On Track

As Women’s History Month highlights women’s leadership, Amina Shale shares how More Than a Smile is creating space, support, and opportunity for immigrant and refugee women in Louisville.

Former Cardinal quarterback Chris Redman takes the helm as head coach of the city’s new pro team: the Louisville Kings.

This weekend, the nonprofit organization Change Today Change Tomorrow wraps up Black History Month with an event called “Black Recharge: Rest and Relaxation.” It’s designed to be a day of rest, with yoga, journaling and other self-care practices. Isaiah Scott, one of the event’s organizers, spoke with LPM's Michelle Tyrene Johnson about the need for Black people to feed their spirits and relax the...

A research effort in Louisville aspires to understand how neighborhood conditions shape belonging for older Louisvillians.

NPR’s eighth annual Student Podcast Challenge invites students in grades four through 12 to share original audio stories.

Play Cousins Collective is a nonprofit organization rooted in the concept that it takes a village to raise a child. But how does that philosophy survive in a culture that puts so much value on individual rights and responsibilities? Play Cousins co-founder and Executive Director Kristen Williams talked with us bout the variety of approaches her organization uses to support families.

At The Food Literacy Project, a team of young people created a documentary about the link between food deserts and transportation

With the Winter Olympics are here. Olympic medalist Nick Goepper talks about returning to the games as a freeski halfpipe competitor, switching disciplines, and how growing up skiing in Southern Indiana shaped his career.

Adelante Hispanic Achievers is a group that uses mentorship and experiential learning to support Hispanic and Latino students towards graduation. Listen to a conversation with the group’s executive director.

A History and Science forum in Louisville will bring together leaders from both backgrounds to explore how they intersect. It’s part of a series hosted by the University of Louisville Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute. Natasha DeJarnett is an assistant professor of environmental medicine at U of L. She helped organize the event, and joined us to talk about the series.

AMPED is a Louisville non-profit that uses music and technology to empower young people. In November, they opened a new Tech and Learning Center in the city’s West End. Dave Christopher, Senior is AMPED’s president and founder. He joins us to discuss how the new building, at 17th Street and West Market, will help the organization carry out its mission to serve the community.

Louisville is seeing growing demand for services for people experiencing homelessness. Volunteers of America Mid-States President and CEO Jennifer Hancock explains how the organization is working to address this challenge.

The Russell Community Land Trust leases land to residents for them to own affordable homes in their community

In late November, Dr. Kelly McCants, a prominent Louisville heart doctor and health equity advocate, died at the age of 50. Russ Cox, CEO of Norton Healthcare, joins us today to discuss McCants’ work addressing healthcare disparities and how his legacy will continue.

With the Winter Olympics around the corner, Derby City Curling Club president Joe Sorg explains how curling works and how Louisville residents can get on the ice.

Louisville Krampus Celebration founder Steve Vessell shares the folklore behind Krampus, how the tradition took hold in Louisville, and what continues to draw people to the community surrounding this dark holiday icon.

Louisville Free Public Library’s new executive director, Heather Lowe, shares her journey into this new role, her hopes for the library, and a few cozy reading recommendations for the winter season.

As Kentucky faces rising need for pet care and support, the leader of the Kentucky Humane Society discusses how a new service center could reshape care for pets and families.

As the Festival of Faiths highlights its theme of “Sacred Belonging,” Berea College professor and bell hooks center founder M. Shadee Malaklou reflects on hooks’ legacy and the practice of radical inclusion.

Americana Community Center has served Louisville’s refugee and immigrant communities for over 30 years. Last month, the nonprofit hired Ricky Santiago to be its new executive director. Santiago talks with LPM about the financial challenges Americana has weathered, his hopes for future sustainability, and the resurgence he believes the organization is making.

Across Kentucky, families are feeling the squeeze as the cost of living keeps rising, while wages have barely moved. We spoke with Jason Bailey, the founder and executive director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, a progressive think tank, about what’s driving essential costs up across Kentucky, and what we should be watching as we head into the holiday season.

November is Family Literacy Month — a chance to focus on how families, schools and communities support reading. Here in Louisville, Felicia C. Smith, president and CEO of the National Center for Families Learning, leads two-generation literacy work that connects adults and children. We spoke with Smith about the state of literacy in Kentucky, what family literacy looks like in practice, and where...

Janice Clarke opened a Jamaican restaurant Elliment in downtown Louisville earlier this year, and it’s already become a gathering spot and resource for Louisville’s Jamaican community. Last month, Clarke’s native country of Jamaica was devastated by Hurricane Melissa, the strongest recorded hurricane to ever hit the island country. We talked with her about how she came to start the restaurant, and...

Unlike a lot of places in greater Louisville, access to groceries in west Louisville can be difficult, especially for those who don’t have their own transportation. Since 2019, the nonprofit Change Today, Change Tomorrow has worked to narrow the gap between needing food and having access to it. We talk with Taylor Ryan, the organization’s founder and executive director, about what her organization...

Until a year ago, Louisville’s West End hadn’t had a hospital in 150 years. But last November, Norton West Louisville Hospital opened its doors and has since provided care to thousands of patients. Corenza Townsend, the hospital’s chief administrative officer, helped plan the hospital from the start. We talk with her about how the first year has gone and how Norton plans to celebrate this mileston...