Ask A Kansan

Ask A Kansan is a podcast where we're amplifying, connecting and uncovering stories across Kansas. Every week, Gus and Sydney sit down with the people who actually make this state run — museum directors and ranchers, founders and historians, zookeepers and woodcarvers. From Kansas City to Kinsley, WaKeeney to Wichita, we go where the story is. You'll leave each episode knowing something you didn't about the state we call home. It's not a history lecture and it's not a business show. It's a real conversation with a Kansan worth knowing. New episodes weekly. askakansan.com

Ask A Kansan is a society podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 0 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Unknown Host hosts Ask A Kansan, a society show with 0 episodes published.

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  Episode #76

  The Flint Hills Fiddler: The Melodies of Kansas with Derrick Doty | Kansas Fiddler

  Sep 28, 202657 min

  Ever wonder what the difference between a fiddle and a violin actually is — or why Kansas has such a rich but largely undocumented fiddling tradition? We sit down with Derrick Doty, the Flint Hills Fiddler, a musician, historian, and music teacher based in Manhattan, Kansas. Derrick is the 2023 Kansas State Banjo Champion, a former barber in Council Grove who turned barbershop stories into historical research, and — perhaps most unexpectedly — a coffin builder. He treats us to live fiddle and banjo performances, shares the story of a John Henning banjo from 1880s Emporia that may be the first built for steel strings, and even serenades us with a Pete Seeger song updated with his own modern verses. Along the way we explore Kansas's musical history from territorial Free-Staters singing "The Kansas Immigrant" to the tune of Auld Lang Syne, the Exoduster banjo players who toured the state, and why traditional music still matters today. Highlights Derrick explains the real difference between a fiddle and a violin (spoiler: it's mostly about how you use the word, not the instrument itself) The story of how "Flint Hills Fiddler" started as an email address and became a persona Derrick's great-grandfather fiddled for barn dances in Osage County, inspiring him to take up the instrument decades later Live fiddle performance on the podcast — a first in nearly 80 episodes Why Derrick uses black horsehair on his bow instead of white (it grabs the string better and costs less) The Kansas Immigrant: a poem by John Greenleaf Whittier set to the tune of Auld Lang Syne that became the anthem of Free-Staters traveling to Kansas How 12 years of cutting hair in Council Grove turned a fiddler into a historical researcher Derrick is the 2023 Kansas State Banjo Champion, winning with "classic banjo" style instead of the more common bluegrass or clawhammer styles The story of Link and Perry Lowery, Exoduster banjo players from Emporia who toured Kansas in the 1880s and '90s A rare John Henning banjo from 1880s Emporia with its fifth-string tuner on the tailpiece and a steel brace running through the neck — possibly the first banjo built for steel strings Three ensembles: Tallgrass Express String Band, Bodark (an old-time trio named after the Osage orange tree), and Grandpa Snazzy (a mandolin club recreation with a banjorine) Derrick builds handmade coffins — it started with a doll coffin replica from the 1850s and grew into a full-fledged side business A live performance of Pete Seeger's "What Did You Learn in School Today?" with Derrick's own updated verses about AI data centers and senators Maude Wagner of Emporia: the United States' first known female tattoo artist, born in Kansas in 1877 Chapters 0:00 — Auction Bass Case Mystery 2:14 — Today's Guest 4:01 — Meet the Flint Hills Fiddler 5:26 — Fiddle vs Violin Explained 7:03 — Kansas Roots and Learning Fiddle 10:26 — Fiddle Tradition and Dance Culture 12:47 — Derrick Plays the Fiddle 14:28 — Instrument Story and Bow Hair 18:42 — Music History in Kansas 21:18 — Barber Shop to Historian 22:53 — Banjo Champion Origins 25:19 — Banjo History in Kansas 27:01 — Banjo Performance and Gear Talk 30:47 — Teaching Roots and Routine 32:32 — Tallgrass Express Origins 33:48 — Bodark Old Time Trio 34:33 — Grandpa Snazzy Mandolin Club 36:10 — Mandolin Orchestra Revival 36:56 — Weirdest Gig Stories 38:13 — How He Builds Coffins 40:16 — Why Handmade Coffins 42:08 — Pete Seeger Song Performance 45:06 — Future of Traditional Music 46:44 — Episode Reflection 48:28 — Kansas Tattoo Pioneer Tale 52:11 — Kansas Would You Rather 54:16 — Bridge Counting Challenge 54:59 — Credits Resources An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge John Greenleaf Whittier Pete Seeger Humanities Kansas Flint Hills Academy of Music Tallgrass Express String Band Fili Creative Everyday Lights Forge Podcast Learn more about the podcast at askakansan.com ! This show is part of the ICT Podcast Network, for more information, visit ictpod.net

