Five days before Americans go to the polls, two leading writers/journalists with both local and national perspective – best-selling author and columnist Sarah Smarsh and The New York Times’ John Eligon – assess the issues, trends, and events that have shaped the political landscape and what they portend for November 3.  The election-year Writers for Readers event benefits an ongoing partnership between the Kansas City Public Library and the University of Missouri-Kansas City's MFA Program in Creative Writing. It enables a graduate student to teach writing classes at the Library and assist in planning for a new literary award and city-wide book festival.  Tickets to the virtual presentation provide access to the exclusive stream of the discussion. Additional details will be sent to ticketholders prior to the event date. 
 

Les Payne’s new biography of Malcolm X already has made waves, revealing a clandestine meeting between the incendiary civil rights activist and an armada of Ku Klux Klan leaders in the 1950s to explore a shared interest: the formation of a separate, all-Black state. 

The Kansas City Symphony continues its series of free outdoor chamber concerts at the Library, with a string quintet – violins, viola, cello, and base – performing on a mobile stage in the parking area outside the Irene H. Ruize Branch. To protect attendees, Library staff, and the musicians, all are asked to maintain social distancing and wear masks.

The model for fairly selecting judges across much of our country is known as the Missouri Plan, born some 80 years ago in response to the political manipulations of notorious Kansas City boss Tom Pendergast.