Riverside Chats

For Mother’s Day, today's episode features pediatrician Arlana Phillips, mother of host Michael Griffin. She attended medical school at the University of Kansas and completed her residency at University of Nebraska Medical Center. She has been practicing at Charles Drew Health Center for over 20 years. Charles Drew Health Center is a Federally Qualified Health Center, meaning they serve at-risk community members that are frequently uninsured.

In our conversation, Phillips and Griffin discuss her motivations for pursuing a career as a physician, as well as the responsibility that physicians have to provide high quality healthcare to community members of all types.

Mayor Jean Stothert is running for reelection against John Ewing. The election is Tuesday, May 13.  We spoke to Ewing on last week’s show, and you can find that episode wherever you get your podcasts. 

This is Stothert’s fourth campaign for mayor. Before she entered politics, Stothert was head nurse at St. Louis University Hospital. She moved to Omaha with her family in 1993 and has served on the Millard Board of Education and the Omaha City Council before she began her first mayoral term in 2013.

Michael Griffin is talking with Stothert about her life before politics and how her background in critical care nursing prepared her for city government. She shares her priorities for a fourth term, including increased public safety and developing the urban core.

It’s election season in Omaha, and today's guest is John Ewing, who’s running for mayor against incumbent Jean Stothert. We’ll hear from Stothert in next week’s episode. Ewing spent 25 years as a police officer before assuming office in 2007 as Douglas County Treasurer. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and criminal justice and a master's degree in urban studies from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Ewing and Michael Griffin are talking about Ewing’s decision to seek mayoral office after decades of public service and his priorities if he wins the election on May 13.

Phillip McClain is founder of the real estate company the Mensch Group. Through the Mensch Group, McClain spearheads affordable housing developments in North Omaha. The company broke ground on its first project last year: nine single-family homes at 49th and Curtis Streets, an area known as Curtis Corner. McClain sold the houses to families for below market value thanks to assistance from local organizations like Spark Capital and Habitat for Humanity. Tax-increment financing helped cover development costs.

North Omaha has seen a surge in development in recent years, with projects like the Highlander complex on 30th Street, the North 24th Street Business Improvement District and the Levi Carter Park sports facility, which just began construction near Eppley Airfield.

McClain and Michael Griffin are talking about the need for affordable housing and the Black developers working to make the landscape more equitable. They also get into TIF and its role in development.

Kaleb Michaud is a professor of rheumatology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the director of Spielbound Board Game Cafe.

Michaud grew up in Kansas, where he developed a passion for music and astrophysics. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Rochester and a PhD from Stanford University. 

When he was 3 years old, Michaud was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease causing painful swelling and stiffness in joints and connective tissues. A doctor told Michaud’s parents that he may not survive past his early 20s. 

Living with the chronic illness inspired Michaud’s career change in 2001, when he returned to Kansas to work at the National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases. He joined the staff of UNMC in 2007 and is now a professor in the Division of Rheumatology and Director of the Rheumatology Fellowship Research Program

Michaud is also a board game enthusiast with a personal collection of more than 6,000 games. He serves as the director of Spielbound, a nonprofit board game cafe he founded in 2014 at 33rd and Harney Streets.

In this episode, Michaud and Michael Griffin are talking about Michaud's love of board games, how living with chronic pain inspired his rheumatology research and how he balances his diverse interests. 

Karen Russell's “The Antidote” follows five characters whose fates become entangled after a storm ravages their fictional small town of Uz, Nebraska. Together, the group of outcasts join forces to reveal the town’s secrets and show the importance of remembering and acknowledging injustices to create a better future.

Russell has received MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowships and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for her debut novel “Swamplandia.” She has taught literature and creative writing at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, the University of California-Irvine, Williams College, Columbia University, and Bryn Mawr College, and was the Endowed Chair of Texas State's MFA program. She serves on the board of Street Books, a mobile-library for people living outdoors. Born and raised in Miami, Florida, she now lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband, son and daughter.

“The Antidote” is Russell's second novel. She will be at The Bookworm at 6 p.m. on April 3 in conversation with Broc Anderson of the Nebraska State Historical Society.

Russell and Michael Griffin discuss the role of intellect and imagination in writing, the natural world’s influence on the artistic process and the symbiotic relationship between the author and reader.

Shaq Jones, aka Scottie Pigeon, is a dancer and DJ.

