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Kansas City Today
Every Weekday

Kansas City Today is a daily news podcast from KCUR Studios bringing you all things Kansas City, wrapped up in 15 minutes or less. Whether you’re an early bird or a night owl, it’ll be waiting in your feed every weekday. Hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin.

  • In the 1970s, a Kansas City woman helped create Naiad Press, the largest lesbian publishing company in the world. Her goal was to tell more positive stories about queer love. Plus: Hundreds of people attend the weekly bingo night at the American Legion in Olathe, and they come to win.
  • Buying a new trumpet or trombone could get a lot more expensive, as Kansas City music store owners are getting hit hard by President Trump's on-again, off-again tariffs. Plus: A prominent Kansas abortion clinic has a new leader with plans to expand access.
  • Nearly 20,000 people are released from Missouri prisons each year. Going home is an adjustment — and a relief. Hear from one man who returned home after 37 years. Plus: Get caught up on news from around the metro.
  • Midwesterners typically head to the woods to find morels because the mushrooms have a lifecycle that’s hard to replicate at farms, but that could change. Plus: Why it’s so hard for the farming industry in Kansas to switch crops.
  • The Kansas City Council has found its next city manager. Get to know Mario Vasquez, the first Latino to permanently hold one of most powerful positions in the city. Plus: Stay up to date with the latest political headlines from around the region.
  • Abortion is heading back to the ballot, after Missouri Republican lawmakers fell back on a little-used rule to shut down a Democratic filibuster and push through a ballot amendment to ban abortion again. They used the same maneuver to repeal a paid sick leave law — just months after Missouri voters approved both.
  • The concept of diversity, equity and inclusion has been thrust into the political spotlight as President Donald Trump targets programs on college campuses that try to support historically underrepresented groups. But Kansas experts say that DEI is being misrepresented.
  • For the last few months, transgender service members have had to wrestle with the reality that they’ve been deemed unqualified to serve in the U.S. military. Hear more from an officer stationed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, who is directly affected. Also, The Natural Resources Conservation Service turns 90 this year. But the agency, which sprung out of the Dust Bowl, has lost employees and could see major funding cuts.
  • Bruce R. Watkins Drive took three decades to build, and resulted in the destruction of 2,000 homes and the displacement of thousands of Black residents. Kansas City officials and longtime residents hope a new federal grant can reconnect the neighborhoods torn apart by Highway 71, but mending old wounds won’t be easy.
  • Sen. Josh Hawley spent his first time in office building up his reputation as an arch-conservative — and in the Jan. 6 insurrection linked himself to President Trump and the MAGA movement. But in several ways, the Missouri senator is also positioning himself as a champion of the working class.