rurode give us a sneak peek at this year's batch. We also revisit a conversation with 2024 Kansas Notable winner Sarah Edgerton, author of Daughter of Chaos. And we visit the No Stone Unturned Foundation in Manhattan, KPR's Community Spotlight organization for May. -
Our Kansas Notable series continues with Nghiem Tran's haunting novella, We're Safe When We're Alone. Also, Rachel McCarthy James explores the history of axe murder in her new book, Whack Job. -
NPR's Mary Louise Kelly on motherhood, soccer, and her book, It Goes So Fast, now out in paperback. Also, the story of the University of Kansas Jayhawk, and a conversation with Ada Límon who just completed her second term as U.S. Poet Laureate. -
As we mark the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War, we hear from Kansas veterans about their military service in Vietnam. It's a special encore presentation of "Kansas Stories of the Vietnam War," a statewide oral history project sponsored by Humanities Kansas.