Jones uses his platform to center the experience of Black men in the arts. He grew up in North Omaha and attended Lincoln University of Missouri, a historically Black college, where he led the school’s dance troupe before graduating in 2017. He returned to Omaha and began collaborating with various performing arts organizations around town, including AP’s Legacy Dance Studio, the annual Omaha Beautillion event, Omaha Performing Arts and Opera Omaha.

Scottie Pigeon is Jones’ DJ persona. He began teaching himself the skill in 2019 at the encouragement of his father, who is also a DJ. 

The Union for Contemporary Arts selected Jones for the 2024 Inside/Outside Fellowship, where his work centered on sound and movement exploration.

Jones and Michael Griffin are talking about where Jones finds inspiration, how his dance and DJ experiences inform each other, and how he uses his work to curate emotional experiences for an audience.

Kevin Clouther is an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska Omaha Writer’s Workshop, where he serves as program coordinator of the Master of Fine Arts in Writing.

Clouther is also the author of the story collections “Maximum Speed” and “We Were Flying to Chicago.” His stories have appeared in Gettysburg Review, Gulf Coast, Joyland, New Orleans Review, Ruminate and StoryQuarterly, among other journals. He holds degrees from the University of Virginia and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and is the recipient of the Richard Yates Fiction Award and Gell Residency Award.

In this episode, Clouther and Michael Griffin are talking about UNO’s MFA program, his love of fiction and the ritual of reading.

Dirty Birds, located in the Flatiron building at 17th and St. Mary’s Avenue, is known for its fried chicken and cocktail menu. Matthew Moseley and Dan Whalen opened the restaurant in early 2021 with a goal of serving quality food in a community-oriented space. Business partner Mike West joined the team shortly after. Guy Fieri visited Dirty Birds in 2023 for an episode of “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.” 

In this episode, Michael Griffin is talking with Moseley and Whalen about their culinary history, their emphasis on giving back to the community, and how they took Dirty Birds from pop-up to brick-and-mortar.

Brenton Gomez is a fixture of Omaha’s rap and skateboarding scenes. You may know him as Conny Franko, the name under which he’s been releasing music for the better part of two decades. He’s half of the hip-hop duo M34N STR33T with producer Adam Haug.

Skateboarding was Gomez’s first love. His experiences street skating as a kid inspired him to spend much of his adult life advocating for skate park construction. In 2018, Gomez and his friends built ramps and rails on the unused tennis courts of Lynch Park on South 20th Street. In 2023, he helped convince the city to use ARPA funds to build an even better skating facility on the site.

When Gomez isn’t skating or rapping, he’s a program coordinator at the Kiewit Luminarium. He’s also an avid reader who cites Gabriel García Márquez as one of his favorite authors.

In this episode, Gomez is in conversation with Michael Griffin about how he forged his own path as a skater, artist and musician in Omaha’s DIY scenes.

Xavier Jackson is founder and CEO of Local Art Plug. An Omaha native, Jackson started the business in 2017 to connect artists with art lovers. Musicians and artists can find audiences through the organization’s website, which has pieces for sale, and a gallery space in the Flatiron Building downtown. 

Local Art Plug’s services also include subscription plans for individuals and businesses. Subscribers can lease a work to “test drive” before buying it, or they can pay to have their collection rotated out with new pieces once every three months.

In this conversation, Jackson and Michael Griffin discuss ways artists can advocate for themselves, the essential role of resources in the creative process, and how Omaha can better support local artists.

Carmen Winant is an artist, photographer, writer, and art professor at The Ohio State University. Her work involves installation and collage work to examine survival and revolt through a feminist lens. Her traveling exhibition “The last safe abortion” opens Jan. 18 at Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts. 

“The last safe abortion” is an exploration of women’s health clinics and abortion providers, with a particular focus on the Midwest. The installation is composed of photos of behind-the-scenes work related to reproductive healthcare, such as answering phones, sterilizing equipment, conducting training sessions and scheduling appointments. 

Bemis’ Rachel Adams curated the exhibition, which was organized by the Minneapolis Institute of Art. “The last safe abortion” will be displayed alongside “Synchronicities: Intersecting Figuration with Abstraction.” The installations will run concurrently through May 4.

In this episode, Winant is in conversation with Maria Corpuz about the origins of “The last safe abortion,” the logistics of how she put it together, and how Winant’s art has been affected by the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.

It's our 200th episode, and we're doing something a little different this week. In this episode, Michael Griffin is in conversation with producer Courtney Bierman.

