Ask A Kansan

What does a school counselor actually do all day — and why does it matter more now than ever? Hanna Mick is an elementary school counselor in Topeka and a part-time consultant with the Kansas State Department of Education, and she's proof that the role goes far beyond what you see on TV. From launching a peer conflict-resolution program at recess to using AI for career exploration with kids as young as third grade, Hannah is redefining what it means to support students. She's also the Kansas School Counselor of the Year and a finalist for the national title — not that she got into education for the awards. This conversation will make you wish you'd had a counselor like her growing up.

Highlights

• The difference between a "guidance counselor" and a school counselor — and why it matters
• Hanna's unexpected path from advertising to education (a soul-searching pivot she's never regretted)
• The Junior Coaches program: how sixth graders helping second graders at recess reduced office discipline referrals by 71–77% for some students
• Why by third grade, kids have already begun limiting their career ambitions based on race, gender, and socioeconomic status — and what counselors can do about it
• Using a school-approved AI tool to help students discover careers they never knew existed (e-sports manager, anyone?)
• Road Trip Nation: a free AI-informed platform that helps students cut through the "noise" and find their path
• The "two I's" framework for thinking about AI in schools: intention and impact
• Why teaching kids what cheating actually is in the age of AI is harder than it sounds
• Piper the therapy dog, the Paws and Claws project-based learning group, and a Humane Society partnership built by third graders
• Dartography debuts! Gus introduces a new segment using a dart and a cork-board Kansas map

Chapters

0:00 – Stadium Renderings

2:06 – Podcast Intro: Education Month

2:42 – Meet Hanna Mick

4:09 – Kansas Roots and K-State

4:49 – From Advertising to Counseling

8:16 – What School Counselors Do

11:04 – Junior Coaches Recess Program

15:53 – Counselor of the Year Mindset

18:13 – AI in Schools: Basics

21:25 – Teaching AI Literacy and Cheating

28:08 – Therapy Dogs: Piper and Pickles

29:35 – Paws and Claws Project Learning

30:45 – Frontloading Expectations

31:20 – Piper Costume Project

32:00 – Humane Society Partnership

33:35 – Career Bias by Third Grade

36:15 – AI Career Discovery

40:41 – Road Trip Nation Tool

41:58 – Counselor of the Year (National)

46:08 – Post-Interview Reflections

46:58 – Dartography Segment Begins

50:05 – Cimarron County Seat Gunfight

51:33 – Sewell's Folly Canal

53:02 – Ingalls Name Connections & Laura Ingalls Wilder

55:57 – Dart Throw Results

57:53 – Episode Wrap-Up

Resources

• Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) 
• Conscious Discipline – Dr. Becky Bailey's podcast 
• Character Strong 
• Hanna Mick's website
• Road Trip Nation

Learn more about the podcast at askakansan.com!

This show is part of the ICT Podcast Network, for more information, visit ictpod.net

Do kids even want to learn a skill like playing the guitar? This week we sit down with Matt Gerry, the guitar and music teacher at South Middle School in Salina, whose 24-year journey has taken him everywhere from a Weezer-sponsored trip to Chicago to a Radio Disney commercial — and even a Grammy Music Educator Award nomination. Before we get to Matt, Sydney shares a heartwarming (and a little ironic) story about a Kansan TikToker helping out a fellow Kansan stranded far from home, and Gus reminisces about the Hanks and Joshes of the world who keep our cars running. Then Matt takes us through how he fell in love with guitar via his dad's old Gibson, built a guitar program from scratch against school-system red tape, won contests with Weezer and Mozart-inspired performances, got his students backstage with Collective Soul, and shared the stage with his own wife and daughter in Theatre Salina's School of Rock. 

