Latest Political insiders Podcast Episodes
Introducing Statehouse Blend Kansas 2020
My Fellow Kansans - January 24, 2020 23:07 - 14 minutes ★★★★★ - 139 ratingsIn this episode of Statehouse Blend Kansas, host Jim McLean looks at the legislative session. Lawmakers are already at odds on the hot-button issues of abortion and Medicaid expansion. Republican leaders are pushing for quick passage of an anti-abortion amendment to the Kansas Constitution. Meanw...
S2 Bonus Episode: Free college and a town's prospects
My Fellow Kansans - December 13, 2019 13:44 - 20 minutes ★★★★★ - 139 ratingsA town loses population one decade after the next. Then a wealthy native son makes a generous offer: I'll pay the college tuition of every kid who graduates from high school here. Beyond putting college in reach for more families, the donation hopes to draw people to Neodesha, Kansas. Except ... ...
S2 Episode 6: The Wild West, Cattle And Immigrants
My Fellow Kansans - November 22, 2019 04:31 - 32 minutes ★★★★★ - 139 ratingsWhile population numbers decay across so much of the Great Plains in Kansas, Dodge City, Liberal and Garden City stand out as growth stories. Their cattle trade draws immigrants, and those newcomers drive change. Dodge City likes to play up its gunslingin' Wild West reputation, formed in its earl...
S2 Episode 5: Even Remade, A Town Struggles
My Fellow Kansans - November 14, 2019 21:09 - 26 minutes ★★★★★ - 139 ratingsGreensburg, Kansas, already found itself in a struggle for survival before getting leveled by a tornado in 2007. Then outside help and new hope emerged with the idea of rebuilding the town as a green, environmentally sustainable place. But the town's still lost more than a third of its population...
My Fellow Kansans Live
My Fellow Kansans - November 11, 2019 20:53 - 55 seconds ★★★★★ - 139 ratingsMy Fellow Kansans is coming to Johnson County Library Nov. 13 for a live podcast event. Host Jim McLean will lead a discussion about rural issues with a panel of special guests, including state Rep. Eileen Horn. If you live in the area, we hope you'll join us. RSVP at KCUR.org/Kansans .
S2 Episode 4: Ailing Rural Health Care
My Fellow Kansans - November 08, 2019 02:59 - 24 minutes ★★★★★ - 139 ratingsThe closing of a rural hospital marks a particular loss for a community — greater distances to travel for health care, fewer jobs, and the sense that a town is on the wane. This episode of the podcast looks at the forces that have led to an epidemic of shuttered small-town hospitals, and some thi...
S2 Episode 3: Rural And Shrinking, But Smartly
My Fellow Kansans - October 31, 2019 21:40 - 22 minutes ★★★★★ - 139 ratingsRural communities continue to empty out, victim to powerful economic forces that nudge people to larger cities and suburbs. If the depopulation in some places appears all but inevitable, some social scientists suggest it need not mean doom. There are ways to shrink smarter , focusing on improving...
S2 Episode 2: Bigger Farms, Ever Smaller Towns
My Fellow Kansans - October 24, 2019 21:55 - 27 minutes ★★★★★ - 139 ratingsMany of Kansas’ small towns look weathered, worn and neglected after more than a century of exodus. The unending trend toward bigger farms, and fewer farmers, has sped that depopulation. That rise of modern farming techniques continues to pose a threat to rural cities and towns, particularly acro...
S2 Episode 1: Rural Problems and Prospects
My Fellow Kansans - October 18, 2019 12:08 - 24 minutes ★★★★★ - 139 ratingsOne decade after the next, since the days of the Homestead Act, remote Kansas cities and towns have seen their sons and daughters move on to bigger, more vibrant places. That's had profound impacts on rural economies, rural health care and the vibrance of communities whose past looks rosier than ...
Coming Soon: My Fellow Kansans Season 2
My Fellow Kansans - October 09, 2019 18:55 - 1 minute ★★★★★ - 139 ratingsRural Kansas has a storied past. But as once-thriving towns continue to shrink — does it have a future? That depends on who you ask. In season two of My Fellow Kansans, host Jim McLean explores rural Kansas to discover what the future holds for rural communities across the state. Our conversation...
My Fellow Kansans: Live Roundtable
My Fellow Kansans - December 14, 2018 22:16 - 22 minutes ★★★★★ - 139 ratingsKansas voters elected a new governor, Democrat Laura Kelly, who wants to promptly expand Medicaid eligibility, resolve a long-running lawsuit with more school funding, and address a crisis in the state's foster care system. But her ability to fulfill that agenda will depend on how willing a more ...
