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Seg. 1: Rodeo Clown Paintings | Seg. 2: Kansastan | Seg. 3: Day Of The Dead

Segment 1: New paintings by a Kansas City artist examine the 'brash volume' of public discourse.

Rodeo clowns, talkshow hosts, preachers. To Michael Schliefke, they're symbols for what public discourse has become. 

Segment 2: A Kansas-born author creates literary buzz with 'halal fiction.'

Farooq Ahmed has written a dystopian Civil War novel imagining Kansas as a holy state for Muslims. The border war between Kansas and Missouri becomes a scriptural story of religious proportions. 

Segment 3: Central Avenue comes together to celebrate Day of the Dead.

Three weeks after tragedy struck Central Avenue, the annual Day of the Dead celebration brings the community back out for music, dancing, costumes, face-painting, and lots and lots of food. 

  • Edgar Galicia, Central Avenue Betterment Association
People don't make cameos in news stories; the human story is the story, with characters affected by news events, not defined by them. As a columnist and podcaster, I want to acknowledge what it feels like to live through this time in Kansas City, one vantage point at a time. Together, these weekly vignettes form a collage of daily life in Kansas City as it changes in some ways, and stubbornly resists change in others. You can follow me on Twitter @GinaKCUR or email me at gina@kcur.org.
Anne Kniggendorf is a staff writer/editor at the Kansas City Public Library and freelance contributor to KCUR. She is the author of "Secret Kansas City."