A quick note on episode numbers: if you’re listening to the podcast version of this show, you’ll notice it lists this episode as number 218. That’s because show creator Tom Knoblauch started the count when Riverside Chats was a series of live conversations in Benson. We’re counting from the first episode that played on KIOS airwaves in 2020.

Bierman, an Omaha native, graduated from the University of Kansas in 2019 with degrees in journalism and film. While at KU, she served as the arts and culture editor for the University Daily Kansan and completed a summer internship at KCUR, Kansas City's NPR member station.

She joined KIOS in 2020 and hosts programming every weekday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.. In addition to Riverside Chats, she produces the local shows Faturday Omaha, Lives and The Entertainment.

Bierman also works weekends at Film Streams. You can find her behind the concessions counter at either location, and she’d love it if you said hello.

Bierman and Griffin discuss the behind-the-scenes production process in radio, the organizational structure of KIOS, and whether it is too late for her to become a film critic.

Todd Lemke is the founder and publisher of Omaha Magazine, a 42-year-old regional publication covering the arts, lifestyle, entertainment, food and more.

Lemke grew up in Papillion and graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1981 with a degree in journalism. In 1983, he started a print publication called Omaha Today, which eventually became Omaha Magazine. 

Omaha Magazine is behind the annual Best of Omaha list, Faces of Omaha, Faces of Lincoln, the new North Omaha First, and other special publications. It has been honored by the Great Plains Journalism Awards, the American Institute of Graphic Arts, and by the Omaha Press Club.

In this episode, Lemke and Michael Griffin are discussing the origin of the magazine, the intersection of advertising and journalism, and what Lemke has learned in his 40 years in the industry.

Joshua Brown is the program coordinator at the Nebraska Arts Council, a state organization whose mission is to promote, cultivate and sustain the arts through programming, grants and opportunities to foster creative innovation statewide.

At the Arts Council, Brown manages grants related to arts education and accessibility. Outside of his work with the Arts Council, he also serves as a visual artist and musician, exhibiting paintings and sculptures at community galleries in Omaha and organizing shows that support emerging and community-oriented artists.

A University of Nebraska Omaha graduate, Brown has a degree in art history and is also working toward a Master of Arts in Education from the University of Nebraska Kearney. His studies have led him to explore the connections between power, government and the arts, focusing on how governments can foster environments that encourage community-oriented arts and culture.

In this episode Brown and Michael Griffin are talking about art as rhetoric and why it’s essential for a healthy democracy, and how Brown’s worldview was shaped by homeschooling and an early appreciation for art of all kinds.

Jahmai Brown is a painter, photographer and Hot Shops Art Center resident. 

An Omaha native, Brown attended North High School and graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute. His paintings are often works of bright colors, bold patterns and less traditional materials like glitter and magazine clippings. 

Brown was also among the artists who created the “Black Skies” mural in 2018 at 24th and Grant Streets, which highlights the experiences of the Tuskegee Airmen. Brown was only 17 when the mural was unveiled to the public.

In this episode, Brown and Michael Griffin are talking about the inspiration behind his work, and his hope for viewers to interact with it. They're also talking about the skills he thinks are important for a young artist to develop, and how those artists can find support in Omaha.

Erin Feichtinger is policy director of the Women's Fund of Omaha. In this episode, she's in conversation with Tom Knoblauch about history (in which she has a Ph.D. from Loyola University Chicago) and politics, including Governor Pillen's vision for Nebraska and how it's panning out after a contentious state legislative session.

This episode was recorded before the 2024 general election.

Working in poetry, glass and installation, Aspen Monet Laboy’s art explores concepts of environmentalism and identity. In the summer of 2022, they implemented and co-hosted Corner’s Space at KANEKO, a public program exploring poetry through creative experimentation and collaboration.

Laboy has published three books of poetry with a fourth on the way. Several of their selected poems were aired on Friday Live with Nebraska Public Media through NPR in 2023. Their writing has also been featured in local zines and performed in various galleries.

Currently, Laboy is part of the 2023-24 Alternate Currents Cohort and Community Advisory Group through Amplify Arts. This year, they were awarded a scholarship from Penland School of Craft and were accepted into the Pilchuck Glass School Auction.

In this episode, Michael Griffin and Laboy are in conversation about Laboy’s origins as a writer and artist, and how they became interested in glassblowing and sculpting. They're also talking about the economics of being an artist in Omaha and how we can better support the creative community.

Sean Kelly is a candidate for Douglas County Commissioner, District 5 against Brian Fahey.

An Omaha native and Dundee resident, Kelly attended Creighton Prep and went on to receive an undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business. Outside of his run for office, Kelly works as a local investor and agricultural real estate professional.

