Missouri Valley Sundays

UMKC professor Bradley Poos discusses his new book about Kansas City’s Central High School, founded in 1867. He shares the stories of students, educators, and communities affected by decades of policy changes around race, school choice, and accountability.

Director Jon Trozzolo and producer Jody Valet discuss their new documentary-in-progress titled The Neighborhood: The North End Becomes Columbus Park. They explore the history of Kansas City’s “Little Italy” and highlight some of the hardworking and devout Italian immigrants who settled there and prospered.

On May 22, 1962, a routine flight from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport to Kansas City turned tragic after radar contact was suddenly lost. Eight crew members and 37 passengers died in one of the deadliest crashes in U.S. aviation history. Author Enfys McMurry discusses her new book, which details the search and rescue efforts...

For 125 years, the Folly Theater has stood at 12th and Central, a mirror reflecting the city’s changing times. Kate Egan, the theater’s former director of operations, reflects on the venue’s evolution — from a popular entertainment hub to a seedy X-rated movie house — and its 1981 restoration, which helped fuel downtow...

The Kaw River is an iconic feature of Kansas City's natural landscape. In his new book, botanist Jim Locklear discusses the geology, landforms, woodlands, prairies, and wildlife found within the Kaw’s watershed, drawing on more than 30 years of regional observation and travel.

Although little remembered today, Robert Boatright was one of the greatest con men of the early 20th century. Historian Kimberly Harper sheds light on Boatright’s elaborate scams and what brought his criminal enterprise to an end in a discussion of her new book.

In honor of Juneteenth, local historian Erik Stafford explores how African Americans in Kansas City pursued freedom, from escaping their enslavers through the Underground Railroad to establishing a thriving Black business community in the first half of the 20th century.

From its inception, Kansas City has been intricately tied to provisioning, hospitality, and good food. Culinary historian Andrea Broomfield examines how the West Bottoms has played a major role in the city’s legacy as the nation’s hospitality crossroads.

In his new book Ports to Posts: Latter-day Saint Gathering in the Nineteenth Century, historian Fred E. Woods details the Mormon journey to and through America, including the Missouri-Kansas transmigration border experience. Drawing from personal accounts, Woods chronicles the challenges that church members faced en r...

The role of women in Kansas City’s development is often overlooked. Kathy Krause, professor emerita of French at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, examines how the French-speaking women who lived in “Chez les Canses” (village of the Kanza) transformed the land at the confluence of the Kaw and Missouri rivers into...