Jacob Smollen
KCUR Studios intern, 2025-2026Jacob Smollen is the 2025-2026 intern for KCUR Studios.
He graduated in May 2025 from Brown University, where he was the podcast editor, and a city and state politics editor for the school’s newspaper, The Brown Daily Herald. Last summer, Jacob wrote for a small newspaper on Cape Cod called the Provincetown Independent.
Jacob is originally from Philadelphia, but his mother was born in Kansas City and his grandmother grew up here, so he’s excited to explore and get to know the metro.
In Jacob’s free time, he watches (and plays) a bunch of sports so he’s especially looking forward to seeing the city’s sports culture.
Email him at jsmollen@kcur.org.
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A data center in the Crossroads is one of the first in the country to get a loan for clean energy. Plus: Scientists across the central U.S. say they have experienced a year of change and uncertainty under the second Trump administration. -
A huge tree is being cut down in Kansas City's Historic Northeast. The burr oak predates even the Revolutionary War and survived as the city sprang up around it. But after a lightning strike and years of disease, Frank the Liberty Tree has reached its end.
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Missouri lawmakers arrived this week in Jefferson City for the start of the 2026 legislative session, which runs until mid-May. Gov. Mike Kehoe is pushing to eliminate the state income tax, but a smaller budget will likely force spending cuts.
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The state of Kansas is luring the Kansas City Chiefs across the state line with funding from STAR Bonds, a unique kind of tax incentive. The team plans to build a $3 billion stadium in Wyandotte County and a practice facility worth hundreds of millions of dollars in Olathe.
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Missouri lawmakers have passed historically expensive budgets in recent years, but next year will likely be different, according to Missouri state Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern, a Democrat from Kansas City. The state's revenue has flatlined when adjusted for inflation, and there is no more surplus of federal money. Nurrenbern said that math means Missouri won't be able to fund all the services it has in prior years.
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The Kansas City Chiefs' planned move across the state line marked an unusually bipartisan success for Kansas elected leaders. In most other ways, state politics in 2025 were marked by Republican wins and Democratic frustrations.
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The year 2025 marked the start of a new governor's term in Missouri, and the deepening of Republican control of the General Assembly. As the year ended, the blame and sorrow over the state losing the Kansas City Chiefs were just beginning.
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Since 1956, Leila Cohoon had amassed the world’s largest collection of hair art and jewelry — intricate works made of human hair. Her museum in Independence, Missouri, was the only one of its kind. But when Cohoon died last year, the future of this Kansas City institution — and the unusual tradition it preserved — was suddenly an open question. Suzanne Hogan speaks to KCUR’s Julie Denesha to find the answer. -
This year saw the formation of the Kansas City area's first Women’s Pinball League. The Strawberry Hill bar is a place where beginners and pros of all ages and “walks of life” gather each Thursday for slap-saves, snacks, and sisterhood. -
This week, petitioners challenging Missouri's gerrymandered new congressional map submitted 305,000 signatures seeking to halt the law and put it up for a statewide vote. That's more than twice as many as needed. But a whole tangle of legal challenges lay ahead.
