Podcast Directory

Episodes

Sean Meyer is a nuclear weapons policy expert and project manager of the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy Initiative with the Union of Concerned Scientists. Meyer is invigorated by what he calls the renewed and urgent national bipartisan discussion of the role and future of nuclear weapons. President Barack Obama has made ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty his highest arms control priority. Indiana should have a critical role in this discussion through Senator Richard Lugar and Senator Evan Bayh and their votes on whether to ratify the test ban treaty. 148 nations have ratified the treaty, but it cannot be enforced without U.S. ratification. Nuclear weapons have become a global liability, and Meyer says the U.S. should take urgent yet practical steps to reduce the nuclear threat on a path to a nuclear weapons-free world. A WFHB radio exclusive recorded on-location at the Monroe County Public Library in Bloomington, Indiana on May 18, 2009.

Laura Grover is a self-professed public radio fanatic. In particular she loves to listen to stories, like those she hears on her favorite radio program, “The Moth” on public radio WNYC. Her love of storytelling compelled her to create the Bloomington Storytelling Project and its first community storytelling event. There were only two rules for story submissions: they must be less than fifteen minutes long, and they must be true. Recorded live on-location for WFHB at Rachael’s Café in Bloomington, Indiana on June 13, 2009.

Monroe County’s three state legislators hosted a public forum this week to get local input on the new state budget to be considered during a special session later this week. The June 11 budget session will be the first required special session since 1997. The state constitution mandates that the legislature pass a budget and the end of the fiscal year is June 30. Bloomington is represented in the Indiana General Assembly by three local Democrats: House Representatives Peggy Welch and Matt Pierce, and State Senator Vi Simpson. These three local lawmakers have much to say on the battle ahead over the governor’s new budget proposal, but in this program it’s their constituents who do most of the talking. Recorded on-location for WFHB at the Monroe County Public Library on June 8, 2009.

Volunteers run WFHB, and the same can be said of many local non-profits. The City of Bloomington Volunteer Network honors those working to make a difference in our community with the first-ever “Be More” Awards, honoring local volunteerism in nine different categories. The Be More Awards fill the gap left by the retirement of the annual Heart and Hand Awards, which ended its seven-year run in 2007. The Be More Awards is a trademarked program of PBS, and the Volunteer Network partnered with WTIU to produce this community-wide celebration of volunteerism. More than 100 volunteers were nominated in categories like “Be More Collaborative” and “Be More Creative”. Hear the stories of just a few incredible people and their extraordinary efforts to make our community the best it can be. Hosted by Joe Wrenn of WTIU and recorded on-location for WFHB at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater on April 21, 2009.

As our country struggles to pull itself out of an economic recession, local labor unions come together to rally support for workers and their families. More than half a dozen labor advocacy groups converge to talk about the Employee Free Choice Act, workers’ wages at Indiana University, healthcare reform, and more. Peter Kaczmarczyk is President of the Communications Workers of America Local 4730, representing support staff at IU. Carven Thomas is head of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2249, with an update on the situation at the Bloomington General Electric plant, where closure has been imminent for nearly a year with hundreds of jobs hanging in the balance. Milton Fisk represents Hoosiers for a Common Sense Health Plan, speaking on healthcare reform for working families. Keynote speaker Ken Zeller is President of the Indiana AFL-CIO.

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With the mainstream media running all kinds of scary and sensational stories about an imminent swine flu pandemic, it’s time for some real answers from people in the know. The name “swine flu” is misleading. The proper name is North American Influenza A, or very scientifically, H1N1. It’s actually a virulent hybrid of human flu, swine flu, and bird flu. The Indiana State Department of Health reports 28 confirmed cases of the H1N1 Influenza A in Indiana as of May 6, 2009. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says available data does not indicate that H1N1 is any more severe than normal seasonal flu, but it is likely to circulate widely in our communities, if not now then almost certainly in the fall. We go on-location to the Monroe County Public Library for a public forum on the H1N1 outbreak with Dr.

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Mayor Mark Kruzan delivers his 2009 State of the City Address in a full-length recording of WFHB's live feed from our remote transmitter inside City Hall. After the address Will Murphy and Chad Carrothers gather impressions from city councilmembers and Murphy goes one-on-one with Kruzan for follow-up questions.

As the Wall Street financial crisis sparks heated debate on the shortcomings in the US economy, a a founding father of the modern social reform movement in Mexico examines lessons from economic projects in the country’s indigenous communities. Since the 1970s Jorge Santiago has been developing economic alternatives in over 200 indigenous communities in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico. Santiago is a leader in the “solidarity economy” movement that advocates an alternative to the neoliberal model of economic development. Fifteen years after the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect, Jorge reflects on alternative economic development initiatives in indigenous communities and the broad historical context of indigenous resistance. Recorded on-location at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana on April 9, 2009 with translation provided by Stuart Schussler of the Chicago-based Mexico Solidarity Network.

The title of tonight’s program is based upon that of a book and several speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in which he called for America to concentrate more on helping the poor. Although best known as the leader of the civil rights movement, Dr. King was also an ardent champion of decent living conditions and economic justice. The City of Bloomington Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission sponsored a panel forum to discuss the causes and consequences of the current economic crisis. Commission member Sheldon Gellar wonders if we’re any better off today than in King’s time. Bloomington business professor Martin McCory ponders ideas on pathways to economic justice. Longtime county councilman Warren Henegar gets personal with reflections on his own struggle to survive and the historical prevalence of poverty in Monroe County.

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George Taliaferro has had a wonderful life, and he'll tell you so himself.  But it hasn't always been an easy life.  This Gary native and longtime Bloomington resident played on Indiana University's only undefeated football team, back in 1945.  As a student athlete at Indiana University, he assisted President Herman B Wells in ending segregation in the city of Bloomington.  He went on to become the first African-American drafted by the National Football League.  After his football career was over, Taliaferro continued to break down racial barriers.

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