Highlights:

• A Kansan TikToker (Weston, from Winfield) pulls over to help a stranded fellow Kansan in Colorado — without realizing it at first
• Matt Gerry shares how he fell in love with guitar playing his dad's Gibson from Kalamazoo, Michigan while performing in a school production of Grease
• The step-by-step story of building South Middle School's guitar program — from a grant-funded classroom set of guitars in 2003 to a dedicated guitar class in 2010, now serving 250 students a year
• Winning a Weezer video contest that led to a trip to Chicago and new classroom instruments
• Winning the Midwest region of a Mozart-themed contest, earning $7,500 for new guitars, followed by a Radio Disney Channel visit and commercial shoot
• Matt's involvement with the Stiefel Theatre's School of Music and getting students backstage with bands like Collective Soul
• Sharing the stage with his wife and daughter in Theatre Salina's production of School of Rock
• Being nominated for the Grammy Music Educator Award and making the quarterfinals
• Why Matt believes learning guitar in a group setting beats learning solo from YouTube
• Matt's big goal: becoming a clinician who trains other guitar teachers
• A nostalgic tangent about Salina radio stations, Weird Al Yankovic fan mail, and shared music memories from middle school

Chapters:

0:00 – Scrolling TikTok Finds Weston

0:45 – Kansans Helping Kansans

2:32 – Brake Pads and Hank Stories

3:23 – Ask a Kansan Intro

4:52 – Meet Music Teacher Matt

6:04 – How Matt Found Guitar

7:42 – Choosing Music Education

9:04 – First Classroom Memories

11:47 – Building a Guitar Program

14:07 – Why Guitar Hooks Students

18:06 – Weezer Contest Goes Viral

19:30 – Fame and Disney Tease

20:16 – Mozart Contest Win

20:51 – Disney Channel Visit

21:42 – Family Support Grounding

22:18 – Stiefel Music School

24:03 – School of Rock Family

25:01 – Awards and Humility

25:52 – Church Music and Benefits

27:40 – Middle School Mindset

28:47 – Guitar Program Expansion

31:38 – Big Goals and Training

34:01 – Radio Nostalgia Tangent

35:41 – Teaching Dream Job

37:31 – Stories from a Hat Twist

42:22 – Episode Wrap and Merch

Resources Mentioned:

• Salina Education Foundation: https://www.salinaeducationfoundation.com/ 
• Teaching Guitar Workshops: https://teachingguitarworkshops.org/
• Stiefel Theatre: https://www.stiefeltheatre.org/
• KMEA (Kansas Music Educators Association): https://ksmea.org/

Learn more about the podcast at askakansan.com!

This show is part of the ICT Podcast Network, for more information, visit ictpod.net

What if the Federal Reserve wasn't just a boring government agency setting monetary policy, but a mission-driven storyteller trying to make sense of your household budget? On this episode, Julie and Sydney sit down with Jeremy Hill, regional executive for the Kansas City Federal Reserve, to unpack what the Fed actually does, why manufacturing is quietly booming across Kansas, and how inflation is hitting some households harder than others. Jeremy breaks down the Fed's three core functions, explains the K-shaped economy squeezing lower and middle-income families, and shares surprising stories from the Kansas City Fed's money museum, the shredded-cash vault, and the fly-fishing origins of the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium. Plus, stick around for a fun round of Kansas Penny Pinchers, where Sydney and Julie swap money-saving confessions.

Highlights

• The Federal Reserve has three main functions: monetary policy, bank supervision/regulation, and managing how cash physically moves through the economy.
• The K-shaped economy is splitting households into two groups — some doing better every year, others falling further behind due to inflation eating into fixed costs like rent, insurance, and car payments.
• Kansas's GDP is currently growing faster than the national average, driven largely by a manufacturing boom (aerospace, machinery, fabricated metals).
• Agriculture and energy sectors in Kansas are struggling, while manufacturing is picking up steam and creating wage pressure as firms compete for labor.
• The Kansas City Fed operates a free, public money museum where visitors can see the history of currency and even watch cash being shredded.
• The Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, which draws central bank leaders from around the world, originated because a former Fed chair loved fly-fishing in Wyoming.
• The Fed is a semi-private organization with a public mission — it doesn't receive funding from Congress and instead earns revenue through banking services and its asset holdings.
• Jeremy describes economics as more art than math — piecing together abstract, nebulous signals to tell a bigger story about where the economy is heading.

