Riverside Chats

On today's show, Maria Corpuz is in conversation with Jewel Rodgers - a poet, artist and placemaker from North Omaha. She was a Buffett Scholar at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and went on to receive a Master’s in Real Estate Development from New York University. She was nominated for best performance poet at the 2022 Omaha Entertainment and Arts Award. Her multi-sensory poetry collection “Wax Over Water” received a Populus Fund Grant in 2023 through the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in New York, and she’s a 2023 fellow at the Union For Contemporary Art in Omaha. 

Rodgers is a youth poetry coach at Culxr House with the Nebraska Writers Collective. She also founded PlaceMade, a resident-led group creating community spaces on vacant lots in North Omaha.

Money is nice, right? It’s fun to buy things. But there are contexts where you’d hope that the equation is more complicated than dollar equals result, like medicine or politics. In particular, Nebraska has been the focus of several concerns about the line between money and political results. Today Jack Gould from Common Cause Nebraska is in conversation with Tom Knoblauch about the influence of lobbyists and special interest groups in our state legislature--as well as what can be done to improve the problems of money in our politics.

Last year, author, screenwriter, and host of Studio 360 Kurt Andersen joined Riverside Chats to discuss his two volume explanation of America, Fantasyland and Evil Geniuses. In that conversation, he mentioned that he was working on a third part to this series, which would be fictional. He wouldn’t give away any details at the time, but it turns out that he was working on Command Z, a new 8 part web series directed by Steven Soderbergh. The show follows a team from the 2050s who can transport their consciousnesses back into people today to try to reverse the trends leading to catastrophes of climate, economics, income inequality, and more. Today Andersen is back in conversation with Tom Knoblauch about how the series came to be, what Soderbergh could bring to the Andersen's diagnosis of the American present, and then how a show like this can impact viewers in a bleak political environment.

All episodes of Command Z are available now at commandzseries.com.

Nebraska prides itself on its Unicameral, which in theory reduces partisanship by forcing cooperation and moderation. That is, unless it doesn’t. In the headlines from this year’s legislative session, a common concern was whether partisanship had finally overtaken the body. Was this a breaking point? A sign of the future? Just a fluke year? It can be difficult to tell in a vacuum, so today's show has Tom Knoblauch in conversation with attorney Wes Dodge to parse through what happened, why it happened, and what it means for Nebraska going forward.

BFF Omaha, formerly known as Benson First Friday, is a nonprofit arts organization whose mission is to build community through art engagement. BFF started in June 2012, and was named the first official Creative District in Nebraska in 2022. On today's show, Michael Griffin is in conversation with Annie Butler, production manager and the advocacy chair, and Petfest founder Zach Schmieder about the annual showcase of local and national musical acts within the Benson community.

Petfest 2023 is on August 19 at the Petshop Gallery in Benson.

The HALLINS Corporation is a nonprofit whose mission is to stimulate constructive change in underserved communities through art and culture. It was founded in 2016, and puts on both the Omaha Jazz Experience and the LOVAM Jazz Festival. The Omaha Jazz Experience is a ticketed jazz concert that raises for the Hallins Corporation. This year’s show is this Saturday, July 22 at Stinson Park and will feature Grammy-winning saxophonist Najee.

On today's show, Michael Griffin is in conversation with Lanesa Ballew-Holt and Shontell Prince about the event, its cultural aims, and what to expect this year.

Chalis Bristol, AKA Crabrangucci, was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. She has been actively involved in the music community for years, and has played over 250 shows since 2021. She features an eclectic mix of genres from indie rock to Top 40, to house music, and K-Pop. Bristol also won the 2022 and 2023 Omaha Entertainment & Arts award for “Outstanding DJ.” Additionally, she is the Assistant Director of Sales & Marketing at the Omaha Symphony and a board member at Omaha Girls Rock.

Today she talks with Michael Griffin about her experiences finding music through the internet while growing up in Omaha, the role that DJs have in crafting an inviting space for people to hear something new, and the unlikely connection between dance and classical music.

Alajia McKizia was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. She’s had varied experiences in the local arts community, including as a studio assistant at Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts. Her work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions at multiple Nebraska galleries including the Union for Contemporary Art, Kaneko and the Tugboat Gallery. She’s also performed with African Culture Connection and .tbd Dance collective.

On today's show, Michael Griffin is in conversation with McKizia about her life, journey, and the upcoming Juneteenth Joy Fest arts and culture festival, which supports Black entrepreneurs and artists in celebration of the Juneteenth holiday. The festival is this Saturday, June 17  from noon to 10 p.m. on North 24th Street.

