Archives: July 2020

Streetwise podcast this week is cops, cops, police, and The Appleseed Cast

Charles Prewitt from back in the day. // Courtesy Prewitt. Today on Streetwise from The Pitch we discuss dogs, KCPD, listen to The Appleseed Cast track “Forever Longing the Golden Sunsets”, and chat with multi-decade KC photo-journalist Chuck Prewitt. Streetwise is hosted by Brock Wilbur, editor in chief of The Pitch. Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify. Subscribe to the Streetwise newsletter, a weekly meditation on Kansas…

KC Tenants hold rally to end evictions as coronavirus protections end

Protesters. // Courtesy KC Tenants social media. Thursday morning saw local organization KC Tenants hold a press conference in front of the Jackson County courthouse to protest upcoming evictions on August 1. The conference took place during the scheduled landlord-tenant docket as over 361,000 Missouri residents are currently unable to make rent payments and face eviction. Over the next four…

Taylor Swift continues her introspective musical evolution with folklore

Written completely in isolation, folklore boasts collaboration, reflection, and storytelling as Swift’s best work yet

Taylor Swift astral projecting. // Illustration by Katelyn Betz Taylor Swift has reinvented herself multiple times over.  She’s been a country sweetheart, a pop superstar, a vengeful powerhouse, a romantic realist, and now, a folksy storyteller. The longevity of her career, in part, is by reason of reinvention, a major theme of Swift’s Netflix documentary Miss Americana. Though nobody could…

Coveting a coworker in COVID-times

Illustration by Jack Raybuck Dear Dan: I’m a twenty-something more-or-less lesbian in an East Coast city. I’m primarily into women, and I’m only interested in relationships with women, but I’m sometimes attracted to men and have enjoyed sex with men in the past. For various reasons, I decided a few years ago not to pursue physical stuff with men anymore,…

Lemonade Park is making it possible to see live music right now

Photo by Zach Bauman Of all of the industries that has been affected by COVID, the live music industry is one that has been almost incomparably crushed. Essentially all national tours have been canceled, and while a few local venues have pieced together a smattering of small local shows, due to the inherent nature of the events even these have…

Local cinematographer Jeremy Osbern framed wide release feature The Big Ugly

The Big Ugly // Courtesy PR. Stanley Kubrick’s surreal 1971 classic A Clockwork Orange is known for evoking an abundance of different emotions for views. The futuristic tale of an ultraviolet gang of droogs drinking milk and beating people while wearing phallic masks has both fascinated and distressed audiences throughout the years. While the film’s themes of morality, justice, and…

Multiple KC organizations denounce ‘Operation Legend’; demand Lucas reject federal occupation

June 1 police brutality protest in KC. // Photo by Joe Carey. In a major display of unity, Black Rainbow, One Struggle KC, NAACP Kansas City, SCLC Greater Kansas City Chapter, Urban League of Greater Kansas City, KC Tenants, Sunrise Movement Kansas City, and SURJ came together to denounce Mayor Quinton Lucas’s complicity with President Donald Trump’s Operation Legend. Legacy…

A Kids Play About Racism—a virtual show about something all too real

A Kids Play About Racism // Provided by The Coterie Theatre, courtesy of A Kids Play About Racism Children notice racial differences at a very young age. They may internalize racial bias before they start school.  So talking about race and racism with children is not only age-appropriate but also never soon enough. A Kids Play About Racism is a…

Single Sentence Singles from local musicians; July 2020 edition

Illustration by Katelyn Betz In an effort to keep you all abreast of the latest local music that’s not album or music video related, we present the latest installment of our irregular feature, Single Sentence Singles. We take a listen to the latest local singles to hit Soundcloud, Spotify, Bandcamp, et al, and sum them up in one sentence. Simple…

What a Hell of a Way to Die podcast and how 2020 is radicalizing The Normies

A leftist veteran perspective on where we’re pivoting politically

Earlier in the month, I chatted with the two hosts of the podcast What a Hell of a Way to Die. The podcast is lead by two former Midwest dudes who are veterans that now espouse leftist ideologies. It probably shouldn’t be such a surprise to find men who’ve served in the military who can accept progressive positions and react…

Premiere: The Noise FM’s ‘Cooler Heads Prevail’

The Noise FM promo. // Courtesy artists’ Facebook. It’s been a minute since we had new music from indie dance-pop act, The Noise FM. The band’s last release was the December 2016 of Hot Sauce, a live album recorded at the Record Bar. Since then, the brothers at the heart of the band, guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Alex Ward and drummer/vocalist Austin Ward,…

Veterans Community Project brings home back to veterans in need

View of veterans community project village. // Photo by Matt Burasco. Recently, Veterans Community Project (VCP) had the honor of protecting the home of a 72-year-old Vietnam Veteran, Tom, with six combat medals to his name. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Tom’s business shut down and he soon found himself unable to pay bills for the first time in his…

First coworking space for therapists in Kansas City in development

Space, a new therapy coworking concept founded by Mehgan Flynn, Jessica Schmitz, and Jae Edgar Bennett is set to open in September 2020 in a newly renovated building at 31st and Oak Street in Kansas City. Its mission statements claims it will create and nurture connections between wellness professionals and their clients by providing office and event space designed specifically…

Operation Legend or Operation Exploited: As the nation takes notice of the chaos in KC, what exactly is happening?

Police in coronavirus. // Photo by ev on Unsplash The protests in Kansas City haven’t been as frequent as they were in June, but they’re still happening. Groups like Black Rainbow, Black Lives Matter KC, and One Struggle KC continue to fight the good fight for bringing change to the community. There has been change, but it hasn’t been for…

Miller Lite giving away Royals stadium seats for Opening Day

Courtesy Miller Time, baby. While Opening Day At The K will happen without a crowd, Miller Lite is bringing some of the Kauffman Stadium fun to lucky fans. The beer brand is teaming up with the Kansas City Royals to give away authentic Kauffman Stadium seats and other merchandise to the most deserving fans so they can feel like they’re…

Yes again, the impossibility of monogamy

Illustration by Jack Raybuck Dear Dan: Is it terrible to believe you can still have a truly monogamous and loving relationship with one partner after twenty years? Or can we walk into a relationship knowing that within those decades of being together that situations like infidelity or being attracted to another is completely unavoidable? And if we acknowledge that in…