Luke X. Martin
Culture EditorAs culture editor, I oversee KCUR’s coverage of race, culture, the arts, food and sports. I work with reporters to make sure our stories reflect the fullest view of the place we call home, so listeners and readers feel primed to explore the places, projects and people who make up a vibrant Kansas City.
I was born in Manhattan, Kansas, and raised in Wichita where I fell in love with public radio listening to member station KMUW. I got my start pulling early morning DJ shifts at the student-run radio station KJHK while studying English at the University of Kansas.
I was previously an intern for KCUR's Up To Date, and joined the staff as associate producer in 2016. I have reported on government and politics in the Chicago metro area, and national security and defense in Washington. My work has appeared online at UPI.com, The Daily Caller, Politics Daily and The Pitch.
I have a master’s of journalism from the Medill School of Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University. If you see me along a running trail or track in Kansas City, please offer me some water or a high five.
My email is luke@kcur.org.
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Religious pilgrims have been visiting a monastery north of Kansas City to see the well-preserved remains of an exhumed nun, who is drawing claims of sainthood because of her “incorrupt” body. Plus: Congress made SNAP work requirements stricter, shortly after Kansas made similar changes. -
The Urban Youth Academy helped plant the Kansas City Royals' flag in the Historic 18th and Vine district, but many residents of nearby neighborhoods have only mustered lukewarm acceptance. Will the lack of enthusiasm affect the push for a new downtown ballpark? Plus: Kansas lawmakers want a quicker switch to teaching reading in a way that actually works.
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Kansas City’s tenant union formed a political organizing group last year. The group has been campaigning hard for six candidates as it tries to shift the balance of power in Kansas City with today's election. Plus: Missouri voters could decide whether the state constitution should be harder to change, but it may face a tough reception at the polls.
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After the end of pandemic-era free school meals, kids in Midwest states are eating fewer lunches and meal debt is rising. Plus: After decades of inaction from Kansas leaders over the Ogallala Aquifer drying up, the state's approach to water conservation might finally be shifting.
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Three officers on the Kansas City Police Department’s SWAT team are recovering in the hospital after being shot while serving a search warrant on Tuesday night. A nearly day-long standoff on Blue Ridge Boulevard ended with three people taken into custody.
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The Kansas City Chiefs celebrated their Super Bowl win on Wednesday with a parade that stretched more than a mile through downtown and ended up at a rally in front of Union Station. Here are the best photos from the day.
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The Kansas City Chiefs, who overcame multiple injuries prior to and during the game against the Cincinnati Bengals, were hosting the AFC Championship for the fifth year in a row. They'll face the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Feb. 12.
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Hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude oil spilled out of the Keystone Pipeline in north-central Kansas, and cleaning it up will be especially difficult. Plus: Kansas nursing homes are facing allegations of neglect, even after receiving rewards for more thoughtful care.
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Kansas City has long held a reputation as a center of blues music and culture. But as elder musicians pass away, one Kansas blues festival appears to have reached its conclusion. Plus, Kansas City's first bicycle collective has transformed junk into reliable rides for 15 years.
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Don Henry was a 1930s college kid from Dodge City, Kansas, who left everything he knew to join the fight against fascism. His life moved one music professor to put the story down in song.