Marcey Yates is a hip hop artist and community advocate who was born and raised in North Omaha. He won the 2021 and 2022 Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards album of the year for “Culxr House: Freedom Summer," released on Omaha’s Saddle Creek Records. On today's show, Yates is in conversation with Michael Griffin about the role of culture in establishing a relationship between art and advocacy, his artist process when making music, as well as the creation of Culxr House, an organization in North Omaha providing community space for musical entrepreneurs to enrich their talent while lessening social and economic disparities.

It's not unusual among educated Nebraskans to hold the expectation that, if you’re an ambitious young person in this state, you’ll leave. This is within a moment where, over the past decade, the Nebraska Examiner has reported that “more people have continued to leave than enter Nebraska from other states, and the loss is heavily those with an education level of at least a bachelor’s degree.” Today Dr. Josie Schafer, director of the Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, is in conversation with Tom Knoblauch about her research on Nebraska’s concerning demographic trends, the root causes of brain drain, and what steps may be taken to mitigate concerns as job requirements shift over the coming decades.

Later in the show, Joshua LaBure reviews 'Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda.'

In Nebraska, it’s extremely common to be late to the party as far as pretty much all social trends go--or to miss the party entirely. But medical uses of marijuana have been legalized in 37 states, and it looks like the movement has a kind of national momentum that Nebraska will continue to grapple with in the years to come. We’ve seen proponents of medical marijuana produce ballot measures and introduce bills at the legislature for nearly a decade now. The fight isn’t going away. So what is the deal with medical cannabis? Today Crista Eggers is in conversation with Tom Knoblauch about being an activist for medical marijuana here in a state whose officials often oppose and attack the concept.

It’s been two-and-a-half years since Metro Transit began operating the ORBT bus system on Dodge Street. Now, the service is approaching a milestone: its one-millionth rider. The occasion comes at an interesting time for public transit, as younger generations become more vocal about their desire for a high-speed national rail system, and Omaha embarks on the controversial streetcar project. Today Metro Transit CEO Lauren Cencic and communications and community relations manager Nicole Ebat are in conversation with Maria Corpuz about the past, present and future of travel and public transportation within Omaha.

Billionaires are all over our media right now, such as HBO's The White Lotus or recent hit films like Knives Out and Glass Onion, which combine the troubles of the ultrawealthy with the whodunit. Today Sean Doolittle is in conversation with Tom Knoblauch about his new novel, Device Free Weekend, in which seven friends and one eccentric billionaire go on an all-expenses paid reunion on a private island where no phones, tablets, or laptops are allowed. Quickly it becomes clear that their old friend Ryan has something unthinkable planned and it’s up to the six of them to stop him before the world changes forever. Device Free Weekend is available now wherever you get books

The Nebraska State Legislature is back in session. This is often a chaotic moment where it can be difficult have a good sense of what the agendas at play really are–what is being debated, how initial proposed legislation evolves over the course of a session, or what all of the implications are of what is passing. So Wes Dodge is back today in conversation with Tom Knoblauch to parse through the current state of the legislature, what we might expect to pass this session, and how you can get involved by contacting your representative. 

Keith Rodger is a musician, producer and audio engineer who performs as Kethro. Rodger has made a name for himself in the music industry while based in his hometown of Omaha. In 2014, he started touring as an engineer with The Faint, Tuxedo, and CeeLo Green. He honed his craft as a DJ and sound designer at local outlets including eighty-nine-seven The River, Make Believe Studios and Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts.

Today, he’s in conversation with Maria Corpuz about the Omaha music scene, how it can grow, and how it’s changed since the COVID pandemic.

Mixed media artist Jeff Sedrel has a series of floral paintings in an exhibition at the Garden of the Zodiac Gallery through January 29. He was a 2017 Fellow at the Union for Contemporary Art under a collaborative multimedia project with Noah Sterba called Slowed Soul. Sedrel was nominated for two Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards in 2020. His recent work has also been featured at Project Project, Landlock Gallery and the Michael Phipps Gallery, where he exhibited with Holly Kranker. Today he and Tom Knoblauch discuss his process, the efficacy of art in today's digital world, and why he felt compelled to focus on flowers for his latest work. 

If you’ve been listening to Riverside Chats for a while, you’ve heard conversations with a lot of people running for office. Some of them got elected. A lot didn’t. The kind of people who want this platform, to have an hour on the radio, are often ones looking to break into the political scene or to move from a lower level to something more prominent. But Nebraska, just like the country at large, often instead reelects incumbents. So though this show has highlighted many visions for a significantly changed Nebraska (and country in general), the truth is that things mostly look the same here year after year. So why is that? 

