Sound of Ideas

Northeast Ohioans got an unexpected free show in the sky this week when a meteor streaked across the region and broke up over Medina County. According to NASA, the space rock weighed 17,000 pounds and was 6 feet in diameter. It broke apart, traveling more than 40,000 miles per hour creating a wave of pressure and a loud "boom" heard across much of the area. Some cameras were able to catch the stre...

Protein in DietIf you've been to the grocery store lately, it is hard to miss the new diet fad — protein. It is being added to everything from milk to ramen to popcorn to cereal to sports drinks. Last week, Buffalo Wild Wings released a wing-flavored protein-filled espresso martini that they're calling "Espresso Proteini." But what does the science say about how much protein we actually need in ou...

How to write a willWe all know it's something we should do — but it's easy to put off. For many adults, estate planning, especially writing a will, gets pushed down the to-do list for another month, another year or even another decade. In fact, many people don't begin the process until well into their 60s, sometimes after a major health scare or family change forces the conversation. But taking th...

Two pastors, one in Canton and one in Cleveland, lead individual groups through a series of community discussion groups on hard topics from white privilege to policing, housing and beyond.

The late 1960s saw an explosion of student-run, underground newspapers, including a slew of them in Northeast Ohio.

Residents are mounting opposition to projects big and small in communities across Northeast Ohio, from a data center to a service garage. Will the developments happen anyway? An overtime surge in the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office led to a legal battle over control of the sheriff’s budget. This week, it was ballooning overtime in the Cleveland Division of Police that prompted City Council scruti...

The 2026 Oscars The 98th Academy Awards are this Sunday. Conan O’Brien returns as host for a second-annual ceremony, and this year's Oscars could break historic records. "Sinners" leads the field with 16 nominations, while "One Battle After Another" has 13. Both films could challenge the record for most Oscars won in a single night, which currently stands at 11. Ryan Coogler, nominated for Sinners...

Tips for travelers making spring, summer plans With spring break here and the peak summer travel season approaching, a whopping 90% or more of Americans say they plan to travel for vacation this year. But travel planning is being complicated by uncertainty due to several factors including current global instability due to the war in the Middle East. That conflict has led to a spike in oil prices i...

A 28-year-old mother was charged late Thursday in the aggravated murders of her daughters. Cleveland police found the remains of the children inside two suitcases that were partially buried in a field on the East Side. The tragedy has gripped the community. The ongoing investigation begins our “Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable.” Burke Lakefront Airport could be decommissioned to make way for tr...

Akron Civic Assembly to propose housing solutions to city officials Monday on the "Sound of Ideas," we'll discuss a new effort to tackle housing challenges in Akron that is giving residents the decision-making power. Unify America, a national nonprofit focused on problem-solving and civic engagement, has created Northeast Ohio's first-ever civic assembly, called Unify Akron. The inaugural group of...

Protecting yourself from scamsThe Ohio Department of Commerce estimates that Ohioans collectively lose $150 million to scammers. Last year, in Cuyahoga County alone, the losses to scams were more than $5 million. Senior citizens have long been the focus of consumer protection efforts due to scammers preying on them using fear and high-pressure techniques to get at their money and personal informat...

U.S. and Israeli war on Iran continues The U.S. is now four days into its war against Iran, jointly with the Israeli military, and without congressional approval. Casualties so far include some U.S. service members and hundreds of Iranians, including the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei ruled for 36 years and built Iran into a powerful anti-U.S. adversary, while suppressin...

AI and the future of journalism In February, "Ideastream Explores: Artificial Intelligence" covered the myriad ways AI is rapidly evolving and changing our lives. It's impacting how students learn, reshaping the workforce, and we're learning more and more about the environmental costs of data centers and the massive processing power needed for generative AI programs. Ideastream hosted a "Sound of...

The city of Cleveland and the North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation this week opened an online survey to get public input on how to use Burke Lakefront Airport's acreage if the airport is decommissioned. Planners say they're open to all ideas for how to use the 450 acres of prime real estate. But closing the airport, which Mayor Justin Bibb is pushing for, is not a done deal. City Council...

Team NEO 2025 Performance & Impact Annual ReportThe headline numbers from Team NEO's new 2025 jobs report include nearly 3,000 new jobs, more than $450 million in capital investments, and 92 business investments across Northeast Ohio. The report also highlights the rollout of the JobsOhio Relocation Incentive Program, which offers businesses up to $15,000 for making successful hires in certain ind...

How did the State of the Union play in Northeast Ohio? "Our nation is back," that was the topline message from President Donald Trump in his marathon and at times combative State of the Union speech Tuesday night. The speech clocked in at 108 minutes, which broke his previous record set last year when his speech before Congress came in at 100 minutes. Trump lavished praise on his administration an...

We'll discuss the city and U.S. Department of Justice's decision to seek an end to the 11-year police consent decree. While police and city officials believe its time to return to local oversight, community members say they are concerned about reform progress.

The "Sound of Ideas" spoke with AI experts and took audience questions during a live event at the Ideacenter.

The city of Cleveland and the U.S. Department of Justice agree the city has done enough to be released from a consent decree imposed due to unconstitutional policing involving excessive force in 2015. They've asked a federal judge to sign off. The mayor says work still needs to be done, but the city should be in charge of it, not the feds. The story begins our discussion of the week’s news on the...

Case Western Reserve University turns 200 One of Ohio's oldest colleges, Case Western Reserve University, just turned 200 this month. It traces its founding to Western Reserve College in Hudson in 1826, named after the region which was known then as the Western Reserve of Connecticut. At the time, Northeast Ohio's population was growing, and the Industrial Revolution was leading to opportunities f...

Experts discuss the history of politics and the Olympics The 2026 Winter Olympics are well underway in Milan, marking the Games' return to Italy for the first time since 2006. The theme of this year's Opening Ceremony was harmony, or "armonia" in Italian, a message of unity on a global stage. But as American athletes chase medals abroad, the political climate at home is anything but harmonious. Pr...

Last November, there were a number of historic wins across the country in the general election, including two women elected governors in New Jersey and Virginia bringing the total of women leading states in the U.S. at the same time to 14, a record high. Other historic wins included the first Muslim woman elected to statewide office in the U.S. in Virginia, the first Muslim elected mayor in New Yo...

The state is clawing back more than $3-million dollars from a nearly $5 million grant it awarded Cleveland for a program that would help rid old houses of lead. The Ohio Department of Development administered the grant as part of the Lead Safe Ohio Program. It would pay up to $15,000 to remove old windows and doors, a major source of lead paint that chips and flakes and exposes occupants to lead p...

People are turning to chatbots for emotional help and connection. Some people are using chatbots for social needs, others as replacement therapists. When does it go from helpful to harmful?

K-12 students, educators share how they are using artificial intelligence in the classroom No matter where you went to school, there is one task that has united most of us in misery — homework. Perhaps you remember staying up all night writing an essay on a Shakespeare play that you, of course, waited until the last minute to read. Or maybe you remember those grueling hours at the dinner table, as...