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  Episode #75

  Grace, Grit, and Giving Back: Rafael Mendez on Community Impact | Leadership Kansas

  Sep 21, 20261h 4m

  What happens when a kid who learned to cook crack cocaine by age five ends up as a corporate executive in small-town Kansas? Our friend Rafael Mendez sits down to share one of the most remarkable personal journeys we've ever heard on this podcast. From a childhood in Miami shaped by the drug trade, foster care, and a serious criminal charge as a teenager, Rafael found an unlikely lifeline through college at Kansas Wesleyan — a place he'd never heard of and almost didn't stay at. He opens up about the people who refused to give up on him, the tough love that changed his trajectory, and how a background check after graduation led him to law school at Washburn. We also talk about his career in the consumer packaged goods industry, what brought him back to Salina to work at Blue Beacon, and how programs like Leadership Salina and Leadership Kansas are building networks that strengthen communities across the state. Rafael's story is a powerful reminder that the people who show up for us — sometimes when we least deserve it — are the ones who make all the difference. Highlights A viral TikTok donut shop in Winfield, Kansas, kicks off the episode with a laugh Rafael shares his first childhood memory at age five: building a crack pipe from a medicine bottle and household materials His parents, Cuban immigrants who arrived during the Mariel boatlift, were deeply involved in the Miami drug trade Both parents went to prison, and Rafael and his siblings entered the foster care system — an experience he describes as financially exploitative and abusive Rafael was arrested at 16 and charged as an adult with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer A friend's mother visited him in jail, helped with his legal case, and personally funded applications to roughly 80 colleges Kansas Wesleyan was the first school to call — Rafael had never heard of Salina and almost didn't stay Jane Anderson delivered what Rafael calls "the biggest white lady lecture" he'd ever received — and his GPA never dropped below 3.5 after that He was elected student body president and helped secure record funding for student clubs A criminal background check became a persistent obstacle after graduation, prompting Rafael to pursue law school He bombed the LSAT but was accepted to Washburn through the CLEO (Council on Legal Education Opportunity) program — a Thurgood Marshall initiative Despite interest from a top-10 law school (Iowa), Rafael chose Washburn out of loyalty to those who took a chance on him After law school, he built a career in the consumer packaged goods industry, including a stint at Tillamook He and his wife Renee felt called back to Salina six years ago to join Blue Beacon Leadership Salina (class of 2021) helped him build a professional network from zero after returning to Kansas Leadership Kansas took him to communities across the state, from Garden City's dairy farms to Big Brutus in Pittsburg Rafael wrote and submitted a proposal — without consulting anyone — to bring a Leadership Kansas session to Salina for the first time His core message: it's all about relationships, and surrounding yourself with the right people Chapters 0:00 — TikTok Donut Shop Find 1:07 — Kansas Accents And Ike 2:12 — Guest Intro 3:51 — Meet Rafael Mendez 4:33 — From Miami To Kansas 6:39 — Cuba Roots And Miami 9:35 — Foster Care And Arrest 13:11 — College As A Lifeline 15:02 — First Days In Salina 18:02 — Grace And Giving Back 22:11 — Wesleyan Changed Me 29:26 — Background Checks And Law School 32:36 — Bombing the LSAT 33:55 — CLEO Summer Law Prep 35:30 — Choosing Washburn 36:46 — Miami Career Detour 38:14 — Back to Salina 40:29 — Leadership Salina Network 44:15 — Leadership Kansas Tour 49:55 — Salina Session Proposal 55:11 — Relationships Matter Most 58:16 — Contact Rafael and Wrap Up Resources Mentioned Ike's Donut Shop Kansas Wesleyan University — kwu.edu Washburn University School of Law — https://www.washburn.edu/about/index.html Blue Beacon — bluebeacon.com Smoky Hill River Festival Jane Anderson / Friends of the River Foundation — https://www.smokyhillriver.org/ CLEO (Council on Legal Education Opportunity) — https://cleoinc.org/ Tillamook— tillamook.com Leadership Salina — https://www.salinakansas.org/leadership-salina.html Leadership Kansas — https://leadershipkansas.org/ The Cilantro Diaries by Tommy Espinoza Learn more about the podcast at askakansan.com ! This show is part of the ICT Podcast Network, for more information, visit ictpod.net

