Archiver: The Sounds of Missouri

Mid-Continent Public Library has teamed up with Sam Zeff, KCUR metro reporter and independent podcaster, on a series of original public programs and podcasts that draw on historic KMBC radio broadcasts in the Arthur B. Church Collection at the Marr Sound Archives at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. You can listen to the podcasts below, or check them out at Archiver, a show on Fountain City Frequency.

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Brush Creek Follies
In the 1930s and 1940s, The Brush Creek Follies was on the most popular radio variety shows in the country. Powerhouse station KMBC broadcast it live from the Ivanhoe Temple in Kansas City on Saturday nights.

Women of the Air
Headquartered at the Pickwick Hotel in downtown Kansas City, KMBC radio was a pioneer in putting women on the radio. One program, "Today's Women of Kansas City," featured Opal Hill, one of the founders of the LPGA.

In the evenings during the 1930s and 1940s, Kansas Citians tuned into KMBC, whose broadcasts helped clean up one of the most corrupt city governments in America, the Pendergast political machine.

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