Chapters

0:00 – Kids Freezer Obsession

0:39 – Frozen Fruit Cup Logic

1:51 – Do Your Kids Do This

2:47 – Podcast Intro & New Co-Host

3:24 – Meet Jeremy Hill

4:20 – Jeremy's Role at the Fed

5:37 – Why Economics Clicked

6:41 – The Fed Explained Simply

7:36 – How Banks View the Fed

9:07 – Which Businesses He Visits

10:49 – Backbone Industries in Towns

12:08 – K-Shaped Household Strain

14:27 – Where the Data Comes From

16:29 – Money Museum and Cash Vault

18:18 – Why Money Gets Shredded

18:57 – Counterfeits and Secret Service

19:41 – Back to the Third Bucket

19:51 – Fed Mandate Explained

20:15 – Rates: Buyers vs. Savers

21:05 – Kansas Bootstrap Spirit

22:43 – Inside the Fed Culture

23:53 – How the Fed Funds Itself

25:10 – Kansas Roots and Career Path

27:26 – Economics as Art

28:34 – Kansas Economy Snapshot

30:52 – How Manufacturers Adapt

31:33 – Jackson Hole Symposium Story

33:23 – Where to Learn More

34:14 – Post-Interview Takeaways

34:51 – Kansas Penny Pinchers Game

40:25 – Wrap Up and Next Month

Resources Mentioned

• Kansas City Federal Reserve
• Kansas City Federal Reserve's Money Museum — a free, public museum highlighting the history of currency
• Fetch app — a receipt-scanning app for earning points/gift cards

Learn more about the podcast at askakansan.com!

This show is part of the ICT Podcast Network, for more information, visit ictpod.net

Why do the animals you fall in love with sometimes have to leave the zoo? This week we sit down with Ryan VanZant, executive director of Rolling Hills Zoo in Salina, and trace his winding path from a childhood obsessed with parakeets and parrots to falconry, movie animal training, and eventually leading one of the youngest zoos in the country. We get the real story behind the zoo's famous museum, hear about the massive new Tiger Falls habitat on the way, talk through the tough calls zoo staff make about animal welfare, and dig into why Kansas prairie ecosystems deserve just as much attention as the savannas of Africa. Plus, we've got some big personal news of our own, and we close things out with a new round of Stories from the Hat.

Highlights

• Ryan VanZant shares his journey from breeding parakeets and parrots as a kid to training animals for movies to running zoos in Hutchinson and now Salina
• The real history of the Rolling Hills Zoo museum and its taxidermy collection — plus a rumor finally debunked
• Details on Tiger Falls, a major new habitat expansion for Amur tigers, snow leopards, and incoming red pandas
• The story behind Creed the baby rhino, named after Chiefs player Creed Humphrey, and how that story went viral
• An honest look at how zoos make difficult animal welfare and relocation decisions
• Why Kansas's native prairie ecosystems are disappearing faster than any other ecosystem type, and why that matters
• A rundown of upcoming Rolling Hills Zoo events like Zoo Brew, Safari Breakfasts, Silent Sundays, and Taste of Adventure
• A new round of "Stories from the Hat" with random prompts about hometown landmarks, guilty pleasure gas station snacks, and more

Chapters

0:00 — Sydney's Big News

0:48 — Podcast Plans Ahead

1:30 — Meet Rolling Hills Zoo

2:39 — Ryan's Kansas Path

3:41 — Why This Zoo Location

4:39 — Childhood Animal Obsession

5:57 — Parakeets to Parrots

8:12 — Peregrines and DDT

10:24 — Falconry Life Explained

12:48 — Becoming Zoo Director

17:56 — Leading People Like Animals

19:15 — Rolling Hills Origin Story

24:10 — Funding and Conservation Work

26:29 — Inside the Museum

29:26 — Christmas Lights Feedback

30:19 — Holiday Lights Highlights

30:59 — Tiger Falls Expansion

34:37 — Viral Zoo Babies

36:44 — Animal Welfare Decisions

42:15 — Future of Modern Zoos

45:22 — Saving the Prairie

50:36 — Events and Visiting Tips

55:37 — Stories from the Hat

59:56 — Podcast Wrap and Thanks

Resources Mentioned

• Sunflower Summer app - https://sunflowersummer.org/
• Rolling Hills Zoo — https://www.rollinghillszoo.org/
• H Is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald

Learn more about the podcast at askakansan.com!

This show is part of the ICT Podcast Network, for more information, visit ictpod.net

What if the hottest summer ticket in Kansas sports has been hiding in plain sight for 92 years? We sat down with Katie Woods, director of the National Baseball Congress in Wichita, and walked away completely obsessed with bobbleheads, Bananaball, and a baseball tournament with more history than you'd ever guess. From a 3 AM game under the lights to a decade-before-Jackie-Robinson integrated championship team, this conversation covers just about everything that makes baseball in Kansas special.