In this episode, Kelly and Michael Griffin discuss how Kelly's business background inspired his run for office, and his vision for District 5, which includes lowering property taxes and increasing transparency in local government.

Brian Fahey is a local attorney running for Douglas County Commissioner, District 5 against Sean Kelly.

An Omaha native and nephew of former mayor Mike Fahey, Brian Fahey attended Central High School and went on to receive a law degree from the University of Nebraska College of Law. Fahey is also a member of the River City Mixed Chorus Board of Directors, vocalist for the Omaha Chamber Singers and artistic director of the Capitol Avenue Baroque. 

Fahey and Michael Griffin discuss how caring for elderly relatives and relying on public assistance inspired Fahey's run for office. They also discuss steps for improving quality of life in his district, staying grounded on the campaign trail, and how to foster political discussions with people from all walks of life.

Correction: An earlier version of this description incorrectly identified Brian Fahey's relationship to former mayor Mike Fahey. Brian is his nephew.

Correction: An earlier version of this description incorrectly detailed Fahey's employment history. He is not a partner at Fraser Stryker.

David Levy is a candidate for the Regional Metropolitan Transit Authority’s Board of Directors in District 2. The Transit Authority, also known as Metro, is responsible for running Omaha’s bus system, including ORBT and MOBY services.

Levy is running against Clarice Dombeck, who was on this show in June. You can hear my conversation with her wherever you get your podcasts.

The first elected transit board will have seven nonpartisan members, one for each district. Prior to this year, seats were appointed by the mayor rather than elected. The change is part of Metro’s increased budget and expanded regional services. Board responsibilities include determining transit policy, overseeing the budget and handling contracts.

David Levy was born in Lincoln, and his family moved to Santa Barbara, California when he was 9. He earned both an undergraduate and master’s degree in city planning at the University of California, Berkeley. He spent the first part of his career as a city planner in San Francisco. He earned a law degree from Hastings College of the Law, know known as University of California College of the Law, San Francisco.

Levy now works as an attorney at the firm Baird Holm LLP, where he represents clients in land use and energy matters. He currently serves as a commissioner of the Omaha Housing Authority and as a member of the Omaha by Design board of directors. Before beginning his legal career, Levy was a city planner for the City and County of San Francisco. Levy also contributed to the City of Omaha’s streetcar project.

In this episode, Levy and Michael Griffin are talking about how Levy's early interest in architecture led to his career in law and city planning, his vision for transit equity, and how to increase civic engagement in Omaha. Here is my conversation with David Levy.

Correction: A previous version of this text misidentified the school from which Levy obtained his law degree. It was Hastings College of the Law.

Zedeka Poindexter and Gina Tranisi are co-executive directors of the Nebraska Writers Collective. NWC is responsible for the annual All Writes Reserved Youth Spoken Word Festival, formerly known as Louder Than a Bomb, which reaches more than 30 schools and 500 students across Nebraska and Iowa with free spoken word poetry lessons, workshops with local writers, open mics, and a space to be heard.

NWC will also host National Youth Poet Laureate Stephanie Pacheco for a performance on Oct. 12 at Dry Spokes, located at 19th and Leavenworth.

Zedeka Poindexter is a North Omaha-born writer and performer with a background in management and communications. She holds a bachelor's degree in communication from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Poindexter has built a historical record through poems and essays that draw on physical senses to connect with readers and listeners. Before assuming her current role, she spent ten years with the NWC as a teaching artist.

Gina Tranisi is a leader, educator, and poet who has competed at both the National Poetry Slam and the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational. She holds a bachelor's and master's degree in English with a specialization in Women's and Gender Studies from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. An alum of the Nebraska Writers Collective's youth poetry programming, Tranisi has served as a teaching artist and, most recently, an Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program certified instructor, and the organization's full-time program director.

In this episode, Poindexter and Tranisi are in conversation with Michael Griffin about the basics of writing poetry, the value of expressing lived experiences through art, and the past and future of the Nebraska Writers Collective.

Astrid Munn is a lead attorney at CIRA, the Center for Immigrant and Refugee Advancement, where she represents immigrant clients who have survived violent crime, domestic violence and trafficking. CIRA was previously known as the Immigrant Legal Center and Refugee Empowerment Center. Munn is also a comedian who performs improv and standup at clubs around town.

Munn was born in Scottsbluff and received an undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln before attending law school at Washington University in St. Louis.

