Author: Karlee Cooper

Since the summer of 2020, KMUW has led an effort to collect, digitize and preserve audio and video materials from across Kansas. The goal of the Kansas Public Media Archive Project — dubbed Save the Waves — is to save historic recordings from obsolete formats before deterioration makes preservation impossible.

The software used to transcribe these files is not perfect, and that’s where KMUW needs volunteer help. KMUW is looking for volunteers to help correct grammar, spelling and punctuation on the digital transcriptions. Torin Andersen, KMUW’s digital archivist, will be available to answer any questions and can meet via Zoom to get those interested familiar with the project. Contact archives@kmuw.org to learn more.

These historic television and radio programs are accessible on the American Archive of Public Broadcasting website at the Library of Congress.

Largely unseen and unheard since they were first broadcast, the materials digitized through Save the Waves are the first from Kansas added to the American Archive of Public Broadcasting at the Library of Congress. The Kansas collection consists of programs produced by KMUW, High Plains Public Radio, KPR, KPTS, KRPS, KHCC and Vietnamese Public Radio. Andersen collected and organized the material, and he continues to oversee the transcription process of the thousands of items from across the state.

Here’s a chance to be an indispensable part of the KMUW team. KMUW is looking for volunteers for its spring pledge drive from Tuesday, March 28 to Friday, March 31.

Volunteers will work alongside KMUW staff and other public radio fans to help take donations, and all meals are provided to volunteers.

There are a lot of education-related topics before the legislature this year, some of which could have significant impacts, but aren’t making headlines. Come to Engage ICT at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 14 at Roxy’s Downtown, 412 E Douglas Ave, for the discussion, “Taxes and Education: Kids get what we pay for,” and find out what’s going to be up for a vote, and what’s at stake. Participants can enjoy a free appetizer buffet and get their questions answered.

The conversation will also be live streamed on the Engage ICT website and on KMUW’s Facebook page. To submit questions in advance, send an email to info@kmuw.org.

KMUW’s monthly book club features selections made by its staff. For March, KMUW is reading “I Have Some Questions for You” by Rebecca Makkai.

Participants will meet from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 15 at KMUW for a group discussion over dinner and drinks. Dinner is provided by Public.

Penguin Random House describes the book as Makkai’s “most irresistible novel yet: a stirring investigation into collective memory and a deeply felt examination of one woman’s reckoning with her past, with a transfixing mystery at its heart.”

KMUW invites the campus community to its monthly Engage ICT at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7 at Roxy’s Downtown.

The internet age brought a seemingly endless supply of advantages, from the ease of communication to entertainment streaming. But for young people who never knew a world before the World Wide Web, there are social and psychological pitfalls to living life online. Join KMUW for Engage ICT as it discusses ways to live well in a technologically immersive world.

KMUW’s monthly book club features selections made by KMUW staff. For February, they’re reading The Survivalists by Kashana Cauley.

Participants will meet from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15 at KMUW for a group discussion over dinner and drinks. Dinner is provided by Public.

To learn more about Cauley and her debut novel, check out her interview with NPR.

The campus community is invited to KMUW’s Engage ICTWichita’s panel on Policing Wichita at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 10 at Roxy’s Downtown, 412-1/2 E. Douglas Ave.

Wichita’s new police chief Joe Sullivan has been on the job for about two months now. We’re going to ask him what he thinks the biggest challenges facing Wichita are. Plus, we’ll hear from community organizations about what they believe Wichita needs on the force. Come to Engage ICT and participate in this panel discussion.

This event is free and open to all. Food and drink will be available for purchase.

To submit a question in advance, email info@kmuw.org. Learn more about Engage ICT at EngageICT.org.

KMUW’s monthly book club features selections made by KMUW staff. For January, the club is reading “Now Is Not the Time to Panic,” by Kevin Wilson.

The meeting, which includes a group discussion over dinner and drinks, is from 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 18, at KMUW. Dinner is provided by Public.

KMUW’s monthly book club features selections made by KMUW staff. For December we’re reading “Our Missing Hearts” by Celeste Ng.

KMUW’s monthly book club features selections made by KMUW staff. For November, we’re reading “How Civil Wars Start” by Barbara F. Walter. There will be a group discussion, dinner and drinks from 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16 at Public at the Brickyard, 129 N. Rock Island Ave. in Wichita.

In the book, Walter — a leading political scientist — examines the dramatic rise in violent extremism around the globe and sounds the alarm on the increasing likelihood of a second civil war in the United States.