Investigation

NUCLEAR GUINEA PIGS: How a Small Kansas Town Became the Site of a Nuclear Experiment to Power AI

By Ryan S. ● Investigation ● September 9, 2026

Artificial intelligence needs more power than America will give it, so the industry went looking for ground where nobody gets a vote. In Parsons, Kansas, where one in five residents lives in poverty, that means the first nuclear reactor in history designed to operate underground, drilled through the aquifer, on land where the Army still detonates waste explosives under federal permit.

Latest in Investigation

While Cutting Buses for the Poor, KCATA Signed a Secret Deal to Harvest Their Faces for a Private Company’s AI

By Ryan S. ● Technology & AI ● August 25, 2026

A secret contract. No policy protecting riders’ data. The Defender obtained the deal KCATA signed to harvest bus riders’ faces for AI.

“There Was No Warning”: Nobody Wants to Call the Storm That Hit Wyandotte County a Tornado

By Vaughan Harrison ● Climate ● August 21, 2026

Kansas City Killed the Data Center. The Tax Scheme It Was Feeding Is Still Alive

By Ryan S. ● Technology & AI ● August 6, 2026

A Miami fund bought a 126-year-old downtown building, quietly signed away the right to demolish it, then asked Kansas City for permission to demolish it anyway and build a 20-story data center. A leading legal scholar reviewed the paperwork The Defender obtained and called it by its name. This week, Kansas City said no.

Say His Name: Saveion. A Missouri Deputy Rammed the Unarmed Black Teenager With His Patrol Car, Then Executed Him. He Was Accused of No Crime.

By Ryan S. ● Justice ● June 10, 2026

The law firm that won lawsuits for the family of George Floyd and the family of Sonya Massey has come to Missouri to fight for Saveion McConnell. Witnesses say the nineteen-year-old’s hands were up when the deputy shot him. More than a month later, the deputy faces no charges. This Friday, Saveion’s mother is calling on Kansas City to rally beside her in Lexington, the seat of the county that killed her son.