American Public Square

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American Public Square

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American Public Square brings people together to build stronger, more connected communities.
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We champion the ideals of a civil society—where citizens engage respectfully, collaborate on shared challenges, and pursue their aspirations with purpose. APS works to educate, connect, and empower our community through:

- In-Person & Virtual Programs: Featuring expert panelists who unpack the complex social, political, and economic challenges shaping our nation.
- Community Events: Building meaningful connections, fostering local relationships, and inspiring civic engagement.
- Civics Education: Empowering the next generation with the skills to navigate today’s fast-changing information landscape and become active, informed citizens.
- A Diverse Member Community: United by a shared commitment to the common good, practicing the values that drive our mission every day. Based in the Kansas City metropolitan area, American Public Square programs and services primarily serve the Midwest region but are accessible across the nation through livestream and digital offerings.

10/12/2026

MEET OUR PANELISTS FOR OUR AI PANEL, TOMORROW, OCTOBER 13!

https://americanpublicsquare.org/event/ai/

Ruha Benjamin is the Alexander Stewart 1886 Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University and founding director of the Ida B. Wells Just Data Lab. A 2024 MacArthur Fellow, she is the award-winning author of Race After Technology, Viral Justice, and Imagination: A Manifesto. Her work explores the relationship between technology, inequality, and social change.

Dr. Donna Ginther is the Roy A. Roberts & Regents Distinguished Professor of Economics and director of the Institute for Policy & Social Research at the University of Kansas. Her research examines scientific labor markets, gender disparities, wage inequality, and science policy. She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Kara Lowe is President & CEO of KC Tech Council, representing nearly 200 companies across Kansas City’s tech industry. She leads efforts to shape public policy, strengthen the tech workforce, and support regional growth. Under her leadership, the Council launched KC TechBridge, an employer-led initiative connecting Kansas City residents with training and opportunities for tech careers.

Dr. Jeffrey Thompson is Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Technology & AI at the University of Kansas and Chief Research Informatics Officer at KU Medical Center. He leads research infrastructure, advanced computing, AI, and data science initiatives. He co-founded KU’s Enhanced AI Center for Human Focused Research and helped develop the university’s guiding principles for AI.

Moderator: Tiffany Hsu reports for The New York Times on information quality and threats to shared facts, including disinformation, political propaganda, conspiracy theories, and deepfakes. Her reporting examines why people believe what they believe and the consequences of those beliefs. A journalist for more than two decades, she previously reported for the Los Angeles Times.

10/01/2026

Are you ready to read with APS and the aspeninstitute? Visit your local independent bookstore (like rainydaybooks) to pick up a book!

09/29/2026

Last week, more than 150 bridge-builders from across the country came to Kansas City carrying gifts.

American Public Square was proud to welcome the 2nd Annual Bridging Movement Summit to Kansas City alongside the Listen First Coalition, bringing together practitioners, researchers, journalists, artists, funders and civic leaders working to rebuild trust across difference.

We opened with “Turning Down the Heat: Rebuilding Trust in an Age of Outrage,” featuring Mike Abrams of The New York Times, Olajumoke “Jummy” Banjo of the Aspen Institute, Rev. Dr. Branden S. Polk of Stand Together and moderator Jeremy Hobson of The Middle. From there came two days of workshops, conversations, new research, shared meals, films, ideas, laughter and connections that we hope will travel far beyond Kansas City.

There was no single answer to the question of how we rebuild trust in America. That may have been another gift. Instead, there were hundreds of people willing to keep asking the question together.

To everyone who traveled here, spoke, listened, volunteered, sponsored, shared your work, challenged an assumption, made a new friend or simply pulled up a chair: thank you. Kansas City was proud to have you. And we can’t wait to see what you carry home.

09/24/2026

American Public Square is on The Middle!

Yesterday, we kicked off the second annual Bridging Movement Summit in Kansas City with Listen First Project, hosting a live conversation about one of the defining challenges of our moment: How do we rebuild trust in an age of outrage?

