Deb Goodrich is a journalist, author, historian, and filmmaker dedicated to uncovering and sharing the stories that shaped Kansas and the American West.

Kiki Bush—who has also worked professionally under the name Kristen Bush—is a Kansas-born stage and screen actor, writer, and director whose career has taken her from Sterling to New York, London, Berlin, Los Angeles, and back home to Kansas.

Ken Spurgeon is a Kansas historian and filmmaker known for bringing Midwestern stories to the screen with a storyteller’s eye and a scholar’s rigor. Raised in Wichita and now based in the Wichita-area (Andover), Ken is a professor of history at Friends University, where his lifelong love of biography, the Civil War era, and the American West fuels both his teaching and creative work.

Ashley Vail is the owner and founder of Vail Family Farm, a specialty cut flower farm located just north of Salina, Kansas. What began during the pandemic with backyard chickens quickly grew into a bold leap into flower farming—despite Ashley having no prior experience growing anything beyond her two children

Andres Mata is the CEO and founder of the Kansas Civic Network, a Kansas-based civic engagement organization focused on helping communities connect, collaborate, and participate in public life.

In this episode of Ask A Kansan, we sit down with Steven Kimmi, a Kansan, educator, and local explorer who is on a mission to change the way people see Kansas. What started during the pandemic as a response to negative portrayals of the state quickly turned into a passion for exploring Kansas’s state parks, small towns, and the best burgers and pizza along the way.

Greg Peterson is the oldest of the Peterson Farm Brothers and a Kansas farmer, creator, and storyteller. Farming alongside his brothers near Lindsborg and Assaria, Greg helped launch the Peterson Farm Bros into YouTube fame by blending agriculture, education, and music to connect audiences with modern farming.

Colby Sharples-Terry is the Public Relations and Communications Manager for Kansas Tourism and the host of the travel television series On the Road into the Stars. With nearly a decade of experience in tourism promotion, Colby has built a career around telling Kansas stories in a way that inspires people to get out and explore.

Rosa Cavazos serves as a Special Projects Coordinator with Kansas Tourism (Kansas Department of Commerce), where she helps lead statewide initiatives that inspire Kansans to get involved, explore, and celebrate what makes the state unique.

Trooper Joe Owen is a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper and the agency’s Lead Recruiter, bringing more than 20 years of law enforcement experience to the role.

Brandon Sokol is the Facility Director of the Prairie Paws Manhattan Animal Shelter, where he helps lead a community-focused, “no-kill” approach to animal welfare—balancing compassionate care for cats and dogs with the real-world constraints of shelter capacity, staffing, and municipal contracts. Prairie Paws operates its main campus in Ottawa and also manages contracted shelters for Emporia and Manhattan, partnering with local governments to provide animal control impound se