Highlights

• Katie Woods introduces herself as director of the National Baseball Congress (NBC), founded in Wichita in the 1930s by Hap Dumont
• The story behind the brand-new Ozzie Smith backflip bobblehead giveaway
• How NBC teams work today: summer collegiate players (ages 18-22) from colleges across the country
• Why Katie fell into baseball via an internship with the Houston Astros, then the Frisco RoughRiders and Everett AquaSox
• The wild history behind minor league team names and mascots
• Hap Dumont's decades of innovation: pitch clocks 60 years early, glow-in-the-dark baseball, mic'd-up umpires, and even early attempts at instant replay and an automatic ball-strike system
• "Baseball Around the Clock" — 11 games in 33 hours, complete with tent camping, RVs, and survivor t-shirts
• The emotional and communal side of directing an all-night tournament
• Trophy and prize money: the historic Cessna Cup and an $18,000 winner's purse
• Plans for the NBC's upcoming 100th anniversary/centennial celebration
• Digitizing decades of NBC archives with Wichita State's Special Collections
• The incredible true story of the 1935 Bismarck Churchills — the first integrated team to win a national title in any sport, a decade before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier
• The growing role of women in baseball, including Katie being the NBC's first female tournament director in 90 years
• A rousing round of Stories from a Hat, covering white lies, favorite chairs, and nostalgic Wichita hangouts

Chapters

0:00 — Studio Backdrop Reveal

0:27 — Wood Carving Nerd Out

1:42 — Show Intro & Baseball Tease

2:15 — Meet Katie Woods

2:51 — Ozzie Smith Bobblehead

4:42 — What Is the NBC?

5:53 — How Teams Work Today

7:05 — Why Katie Chose Baseball

9:37 — Career Path to Kansas

11:30 — Why the NBC Matters

12:27 — Tournament Venues & Logistics

14:39 — Minor League Name Madness

16:07 — Banana Ball and Innovation

20:45 — Wichita NBC Community

22:04 — Offseason Planning Pipeline

22:56 — Baseball Around the Clock

23:57 — Camping at the Ballpark

25:03 — Director All Night

26:00 — Sunrise and Sacrifice

27:32 — Trophy and Prize Money

28:05 — Kansas Community Baseball

29:29 — Centennial Plans

30:43 — Digitizing the Archives

32:09 — Hap Dumont's Vision

33:45 — How to Watch & Support

34:46 — Colorblind: Origin Story

37:28 — Women in Baseball

40:01 — Host Wrap and the Organ

41:33 — Stories from a Hat

46:00 — Closing and Merch

Resources Mentioned

• NBCBaseball.com
• NBC Baseball on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube
• Colorblind by Tom Dunkel

Learn more about the podcast at askakansan.com!

This show is part of the ICT Podcast Network, for more information, visit ictpod.net

There was a time when what happened in Kansas was front page news on the east coast. This week, Sydney and Gus sit down with historian Dr. Kristen Epps, professor at Kansas State University and editor of Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains, to dig into Bleeding Kansas, the people slavery's expansion actually affected, and why the messy, complicated version of our state's story matters more than the tidy one. Kristen shares how she stumbled into Kansas history research, what it's really like editing an academic journal, and the wildest things she's found in dusty courthouse archives (John Brown's actual handwriting included). She also gives us a first look at her upcoming narrative history of Kansas, co-written with Jim Leiker, and reflects on resilience, reform movements, and why she finds hope in the next generation as the country marks its 250th anniversary. Plus, Sydney closes it out with an America 250-themed round of obscure Kansas facts covering everything from the Exodusters to ancient camels.

Highlights

• Kristen Epps introduces herself as an "adopted Kansan" and explains her path from the Pacific Northwest and Colorado to becoming a Kansas historian.
• She edits Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains, a peer-reviewed publication jointly run by the Kansas Historical Society and K-State.
• Her book, Slavery on the Periphery, centers enslaved people's experiences rather than treating slavery as purely a political debate.
• A breakdown of what Bleeding Kansas actually was, including the Kansas-Nebraska Act, popular sovereignty, and the violence that followed.
• Confirmation that enslaved people did live in Kansas, including at the Shawnee Methodist Mission, Fort Scott, and Fort Leavenworth.
• Research stories from the archives, including finding Abraham Lincoln's signature and reading John Brown's surprisingly ordinary letters.
• A preview of Kristen's upcoming narrative history of Kansas with co-author Jim Leiker, out in early 2027 from the University Press of Kansas.
• Reflections on resilience through Kansas history, from the Dust Bowl to the decades-long fight for women's suffrage (won in Kansas in 1912).
• Kristen's thoughts on why history matters heading into America's 250th anniversary, and where she finds hope in today's college students.
• Sydney's America 250-themed Kansas trivia: the Exoduster migration, prehistoric camel fossils, a Kansas doctor's role in founding modern EMS, and the tiny town of Speed, Kansas hosting a Hot Wheels anniversary event.

