Archiver

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Kansas Killers And Our Rocky Relationship With Capital Punishment Jan 18, 2017

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While the Clutter murders are the best known in Kansas history, they aren’t the most infamous and certainly not the most bizarre. The killers were eventually put to death, but the state hasn't always been in favor of the death penalty. In fact, Kansas has struggled with the capital punishment for most of its history.

Dr. King's Last College Stop Dec 20, 2016

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For most, 1968 would feel like the United States was coming apart at the seams: The Tet offensive in Vietnam, wild political conventions and assassinations: First King then Senator Robert Kennedy. Both great men would have ties to Kansas in 1968. Kennedy, as we talked about on a previous Archiver, gave his first speech in Kansas after he announced his presidential run. King would start his year at Kansas State University on January 19th at convocation in a jammed packed Ahearn Field House. King came away impressed and heartened by the students he met that day in Manhattan. But we didn’t know how impressed until decades later when hand written notes found in the suite jacket he was wearing the night he was shot surfaced. Notes directly tied to Kansas State. And his words that cold morning in Manhattan are as meaningful today as they were 48 years ago.For most, 1968 would feel like the United States was coming apart at the seams: The Tet offensive in Vietnam, wild political conventions and assassinations: First King then Senator Robert Kennedy. Both great men would have ties to Kansas in 1968. Kennedy, as we talked about on a previous Archiver, gave his first speech in Kansas after he announced his presidential run. King would start his year at Kansas State University on January 19th at convocation in a jammed packed Ahearn Field House. King came away impressed and heartened by the students he met that day in Manhattan. But we didn’t know how impressed until decades later when hand written notes found in the suite jacket he was wearing the night he was shot surfaced. Notes directly tied to Kansas State. And his words that cold morning in Manhattan are as meaningful today as they were 48 years ago.

Presidential Politics And The Man From Russell Nov 03, 2016

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Kansas hasn’t produced the number of presidents and presidential candidates as Virginia or New York but Kansans, both famous and obscure, have played an important role. We’ve had a war hero, a millionaire, a prohibitionist and a communist run for president. We’ll talk about all of them, but we will focus on the 1996 Bob Dole campaign against Bill Clinton, which touched on things we’re still grappling with in 2016. It will sound familiar. Except for how it ends.

The Plow That Broke The Plains Oct 21, 2016

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In 1936 the federal government released a film. They called it a documentary, but it was mostly propaganda. Many would argue that its cause was noble rather than sinister. Others, as we’ll see, would vehemently disagree. But to understand why the federal government got into the propaganda film business.

The Battle At Tuttle Creek Sep 29, 2016

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After the floods of 1951, a small valley in Kansas finds itself "invaded" when the Army Corps of Engineers decides to build a dam.

Basketball, Big Dollars, And The Man From Lawrence Kansas Sep 08, 2016

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We take it as a matter of fact now that sports are big business. Professional sports are a huge business, but almost all the rest are at at least big. College coaches make millions of dollars for coaching and millions more for shoe endorsements, TV, and camps. But it wasn’t always this way. We were reminded of that by a recently discovered radio broadcast from New Year’s Eve, 1939 on WOR.

Season 2 Trailer Aug 10, 2016

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Archiver returns September 8th for season 2.

The Sudden Need To Run Apr 19, 2016

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If 2016 is the most tumultuous presidential election year you’ve ever seen that simply means you weren’t alive or paying attention in 1968.

TV, The Triple Play, and the Man from Dodge Apr 19, 2016

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I want to tell you about a scandal. Fred Hall was an ambitious but unpopular governor among the GOP elite in Kansas in the 50s. He would go on to find himself on the outskirts of the party. Hall would eventually go directly to the people on TV and he would change politics and the legal system in Kansas in a way we that we are feeling right this minute.

Goat Glands, Radio Waves, and the Governorship Apr 19, 2016

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If I were to tell you about a millionaire running for high political office that found his fame in the media, and financed himself through somewhat sketchy endeavors, a man who worked outside of the regular political channels and who seemed to be constantly battling the establishment, you would probably say, I know who that is, Donald Trump. But long before Trump, or Ross Perot, or Michael Bloomberg for that matter, there was Dr. John R. Brinkley.

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