Inde Talks

As citizens know FIFA World Cup 2026 will arrive in the Greater Kansas City area in June. We invited Michael Young in to join Jeff and Laurie Dean as he served as a committee member for Independence during the many months of planning. To say he is excited for our city to experience such an event is an understatement, but we also wanted to address the question most of us have; are we ready?

We are seeking recommendations for naming our monthly history segments of Inde Talks. For now we call it, Living History with Fox. In this episode Jeff Fox shares with us editorials written by The Colonel of The Examiner or what the Sheriff thought more than a century ago. In it, we are encourage to think about drinking, the scourge of the local drug problem, the consequences for shackled bootleggers, and the crime wave way back when. Do we blame the ladies, teens, or prohibition'?

Another local election has ended and on this edition Dan and Jeff welcome new At-Large City Council Member, Cody Atkinson. Get to know Cody and hear his take as he begins serving the citizens of Independence, Missouri.

Join me for the new segment of Inde Talks that goes deeper in topics for the community of Independence. Monthly Laurie Dean Wiley will focus on engaging with a community member who has a story to share, a lesson to teach, or an encouragement to give. In our first feature I introduce you to my friend, entrepreneur, and community leader Bret Kolman. Bret shares his purpose and faith story in his new book, "Wisdom that leads to Soul Rest". Believe me, Bret has something we all need to hear and read.

In this episode, we introduce you to the topic of our emotions. Our emotions such as grief or anger that get in the way of bold decisions for Independence. Join us today as we begin this conversation, "This town runs on feelings". The first of many as we break down our solutions for moving beyond the status quo.

Join us as Jeff Fox leads us through some of the thought provoking stories from The Examiner one-hundred years ago. As a regular segment of future podcasts, Jeff will remind us of our past as we think towards the future for Independence.

Welcome to our premiere episode. Today we want to introduce you to Inde Talks owner, Laurie Dean Wiley and her co-hosts Dan Hobart and Jeff Fox. In this first episode we will share a bit of our professional backgrounds and in the future we will reveal more. For now, grab a cup oof coffee and let’s do this Independence.