Central Standard

It's Election Day, which has us thinking about those times in our childhood when we ran for office, or managed our best friend's campaign. Back when things were simpler ... right? Wrong, says Anna Cole. As a fifth grader at Bryant Elementary School in Kansas City's Brookside neighborhood, Cole ran for school president. It was the fall of 1991, and Cole was geared up. After getting into student council in the third grade, then progressing to treasurer in fourth, she was ready for higher office.

Kansas City has made quite a name for itself as a foodie town. We're internationally known for our barbecue, and our chefs are getting nominated for James Beard awards. But it wasn't always this way. We used to call ourselves a cowtown, back when steakhouses were our specialty, and only vacations held the promise of 'adventurous' food. So how did we did make it onto the map as an emerging food town, up on, even ahead of, the latest trends? Guests: Charles Ferruzza, food writer, KCUR food

As a contestant on the Food Network's “Cutthroat Kitchen: Tournament of Terror,” local chef Janet Ross had to cook with tools that wouldn’t be out of place in a horror movie. “The dishes themselves you think, ‘Well, no problem.’ But it’s a problem if you’re wearing claws that are barely sharp enough to cut and totally curved to where you are just ripping at food,” she told host Gina Kaufmann on KCUR’s Central Standard. “So yeah, to come out with a really pretty dish with some of the situations

Sluggerrr's handler weighs in on Mascots, Christopher Guest's new mockumentary, then KCUR's political podcast host discusses competition in sports and politics. Also: sportswriter Joe Posnanski on the Cubs-Royals connection, curses, underdogs and more. Guests: Russ Simmons, resident film criticBrad Collins, Mascot Coordinator, Kansas City RoyalsSam Zeff, host, KCUR's Statehouse BlendJoe Posnanski, National Columnist, NBC Sports

A lot of people see Black Lives Matter as today's civil rights movement ... but not necessarily the Kansas Citians who actually participated in the civil rights movement. Is there a rift in KC between an old guard and new in black activism? Guests: Janaya Khan, Executive Director, Gender Justice LA and co-founder of Black Lives Matter TorontoDamon Daniel, Executive Director, Ad Hoc Group Against CrimeGwen Grant, Urban League of Greater Kansas City

The history of brewing beer in KC, then a look at healthcare in KC's music community. Guests: Pete Dulin, author of Kansas City Beer: A History of Brewing in the HeartlandChris Meck, local musician, Chris Meck and the Guilty BirdsRenata Marinaro, National Director of Health Services, The Actors FundBrandon Phillips, local musician, The Architects

The biggest new thing at KU's Spencer Museum of Art isn't a thing at all – it's natural light. The museum recently reopened after undergoing a structural overhaul, bringing bigger windows, and more of them. How do local renovations, like this one, reflect changing trends in museum architecture? And how do they impact the way we think about art? Then, we cast our eyes to the skies – or the stars – with UMKC's Mark Brodwin, whose groundbreaking research on galaxy clusters has earned him a NASA

Halloween is here. Out with the normal, in with the zombies, ghouls and ghosts . . . and all of your favorite customs. From trick-or-treating to haunted houses, how are the customs of this holiday changing in Kansas City? Plus, one Kansas City cardiologist recently branched out to make an evolutionary case for homosexuality. Guests: Carrie Randle, single motherMichele Smirnova, sociologist, UMKCClare Roth, talk show producer, Iowa Public RadioJames O'Keefe, director of preventative cardiology,

For the past six years, Jyoti Mukharji has opened her home kitchen to teach Kansas Citians about Indian cuisine. But to her fans, her classes are more than just about cooking. Mukharji peppers her talk with personal stories and health tips, then the class ends in a dinner party around her dining room table. Even though she has lived in Kansas City for nearly 30 years, the fragrant aromas of spices bring her back to her childhood house in Lucknow, India, where she lived with her parents and older

Don't ask Todd Sheets about the first horror film that he made. "It's godawful," he told host Gina Kaufmann on KCUR's Central Standard. "Anything I made before '93 I kind of disowned." Sheets started making horror movies in the late 1980s in Kansas City. He quickly earned a cult following; he was even dubbed the "Prince of Gore." He grew up going to movies. His first childhood memory was of seeing Night of the Living Dead on a triple bill. From that point, he was fascinated by the genre. He was