On weekends, you can often find her performing at The Backline, The Sydney and other venues around town.

In this episode Munn is in conversation with Michael Griffin about the common ground between advocating for a client and making an audience laugh, barriers in the legal process that immigrant communities often encounter and Omaha’s growing comedy scene.

Roger Garcia represents District 1 on the Douglas County Board of Commissioners. Garcia was elected to his first term in 2021, becoming the seven-member board’s first-ever Latino commissioner. He’s up for reelection this year but is running unopposed.

Garcia was born in Los Angeles to immigrant parents from Honduras and Mexico. He was raised in Columbus, Nebraska and moved to Omaha in 2005. He holds bachelor’s degrees in psychology and Latino/Latin American Studies, a master’s in public administration, a master’s in theological studies, a doctorate in ministry, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Public Administration.

In addition to his tenure as a county commissioner, Garcia co-founded the Metro Young Latino Professionals Association (MYLPA) and serves on the boards for the Women’s Center for Advancement and the Immigrant Legal Center.

In this episode, Garcia is in conversation with Michael Griffin are talking about what exactly a county commissioner does, how Garcia's family background influences his policy, and how to increase civic engagement among youth and immigrants.

Eduardo Gardea is a self-taught painter who works out of his studio at Hot Shops Art Center in the North Downtown neighborhood. He recently decided to quit his day job and pursue art full-time. His work is influenced by stories of the disenfranchised, often encouraging the viewer to think more deeply about the immigrant experience. Gardea has also created a number of murals around Omaha. One of his more recent works can be found on the exterior of Ooh De Lally in Dundee. 

In this conversation, Gardea and Michael Griffin talk about Gardea's artistic process, the administrative hurdles to being a full-time artist, and steps Omaha can take to invest in the creative community.

Episode 198

Attorney Matthew Wurstner returns to the show for a conversation with Tom Knoblauch about the legality of the United States' attempts to ban TikTok if it isn't sold by its Chinese parent company ByteDance.

Originally aired 6-24-24

Cyrus Jaffery is the founder and CEO of Jaffery Insurance. His new memoir is “Triumph After Trauma: How a Scrappy Battle-Scarred Refugee Insured His Own Success and Can Inspire Yours,” which he co-wrote with Leo Adam Biga. The book outlines Jaffery’s journey of migrating to the United States as an Afghan refugee, and applying the principles he learned in his journey to the business world. 

Jaffery is in conversation with Michael Griffin about his transition from war-torn Afghanistan to suburban Omaha. He also gives a crash course in the intricacies of insurance. Remember that big storm in August? You’ll want to hear what he has to say about policies for homeowners.

Episode 203

Leah Whitney Chavez is the founder and executive director of World Speaks Omaha, a nonprofit that works to expand language access in Omaha. World Speaks offers low-cost tutoring and language classes, and translation services in more than two dozen languages to businesses and other organizations.

World Speaks is also launching the Open Doors Initiative later this year. The program is meant to provide community members whose first language isn’t English with free interpreting services to access affordable housing.

Michael Griffin is in conversation about Whitney Chavez how her multicultural childhood impacted her career trajectory, the nuts and bolts of translation services, and ways that community members can keep culture at the forefront of language education.

Originally aired 8-5-24

Episode 202

Diana Rogel is the diversity outreach and engagement coordinator at Live On Nebraska, one of 56 organ procurement organizations in the country. Live On is responsible for recovering organs and tissue from deceased donors for transplantation, and maintaining the state's donor registry.

According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, more than 100,000 people in the United States are awaiting transplants. One donor can save up to eight lives.

Part of Live On Nebraska’s mission is to educate the public about the donation and transplant processes through outreach and events.

In this conversation, Rogel and Michael Griffin talk about how a family illness and her background in community engagement led to her current role with Live On. Rogel also dispels common myths about organ donation, and explains how to register as a donor and why everyone should.

Originally aired 7-29-24

Episode 201

Martin Sneider, former co-CEO of Edison Brothers Stores, is author of the new book “Amy Unbound,” the second installment in his Feldman Family Saga. The series follows a powerful family in the fashion industry, and the rise and fall of their business empire. Some of the story based on Sneider’s own experience as a fourth generation fashion retailer. “Amy Unbound” is out now and available wherever you get books.

Sneider was raised in Omaha and attended Central High. Today, he divides his time between New York and St. Louis, where his family moved when he was a teenager.

In this episode, Sneider traces his career from getting yelled at by Rose Blumkin as a teenage Furniture Mart employee, to running a fashion conglomerate, to spending his retirement years writing novels.