Chapters

• 0:00 – Garden Bounty
• 1:44 – Podcast Intro and Guest Tease
• 3:05 – Meet Historian Kristen Epps
• 4:09 – Why Kansas History Matters
• 8:40 – Inside the Kansas History Journal
• 10:49 – Becoming a Historian and Editor
• 11:59 – Slavery on the Periphery
• 12:50 – What Was Bleeding Kansas
• 15:11 – Enslaved People in Kansas
• 16:20 – Researching Hidden Histories
• 19:08 – Archives Not Just Google
• 21:29 – Letters from John Brown and Others
• 23:38 – History Hits Home
• 24:39 – Writing Kansas For Everyone
• 26:26 – From Ancient Seas To Today
• 27:35 – Resilience And Many Kansases
• 31:38 – America 250 And Civic Duty
• 33:17 – Why History Matters
• 35:20 – Finding Hope In Community
• 38:25 – Post Interview Reflections
• 40:00 – Exodusters Black Migration
• 41:41 – Camels And Prehistory
• 42:24 – Kansas And Modern EMS
• 45:39 – Speed Kansas Hot Wheels
• 46:48 – Episode Wrap And Farewell

Resources Mentioned

• Slavery on the Periphery by Kristen Epps
• Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains https://www.kansashistory.gov/p/kansas-history/12443
• Kansas Historical Society: https://www.kansashistory.gov/
• Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

Learn more about the podcast at askakansan.com!

This show is part of the ICT Podcast Network, for more information, visit ictpod.net

What if the best hiking in Kansas has been right under your nose the whole time?

Jeri Brungardt co-founded Women Hiking Kansas and Beyond in 2019 with a simple idea: stop losing track of friends who wanted to tag along on hikes and just make a Facebook group. What happened next surprised even her. Twelve strangers showed up to that first hike — none of them personal friends — and the group has grown to over 12,000 followers since. Jeri shares how the group scouts trails, what gear actually matters, why rattlesnakes dictate their summer schedule, and how hiking has become an unexpected source of community for women going through life's hardest moments.

Highlights

• Women Hiking Kansas and Beyond started in 2019 and now has over 12,000 Facebook followers — grown entirely organically with no paid advertising
• The co-founders personally hike every trail before taking the group, checking parking, safety, and seasonal hazards like rattlesnakes at Horse Thief Canyon
• They use the AllTrails app to discover new trails across the state
• The group is open to any female 12 and older; their oldest participant is in her upper 80s and outpaces most of the group
• Monthly hikes are free; overnight trips charge a $20 fee managed through Eventbrite
• Their annual September trip to Estes Park, Colorado has been running every year since 2020
• Jeri recommends hiking poles for everyone — they reduce strain on your back and help probe water crossings
• Always bring sunscreen, a hat, water or electrolyte drinks, and a small first aid kit
• The group has attracted women from 12 different states to their Colorado trip
• Cindy Kuhnauer, the co-founder, also runs Fearless and Female, a self-defense business out of Wichita
• Sydney defends Spangles with her whole chest (and eats it in the Walmart parking lot so her kids don't find out)

Chapters

0:00 — Madeline's softball ear muff situation

2:13 — Podcast intro

2:49 — Meet Jeri Brungardt

3:25 — How Women Hiking Kansas and Beyond got started

5:06 — How they pick trails and scout locations safely

7:10 — What "hiking" actually means for this group

8:02 — Upcoming Salina hike (Marty Bender Nature Area + Audubon Society)

9:18 — Beginner tips: gear, shoes, water, and safety

13:32 — Age range and the community the group has built

15:31 — Jeri's personal hiking backstory

17:17 — Favorite trails in Kansas

17:07 — Trail diversity across Kansas

19:57 — Jeri's backstory and career at Wesley Medical Center

22:34 — The health benefits of walking

23:52 — Beyond Kansas: Estes Park, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas City

