Author Rebekah Taussig. // Photo by Micah Jones Rebekah Taussig is perfectly ordinary, thank you very much. Of course, adopting this view requires one to ignore her resume—the Kansas City, Kansas writer has a doctorate in Creative Nonfiction and Disability Studies from KU, a CV full of publications and presentations and panels, and a nearly 40,000-strong following on Instagram. But…
Courtesy of Closet Chemistry. While sitting at home due to the pandemic, Carl and Sheena Brown thought about how they could achieve the American Dream. They wanted to take a gamble by starting their own business and leaving their safe jobs behind. The partners decided to open up a clothing store, but take this new endeavor a step further. They…
Brian D. Smith booking photo. // Courtesy Platte County Prosecutor’s Office Brian Douglas Smith, who owned Rockstar Burgers in the West Bottoms, was indicted for his role in a conspiracy to distribute more than 150 kilograms of methamphetamine and more than 10 kilograms of heroin, according to The United States Attorney’s Office of the Western District of Missouri on Wednesday….
Musician, composer, and host of the wildly-popular podcast The Trap Set, Joe Wong is something of a big name in music these days. However, it seems that he has a lengthy connection with Kansas City and Lawrence. In addition to participating in Steps of Faith’s annual Thundergong! fundraiser, way way back in his late teens, Wong’s “math rock angular weirdo…
Illustration by Jack Raybuck Dear Dan: I was dumped in August by a guy I was seeing for ten months. He told me that he wants to work on himself and “needs to be selfish” right now. Since then, we have spoken every day, shared numerous dinners, and gone on hikes. Our friendship is killing me. With him I hold…
Illustrated by Katelyn Betz Whether you call it fall, autumn, spooky season, Halloween pre-game, or whatever, it’s now time for the leaves to fall off the trees, the blankets to come out the closet, and to embrace some tangible element of change in a world which seemingly has been the same day for the last six months. Bonus: local artists…
UICS-North Center opens // photo courtesy of UICS United Inner City Services, a multi-service, community-based organization that has served Kansas City since 1967, has expanded its early education services to a third location in the Northland. Located at 6600A Royal Street in Pleasant Valley, MO, North Child and Family Development Center opened in early September to serve families in Clay…
Jill Gevargizian for ARealNiceLady.com. // Photographed by Lauren Pusateri, retouch by High Heart Creative After a series of excellent short films, director Jill Gevargizian–aka Jill Sixx–has transformed her highly-acclaimed 2016 short, The Stylist, into her feature debut. Starring Najarra Townsend as lonely hairstylist Claire and Brea Grant as Olivia, the object of Claire’s obsession, the film sees a need for…
Nocturne. // Courtesy Amazon Studios All month long, we’re giving away tickets to the digital premiere of a new series of Blumhouse original movies. Amazon Prime Video’s “Welcome To The Blumhouse” is a program of eight unsettling, genre movies produced by Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Television and Amazon Studios. The Lie, Black Box, Nocturnes, and Evil Eye are the first four films to premiere…
Courtesy Aaron And Sully The voices of rock bands Godsmack and Staind are teaming-up to give fans a socially distanced concert experience. The American Drive-In Tour heads to B&B Theatres Twin Drive-In in Independence on Oct. 11. Sully Erna of Godsmack and Aaron Lewis of Staind are performing together on stage for an intimate and unplugged evening. The setlist will…
Illustration by Frank Myles Editor’s Note: A version of this story appears in the October issue of The Pitch, on stands now, under the title “Praying For Tidal Wives.” The piece was updated by the original author to reflect the escalation of recent events. As the history of this sad, calamitous, batshit-crazy year is being written moment by moment, Kansas City…
Protestors at City Hall on October 4, 2020. // Photo by Jim Nimmo Each week for the last 4 and a half months, protesters gathered outside the downtown Kansas City Police Headquarters to demand the resignation or firing of Police Chief Rick Smith. Labeled “The Friday Night Protest”, this has become a weekly ritual for Black activist groups The Miller…