My Fellow Kansans: Live With The Governor-Elect
My Fellow Kansans - December 14, 2018 22:16 - 58 minutes ★★★★★ - 139 ratingsWith the election of Democrat Laura Kelly as governor, it appears Kansas is trending back to the center. But voters sent a mixed message as conservatives regained control of the Legislature. To cap off this season My Fellow Kansans, the incoming governor sat down with Jim McLean of the Kansas New...
My Fellow Kansans: 'Kansas Common Sense'
My Fellow Kansans - November 19, 2018 11:30 - 22 minutes ★★★★★ - 139 ratingsWell, fellow Kansans, it’s over. Democratic state Sen. Laura Kelly, running as the “fix-it” candidate on the premise that Kansas had gone off the rails, beat “full-throttle conservative” Kris Kobach in the race for governor. Her win signaled Kansans’ desire to, if not reverse the state’s turn to ...
My Fellow Kansans: Kelly Wins — A Minisode
My Fellow Kansans - November 09, 2018 20:43 - 7 minutes ★★★★★ - 139 ratingsA race that looked to be oh-so-close turned out to be a clear victory for Democrat Laura Kelly, the new governor-elect of Kansas. On this mini episode of “My Fellow Kansans” we hear what Kelly had to say on election night and her explanation of what vaulted her to victory over Republican Secretar...
My Fellow Kansans: Laura Kelly
My Fellow Kansans - November 02, 2018 19:06 - 19 minutes ★★★★★ - 139 ratingsIf conservative firebrand Kris Kobach would continue Kansas on its path to the right, Democrat Laura Kelly would be its pivot back to center. After a weak start early in the campaign, polls suggest Kelly is now virtually tied with her Republican opponent in the heated race for Kansas governor.
My Fellow Kansans: Kris Kobach
My Fellow Kansans - October 30, 2018 01:15 - 19 minutes ★★★★★ - 139 ratingsIf there’s a talking point in Kris Kobach’s campaign that virtually no one could quibble with, it’s captured in his billboards: “The consistent conservative.” On the campaign trail, he offers another term that underlines the ambitious Republican secretary of state’s approach to politics and to go...
My Fellow Kansans: Greg Orman
My Fellow Kansans - October 23, 2018 01:00 - 17 minutes ★★★★★ - 139 ratingsOf the three leading candidates in the race for Kansas governor, polls suggest Greg Orman is the least likely to win. Recent surveys show the independent in single digits — well behind Republican Kris Kobach and Democrat Laura Kelly, who are virtually tied.
My Fellow Kansans LIVE
My Fellow Kansans - October 18, 2018 22:32 - 57 seconds ★★★★★ - 139 ratingsMy Fellow Kansans is coming to Johnson County Library on Oct. 25 for a live event, featuring podcast host Jim McLean and political scientist Beth Vonnahme. We'll discuss the current state of Kansas politics and learn how Kansas voters are feeling ahead of the upcoming midterm elections. You'll ha...
My Fellow Kansans: The Red Pickup Truck
My Fellow Kansans - October 15, 2018 23:43 - 21 minutes ★★★★★ - 139 ratingsIn 2016, as Kansas voters revolted against Gov. Sam Brownback and his conservative allies in the Legislature, one-time Republican gubernatorial nominee Jim Barnett, saw an opening. The Topeka doctor bought a red pickup truck, and, with his wife, Rosie Hansen, started exploring the possibility of ...
My Fellow Kansans: The Rise — And Fall — Of Sam Brownback
My Fellow Kansans - October 08, 2018 13:24 - 23 minutes ★★★★★ - 139 ratingsBefore he was governor, Sam Brownback had been state agriculture secretary, congressman, and U.S. senator. But when he captured the state’s top office in 2010 he had even bigger plans: to transform Kansas into a red-state model for the nation. That’s not the way things panned out.
My Fellow Kansans: The Summer Of Mercy
My Fellow Kansans - September 24, 2018 05:01 - 23 minutes ★★★★★ - 139 ratingsIf there’s been one constant in Kansas politics for the last 30 years, it’s that Republicans seeking statewide office must be unequivocally against abortion, and for overturning Roe v. Wade.
My Fellow Kansans: How Did We Get Here?
My Fellow Kansans - September 17, 2018 11:00 - 22 minutes ★★★★★ - 139 ratingsThirty years after its hard turn to the right — driven largely by abortion politics and the anti-abortion Summer of Mercy protests — Kansas is on the cusp of what could be another course-changing event: the 2018 race for governor.
Introducing: My Fellow Kansans
My Fellow Kansans - August 21, 2018 13:46 - 2 minutes ★★★★★ - 139 ratingsFrom its bloody free-state beginnings to present-day, red-state conservatism, we ask: How did Kansas get here? My Fellow Kansans explores one of the most pivotal chapters in the state’s history — its hard turn to the right over the past three decades. A turn driven by abortion and other culture-w...
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