© 2024 Kansas City Public Radio
NPR in Kansas City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Sundays at 5pmRebroadcast Mondays at 8pm Host: Susan B. Wilson Producer & Co-Host: Sylvia Maria Gross Assistant Producer: Alex Smith Contact: kccurrents@kcur.org or 816.235.6696Follow our Tweets: www.twitter.com/kccurrents For a weekly reminder of what's coming up on KC Currents, send an email to kccurrents@kcur.orgThe Latest From KC CurrentsPlanting New Grocery Stores In Rural Food Deserts Rural America is losing its grocery stores. Fewer people are living in the countryside, and mom-and-pop markets can't compete with big chains. But as KCUR's Sylvia Maria Gross reports, some small towns are finding creative ways to buck the trend. K-State Program Supports Rural Groceries With grocery stores in rural Kansas closing at record speed, having access to healthy food is a growing issue. Sylvia Maria Gross interviews K-State Professor David Proctor about what options are available for small town groceries.

Kancare, Leon Jordan Biography, Eddie Saunders Remembrance

Leon Jordan was one of the founders of Freedom, Incorporated.
Courtesy of LaBudde Special Collections
/
UMKC
Leon Jordan was one of the founders of Freedom, Incorporated.

Lower Cost & Better Care: Can KanCare Deliver?

Starting January 1, Kansas has hired three for-profit companies to manage the state's Medicaid program.  Kansas Public Radio and Kansas Health Institute take an in-depth look at the Governor Sam Brownback KanCare initiative.

Book Explores Life And Legacy Of Pioneering Political Leader Leon Jordan

Leon Jordan was a pioneering local politician and civil rights leader. 40 years after he was gunned down outside the bar he owned, Jordan's murder remains one of the most vexing mysteries in Kansas City history. Biographer Robert Farnsworth has released a new ebook about Jordan’s life and legacy.

Research Reveals Disparity In NIH Grant Funding

When researchers submit proposals to the National Institutes of Health to get funding, they don’t indicate their race or ethnicity. But black researchers are 1/3 less likely than other equally-qualified researchers to receive NIH funding. That’s according to a study by University of Kansas economics professor Donna Ginther, who researched the topic for the Institutes in 2008. Ginther says the medical community needs researchers who better reflect the demographics of the population.

Jazz Saxophonist Eddie Saunders Remembered

Kansas City saxophone player and jazz singer Eddie Saunders passed away on December 30th at the age of 80. Friends and fellow musicians remember his music, stories and spirit.

Sylvia Maria Gross is storytelling editor at KCUR 89.3. Reach her on Twitter @pubradiosly.
A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Susan admits that her “first love” was radio, being an avid listener since childhood. However, she spent much of her career in mental health, healthcare administration, and sports psychology (Susan holds a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Bloch School of Business at UMKC.) In the meantime, Wilson satisfied her journalistic cravings by doing public speaking, providing “expert” interviews for local television, and being a guest commentator/contributor to KPRS’s morning drive time show and the teen talk show “Generation Rap.”
As a health care reporter, I aim to empower my audience to take steps to improve health care and make informed decisions as consumers and voters. I tell human stories augmented with research and data to explain how our health care system works and sometimes fails us. Email me at alexs@kcur.org.
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.
KCUR serves the Kansas City region with breaking news and award-winning podcasts.
Your donation helps keep nonprofit journalism free and available for everyone.