Overlooked

Chapter 6: Untouchable

By Peggy Lowe,

Mackenzie Martin, Suzanne Hogan

Published November 23, 2022 at 3:00 AM CST

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Khadijah Hardaway of Justice For Wyandotte speaks at a rally to keep attention on women from Kansas City, Kansas, who were murdered.

Residents of Kansas City, Kansas, had been sounding alarms about detective Roger Golubski and corruption in the police department for decades. But city leaders did nothing, and Golubski retired in peace while the families of his victims mourned. It wasn’t until a year after KCUR started working on this podcast that the FBI finally arrested Golubski — on just a fraction of his alleged crimes. What does justice even look like after all this time?

Read more about how a culture of corruption defined the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department from KCUR's Peggy Lowe.

Overlooked is a production of KCUR Studios and the NPR Midwest Newsroom, and a member of the NPR Podcast Network.

It’s hosted by Peggy Lowe, with reporting by Peggy Lowe, Steve Vockrodt and Dan Margolies. Mackenzie Martin and Suzanne Hogan produced, mixed, and did the sound design for the podcast, with editing by CJ Janovy and mixing help from Paris Norvell. Digital editing by Gabe Rosenberg. Social media promotion by Allison Harris. Photos by Carlos Moreno and Julie Denesha. Artwork by Crysta Henthorne and Chandler Johnson of Kalimizzou. Music from Blue Dot Sessions.

Special thanks this episode to Steve Kraske, Genevieve Des Marteau, Lisa Rodriguez and Holly Edgell.

Overlooked: Season 1

Peggy Lowe

I’m a veteran investigative reporter who came up through newspapers and moved to public media. I want to give people a better understanding of the criminal justice system by focusing on its deeper issues, like institutional racism, the poverty-to-prison pipeline and police accountability. Today this beat is much different from how reporters worked it in the past. I’m telling stories about people who are building significant civil rights movements and redefining public safety. Email me at lowep@kcur.org.

See stories by Peggy Lowe

Mackenzie Martin

Whether it’s something happening right now or something that happened 100 years ago, some stories don’t fit in the short few minutes of a newscast. As a podcast producer and reporter at KCUR Studios, I help investigate questions and local curiosities in a way that brings listeners along for adventures with plot twists and thought-provoking ideas. Sometimes there isn’t an easy answer in the end – but my hope is that we all leave with a greater understanding of the city we live in. Reach me at mackenzie@kcur.org.

See stories by Mackenzie Martin

Suzanne Hogan

Every part of the present has been shaped by actions that took place in the past, but too often that context is left out. As a podcast producer for KCUR Studios and host of the podcast A People’s History of Kansas City, I aim to provide context, clarity, empathy and deeper, nuanced perspectives on how the events and people in the past have shaped our community today. In that role, and as an occasional announcer and reporter, I want to entertain, inform, make you think, expose something new and cultivate a deeper shared human connection about how the passage of time affects us all. Reach me at hogansm@kcur.org.

See stories by Suzanne Hogan