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Tenor Ben Bliss is considered a rising star in the world of opera. And, like opera diva Joyce DiDonato, he grew up in Prairie Village, Kansas. Bliss credits "the support of arts and education and public education" for leading to his musical career. It's something, he says, he "got a really good dose of growing up." Bliss's father is a freelance cartoonist and his mother sings with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City chorus. "I grew up with music in the house all the time, and going to see my mom's

Prairie Village has the distinction among Kansas cities of being the hometown of not one — but two! — operatic prodigies. Hear the latest tenor voice that's delighting audiences from California to Carnegie Hall. Then, we examine a different way to frame victims of sexual violence and the concept of rape itself. Finally, the latest Statehouse Blend Kansas, recorded live in Wichita.

While the mud flies between the major party presidential candidates, the Smart Money Experts are focused on the issues. Today, we review the proposed tax and economic policies from both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Football season… baseball season… none is as seemingly endless as election season. This one has been particularly nasty, brutish and long—and now, as Victor Wishna explains in “A Fan’s Notes,” it’s bullied its way into the sports headlines, too. Let’s face it—this is not exactly how Kansas City fans thought we’d be spending our October. The K is quiet, so is Arrowhead. The Chiefs didn’t play this week, and, well, they didn’t exactly play last week in Pittsburgh, either. Chiefs, Royals, even the

The old rivalry between Missouri and Kansas is getting a new injection of energy from the Granny Basketball League. After its first year of competition, the series is tied at 1-to-1 but the go-ahead game takes place this Saturday in Jefferson City. The original “Border War,” or “Bleeding Kansas,” was a bloody precursor to the Civil War, but modern day quibbles took place on the athletic field between the universities of Kansas and Missouri. Basketball games between the two ended in 2012. The

First, with more than 5,000 "honor killings" occurring around the world every year, violence against women is a widespread problem with no single solution. Then, we hear both sides of upcoming ballot initiatives that propose a new public safety tax in Johnson County, and a new levy in Kansas City, Missouri, that would fund a light rail network. Finally, the most recent installment of A Fan's Notes. Kursten Phelps will speak at the UMKC Student Union during a conference on the rights of children

First, a look at how an increasing Latino population in the Heartland is changing the region. Then, how the border showdown between Kansas and Missouri lives on through Granny Basketball. Finally, Brian McTavish gives us the latest Weekend To-Do List. Professor Rubén Martinez will discuss the impacts of expanding Latino numbers in the Midwest at the Kansas City Library's Central Library at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, October 17. For more information, visit KCLibrary.org.

With the presidential campaigns reaching a fever pitch, the Media Critics discuss whether or not journalists hold Hillary Clinton to a different standard than Donald Trump, and if the press is giving political "spin" the same importance as evidence-based facts. Then, Bill Brownlee introduces Various Blonde in this week's Local Listen.

In conjunction with NPR's A Nation Engaged project, Native people answer the question, "What it means to you be an American now." Then, we find out why George Washington may not have agreed with the United State's role as policeman to the world. Finally, President of the Kansas Senate, Susan Wagle, gives us the inside story about what's going on with that state's tax revenues. Producer and writer Elizabeth Cobbs will appear at the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas

First, local undecided voters react to the slug fest that was the second presidential debate. Then, a look at a few measures on the Missouri 2016 ballot concerning cigarette taxes and establishing ID requirements for voting.