Kansas

New local podcast brings energy, avoids fatalism about Kansas environmental issues • Kansas Reflector

Published

2 years ago

August 2, 2024

New local podcast brings energy, avoids fatalism about Kansas environmental issues • Kansas Reflector

Like many of you, dear readers, I drive a predictable path to work. Mine takes me back and forth on K-10, or Kansas State Highway 10. My stretch of K-10 takes me from Lenexa to Lawrence.

The features of the drive don’t change much. The same billboards. The same businesses. The same suburban housing. The same trees.

This week, a new and locally produced podcast changed my perception of that landscape dramatically — especially those trees. It’s not the same old drive anymore.

The podcast that did this? “Up From Dust,” from the Kansas News Service and KCUR. Celia Llopis-Jepsen, a veteran Kansas reporter, co-hosts the podcast with David Condos, who recently moved from a reporting hub in Hays to southern Utah. Together they have so far created four episodes, which document how our choices as Kansans have shaped nature around us.

(Disclaimer: I have worked with Llopis-Jepsen and Condos through my previous job at a journalism association.)

During my previous drives down K-10, I had never noticed the “Green Glacier” phenomenon that “Up From Dust” documented in an April episode. Scientists use the term to explain the recent and relentless creep of trees from the eastern portion of Kansas to the vital prairie ecosystem in the western part of the state.

The most obvious and invasive signs of this creeping crisis dot the fence lines and property boundaries along most Kansas highways, including K-10. It’s the red cedar, a tree that spreads quickly into prairie lands originally free of trees. Those prairies are much healthier, as the podcast explains, without red cedars or any other trees.

As I explain this to you, I blush. As many times as I write and rewrite those sentences above, they pale in comparison to the specificity, energy and research that packs “Up From Dust.”

Condos and Llopis-Jepsen have been crafting these episodes for two years, and when paired with the production help of Makenzie Martin, their reporting bounces between light and serious, from scientific to personal, from local to global, from historical to timely. The first episodes mirror the excellence of trailblazing podcasts, such as Planet Money or the Vox explainer podcast, by breaking down complex issues for those of us without Ph.D.s in soil science.

The team calibrated the tone of the series perfectly. “Up From Dust” shows concern for the environment but strives for optimism. It’s a delicate balance. The science of climate change presents an existential threat, so it would be easy to retreat to a gloomy corner.

Instead, the podcast takes us into bright Kansas landscapes: foraging for garlic mustard, reclaiming a prairie stream, spotting swallowtail butterflies. The anecdotes bring wonder back to nature rather than simply leaving us worrying about nature as a victim. The producers describe the podcast as being “about the price of trying to shape the world around our needs, and the folks who are fixing our generational mistakes.”

The tone is also smart because it avoids dividing environmental science into the typical two-sided journalism rhetoric of political conflict: Democrats vs. Republicans, or corporations vs. environmentalists. It’s an easy groove for journalists to fall into, and “Up From Dust” wholly avoids it.

This podcast also suggests incremental steps Kansans can take, while acknowledging that they aren’t cure-alls for the climate damage we have done. Amid threatening daily climate news, the podcast shows Kansas nature as vibrant and resilient. And it shows us Kansans as vital.

In addition to being persuasively practical, this podcast also is subtly emotional. There is sometimes a hint of heartache in Llopis-Jepsen’s voice. In the most recent episode, “Healing the ground we broke,” she sees Kansas pastures missing eight feet of topsoil, the result of plowing and erosion. She watches demonstrations of our current topsoil, powdery and gray, unable to hold together during rainstorms. The damage to forests, fields and streams seems to wrench at her during her visits.

But that sadness is countered by joy. In the same episode, our hosts remind us of the perils of the Dust Bowl almost a century ago: choking storms, failed crops and even death. That mood is immediately followed by optimism: a soil biologist who playfully freezes the interview each time Llopis-Jepsen refers to soil as “dirt.” Throughout these episodes, laughter and joking juxtapose segments acknowledging the environmental damage already done.

A lot of the reporting in the podcast is helpfully historical. Who knew where honeybees came from? Who knew that World War II munitions led to increased use of fertilizer after the war? And who knew the threat posed by each planting of a Bradford pear tree?