Today, Ja Keen Fox returns for a conversation with Tom Knoblauch about his theory of romantic activism, the lessons he has learned from organizing and working in the community in a time of Democratic defeat, and what he sees as the way out of Nebraska's political stasis.

Tim Guthrie is a visual artist, art professor at Creighton, and an award winning filmmaker. His work has been included in collections at the Boise Art Museum, the Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art, the Plemmons Collection of Contemporary Art, and the Leigh Lane Edwards Collection of Contemporary Art. His documentary, Missing Piece, which chronicles his own grieving process after the death of his wife, has garnered significant attention and awards across the globe. In conversation with Tom Knoblauch on today's show, Guthrie discusses all of this along with his installations Extraordinary Rendition and Nuclear Dichotomies in his broader project of using art to both explore his reaction to the world around him and inspire critical thought. 

We talk about the climate crisis a lot on this show and a common theme that comes up is not just that we need to hope for miracle cures but that we need to rethink our relationship with the natural world. But what does that look like? Some people work to reduce their emissions through who they vote for or where their electricity comes from, and others seek to reduce the amount of plastic they consume. Another option is to embrace nature–which actually starts right in your yard. Today Tom Knoblauch talks with Aaron Urbanski, whose business Earth Sculptors converts lawns into food forests and implements sustainable lawn care services and restores diminishing wildlife habitats via sustainable local food systems.

Learn more at earthsculptors.com.

A lot of waves have been made in the past decade regarding student loans and the sometimes predatory nature of higher education. It has become a common refrain among Democrats to support varying degrees of student loan relief and forgiveness, essentially framed as an economic stimulus and a salve for those stuck with crippling debt. Republicans generally find this kind of targeted debt relief to be ridiculous, such as Don Bacon in September lamenting that reducing the debt incurred by young people seeking a degree would be a real problem for military recruitment and retention. 

Eyes now are on President Biden’s promise to forgive up to $20,000 in federal student loans, which has been challenged in court by several states–including Nebraska–and will be playing out over the next several months. Today Matthew Wurstner is back on the show to give an overview of the student loan program, the attempted relief, and the likely outcome in court.

Ballot initiatives can be a pain to read and to put in context, so today's show is an in-depth look at two of the initiatives on this year's ballot, 433 and 432: their scope, the reasons why they made the ballot, and what it means for Nebraska if they pass or fail. 

In the first part of today's show, Maria Corpuz talks with Senator Terrell McKinney about Initiative 433, which would incrementally increase the state's minimum wage from $9 to $15 by 2026.

Then, Tom Knoblauch talks with Heather Engdahl, director of voting rights at Civic Nebraska, about Initiative 432, which would amend Article I of the Nebraska Constitution to require voters to present valid photo identification in order to vote.  

If you’ve ever voted before, you probably were really excited or scared about a couple of candidates at the top of the ballot. We talk all the time on this show about how a healthy democracy requires some investment in the less splashy stuff lower on the ballot too–like the county attorney or municipal board director–but another element of the ballot that can cause headaches for the average, not particularly nerdy voter is the section with initiatives. Ballot initiatives are often written in dense, complex syntax that make it difficult to decipher what exactly you’re voting for. 

Even if you understand the basic argument, it’s not always clear what their implications are or how voting either way will affect you. So we thought it’d be worth taking a show to dissect to talk about that annoying, boring section of the ballot that you’ll see this November. Matthew Wurstner is back on the show, talking with Tom Knoblauch about the concept of ballot initiatives, Nebraska’s history with them, and what made the cut this year.

Chip Davis has been making music for over five decades, scoring his first chart-topper in 1976 with "Convoy," the song he co-wrote with Bill Fries. He was named Country Music Writer of the Year in 1976 and of course you’ve probably heard of the group he founded, Mannheim Steamroller, and the label he created to release its music, American Gramaphone, both of which have captivated listeners and audiences since 1974. Today he tells his story to Tom Knoblauch of succeeding against the odds, making Omaha his, and the importance of creating space for art. 

Wes Dodge is on the boards for Rank the Vote Nebraska, Common Cause Nebraska, Represent Us Omaha, and Non-Partisan Nebraska. He sees the possibility of meaningful reforms to our political chaos through adopting ranked choice elections and moving toward a nonpartisan vision of governance instead of our highly polarized current climate. Today he and Tom Knoblauch talk about what ranked choice voting would look like compared to what we are used to as well as how polarization is largely rooted in monied interests obscuring what voters want and keeping the focus on culture war noise.