Home > Event Video

Event Video

To view a video recording of a previous Library special event, click the icon. The Library offers recordings only with the permission of the presenter.

  • Harry S. Truman Book Award winner Steven Casey explains how the Truman and Eisenhower administrations shaped public opinion and influenced the media during the Korean War.
    Steven Casey: Selling the Korean War
    Tuesday, July 13, 2010
    Plaza Branch

    Steven Casey discusses his new book Selling the Korean War: Propaganda, Politics, and Public Opinion in the United States on Tuesday, July 13, at 6:30 p.m. at the Plaza Branch, 4801 Main St.

    The book, which won the 2010 Harry S. Truman Book Award, explains how the Truman and Eisenhower administrations shaped public discourse about the Korean War, influenced media, and gained political and public support.

    Read more
  • Housekeeping author Marilynne Robinson discusses her award-winning novel and this year’s Big Read selection with Angela Elam of New Letters on the Air.
    A Conversation with Marilynne Robinson
    Wednesday, May 12, 2010
    Plaza Branch
    Related event:
    Housekeeping Tips from Michael Dirda

    The Big Read brings author Marilynne Robinson to Kansas City on Wednesday, May 12, at 6:30 p.m. at the Plaza Branch, 4801 Main St., for a discussion of Housekeeping and her literary career with Angela Elam of New Letters on the Air, who will record the conversation before a live audience for later broadcast.

    Read more
  • An Evening With Lewis Lapham
    Wednesday, April 7, 2010
    Central Library

    Lately, schools and colleges everywhere in the United States have been discarding studies in the humanities as if they were idle luxuries and excess baggage, according to noted editor and author Lewis Lapham. He argues this policy is ill-advised. Instead, Lapham suggests that no other set of studies is more necessary for realizing a future that doesn’t look like a Hollywood disaster movie.

    Read more
  • The Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post book critic offers a stirring introduction to Kansas City’s 2010 Big Read selection, Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson.
    Housekeeping Tips from Michael Dirda
    Tuesday, April 6, 2010
    Central Library
    Related event:
    A Conversation with Marilynne Robinson

    Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic Michael Dirda introduces Kansas City’s 2010 Big Read selection—Marilynne Robinson’s novel Housekeeping—on Tuesday, April 6, at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

    Read more
  • Celebrate the Grand Re-Opening of the Lucile H. Bluford Branch with Guion Bluford, the first black astronaut in space and nephew of Lucile Bluford.
    An Evening with Guion Bluford
    Friday, March 5, 2010
    Central Library

    A weekend of events celebrating the grand reopening of the Lucile H. Bluford Branch begins with a presentation at the Central Library by Guion Bluford, the nephew of civil rights pioneer Lucile Bluford, about his experiences as America's first black astronaut in space.

    A veteran of four space missions, Bluford is an engineer and a colonel (retired) in the United States Air Force. His first mission in space was in 1983 as a member of the crew of the space shuttle Challenger.

    Read more
  • Library Director Crosby Kemper III hosts a conversation on humanities studies and the future of America’s place in the world with Librarian of Congress James H. Billington and Princeton University engineering professor David Billington.
    Monitoring the Humanistic Heartbeat Of America
    Thursday, January 21, 2010
    Central Library

     Kansas City Public Library Director Crosby Kemper III hosts a conversation about humanities studies and the future of America's position in the world with brothers James H. and David Billington on Thursday, January 21, at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Library.

    James Billington, the librarian of Congress, will discuss why the decline of humanities studies has diminished America's position in the world.

    Read more
  • Author Roderick Townley discusses his new book, an off-center fairy tale that deals with timely issues -- greed, prejudice, and the cost of loyalty -- with a light touch.
    Roderick Townley: The Blue Shoe
    Friday, December 4, 2009
    Plaza Branch

    The Kansas City Public Library welcomes author Roderick Townley for a presentation based on his new book The Blue Shoe:  A Tale of Thievery, Villainy, Sorcery, and Shoes.

    Read more
  • To mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, author Romesh Ratnesar discusses how the relationship between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev led to Reagan’s famous “Tear Down This Wall” speech.
    Tear Down This Wall: A City, A President, and the Speech that Ended the Cold War
    Thursday, November 5, 2009
    Central Library
    Recommended reading:
    Berlin Wall

    To mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, author Romesh Ratnesar discusses how the relationship between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev led to Reagan's famous "Tear Down This Wall" speech and the end of the Cold War.

    Read more
  • Award-winning journalist Jeff Benedict shares the story of Susette Kelo, the woman whose quest to save her house landed her in the center of a national debate on eminent domain.
    Jeff Benedict: Little Pink House
    Tuesday, September 15, 2009
    Plaza Branch
    Recommended reading:
    Legal Battles: David vs. Goliath

    Award-winning investigative journalist Jeff Benedict discusses his new book Little Pink House: A True Story of Defiance and Courage on Tuesday, September 15, at 6:30 p.m. in the Truman Forum at the Plaza Branch, 4801 Main St.

    Read more
  • Be a part of the final KCPT taping of Meet the Past as the director of the Kansas City Public Library interviews the famous (and infamous) abolitionist
    Meet the Past: John Brown
    Tuesday, September 1, 2009
    Central Library
    Recommended reading:
    John Brown: Abolitionist

    Production for the Meet the Past television series concludes in September with a final program taped before a live audience at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St. The series will air in prime-time on KCPT (channel 19) during the 2009-10 season.

    Read more