Kansas City PBS

Kansas City PBS is proud to present a documentary that looks back at the years Charlie “Bird” Parker spent in Kansas City and his lasting legacy on the Kansas City jazz scene. Bird: Not Out of Nowhere features rarely seen archival footage of Parker, interviews with musicians and historians, and live performances from Kansas City’s most talented jazz musicians.

Fed up with harassment and housing discrimination, lesbians in 1990s Kansas City dreamed of a place where they could "walk hand in hand, freely down the streets." So they created Womontown. The radical enclave encompassed 12 city blocks and attracted women from all over the U.S.

Kansas City Ballet prepares for the world premiere of The WIzard Of Oz with unfettered access to show the process of creating a brand new ballet from the timeless classic.

In 1913 Congress created the Federal Reserve to bring financial stability to the nation after a number of banking panics, with a mix of regional banks and a central bank board. Congressmen Robert L. Owen and Carter Glass helped pass the Federal Reserve Act with the help of compromises led by President Woodrow Wilson. The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City was begun in 1914, led by Jo Zach Miller, Jr., along with local bankers such as William T. Kemper. With the bank rapidly growing, about 1920 a new 21 story building was built at 9th and Grand that at one time held the offices of the Bureau of Investigation and President Harry S. Truman.

Burnt Legend, a joint project from KCPT, Flatland and Recommended Daily, peers inside the smoky, rich world of Kansas City barbecue and shines a light on one of the city’s defining foods. Host Jonathan Bender talks to pitmasters, barbecue fans and historians to look into how brisket is smoked, chopped and transformed into a saucy, crispy pile of heaven.

"Hear from leaders in Kansas City’s black community including the president of the Negro Leagues Museum, Bob Kendrick, author Larry Lester, and more as they discuss the importance of the league in the national context but more importantly in the lives of the black community that thrived around 18th and Vine. Introductory meetings to form the league began on February 13th, 1920 and in the 100 years following Kansas City saw the greatest athletes play at Municipal Stadium, integrate Major League Baseball, create a thriving community in redlined neighborhoods, and carry on a historical legacy in the middle of America. " (KCPT).