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  Episode #74

  The Magic of Books with Author Lara Avery | Reading Kansas

  Sep 14, 20261h 6m

  How do you convince authors, budget-strapped nonprofits, and thousands of book lovers to show up in one place on the same Saturday? We sat down with the woman who has to figure that out every single day. This week we're joined by Lara Avery, Executive Director of the Kansas Book Festival and published author of romance novels including The Year of Second Chances and Purple Hearts (adapted into a movie). We get into how she landed the job, why she doesn't send authors too many emails, what a "book parade" actually is, and why she thinks everyone — audiobook listeners included — counts as a reader. We also wander into Dungeons & Dragons character work, Horcruxes as a metaphor for creative legacy, and the ongoing debate about how Orcs reproduce. Highlights A fast food employee who is deaf handled Gus's order entirely through writing — a small moment that stuck with him Lara explains her unconventional path to authorship, writing for a company (Alloy) that also produced Gossip Girl and Vampire Diaries Why she calls herself a "listener" rather than a traditional reader, and her love of audiobooks Details on this year's Kansas Book Festival: 69 authors and moderators, a first-ever romance panel, keynote Ben Lerner, and a brand-new book parade Her philosophy for working with authors: minimal, respectful communication instead of over-formal outreach A moving conversation about what writers "leave behind" in their work, and why she thinks people should treat their attention and time as more valuable A deep dive (sorry, had to sneak it in only once!) into how to write distinct character voices — starting with diction, not psychology The Dartography segment uncovers the story of John Brown's 1859 rescue of 11 enslaved people near Holton, known as "The Battle of the Spurs," plus the history of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Reservation and Minnie Evans's fight to preserve tribal recognition in the 1950s Chapters 0:00 – Fast Food Kindness 2:13 – Meet Lara Avery 3:41 – Author Life and Day Jobs 4:49 – Romance Books and BookTok 9:02 – Kansas Roots and Audiobooks 11:49 – How She Became a Writer 15:17 – What Is Kansas Book Festival 17:40 – Parade, Food and Perks 20:13 – Leading Authors and Logistics 26:50 – Festival Date and Panels 27:51 – Dungeon Master Character Talk 28:59 – Crafting Character Voices 31:00 – Diction First, Psychology Later 32:01 – Orc Lore Detour 32:51 – Creative Horcruxes and Legacy 36:36 – Attention Economy vs. Reading 40:10 – Books as Shared Imaginary Space 41:20 – Raising Readers at Home 45:30 – Kansas Stories and Festival Mission 49:07 – Support the Festival: Donate 50:42 – Dungeon Master Aftershow 52:34 – Dartography: Holton History 59:16 – Prairie Band Potawatomi Story 1:02:55 – Holton Telescope Surprise 1:04:14 – Next Dart and Wrap Up Resources Mentioned Kansas Book Festival — kansasbookfestival.com Red Fern Booksellers (Salina) Libro.fm The Year of Second Chances by Lara Avery Purple Hearts by Tess Wakefield Harriet the Spy Kansas Authors Club Ready Player One by Ernest Cline Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman The Tattered Cover bookstore (Denver) Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Learn more about the podcast at askakansan.com ! This show is part of the ICT Podcast Network, for more information, visit ictpod.net