Host Jeremy Hobson was joined by Mike Abrams Deputy Editor for Trust at The New York Times; Olajumoke Banjo, Senior Director of the Alliance for Social Trust at the Aspen Institute; and Dr. Branden Polk, LMSW, Director of Activations at Stand Together.

Together, they explored why Americans’ trust in our institutions, our politics, the media and one another has eroded, and what it might actually take to rebuild it.

The conversation was recorded live in front of our Summit audience, and the episode is out tonight at 9 PM EST on The Middle.

listentothemiddle.com

09/09/2026

Did you know you can stream our next APS Signature Event live from anywhere in the country (or on NPR the following day)?

American Public Square and Listen First Project will kick off the Second Annual Bridging Movement Summit with “Turning Down the Heat: Rebuilding Trust in an Age of Outrage” on September 23 at 6 PM.

Jeremy Hobson, host of the nationally syndicated public radio program The Middle, will moderate the conversation with Mike Abrams of The New York Times, Olajumoke Banjo of the The Aspen Institute, and Dr. Branden Polk, LMSW of Stand Together, examining what is driving America’s crisis of trust and what each of us can do to begin rebuilding it.

The conversation will be streamed live from Kansas City and later broadcast nationally through reaching listeners on nearly 500 public radio stations.

Register to attend in person or watch the livestream on September 23 at 6 PM CST:
https://americanpublicsquare.org/events/

08/27/2026

Fall is here, and American Public Square is bringing more crucial conversations to Kansas City. All are free with registration; join us at americanpublicsquare.org/events

September 10: Our Declaration with Danielle Allen
6 PM | Unity Temple, Kansas City
What does the Declaration of Independence mean to us today? Join us for a powerful conversation about the promises, contradictions, and enduring ideas at the heart of our nation’s founding document. Presented with our friends at the Kansas City Public Library .

September 16: He Has the People: Abraham Lincoln and the Election of 1860
6 PM | Arts & Heritage Center, Overland Park
Go inside the life and legacy of President Lincoln with historian Dr. Jonathan Earle and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Von Drehle. A fascinating conversation about leadership, democracy, and one of the most consequential presidents in American history. This event is in partnership with our friends at Johnson County Museum.

September 23 — Turning Down the Heat: Rebuilding Trust in an Age of Outrage.
6 PM | Park 39, Kansas City
How do we rebuild trust when outrage is everywhere? Our second annual Bridging Movement Summit kicks off with a major public conversation about polarization, civic trust, and what it takes to bring people together across our differences. Presented with our friends at the Listen First Project.

October 13 — Our Shared Future (Re)Shaped by AI
6 PM | Polsky Theatre, Overland Park
AI is already changing how we work, learn, create, and connect. What happens next? Join American Public Square and Johnson County Library for a thought-provoking conversation about how artificial intelligence could reshape our shared future.

08/06/2026

07.13.26: Rainy Day Books and American Public Square cohosted “Obstinate Daughters” author Denise Kiernan at Unity Temple! In addition to an author talk, we held an APS Member reception with great food from our friends at the Russell. For those who got a free copy of this sweeping chronicle highlighting the courageous women behind the Revolution, what did you think??

07/22/2026

American Public Square had the honor of modering this conversation with Amy Goodman, Carl Deal, and Tia Lessin at a screening of the incredible "STEAL THIS STORY, PLEASE!" at Glenwood Arts. See this movie at Glenwood until July 26!

07/15/2026

ALBUM DROP: "Self-Evident Truths: Grading the Declaration of Independence’s Legacy at 250"

Akhil Reed Amar, Dr. Lindsay M. Chervinsky, Dr. Yuval Levin, Nadine Strossen.

6.17.2026

07/08/2026

Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky throwing down the gauntlet of what we should be accomplishing not only this year, but in the next 11 years, at our "Self-Evident Truths" event.

Address

300 E. 39th Street #2S
Kansas City, MO
64111

Telephone

(816) 601-1001

Website

https://americanpublicsquare.org/membership/

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