Originally aired 7-22-24

Episode 200

Marcos Eduardo Mora Barrientos is the executive director of Casa de la Cultura, the organization behind Omaha’s annual Cinco de Mayo celebration.

Mora was born in Los Angeles and raised in Omaha, where his family has lived for nearly a century after his grandfather, Vidal Barrientos, migrated from Mexico in the 1920s. La familia Barrientos has been known for its musicianship in South Omaha ever since, and Mora is no exception. He plays guitar in three bands.

As executive director of Casa de la Cultura, Mora will oversee Omaha’s 105th Cinco de Mayo next year. The annual celebration attracts more than 200,000 visitors for three days of food and music honoring Omaha’s Mexican heritage.

Mora is also founder and executive director for the Barrientos Scholarship Foundation and part of the Nebraska Realty group. In this conversation, he's in conversation with Michael Griffin about balancing his many responsibilities, how to achieve equity in local art and music, and his vision for next year’s Cinco de Mayo.

Originally aired 7-15-24

Episode 199

Doris Lassiter is a public health advocate for North Omaha. Lassiter’s career began with a corporate job, which she left after becoming pregnant unexpectedly and prematurely giving birth to her daughter. The experience led her to work with the Omaha Housing Authority on reducing infant mortality rates among Omaha's Black community. With OHA, Lassiter helped launch the Omaha Healthy Start program at Charles Drew, which provides education and healthcare services to new parents and their children. 

Years later in 2022, the University of Nebraska Medical Center honored her with the Community Service to Research Award. Today, Lassiter is health ministry director at Mt. Moriah's Baptist Church and runs her own consulting company through the Nebraska Center for Healthy Families. 

In this episode, Lassiter is in conversation with Michael Griffin about her transition from corner office to health advocacy, and her vision for the Moriah Intergenerational Center in North Omaha.

Originally aired 7-1-24.

Shelley Mann is the founder and executive director of Nebraska Abortion Resources, also known as NEAR.

Mann started NEAR in 2020 with a mission of providing financial aid to people seeking abortions. That assistance can take different forms, such as paying for the procedure itself or covering travel costs. Mann says NEAR has helped 800 people access abortions in four years.

Mann has a long history of advocacy related to reproductive rights and other causes. She’s long been a fixture outside the Clinic for Abortion & Reproductive Excellence in Bellevue, escorting patients inside and shouting down anti-abortion protesters. Her TikToks documenting her experiences outside the building have amassed millions of views

Mann is in discussion with Maria Corpuz about her personal relationship with abortion and how it led to her current path. We’re also discussing the Nebraska petitions drives for three separate ballot measures related to reproductive rights.

Ja Keen Fox is an advocate from Nebraska with experience in political organizing, journalism, and media. Earlier this year, Fox began working on The Dreamland Report, a nonprofit news service expected to launch this November. Fox created the serice in an effort to close the information gap between North Omaha and the rest of the city, and to make news about the Black community accessible to readers.

The Omaha Mobile Stage is a traveling performance venue that was built out of an 18-foot box truck. The truck is rented for block parties, markets, youth talent shows and other community-centered events as a platform for all kinds of live performance.

On this episode, Jessica Scheuerman and Keiria Marsha talk about their goals for the stage as a creative placemaking effort, and what’s planned for the venue this summer.

Scheuerman is the founder and executive director of Partners for Livable Omaha, Omaha Mobile Stage’s parent nonprofit. Marsha is a musician and the event organizer behind Pull Up and Vibe.

Miah Sommer is the founder and executive director of Astute Coffee, formerly known as the Bike Union. The nonprofit coffee shop employs young adults impacted by the foster care system and creates programming to give them the tools to succeed in the workforce and their personal lives. Sommer was born and raised in Omaha. His mission with Astute Coffee was informed and inspired by his childhood.

Today's episode features a conversation between Tom Knoblauch and Matthew Wurstner, an attorney from Omaha, Nebraska.

If you've ever watched Supreme Court proceedings, a word that you've heard a lot is "precedent." How much does precedent matter? How much should we revere the standards of the past, and how much should we look to rewrite the rules of the future?

These questions don't have firm answers, but people have strong opinions about them — particularly in an age of gridlocked Congress and a historically empowered Supreme Court.

Matthew Wurstner is back on the show to discuss the concept of precedent. What is it? Where does it come from? What are the arguments for and against it?

Wurstner is a partner at the law firm Carlson Blakeman in Omaha.