26:26 — How much work goes into running the group (+ Eventbrite)

31:04 — Rapid fire: shoes and hats

32:27 — Weather safety and what to do when it's 100 degrees

33:59 — Rails-to-Trails and connecting with other hiking groups

36:42 — Hiking with kids and different trail personalities

39:45 — Future plans for the group

43:25 — How the group grew through COVID and the power of one Facebook page

47:55 — Stories From a Hat: parking lots, prairie dogs, Spangles, and soup flights

53:34 — Outro and where to find Ask a Kansan

Resources

• Women Hiking Kansas and Beyond — Facebook Group 
• AllTrails — alltrails.com — trail-finding app mentioned by Jeri
• Kanopolis State Park
• Elk City State Park
• Monument Rocks / Castle Rock
• Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
• Fearless and Female — self-defense business run by co-founder Cindy Coughenour, based in Wichita

Learn more about the podcast at askakansan.com!

This show is part of the ICT Podcast Network, for more information, visit ictpod.net

For centuries, history has been passed down through the stories of our lived experiences. And in this episode you’ll get a taste of the remarkable life of Jim Gray — The Cowboy — and this conversation might just be the most unexpected one we've had yet.

Jim Gray is a rancher, historian, author, and director of the Jansen Museum in Geneseo, Kansas — a town of about 220 people in Rice County. He takes us from the wild cattle towns of 1860s Kansas all the way to a blinding white light on a rural road in the summer of 1972. Whether he's riding the Chisholm Trail or piecing together a collection of UFO drawings in a repurposed farmhouse museum, Jim sees the Kansas prairie as a place that communicates with those willing to listen.

Highlights

• A severe hailstorm recently devastated Salina — lost movie theater, closed mall, shattered pool railings — and the aftermath brought a wave of out-of-state dent repair hustlers trying to bribe Sydney at the permit office
• Jim Gray grew up three miles east of Geneseo and comes from a long line of livestock people whose family ranch in Rice County is still operating today
• A music teacher once told young Jim to ditch the cowboy hat — his voice would take him farther. He didn't listen, and he has no regrets
• Joseph McCoy's stockyards in Abilene (1867) transformed Kansas: cattle shipments went from 35,000 head to 300,000 in just four years before the town literally ran the drovers off
• In 2011, Jim helped organize a modern cattle drive from south of Caldwell to Ellsworth — 300 head, three weeks, chuck wagons, and a near-runaway that cost him his canteen
• Hollywood cowboys (think Yellowstone) don't match reality — real cowboys Jim has known are shy, polite, and would never cuss around a woman
• Jim's book centers on Ellsworth, where the phrase "a man for breakfast" meant killing someone — and where Civil War veterans once dragged outlaws out of their beds to restore order
• In late July/early August 1972, Jim and his wife-to-be experienced a blinding white light that filled their car and retracted up into the sky — followed by a massive dust devil that came straight down Main Street
• The Janzen Museum in Geneseo preserves the collection of Dr. Elmer D. Janzen — minister, chiropractor, ventriloquist, auctioneer — who amassed 8,000 family history slides and an entire room of UFO materials, including technical drawings of flying saucers by a Nickerson mechanical arts teacher named John Dean
• Jim built a medicine wheel on his pasture 25–30 years ago, aligned to the equinoxes, that he says has taught him as much about the circle of life as any college class
• Kansas UFO Day is June 27th (a Saturday) at the Jansen Museum in Geneseo, featuring vendors and the "Martians and Market" pop-up
• The hosts played "Beam Me Up, Kansas" — a segment preparing extraterrestrials for life in the Sunflower State, covering tornado sirens, I-70 crosswinds, the Kansas State Fair parking situation, and which Kansan should negotiate first contact (Jason Sudeikis got a strong vote)

Chapters

0:04 — Hailstorm Fallout in Salina

1:20 — Dent Repair Hustle Stories

3:27 — Meet The Cowboy, Jim Gray

4:54 — Becoming The Cowboy

7:05 — Falling for Kansas History

9:01 — Abilene Stockyards Revolution

13:22 — Modern Chisholm Trail Drive (2011)

18:19 — Cowboy Work Then and Now

23:03 — Hollywood vs. Real Cowboys

23:57 — Ellsworth Wild West Tales

27:19 — Gunfight Myths and Reality

28:25 — The 1972 UFO Encounter

31:19 — Museum Founder & UFO Links (Dr. Elmer D. Janzen)

32:29 — Doc Janzen's Slide Archive

33:12 — The UFO Room Origins

34:19 — Museum Neglect & Revival

35:39 — Did Janzen Believe?

