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Event Audio

To listen to an audio recording of a previous Library special event, click the icon. The audio file will launch the media player on your computer.

The most recent recording displays at the top. The Library offers recordings only with the permission of the presenter. Please allow 7-10 days for the recording to be posted.

  • Filmmaker Gary Jenkins presents Negroes To Hire, a documentary based on American Slave Narratives gathered from 1936-38. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion.
    Gary Jenkins: Negroes To Hire
    Thursday, August 19, 2010
    Plaza Branch

    Filmmaker Gary Jenkins presents Negroes To Hire, a documentary on slavery in Missouri based on American Slave Narratives gathered from 1936-38. The film features commentaries by scholars Jimmy Johnson, Diane Mutti Burke, Antonio Holland, and Harriet Frazier.  The screening will be followed by a discussion including Jenkins, Johnson, and Kevin Wilmott, associate professor at KU.

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  • Join us for some Burnt Ends from Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ when Kansas City writer Doug Worgul presents his novel Thin Blue Smoke, a tale of redemption that focuses on love and loss, hope and despair, barbeque and blues. Free Admisson
    Doug Worgul: Thin Blue Smoke
    Wednesday, August 11, 2010
    Central Library

    Described as "a vital new voice in American fiction," Kansas City resident Doug Worgul presents his novel Thin Blue Smoke, a tale of redemption that focuses on love and loss, hope and despair, God and whiskey, barbeque and the blues.

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  • Acclaimed film historian and critic David Thomson speaks about the legacy of Alfred Hitchcock’s most important film as detailed in his book The Moment of Psycho: How Alfred Hitchcock Taught America to Love Murder.
    David Thomson: The Moment of Psycho
    Thursday, August 5, 2010
    Plaza Branch

    Acclaimed film historian and critic David Thomson speaks about the legacy of Alfred Hitchcock’s most important film, as detailed in his book The Moment of Psycho: How Alfred Hitchcock Taught America to Love Murder.

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  • Author Daniel S. Pierce discusses his new book about the history of NASCAR and explains how Big Bill France helped turn the sport into a billion dollar industry.
    Daniel S. Pierce: Real NASCAR
    Tuesday, August 3, 2010
    Plaza Branch

    Author Daniel S. Pierce discusses the history of NASCAR from its postwar beginnings on Daytona Beach and Piedmont dirt tracks to the billion dollar industry it is today on Tuesday, August 3, at 6:30 p.m. at the Plaza Branch, 4801 Main St.

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  • Author of the best-selling book Lies My Teacher Told Me, James Loewen discusses misconceptions about slavery and the Underground Railroad.
    James Loewen: Lies My Teacher Told Me About Slavery and the Underground Railroad
    Thursday, July 29, 2010
    Central Library

    James Loewen, best-selling author of Lies My Teacher Told Me, gives an original presentation on misconceptions about slavery and the Underground Railroad on Thursday, July 29, at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

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  • Author Adrienne Mayor discusses her biography of Mithradates, one of Rome’s most relentless but least understood foes.
    Adrienne Mayor: The Poison King
    Thursday, July 22, 2010
    Central Library

    Author Adrienne Mayor discusses her new book, The Poison King, a compelling account of one of Rome's most relentless but least understood foes.

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  • Historian Allan Meltzer and Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank president Tom Hoenig join Library Director Crosby Kemper III for a public conversation on the role of the central bank in the domestic and global economy past and present.
    Figuring Out the Fed: A Conversation with Allan Meltzer and Tom Hoenig
    Wednesday, July 21, 2010
    Central Library

    Allan Meltzer, the leading historian of the nation’s central bank, and Tom Hoenig, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, join Crosby Kemper III, director of the Kansas City Public Library for a public conversation on the past, present, and future of the Federal Reserve System. The program takes place on Wednesday, July 21, at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

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  • Author David Kirkpatrick tracks the meteoric rise of Facebook from dorm room novelty to a social networking website with more than 500 million users.
    David Kirkpatrick: The Facebook Effect
    Tuesday, July 20, 2010
    Central Library

    Former Fortune magazine technology reporter David Kirkpatrick tracks the meteoric rise of Facebook from dorm room novelty to a social networking website with 500 million users.

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  • Don Lambert discusses the efforts of 40 anti-slavery "free-staters" whose so-called Topeka Constitution helped lead to Kansas' eventual entry into the Union as a free state.
    Don Lambert: Against All Odds
    Sunday, July 18, 2010
    Central Library

    Don Lambert discusses the efforts of 40 men and women whose so-called Topeka Constitution marked a milestone on the road Kansas would take to eventually enter the Union as a free state on Sunday, July 18, at 2 p.m. at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

    On March 30, 1855, a mass influx from Missouri of several thousand armed "border ruffians" overwhelmed voting for delegates to the first Kansas Territorial Legislature, resulting in a landslide victory for proslavery adherents.

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  • Baseball historian G. Michael Green discusses his new book, the first full biography of former Athletics owner Charlie Finley.
    G. Michael Green: Charlie Finley
    Thursday, July 15, 2010
    Central Library

    Baseball historian G. Michael Green discusses his new biography of Charlie Finley, the former owner of the Athletics who moved the team from Kansas City to Oakland, on Thursday, July 15, at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

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