Trauma Is Not a Character Flaw
Missouri graded its own foster care system and came in 50th out of 50 in the nation. This episode we are joined by Merideth Rose, President and CEO of Cornerstones of Care, a Kansas City child and family agency that has been doing this work for 157 years. Merideth also served communities as the Public Affairs Officer for the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), serving as principal advisor and Deputy to the External Affairs Director. She and Wes get into what…
KC is an Art City
For the third episode of Believe in KC, Wes Rogers, Kansas City councilman and candidate for mayor, sits down with Jared Horman, a freelance Kansas City muralist and designer. The theme: public art as the face our city shows the world. With millions of new eyes on Kansas City after the World Cup, they get into who gets to paint the picture, and whether the art the world sees is made by local hands. Jared on how a mural actually gets made, the pieces that mean the most to him (a mural for the…
Let Kansas City Cook
For the second episode of Believe in KC, Wes Rogers, candidate for Kansas City Mayor, sits down with Ashley Aune, the Missouri House Minority Leader from the Kansas City Northland. The heart of it: how a blue city gets real things out of a red state capitol — and when the state just needs to let Kansas City cook. Amendment 5, the August 4 ballot measure that would swap Missouri's income tax for higher sales taxes on nearly everything — child care, haircuts, health care — and what that means for a…
Conversion Therapy & Kansas City
For the first episode of Believe in KC, Wes Rogers, candidate for Kansas City Mayor, sits down with Valerie Hughes, a Kansas City licensed therapist who specializes in human sexuality. They start with conversion therapy: what it actually is, why it so often targets kids, and the lasting harm it leaves behind. From there the conversation opens wide. Fear, faith, and the economics underneath the backlash. How people really change their minds, and why curiosity beats arguing. Social media. Housing as the…