In revealing this historical context, Condos and Llopis-Jepsen trust that their listeners understand nuance. Their often-complex explanations don’t provide simple fixes. (Yes, no-till farming has benefits, but it also has costs.) Nuance is also comfortable in their podcast because the length of the episodes, all more than 34 minutes, allow them to explain complicated issues more fully than a four-minute radio story.

All the while, the focus remains on Kansas. Throughout the podcast, farmers, scientists and other experts redirect the gaze of our environmentalism from the coasts to Kansas backyards and crop fields.

“We are saving the last of this ecosystem,” Flint Hills rancher Daniel Mushrush says, referring to the prairie. “If a coral reef is worth saving, if some pristine mountain stream is worth saving, then so are the Flint Hills.”

With its regional focus, this podcast is a priceless educational resource. Every environmental science class in the state should listen as required course work. In addition to the audio journalism, KCUR’s website hosts photos, stories and graphics that further explain the podcast reporting. Any educator will marvel at how Condos and Llopis-Jepsen have fun with science. And by doing so, they make it fun for us.

A few weeks ago, a Kansas high school student contacted me about an ambition. He wants to cover environmentalism in a way that reaches his fellow teenagers. Of course, I will be sending him this podcast because it provides a template for how to cover the Kansas environment.

At the end of the episode titled “The Green Glacier,” the same Flint Hills rancher quoted above describes the grueling days he spends with a chainsaw, clearing trees that threaten his grassland.

Describing the effort to keep 15,000 acres free of trees, he says: “It’s not easy work, but it’s worthy work. At least, there’s a road map forward.”

The same can be said for Kansas journalists after listening to this podcast series: Covering the local environment requires dedication, but there’s now an admirable path to follow.

Eric Thomas teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.

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Kansas

Deadly 4-car crash kills 2 people, injures others in Kansas City

Published

8 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Deadly 4-car crash kills 2 people, injures others in Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A crash near a busy highway killed two people and injured two others.

Emergency crews responded to the crash at U.S. 71 Highway and Meyer Boulevard around 12:40 p.m. on Monday, March 2.

When crews arrived they determined four cars were involved in the crash.

Police are investigating how the crash happened.

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Homegrown Jayhawk stars ready to shine at Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City

Published

20 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Homegrown Jayhawk stars ready to shine at Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City

LAWRENCE, Kan. (KCTV) – As Kansas women’s basketball prepares to enter the postseason at the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, they’ll be led by two Overland Park natives who have been two of the most electrifying players to watch in the country this year.

Junior guard S’Mya Nichols and freshman forward Jaliya Davis have played integral roles in the recent growth of the program. Both cite the desire to help grow the Jayhawks into something special as reasons for committing there.

“Where we wanted to take Kansas women’s basketball, I wanted to be a part of that growing evolution,” Nichols told KCTV5.

“We [my family] were also really big Jayhawk fans. We came to a lot of games,” Davis said about her childhood.

The two were both 5-star recruits in high school, and their commitments marked historic recruiting victories for the KU women’s basketball program.

First came Nichols in the Class of 2023, picking KU over Tennessee and Oklahoma.

“I genuinely wanted to go to Kansas,” she said.

Then Davis became the highest-rated player to ever commit to KU as part of the Class of 2025.

“When you go back to S’Mya Nichols being a local, Kansas City, Overland Park product, a nationally respected player, Jaliya was really the next one that was very important for the Jayhawks to keep home,” said head coach Brandon Schneider.

Now as a junior, Nichols has established herself as one of the most consistent scorers and physical guards in the nation.

But it’s the Shawnee Mission West’s alum’s leadership that defines her legacy in Lawrence.

“The team leader, the quarterback,” Coach Schneider described Nichols. “I think oftentimes the player that everybody looks up to off the court.”

“I mean it means everything. Knowing that I’m important to the team, and that they see me as that as well,” said Nichols with a smile.

Both Nichols and Davis were recruited by the Jayhawks for years, going all the way back to seventh grade.

“Well, we offered her in middle school,’ Coach Schneider said with a laugh about Davis.

“Oh he put in a lot of work,” laughed Davis. “I mean, obviously, seventh grade, that’s a long time.”

It was that dedication from Coach Schneider that led her to choose the Jayhawks over Texas, South Carolina, Baylor, and Oklahoma – where he dad played ball.

“I think it really was the relationship we had and grew. He was always there, every single one of my games,” Davis said about Schneider.

After just one practice as teammates, Nichols voiced a big belief about Davis into existence – and it’s probably going to come true.