Before she presented observations about life in the Midwest in The Guardian and The New York Times, Sarah Smarsh wrote arts, calendar, and occasional investigative pieces for The Pitch. Today, she’s best known for her memoir and family history Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth. It chronicles how her family struggled…
On the Rocks. // Photo courtesy Apple TV+. Over the years, director Sofia Coppola has cultivated an unmistakable style that has steadily persisted throughout her entire oeuvre. She tends to focus on young (typically white and blonde) women, who grapple with loneliness and disillusionment amidst the haze of fanciful backdrops—from Lost in Translation’s Park Hyatt Tokyo to Marie Antoinette’s Palace…
“Soundscapes in the City” outside at the WWI memorial. // Photo courtesy of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City Today the Lyric Opera of Kansas City announced brand new socially distanced Fall 2020 programming, and the postponement of their Spring 2021 season. The performances from 2021 being postponed are “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs” (originally February 27, 2021-March 7, 2021),…
Kevin Kinkead and Keith Rosen are a bit camera shy, but here they are speaking with reporter Lucia Verzola about Boomerang’s thirty years in Kansas City. // Photo by Kelcie McKenney Founded in 1989 by Kevin Kinkead and Keith Rosen, Boomerang is an eclectic vintage store that its founders would describe as, “men’s and women’s vintage clothing costumes, and more,…
Corner on October 5. // Photo by Brock Wilbur Kansas Citians who are lovers of brunch, tasty mimosas, and mouthwatering breakfast food will be sad to hear that The Corner Restaurant will be closing permanently under their current management. Located at 4059 Broadway, The Corner Restaurant, like many other small businesses, had to close their restaurant in March after the…
Promotional Picture of Last Week Tonight In this last episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, the show featured Kansas City’s own Nelson-Atkins Art Museum with a clip from this summer. This was from when KC Zoo penguins came to visit on a field trip. However, this was only a segway to a greater cause. Oliver urged viewers to donate…
The Human Voice. // Photo by El Deso D.A Over the course of his nearly four-decade career, Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar has consistently defied Hollywood conventions. After all, his vibrant filmography balances over-the-top farce and raw, deeply human melodrama in a way that’s distinctly hard to pigeonhole. Given that his new short film The Human Voice stars A-list British actress…
Under the name David Wong, writer Jason Pargin has managed to create not one, but now two successful series. The John Dies at the End books–which include the titular first novel, along with 2012’s This Book Is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don’t Touch It and 2017’s What the Hell Did I Just Read: A Novel of Cosmic Horror–have seen…
Occupation in front of City Hall on the morning of October 5. // Photo by Brock Wilbur Right out of the gate on Monday morning we have a full day of protests happening around the metro area. First and foremost, there is an occupation happening outside City Hall, as a coalition of civil rights groups are on their fourth day…
Fullbloods’ Ross Brown. // Photo by Alec Nicholas “At the beginning of the year, I was thinking this was gonna be our year as a collective,” Kyle Little remembers. “We’re putting out three records, all the associated bands, hit after hit.” The five members of the Shy Boys, Fullbloods, and Koney crew quickly laugh that one-off. We’re all masked up…
Illustration by Katelyn Betz In Kansas City, incoming police officers spend approximately 1,000 hours training in a police academy for a lifetime career of policing. Of those hours, less than eight percent are spent on interpersonal perspectives, while nearly 73 percent are split between combat, weaponry, and defense training. The unequal divide between community engagement and conflict tactics has civilians…
The Game Band Fresh breath, here we come! Kansas City, number one! Catchy, right? Despite eliciting an immediate “Huh?” when you realize what you’ve just chanted. Traditional sports are resuming mid-pandemic, and we can watch the Chiefs again albeit not in person. But as the summer of 2020 began to wane, a new sport—or should I say splort—debuted on the…
