Author
Audio Astra: The fever dream of Kansas politics
Audio Astra reviews recent audio reporting on Kansas news, including podcasts and radio stories. Eric Thomas directs the Kansas Scholastic Press Association and teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the University of Kansas. “Off-Label Podcasting” Chillin in the Statehouse, Feb. 7, 2022 “Why does Kansas still ban gay sex?” Kansas City Today, Feb. 3, 2022 “Kansas lawmakers […]
Audio Astra: Here comes normal. Whatever that means.
Audio Astra reviews recent audio reporting on Kansas news, including podcasts and radio stories. Eric Thomas directs the Kansas Scholastic Press Association and teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the University of Kansas. We Need To Talk About Covid, Part 1 The Daily, Jan. 26, 2022 Am I Normal? Slate Political Gabfest, Feb. 3, 2022 Last year, […]
Audio Astra: Five years of silence and distance in the shadow of Trump
Audio Astra reviews recent audio reporting on Kansas news, including podcasts and radio stories. Eric Thomas directs the Kansas Scholastic Press Association and teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the University of Kansas. Five years after the first Women’s March, the fight for equality goes on Up To Date, Jan. 24 Five years ago last week, President […]
Audio Astra: A sparkling grab-bag of eclectic audio stories
Audio Astra reviews recent audio reporting on Kansas news, including podcasts and radio stories. Eric Thomas directs the Kansas Scholastic Press Association and teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the University of Kansas. School is back in session at KU, so my life is a bit frantic with prepping for the semester. Yet this week presented so […]
Audio Astra: The never-ending, slithering specter of opioids
Audio Astra reviews recent audio reporting on Kansas news, including podcasts and radio stories. Eric Thomas directs the Kansas Scholastic Press Association and teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the University of Kansas. “Empire of Pain” Patrick Radden Keefe, April 13, 2021 Purdue’s $4.5 Billion Opioid Settlement Got Thrown Out. Now What? The Journal, Dec. 22, 2021 […]
Audio Astra: How we ignored the most popular COVID prevention — testing
Audio Astra reviews recent audio reporting on Kansas news, including podcasts and radio stories. Eric Thomas directs the Kansas Scholastic Press Association and teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the University of Kansas. “A COVID Testing Crisis, Again” The Daily, Dec. 22, 2021 Have you read the news accounts of Americans protesting COVID-19 testing sites? The scores […]
Audio Astra: An audio time capsule of Kansas news for 2021
Audio Astra reviews recent audio reporting on Kansas news, including podcasts and radio stories. Eric Thomas directs the Kansas Scholastic Press Association and teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the University of Kansas. People often ask me for my podcast recommendations, because I am insufferable about quoting podcasts in conversations. The number of podcasts that I hear […]
Audio Astra: Podcasts provide recipe for post-pandemic conversations
Audio Astra reviews recent audio reporting on Kansas news, including podcasts and radio stories. Eric Thomas directs the Kansas Scholastic Press Association and teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the University of Kansas. Lee Norman on managing the pandemic and being fired Kansas Reflector Podcast, Dec. 13, 2021 Painting a brighter day for Quindaro Real Humans by […]
Audio Astra: We often say ‘political’ divide when we mean ‘cultural’ divide
Audio Astra reviews recent audio reporting on Kansas news, including podcasts and radio stories. Eric Thomas directs the Kansas Scholastic Press Association and teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the University of Kansas. The Ghislaine Edition The Slate Political Gabfest, Dec. 9 Where do we go from here on COVID-19? Chillin’ in the Statehouse, Dec. 6 A […]
Audio Astra: A Kansas native and his messy road map for compromise on guns
Audio Astra reviews recent audio reporting on Kansas news, including podcasts and radio stories. Eric Thomas directs the Kansas Scholastic Press Association and teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the University of Kansas. Former Gun Industry Insider On His Battle Against the NRA Fresh Air, Nov. 22, 2021 Gunfight: My Battle against the Industry that Radicalized America […]
Audio Astra: A morbid playlist of otherwise unrelated audio stories
Audio Astra reviews recent audio reporting on Kansas news, including podcasts and radio stories. Eric Thomas directs the Kansas Scholastic Press Association and teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the University of Kansas. This week, three podcasts tackle a single topic in very different ways. The theme? How to investigate the cause of death. Some of these […]
Audio Astra: Expertise has been escorted from the building
Audio Astra reviews recent audio reporting on Kansas news, including podcasts and radio stories. Eric Thomas directs the Kansas Scholastic Press Association and teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the University of Kansas. The Public Health Officials Under Siege The Daily, Nov. 11, 2021 TPiH 001 – JoAnn Rivera That Podcast in Hutch, Nov. 11, 2021 In […]