37:26 — Distant Horizons Prairie

38:51 — Medicine Wheel Wisdom

41:17 — Kansas UFO Day & Visiting the Jansen Museum

42:48 — Roswell: Cowboys and Aliens

43:49 — Hosts Reflect on Jim

45:39 — Beam Me Up, Kansas (Segment)

47:27 — Alien Questions: Tornado Sirens

49:30 — Driving I-70 Survival Guide

50:38 — Which Kansan Negotiates with Aliens?

52:05 — Which Kansas Town Has the Most Alien Energy?

53:40 — Share Your UFO Story

54:47 — Episode Wrap & Announcements

Resources

• Geneseo City Museum — https://www.geneseomuseum.com/
• Kansas UFO Day — June 27th (Saturday) at the Jansen Museum, Geneseo, KS https://www.geneseomuseum.com/copy-of-about
• Send your UFO story: [email protected]

Learn more about the podcast at askakansan.com!

This show is part of the ICT Podcast Network, for more information, visit ictpod.net

What does it take to preserve the stories that shaped Kansas — and to tell them honestly?

Shane Carter, executive director of the Kansas African American Museum (TKAAM), joins us for a rich conversation about history, identity, and the work of building something that lasts. Shane's path to Wichita is anything but ordinary: a chance painting job in Newton, a curiosity-fueled afternoon touring Wichita's historical sites, and a job posting that felt like it had his name on it. What followed was a year of pouring hard-won lessons from 13 years running a community center in Ohio into one of the most important cultural institutions in the state.

We get into the history of the museum's building — a church hand-built brick by brick by its congregation, saved from demolition by a woman who stood in front of it and said no — and the responsibility TKAAM carries to tell accurate history without pointing fingers or creating shame. Shane is direct, personal, and genuinely inspiring. Stay for the whole thing.

Highlights

• The Retro Future Home — A 1950s all-electric model home in Prairie Village toured by 60,000 people, preserved inside the Johnson County Museum, and a striking reminder of who those "American Dream" suburbs were designed for
• Shane's Kansas origin story — How a cash job painting in Newton led him to spend his lunch breaks learning about Hattie McDaniel, the Dockum Sit-In, Chester I. Lewis, Nicodemus, and the Exodusters
• The do-gooder's dilemma — The tension between giving everything to your community and actually making it home for dinner; Shane reflects on what it cost him and what the move to Kansas restored
• The Lincoln Community Center — A one-room schoolhouse turned regional hub: 120 kids daily, a staff of 30, a $6M construction project completed during COVID, and job re-entry for people the system had given up on
• TKAAM's building history — Calvary Baptist Church, demolished and rebuilt by its congregation in 1916–17, saved from county demolition in the 1970s by Doris Kerr Larkins, and now the home of the Kansas African American Museum
• The new museum and culture center at 201 North Main — A capital campaign with a goal of opening in June 2028, featuring immersive and interactive exhibits on Wichita's civil rights history
• Telling history without shame — How Shane thinks about creating a genuinely non-political safe space where the Tulsa Massacre, segregation, and civil rights are told accurately to everyone in the room
• Juneteenth programming — Free admission June 19–20, a community mural with Evergy at the museum, and events at McAdams Park with the Juneteenth ICT group

Chapters

• 0:00 — Retro Future Home
• 2:03 — Segregation Reality Check
• 2:38 — Introducing Shane Carter
• 3:53 — Kansas Journey Begins
• 4:41 — Ohio Roots & Leadership
• 8:17 — The Do-Gooder's Dilemma
• 9:50 — Skills for the TKAAM Role
• 13:29 — Finding the Museum
• 21:36 — Learning Kansas & Wichita
• 23:48 — Museum Origins & Building
• 29:25 — Hidden Stories & Water Street
• 31:37 — Churches as Community Pillars
• 35:38 — Museum Literacy Program
• 36:09 — Museum Programs Overview
• 37:25 — Trailblazers Hall of Fame
• 38:41 — STEM Spotlight at Exploration Place
• 39:21 — Taking Education Beyond Walls
• 41:48 — Building the New Culture Center
• 43:19 — Telling History Without Shame
• 50:46 — Support the Capital Campaign
• 51:33 — Juneteenth Events & Meaning
• 56:48 — Mom's Knick-Knacks Game
• 1:02:07 — Wrap-Up & Announcements

