Mackenzie Martin
Senior Podcast Producer/Host/ReporterAs senior podcast producer for KCUR Studios and a host of A People's History of Kansas City, I interview everyday people and dig through old newspaper articles to unearth stories of the visionaries and renegades who created this region. I focus on bringing the past to life, so we can all better understand the city we live in today.
I also edit the KCUR podcasts Up From Dust and Seeking A Scientist. Previously, I produced Overlooked, Hungry For MO and Real Humans. You can reach me at mackenzie@kcur.org.
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Invented in Kansas City in 1955, the Bomb Pop is the ultimate shorthand for nostalgic Americana — a throwback to the simple days of ice cream trucks, July 4th fireworks and humid summer nights. But Mackenzie Martin reports that during the Cold War, some parents revolted over the symbolism of selling a red-white-and-blue frozen weapon of war to children. -
The red-white-and-blue popsicles are the ultimate shorthand Americana — a throwback to the simple days of ice cream trucks, July 4th fireworks and humid summer nights. But after the Bomb Pop came on the market in July 1955, some parents revolted over the symbolism of selling a frozen weapon of war to children. -
Kansas City, Missouri, became the first major city in the country to repeal its anti-jaywalking ordinance, after research found that tickets were being disproportionately issued to Black men. It’s a full-circle moment, because Kansas City was also the first city to criminalize jaywalking more than a century earlier. Mackenzie Martin reports in the second of our two-part series. -
Kansas City, Missouri, became the first major city in the U.S. to repeal its anti-jaywalking ordinance, after research found that tickets were being disproportionately issued to Black men. It’s a full-circle moment, because Kansas City was also the first city to criminalize jaywalking more than a century earlier. -
Kansas City was not only the birthplace of the term “jaywalking,” it also became the first city in the U.S. to arrest people for such a crime. Fueled by auto industry propaganda, this decision set off a nationwide trend to redesign our roads for the car — at the expense of everyone else. Mackenzie Martin reports in the first of our two-part series. -
In 1912, Kansas City, Missouri, became the first city in the U.S. to arrest people for jaywalking. Fueled by auto industry propaganda, this decision set off a nationwide trend to redesign our roads for the car — at the expense of everyone else.
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Black student enrollment declined almost 34% at the University of Missouri between 2013-2023 — and Black students there have much to say about why. -
Residents of an apartment complex in Gardner, Kansas, were kicked out of their homes earlier this year when the city condemned the property for unsafe living conditions, but one change in a law could help. Plus: A Missouri researcher says "radical empathy" can help combat today's conspiracy theories, which may help when you go home for the holidays.
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California startup Deep Fission says it plans to install a nuclear reactor underneath an industrial park in southeast Kansas. Plus, as the United States prepares for the 2026 World Cup, a look at how Kansas City Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt helped U.S. soccer go pro.
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Think you’ve got what it takes to win someone's heart with just your wit, in front of an audience? "That KC Dating Show," a live event that borrows its humor-over-looks approach from the classic TV series "The Dating Game," has been connecting Kansas City singles since April.
