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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.

  • Legendary CBS anchorman Dan Rather discusses the events and personalities he has covered in 60 years of reporting.
    Dan Rather - Rather Outspoken: My Life in the News
    Wednesday, June 20, 2012
    Central Library

    Legendary CBS anchorman Dan Rather joins Kansas City Public Library Director Crosby Kemper III for a public conversation about his new memoir, Rather Outspoken: My Life in the News.

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  • Author Max Holland delves into the mystery of Mark Felt, the FBI official who as the legendary “Deep Throat” helped bring down the presidency of Richard Nixon.
    Max Holland - Leak: Why Mark Felt Became Deep Throat
    Monday, June 18, 2012
    Central Library

    Author Max Holland delves into the enigma that is Mark Felt (1913-2008), the FBI official who as the mysterious Deep Throat shared with reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein insider information on the Watergate scandal and by doing so helped to bring down President Richard Nixon.

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  • Pulitzer Prize-winning author James B. Stewart examines the perjury epidemic through the cases of Martha Stewart, Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Barry Bonds, and Bernie Madoff, and explores the broader breakdown in ethics in America.
    James B. Stewart - Tangled Webs: How False Statements Are Undermining America
    Thursday, June 14, 2012
    Central Library

    Author James B. Stewart examines America’s perjury epidemic through the cases of Martha Stewart, Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Barry Bonds, and Bernie Madoff in a public conversation with Kansas City Public Library Director Crosby Kemper III. They will also discuss the broader breakdown in ethics and the age-old tension between greed and justice, self-interest and public interest, loyalty and duty.

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  • Military historian Ethan S. Rafuse delves into the life and accomplishments of Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson, perhaps the Confederacy’s greatest military strategist.
    Ethan S. Rafuse: “Stonewall” Jackson
    Thursday, June 7, 2012
    Central Library

    Ethan S. Rafuse of the military history department of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth discusses the life and accomplishments of Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson.

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  • Historian Robert Rydell examines how world’s fairs inspired and promoted innovations in architecture, the arts, science, technology, and consumer culture.
    Robert Rydell: Innovations at World’s Fairs and the World They Made
    Wednesday, June 6, 2012
    Central Library

    Historian Robert Rydell describes how world’s fairs inspired and promoted innovations in architecture, the arts, music, science, and technology, not to mention consumer culture and mass entertainment. His presentation complements the exhibit Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs, 1851-1939 currently on display at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

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  • Walter Cronkite biographer Douglas Brinkley looks at the life and career of the CBS newsman who became “Uncle Walter,” the most trusted man in America.
    Douglas Brinkley: Cronkite
    Tuesday, June 5, 2012
    Plaza Branch

    Biographer Douglas Brinkley looks at the life and career of CBS newsman Walter Cronkite, the St. Joseph native who became the most trusted man in America. Drawing on newly disclosed letters, diaries and interviews with nearly 200 of Cronkite’s friends and colleagues, Cronkite reveals not an icon but a real human with passions, loves, and occasional enmities.

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  • Economist Viral V. Acharya argues that the collapse of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was virtually inevitable and discusses how we can limit the damage and avoid the same mistakes in the future.
    Viral V. Acharya: Guaranteed to Fail
    Wednesday, May 30, 2012
    Central Library

    The 2008 financial collapse of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac resulted in a sweeping government bailout that cost the American taxpayers $150 billion. Economist Viral V. Acharya, co-author of Guaranteed to Fail: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Debacle of Mortgage Finance, argues that given government policy, the meltdown was virtually inevitable. He discusses how economic damage can be limited and how to avoid the same mistakes in the future.

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  • Historian Barry Strauss delves into the personalities and methodologies of Alexander, Hannibal, and Caesar, ancient generals who offer valuable lessons 2,000 years later.
    Barry Strauss: Masters of Command
    Tuesday, May 29, 2012
    Central Library

    Historian Barry Strauss delves into the personalities and methodologies of Alexander, Hannibal, and Caesar, three generals of the ancient world who had to look beyond the battlefield to decide what constitutes victory, when to end the fighting, and how to bring stability to the lands they conquered. These warrior-statesmen, Strauss argues, provide valuable lessons 2,000 years later.

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  • Be part of the studio audience as Meet the Past continues with Crosby Kemper III interviewing Pulitzer Prize-winning author Willa Cather as portrayed by actress Jan Chapman.
    Meet the Past: Willa Cather
    Thursday, May 24, 2012
    Central Library

    Meet the Past with Crosby Kemper III returns for a conversation with Willa Cather, portrayed by Jan Chapman.

    Growing up in small-town Nebraska, Cather (1873-1947) was moved by the people and landscape she encountered. In novels like O Pioneers!, The Song of the Lark, My Antonia, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning One of Ours she celebrated frontier life on the Great Plains. Though she spent most of her life in New York City, Cather continued to draw from her Midwestern roots.

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  • Bon vivant Chester Alan Arthur was propelled into the presidency by an assassination and then defied the federal patronage system that had nurtured him.
    Zachary Karabell: Chester Alan Arthur
    Wednesday, May 23, 2012
    Plaza Branch

    Author Zachary Karabell examines Chester Alan Arthur, who was propelled into the presidency by the assassination of James Garfield and turned his back on the patronage system that had nurtured him.

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