The Jayhawks are the 11-seed in the Big 12 Tournament, and will face 14-seed UCF in the first round on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m.(KCTV5)

“I saw her first practice, and I sent her a text, and I’m like ‘I think you can win Freshman of the Year’, and I still stand by that,”

Davis is averaging 21.0 points per game, and has been named the Big 12 Freshman of the Week for eight weeks in a row. That sets a power conference all-time record.

“I think it’s really cool. I mean obviously it’s a team effort, they’re always looking for me,” Davis said about her historic accomplishment.

“Just a phenomenal stretch of basketball for her, and so well deserving,” said Coach Schneider.

Now these two homegrown stars are at the forefront of a late-season push to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Right now, CBS Sports bracketology has them as a ‘First Four Out’ team.

But a few wins in the Big 12 Tournament could certainly help seal their invite to the big dance.

“Obviously we’re not in the position that we were hoping to be in, but I think we can make the most out of it, and get to where we want to be,” Davis said about the opportunity at hand in the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City.

The Overland Park kids are especially fired up about starting the postseason in their own backyard.

“I have a big support system. So I bet my family will take a big chunk of that area during that tournament,” Davis laughed.

“I remember being younger, and the College Basketball Experience is right next door. So I felt like at one moment that was the big stage, when I got to play my little AAU tournaments in there. And then all of a sudden I’m literally in T-Mobile Center on the actual big stage, so it’s pretty cool,” said Nichols.

The Jayhawks are the 11-seed in the Big 12 Tournament, and will face 14-seed UCF in the first round on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m.

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Why Matthew Driscoll continues to say Kansas State is ‘close’

Published

2 days ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Why Matthew Driscoll continues to say Kansas State is ‘close’

MANHATTAN — David Castillo sank his free throw to finish off a three-point play to cut TCU’s lead to two late in the second half. Kansas State had a chance to play spoiler to a team that was on the NCAA Tournament bubble.

For the previous 36 minutes, the Wildcats were more engaged than they had been all season. You wouldn’t have recognized they were just under two weeks removed from their head coach getting fired. The Wildcats were in the middle of a competitive basketball game when there haven’t been many this season.

And then the final four minutes happened, and the Wildcats lost once again.

Kansas State pulled within one score six different times in the second half against the Horned Frogs, only to never take a lead, and then go 4 minutes, 4 seconds without a point after Castillo’s late bucket, leading to a 77-68 loss.

K-State interim coach Matthew Driscoll compared the loss to a broken record, when the Wildcats have been close late, only to fall apart in the end.

“We get there, and then, for whatever reason, we can’t break through,” Driscoll said. “When we got it to a one-point game, I thought that this was when we were going to turn the corner. It just seems like we keep getting close, and we can’t break through that wall.”

Kansas State (11-18, 2-14 Big 12) has been within striking distance in a handful of games this season, only to go on lengthy scoring droughts and come up short in the end.

While there are plenty of games in which the Wildcats were blown out or didn’t show half the effort they showed against the Horned Frogs, there have been enough games that if the Wildcats finished, they wouldn’t be fighting to not finish at the bottom of the Big 12 standings.

K-State’s Feb. 25 loss to Colorado is another example, having two five-plus-minute spurts in which it didn’t score a point. The Wildcats held late leads against West Virginia and Oklahoma State, and in their first game against TCU, only to choke away those leads.

“There’s a lot of frustration,” Khamari McGriff said. “It’s been a fight to continue to focus on the next right thing and let whatever has happened in the past, and just try to get to a point where we can compete for 40 minutes. We gotta look at it with the perspective that we’ve been close a lot of times, and we just gotta figure out how to take that next step.”

Kansas State is running out of opportunities to achieve that “next step.” The Wildcats have a home game on Tuesday, March 3, against a beatable West Virginia team before closing the regular season at Kansas on March 7. After that, it would be surprising if the Wildcats get more than two games at the Big 12 Tournament.

But Driscoll hasn’t seen his team quit, which is almost all he can ask for after what has been a season to forget.

“We just haven’t completed the deal,” Driscoll said.

Wyatt D. Wheeler covers Kansas State athletics for the USA TODAY Network and Topeka Capital-Journal. You can follow him on X at @WyattWheeler_, contact him at 417-371-6987 or email him at wwheeler@usatodayco.com

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