Matthew Long-Middleton

It’s taken years, but the world’s most popular sport is finally catching on in the United States. Sporting KC has regular sell-outs at its stadium, and the team has fared well in its young history.

 Now it’s turn for the U.S. women to take the pitch. This year marks the inaugural season of the National Women’s Soccer League, and FC Kansas City, our town’s team, join 7 other cities – Boston, Seattle, Chicago, Washington DC, Portland, Rochester NY, and Piscataway NJ on the field.  Today we're are joined by  the coach for FC Kansas City, Vlatko Andonovski and forward Melissa Henderson.

  The convenience and accessibility of Walmart as a one stop shop is what makes the business empire one of the most successful in the country. It is also the largest private employer in the United States and Mexico, but when a Walmart comes to town, what effects does it bring in terms of jobs and the local economy?

It was a big day for the Kansas City music scene yesterday as the Kansas City Chorale and artistic director Charles Bruffy were honored with not one but two Grammys.

Their album “Life and Breath” was honored with “Best Choral Performance” and “Best Engineered Album, Classical."

Charles Bruffy joins us by telephone from Los Angeles.

Today on Central Standard, we talk about conflict, and resolving it. Why is it that our workplaces, our families, even the international community have such trouble getting along? Our resident psychologist Bruce Liese is here to try to help … and to give us some ideas about conflict resolution in our world and in our lives.

With Valentine's Day approaching, the restaurant industry is gearing up to flirt with taste buds and create romance at the table. On the most romantic day of the year can create a lot of pressure to choose the right restaurant to enjoy a great meal with a loved one, so today on Central Standard Fridays, The Food Critics talk about the most romantic dining spots in Kansas City.

In the course of a day you make lots of decisions and each one has a consequence.  Sometimes very trivial, other times the consequence may be profound.  Today on Central Standard, we look into the subject of the science of consequences with Susan Schneider, author of The Science of Consequences: How They Affect Genes, Change the Brain, and Impact Our World.

Quiet Corral, a Lawrence-based band, has experienced recent success playing Austin City Limits and being booked for Middle of the Map Fest with headliners Grizzly Bear.

In the second part of Wednesday's Central Standard, we'll talk with Stephanie Brimhall, Education Manager at the Kansas City Symphony, about the Young Artist Competition.

This weekend, on stage at Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, young musicians will compete in the final round. Violinists Caleb Thill and Emily Shehi and vocalist Rudy Dibble also join us in the studio to discuss their musical backgrounds - and their hopes and fears about the competition.

Back in the 1960s, long hair, political protests and nudity on stage were all taboo subjects to appear in the theater, but that changed when the musical Hair debuted. Over 40 years later the musical is still provocative to audiences in a contemporary way.

Central Standard takes a close look at the most recent homeless count in Kansas City and explore the implications of these findings on these often overlooked residents of our communities.  Our guests are Vickie Riddle, Executive Director of Homeless Services Coalition, Ehren Dohler, Kansas City 100,000 Homes Campaign manager and James Ponder, a former client of Dohler's who was once homeless and now lives in an apartment.

  The movie critics take a look at recent releases from Tinseltown.  Together Russ Simmons, Fox 4; John Tibbots, professor of film at KU, and Eric Melin, Scene Stealers explore the depiction of torture in Zero Dark Thirty the craft of horror in Mama and interesting surprises from Warm Bodies.

Immigration reform is a hot topic for legislators nationwide, and this week both President Obama and a bipartisan group of senators proposed changes to immigration policy. In a city located in the dead center of the country, it might seem illegal immigration is not the biggest issue facing Kansas City, but that is not the case.

For the first time in 15 years, Kansas City, Mo. is examining its arts-related policies through Mayor Sly James' Task Force for the Arts. This task force is composed of important political members from the city and a variety of artists and advocates for the arts in Kansas City. The task force launched the Envision Arts & Culture KC campaign Monday night, which is the first step in trying to make the arts a more prominent and meaningful part of life in Kansas City.