KCPT goes inside Turning Point: The Center for Hope and Healing and looks at the various services and benefits offered to individuals, families and friends living with serious or chronic illness.
Twenty-five thousand people in our region will be diagnosed with cancer this year. Ten thousand of them will die. This week on The Local Show, we take a closer look at efforts to make Kansas City a cancer fighting mecca. Leading the effort is Dr. Roy Jensen.
“The Misunderstood Epidemic: Depression” explores the difficulties faced by those coping with varying levels of depression. Twelve Americans from all walks of life explain, in their own words, the realities of living with depression: the symptoms, thoughts of suicide, the stress it puts on families and relationships, the loss of ability to work, the stigma associated with it, and the pros and cons of different treatment methods. Their compelling first-person accounts, along with engaging interviews with their family members and friends, reveal how this bio-chemical imbalance cuts across racial, ethnic and socio-economic lines.
The inspiration for this documentary came from Susan Polis Schutz’s own experience with depression. Susan kept a journal while struggling to overcome depression. That journal was the basis for Susan’s recent book, “Depression and Back: A Poetic Journey Through Depression and Recovery.” The film and book will help people understand depression, give them hope, and show them that they are not alone.
Ryan Lefebvre is the celebrated broadcaster for the Kansas City Royals. A three-time all-Big Ten outfielder from the University of Minnesota, Ryan was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in 1993 in the 27th round. An active member in the Kansas City community, Ryan is the founder of Gloves for Kids, which raises money for youth programs in Kansas and Missouri. Ryan and his wife, Sarah, reside in Lake Winnebago, Missouri.
“I am alone, trembling on the floor in my closet. It is dark. There is no sound. I picture the cars driving away. They are leaving…that image. I begin to sob, breaking the silence. They are leaving. I am alone.”
Kansas City Royals’ broadcaster Ryan Lefebvre seems to have it all – a dream sports job of announcing Major League Baseball, a huge house on a lake, plenty of expensive toys, good looks, and the admiration of friends and fans. But depression is seldom deterred by such superficial trappings. And depression’s grip on Ryan was so strong and so unyielding that he nearly ended his life.
In one moment, he’s a glib play-by-play announcer…the next, he’s a tormented soul on the floor of his closet. And that’s just the beginning of The Shame of Me, the spell-binding story of Ryan’s descent into the darkness of depression, his courageous struggle to recover, and his new perspectives on living a balanced and healthy life.
Told with intimacy and immediacy, Ryan’s story is a must-read for anyone who has ever struggled with inner doubts. It is especially powerful for men who may be feeling lost, but are too embarrassed to confront their problems. Ryan, the son of former Major League player and manager Jim Lefebvre, and co-author Jefferey Flanagan take us through living hell before Ryan’s recovery and redemption give us hope for anyone who suffers from the debilitating disease Major Depressive Disorder.
TheShame of Me represents Ryan’s sincere wish to help others by sharing his shocking story.
Here is a closer look at Ryan’s battle with depression:
Richard Ruston was afflicted with paranoid schizophrenia before his daughter, Delaney Ruston’s birth. After many years of shame, frustration and fear she decided to hide from her father and keep her phone number and address unlisted. But now, 10 years later, Richard is more stable on a newer medicine and Delaney, given her experiences as a doctor and a mother, decides to reconnect with her father. What understanding and acceptance of her dad and his illness can she now find? What obstacles to getting her dad treatment will she now face? Knowing that her earlier failed attempts to get needed treatment to her dad is a common occurrence in today’s starved mental health system, Delaney decides to bring her camera with her during this journey of reconciliation.
Sharing touching and at times painful detail about the personal toll of mental illness, Unlisted: A Story of Schizophrenia is a soul-searching examination into the nature of responsibility—of parents and children, of physicians and patients, of society and citizens towards those afflicted with severe mental illness.
Is heart disease a result of our modern lifestyle of fast food and no exercise, or is it genetic? Maybe the mummies know! Using CT technology, cardiologists from the U.S. and Egypt are scanning ancient Egyptian humans searching for evidence of atherosclerosis. After only two expeditions to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt – the results the scientists have found are astounding!
KCPT producer Pam James uncovers what an ancient mummy has to contribute to modern medicine.
The Local Show is designed to highlight artists and entrepreneurs, leaders and overachievers from all walks of life – and in the process, help Kansas Citians discover substantially more about this place we call home.
“The Local Show is really going to allow us to tackle areas of the news that rarely get much television coverage in the metro. At KCPT, we tackle local politics and public policy well, but what about the arts and entrepreneurship, education, health and science? Finally, we have a place to regularly tell those stories.” Nick Haines, Executive Producer, The Local Show
Nick Haines is the show’s host and executive producer. Assisted by Randy Mason (and other guest interviewers from time to time), Nick will sit down for fast-paced chats with people who are making a genuine difference in fields as varied as education, health services, technology, and the arts.
The pilot episode, for example, features Kathleen Collins, retiring this year as president of the Kansas City Art Institute; and Bryan Hansel, whose company, Smith Electric, is manufacturing electric powered trucks right here in Kansas City. KCPT’s The Local Show will also spotlight “difference makers” in the community. In this first program, KCPT goes inside Operation Breakthrough, the nation’s largest low-income daycare facility. More than 600 kids a day are served at the facility on Troost Avenue. But with rising poverty, 1200 children are on the waiting list.
The Local Show will also feature segments showcasing items from the WWI Museum at Liberty Memorial, and from time-to-time, some aptly named “Start-Up Stories.” These profiles will peek behind the scenes at fledgling ventures across the metro, and then with the aid of expert analysts, pinpoint the companies’ strengths and weaknesses.
KCPT President & CEO Kliff Kuehl conceived The Local Show after spending much of his first year on the job meeting business and civic leaders all over town. “I was amazed at how many fascinating stories I heard, and how much of it might not be known by a lot of our audience,” he says.
As The Local Show launches in July and August, each half-hour program will air once a month. Beginning in September, it will have a more frequent presence on KCPT, agile enough to accommodate special editions of Imagine KC and other newsworthy topics as the need arises.
Submissions to The Local Show
If you have a suggestion for a Local Show interview, video segment or if you have some interesting HD video you would like to share, please contact us at thelocalshow@kcpt.org.
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Kansas City, MO 64108
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KCPT producer Pam James uncovers what an ancient mummy has to contribute to modern medicine.