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Nov 12, 2024 | 
kansascitymag.com | Ian Ritter |David Hodes |Hampton Stevens |Dawnya Bartsch
Some of the most powerful people around are those you haven’t heard much about, but they’re often the people who keep things moving and growing—and as a result, are shaping Kansas City. Here are 10 people of note who are exerting a quiet kind of power.
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Sep 25, 2024 | 
kansascitymag.com | Hampton Stevens
Books can be like blockbusters, epic in scope. Books can also be like quiet, little indie films. Ed Burns knows a bit about both. Born in Queens and raised on Long Island, Burns has made 14 feature films as a writer-director-actor-producer. That includes The Brothers McMullen, his debut, a low-budget indie that won the Grand Jury prize at Sundance in 1995.
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Sep 20, 2024 | 
kansascitymag.com | Hampton Stevens
The pandemic proved something to William Keyse Rudolph. It showed him that art matters. Granted, he kind of already knew that. You don’t get to be the deputy director of curatorial affairs at the Nelson-Atkins Museum without knowing that art is important. Still, the pandemic drove it home. When 2020 began, Rudolph was co-interim director at the San Antonio Museum of Art. That February, he agreed to a new job in KC. Just a few weeks later, the world shut down. He started working remotely.
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Sep 10, 2024 | 
kansascitymag.com | Hampton Stevens
Jake shoots me a look. It’s July 3rd at Kauffman Stadium, late in a game against Tampa Bay. Jake Eisenberg, young play-by-play man for the Kansas City Royals, is describing the top of the eighth inning. Richie Palacios bats against James McArthur. The Royals are up 4-2. There are two outs, but the Rays have a man on. Eisenberg describes Palacios as the “potential tying run,” then turns in his swivel chair and shoots a look my way. He does it as a little joke.
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Mar 6, 2024 | 
kansascitymag.com | Hampton Stevens
Two fancy East Coast publications think that Kansas City is the place to be right now. In January, The Wall Street Journal named KC one of the “10 Best Places to Visit in 2024.” The New York Times, meanwhile, named KC one of the “52 Places to Go in 2024.” (Times readers apparently have a lot of free time for travel.) Why, exactly, do these two snooty publications recommend our town? Sports, obviously, are a huge part of the draw.
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Jan 8, 2024 | 
kansascitymag.com | David Hodes |Hampton Stevens |Dawnya Bartsch
Here’s a look at the metro’s top physicians, as selected by their peers. We spoke to several about the keys to a long, healthy life. By David Hodes Move your body as if your life depends on it – because it does. Well, here we are: a new year and the same old you standing there, looking in the mirror and pondering a personal resolution revolution—getting ready to tackle new fitness goals. Starting, well, really soon.
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Oct 9, 2023 | 
kansascitymag.com | David Von Drehle |Hampton Stevens
David Von Drehle wrote a book about Kansas City. Sort of. Von Drehle, an enormously accomplished journalist and author who’s currently a columnist and deputy opinion editor at the Washington Post, wrote The Book of Charlie. A slim biography that reads more like a parable, The Book of Charlie tells the story of Von Drehle’s remarkable neighbor, Charlie White. For one hundred and nine extraordinary years spent as a doctor, musician, vagabond and bon vivant, Charlie grew up in—and along with—our city.
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May 31, 2023 | 
kansascitymag.com | Hampton Stevens
Jess Pope answers his own phone. This is unusual. Pope is a star athlete. He is one of the best rodeo cowboys on earth. At just twenty-four years old, Pope won his first world championship for bareback riding along with his third consecutive National Finals Rodeo average title, meaning he finished with the highest combined score. His combined earnings are a shade over a million dollars. So, yeah. He’s good. It’s weird, then, that he answers his own phone. Baseball players don’t do that.
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May 29, 2023 | 
kansascitymag.com | Hampton Stevens
Before meeting John Harrison, I was told that the current, correct term for his job is “entertainer.” That, however, isn’t how he introduces himself. “John Harrison, rodeo clown and barrel-man,” he says. “I didn’t think we called them clowns anymore?” I ask. He answers in an easy Oklahoma drawl. “Well, you know, some people get offended by it.” There are people, he tells me, who prefer terms like entertainers and athletes.
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May 8, 2023 | 
kansascitymag.com | Hampton Stevens
There is a proverb about old men who plant new trees, knowing they will never sit in their shade. Attributed to everyone from Cicero to Joycelyn Elders, the idea is that a true philanthropist builds for future generations, not just their own. For most of my life, I’ve been a beneficiary of that notion. Through no merit of my own, I grew up in a world of affluence and privilege.