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  Episode #73

  Hidden Gems at Cheyenne Bottoms with Curtis Wolf | Wetlands Kansas

  Sep 7, 202658 min

  Sometimes the best things hide in plain sight. If you didn’t know, Kansas was once an ocean, and a huge chunk of that history is still alive at Cheyenne Bottoms — the largest wetland in the interior United States. We sit down with Curtis Wolf, director of the Kansas Wetlands Education Center, who breaks down what actually makes something a "wetland," why this 41,000-acre basin is a lifeline for migrating shorebirds traveling thousands of miles between South America and the Arctic, and how decades of careful management keep it thriving. We also swap stories from our own family trips out there, talk monarch butterfly tagging, and wrap things up with another round of Dartography. Highlights Curtis explains the three technical requirements for a true wetland: the right soil, the right plants, and seasonal water. Cheyenne Bottoms is a 41,000-acre basin and the largest wetland in the interior U.S. — yet less than 1% of the Kansas landscape qualifies as wetland. The Kansas Wetlands Education Center opened through a partnership between Fort Hays State University, the Department of Wildlife and Parks, the City of Great Bend, and Barton Community College, funded in part through a KDOT mitigation grant. A Hudsonian Godwit tracked by researchers flew six days straight from Chile to Cheyenne Bottoms without stopping. One square meter of mud at Cheyenne Bottoms can hold up to 65,000 bloodworms — a key food source fueling migrating birds. The Center hosts around 700 programs a year, including a Second Grade Wetlands Day, summer day camps, Turtle Tots for preschoolers, and stargazing nights during the Perseid meteor shower. The annual Butterfly Festival features monarch tagging tied to the Monarch Watch program, plus a honeybee demonstration hive and seed bomb crafts. Monarchs migrating through Cheyenne Bottoms in the fall are actually the fourth generation removed from the butterflies that left Mexico that spring. Cheyenne Bottoms is managed in nine separate pools with a dike and canal system pulling water from the Arkansas River and Walnut Creek to maximize water availability for wildlife. The Nature Conservancy manages over 8,000 additional acres of the Cheyenne Bottoms basin alongside the state's 21,000 acres. Admission to the Wetlands Education Center is free. Dartography lands in Haskell County, home to Sublette, possible ties to the 1918 Spanish flu, and a starring role in Donald Worster's Dust Bowl history. Chapters 0:00 — Pen Disaster 1:30 — Wetlands Episode Intro 2:19 — Visitor Center Photo Tour 4:12 — Barton County Side Trip 6:11 — Meet Curtis Wolf 7:58 — What Is a Wetland 9:56 — How the Center Began 13:25 — Why Wetlands Matter 16:12 — Inside the Building 22:39 — Wildlife and Bird Migration 27:52 — Education Programs Highlights 29:12 — Stargazing and Camps 30:21 — Turtle Tots and Programs 30:49 — Butterfly Festival Spotlight 32:07 — Monarch Tagging Explained 33:16 — Migration Generations Story 35:33 — Festival Activities Rundown 36:18 — Birds' Impact on Wetlands 38:35 — Managing Cheyenne Bottoms 41:11 — Nature Conservancy Partnership 42:09 — Kids in the Wetlands 45:06 — Visit and Stay Connected 46:33 — Host Takeaways and Birding 49:24 — Dartography: Sublette and Haskell 54:31 — Next Dart: Northeast Kansas 55:33 — Kansans in the Wild Shoutout 56:55 — Final Credits and Signoff Resources Mentioned Fisher Space Pen Kansas Wetlands Education Center (Cheyenne Bottoms, near Great Bend, KS) Sunflower Summer app Monarch Watch The Nature Conservancy Quivira National Wildlife Refuge Audubon of Kansas Kansas Tourism's Wetlands and Wildlife Byway Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930s by Donald Worster Learn more about the podcast at askakansan.com ! This show is part of the ICT Podcast Network, for more information, visit ictpod.net