Resources Mentioned

• Kansas African American Museum (TKAAM) — www.tkaamuseum.org/
• Juneteenth ICT — Community programming at McAdams Park, Wichita
• Johnson County Museum — Home of the Retro Future Home
• Exploration Place — Wichita; site of TKAAM's African Americans in STEM February projection
• Greenwood Rising — Tulsa, Oklahoma; TKAAM peer and partner
• Cosmosphere — Hutchinson, Kansas
• Sunflower Summer — Kansas free-admission summer program for families

Learn more about the podcast at askakansan.com!

This show is part of the ICT Podcast Network, for more information, visit ictpod.net

What happens when a kid from Lindsborg, Kansas follows his heart to a cloud forest in Ecuador — and then returns after staying for nearly 20 years? Tanner Johnson's answer to that question is one of the most unexpected, quietly profound stories we've heard. He built a bamboo house, married into a local family, taught English to kids from kindergarten through 12th grade, and somewhere along the way, picked up a knife and started carving wood. Now he's back in Kansas, reunited with his family, and using his art to honor the memory of Jewish people lost to the Holocaust — one face at a time.

Highlights

• Podcast listener Greg Victors (the Wichita Wardancer) inspired a collaboration with Manhattan High School Orchestra director Cody Toll — exactly the kind of cross-Kansas connection Ask A Kansan was made to create
• Tanner grew up in Lindsborg, studied anthropology at K-State, and ended up in an Ecuadorian cloud forest as a volunteer on a bird study — and never really left
• He lived for years with no internet, no foreigners within 50 miles, and learned Spanish entirely by immersion in a rural community
• He built his own bamboo house, asked for his wife's hand from her brothers (her father had passed), cleared nearly two acres of land with his 90-something-year-old grandfather-in-law, and planted 110 trees during a pandemic military lockdown
• Growing violence and crime in Ecuador in 2023 pushed him to bring his family back to Kansas — they got married here, bought a house, and are now all together
• His daughters arrived in Kansas with almost no English and had to sink or swim in the school system — and thrived
• His woodcarving specialty is realistic faces, with a particular focus on honoring the memory of pre-Holocaust Jewish communities, inspired by Roman Vishniac's photography book A Vanishing World
• A face-to-face encounter with antisemitism solidified his decision to pursue a degree in Jewish studies
• He's carved over 650 pieces in five years — all by hand, no power carving tools
• Sydney debuts the new podcast segment: Fart or Art?

Chapters

0:05 — A Surprise Ask A Kansan Connection

1:23 — Meet Tanner Johnson

3:23 — From Hobby to Woodcarver

5:16 — Lindsborg Roots and Music

6:37 — Anthropology to Ecuador

11:08 — Choosing a Life Abroad

12:51 — Forest Life and Family

16:34 — Pandemic Reality Check

19:07 — Back to Kansas Together

23:24 — Finding Woodcarving Style

25:58 — Tools and Tropical Hardwoods

26:58 — Relearning the Knife

27:25 — Counting 650 Carvings

28:25 — Finding Purpose in Memory

32:01 — Art Form and Antisemitism

35:11 — Choosing Jewish Studies

36:54 — Spiritual Beliefs Explained

39:11 — Hand Tools and Roughouts

41:07 — Where to Find Tanner

43:12 — Hosts Reflect on the Interview

44:04 — Fart or Art Game

52:20 — Episode Wrap and Plugs

Resources

• Tanner Johnson Woodcarver — tannerjohnsonwoodcarver.com
• Tanner on Instagram — @tannerjohnsonwoodcarver
• A Vanished World by Roman Vishniac — the photography book that shaped Tanner's Holocaust memorial carving focus
• Zen Mind Jewish Mind — the book Tanner credits for shaping his spiritual perspective

Learn more about the podcast at askakansan.com!

This show is part of the ICT Podcast Network, for more information, visit ictpod.net