Kansas Reflector Podcast

Mar 07 2025 241 ep. 28 mins 37
Kansas Reflector Podcast artwork

The Kansas Reflector Podcast, hosted by senior reporter Tim Carpenter, presents voices from the people and politics of Kansas.

  News
RSS feed Share
Copy RSS


Subscribe on Podcast Addict


Kansas professor warns of 'democratic backsliding'

Mar 07 2025 24 mins  
Chris Koliba, a public administration professor at the University of Kansas, is concerned academic standards don't forcefully answer growing threats to core democratic ideals.

A Kansas Senate newbie's perspective of this year's session

Feb 27 2025 29 mins  
Freshman Sen. Patrick Schmidt, a Topeka Democrat, talks about property tax relief, gerrymandering, misplaced priorities, conflicts of interest, and this year's condensed session schedule.

Kansas Reflector staff take stock of legislative action, tensions

Feb 22 2025 36 mins  
At the end of six weeks worth of session, the Kansas Legislature is barreling ahead at high speed with each chamber passing a bevy of bills. Kansas Reflector staff take stock of where legislators have ended up with a compressed schedule and tensions flaring.

Kansas Association of Counties on paying for essential services

Feb 12 2025 31 mins  
The State of Kansas requires local counties to provide an array of services, from health and safety to road maintenance and administering elections. But lawmakers at the Statehouse are applying scrutiny to counties for the property taxes that largely pay for those services. Bruce Chladny, executive director of the Kansas Association of Counties, and Jay Hall, the association's dep

The movement for gay rights in 1970s Kansas

Feb 07 2025 33 mins  
Author Katherine Rose-Mockry talks about the example set by University of Kansas students in the 1970s who founded the Kansas Gay Liberation Front. She writes about them in her new book, "Liberating Lawrence."

Kansas Board of Regents leader pitches investments

Jan 29 2025 25 mins  
Blake Flanders, president and CEO of the state Board of Regents talks cyberattacks on campuses, employee salary increases and need-based student aid.

The importance of Medicaid in rural communities

Jan 23 2025 26 mins  
Joan Alker, executive director and co-founder of the Georgetown Center for Children and Families, and Benjamin Anderson, president and CEO of Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System, talk about a new report detailing how the Medicaid program supports rural residents.

Reflecting and moving forward in Kansas with Martin Luther King Jr. as a guide

Jan 18 2025 30 mins  
Four Kansans ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. Day reflect upon what it means to embody the civil rights figure's legacy and how to approach a politically uncertain future.

What to expect in the 2025 Kansas legislative session

Jan 09 2025 22 mins  
Kansas Reflector opinion editor Clay Wirestone leads a discussion with editor in chief Sherman Smith, senior reporter Tim Carpenter and reporter Anna Kaminski on what to expect in the annual legislative session that begins Jan. 13.

New Republican Kanas senators on beating Democrats and session plans

Jan 03 2025 33 mins  
The Kansas legislative session begins Jan. 13 with a slate of newly elected officials — including more Republicans in both the House and Senate. Two Republican senators-elect, Brad Starnes of Manhattan and Jeff Klemp of Leavenworth County, talk about why voters favored them over Democratic incumbents in the election and their plans for the upcoming legislative session.