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  Episode #72

  Vintage Automotive Restoration with Matthew Tyler Miller Wells | Vintage Kansas

  Aug 31, 20261h 4m

  Everyone assumes car people grew up under the hood with grandpa. This guest didn't — and he might be the best in the business anyway. On this episode, we sit down with Matthew "Matt" Miller-Wells, Associate Director of Automotive Studies at McPherson College, to talk about how a '68 Beetle and a lot of video games turned into a career restoring some of the rarest vehicles on the planet. We get into what it's really like inside the only four-year vintage automotive restoration program in the country, the wild story behind building a car museum from scratch in Salina, and how a student-restored 1953 Mercedes ended up placing second in class at Pebble Beach. Highlights Matt's automotive obsession traces back to a family '68 Volkswagen Beetle and a Herbie the Love Bug replica bought while stationed in Germany. McPherson College is the only school in the U.S. offering a four-year Bachelor of Science in Vintage Automotive Restoration Technology, started in 1976 by Smokey Blue. A feature on Jay Leno's show helped grow the program from a small two-year technical track into a full four-year degree. About 98% of McPherson grads land a job within six months of graduation, with many landing internships and offers well before commencement. Career paths extend far beyond the shop — alumni now work in insurance (Hagerty), auctions, social media/marketing, and even GM's heritage and design divisions. Matt spent five years building The Garage museum in Salina from the ground up, including VR welding/painting simulators and rotating exhibits like an all-yellow-car show. The college's "Path to Pebble" project — a student-restored 1953 Mercedes 300S Cabriolet — placed second in class at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in 2023. McPherson is reviving its T Build Team, where students assemble a Model T from parts to a running car in minutes. The college offers numerous scholarships (including from the Model T Ford Club, SEMA, and the Piston Foundation), and over 40% of the class of '26 graduated debt-free. McPherson's annual car show (first weekend in May) draws close to 500 cars and effectively shuts down the town. Chapters 0:00 – Car Show Photos 3:30 – Meet Matt Miller-Wells 4:42 – Military Roots & Moving Around 5:60 – Falling for Volkswagens 8:10 – Starting at McPherson 9:49 – Building The Garage Museum 14:44 – Making Car Museums For All 17:04 – McPherson Program Explained 22:48 – Careers Beyond The Shop 27:27 – Bringing Back the T Build Team 31:56 – Community Support & Scholarships 33:07 – Parking Lot Rebuilds 33:38 – Car Community Support 34:16 – Scoring a Parts Haul 35:38 – Young Enthusiasts Thrive 36:11 – Scholarships and Debt 37:14 – Path to Pebble 39:14 – Concours Level Details 40:48 – Pebble Beach Triumph 42:58 – Monterey Car Week 45:25 – Program Future & Tech 47:20 – Visit and the Annual Car Show 49:05 – The Hearse and Other Projects 51:42 – Host Wrap-Up and Thanks 54:10 – Kansas Car History Segment 1:02:53 – Final Sign-Off Resources Mentioned McPherson College Automotive Restoration – Instagram (@mcautoresto) Hagerty Classic Vehicle Insurance SEMA Piston Foundation Model T Ford Club of America Newspapers.com Learn more about the podcast at askakansan.com ! This show is part of the ICT Podcast Network, for more information, visit ictpod.net

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