Podcasts

On the cusp of Kansas's vitally important August primary election, we feature democracy-centric discussions on this episode. First, Esmie Tseng is joined by Logan DeMond and Kayla Curry to give a sneak peek at the newest iteration of the ACLU of Kansas's All Democracy is Local report. Afterwards Jesse Kielman shares the Voters' Voices Project, a collaboration with Boots On The Ground Midwest to celebrate democracy with Kansas voters.

On August 4th, Kansans will once again vote on a constitutional amendment that will decide the trajectory of civil liberties in the Free State. On this episode, we learn more about this amendment and its implications from Executive Director Micah Kubic and Political Director Russell Griffin. In our second conversation, we're joined by Kansas United for Impartial Courts Communications Director Anamarie Rebori-Simmons and Field Director Lauren Klapper.

In South Central Kansas, what started as a small social group has turned into a large-scale advocacy movement that unites people from small towns across the region. Known as We The People of South Central Kansas, they protest, provide resources to defend civil liberties, and—perhaps most important—offer connection and hope that turns despondency into action and support. Hear from the leaders and advocates of this admirable upstart group in our latest episode of Marching On.

The fraught 2026 legislative session is behind us; Logan DeMond, Policy Director, joins the show to give a recap. Then we're joined by advocates from within Kansas and across the country to share more about the proposed Kansas Second Look Act.

On this month's podcast, we first hear from ACLU of Kansas Legal Director Monica Bennett about our case Englund v. Kansas, which is challenging discriminatory probation practices that keep Kansans from enjoying basic freedoms. Afterwards, we have a conversation with Sam Allison-Natale, Executive Director at Kansas Holistic Defenders, who is using a holistic legal model to truly help people through our grueling, complicated justice system.

When infamous for-profit prison corporation CoreCivic attempted to reopen their notorious CoreCivic Leavenworth facility, the community banded together. From this emerged a new nonprofit, the Carceral Accountability Council, which aims to advocate for people-oriented justice in Leavenworth and beyond. We're joined by Ashley Hernandez and Justin Young of the CAC on this episode of Marching On.

Our first podcast of 2026 features two interesting and important conversations for the year ahead. First, we hear from Policy Manager Lindsay Callender with a whistle-stop preview of the legislative session that began in January. Second, we hear from Matthew Neuman, Founder and Executive Director of the LGBTQ Foundation of Kansas, who is working in innovative ways to support the LGBTQ+ community in the Sunflower State.

In our final podcast of the year, we're recapping the advocacy we did in 2025. Alina Matejkowski gives an overview of the advances in our REPRESENT! voting rights campaign and Esmie Tseng updates us on our work on criminal legal reform, including the work done on our Reimagine Justice campaign.

As we celebrate 60 years of the ACLU of Kansas, we were honored to be joined by Anthony Romero, Executive Director of ACLU National. Anthony shared his insights in a fireside chat with independent journalist Mary Sanchez, which we're excited to share in this month's podcast.