Sound of Ideas

We'll kick-off our newsroom-wide reporting project, "Ideastream Explores: Artificial Intelligence" this week with a conversation about how AI is transforming the workforce.

Springfield, near Dayton, is on edge after a federal judge in Washington, D.C., this week blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to end temporary protected status for about 15,000 Haitian immigrants in the area. The ruling is expected to be appealed. How long will the reprieve last? And will a surge in federal immigration enforcement follow? We will begin Friday’s “Sound of Ideas Reporters Rou...

Cleveland Kurentovanje Northeast Ohio is home to the largest population of Slovenians outside of Slovenia, roughly 47,000 people. It's no surprise that it's also home to the largest winter festival celebrating Slovenian arts and culture outside of that European country. Cleveland Kurentovanje, also known as the Slovenian Mardi Gras, begins this weekend. Its a multi-day festival that celebrates the...

Minneapolis journalist reflects on continued ICE operation following deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti All eyes have been on Minneapolis in recent weeks, following the deployment of large numbers of ICE and Customs and Border Protection agents to the area in December. The heightened federal presence has coincided with deadly use-of-force incidents that have ignited national concern, including t...

FirstEnergy is seeking approval from the Power Utility Commission of Ohio to allow for longer and more frequent power outages, but some lawmakers are voicing their opposition.

Law of the Land: Sovereign Citizens Recently, there have been reports of people in Northeast Ohio claiming to be sovereign citizens, particularly when interacting with the police. At the highest level, people who identify as sovereign citizens generally refuse to follow laws, reject court rulings and believe they are not required to comply with federal, state and local authorities. This has been r...

For weeks, the nation's flashpoint over immigration and enforcement has been Minneapolis where two protesters have now been shot dead by federal immigration officers. Concern is now ramping up in Ohio, where there's concern that a surge of immigration enforcement is coming to Springfield, near Dayton. The temporary protected status of thousands of Haitian refugees living there is set to expire on...

Ohio leaders and experts react to the latest deaths by federal officers in Minneapolis Videos of the deaths of two American citizens, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of federal immigration officers in Minneapolis this month have caused outrage in communities across the country. The deaths occurred amid protests over President Donald Trump's deployment of Immigration and Customs Enfo...

Mental health providers aim to reach more men If you are a millennial, you likely remember dial-up internet, flip phones and being told that education was the key to stability. But for many born between 1981 and 1996, adulthood arrived with the Great Recession, student loan debt and a job market filled with uncertainty. Those factors may help explain why this generation reports higher levels of an...

GCRTA proposed project on West 25th Street in Ohio City gets pushback from public parking advocates Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority says it wants to make commuting easier for people who use the bus line on West 25th Street in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood with a plan that would require getting rid of certain parking spots along the way. Tuesday on the "Sound of Ideas," we'll hear...

Here’s some good news/bad news as we begin this Friday. First the good: We made it to Friday. Now the bad or not-so-great news: you may be spending this weekend indoors. A big wave of Arctic air will send temperatures sliding downward beginning today. Then Sunday the second act moves in, a snowstorm bringing the potential for heavy snow, including here in Northeast Ohio, while in some places in th...

Reaction to City Club forum with Center for Christian Virtue The Center for Christian Virtue began as an anti-pornography group more than 40 years, but has since become what the Cincinnati Enquirer recently called a "policy powerhouse" in the state, influencing hundreds of bills, from expanding Ohio's EdChoice voucher system to banning transgender students from using bathrooms that align with thei...

Cleveland extends paid street parking hours and increases rates, city leaders discuss On January 1, the city of Cleveland implemented new rules for street parking Downtown and in Ohio City. Paid parking hours now run from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week. Formerly, street parking was free after 6 p.m. on weekdays and always free on weekends. Ohio City will follow the same schedule, though Sund...

Former Ambassador for Global Criminal Justice Beth Van Schaack was in Cleveland, and sat down for a conversation with CWRU's Michael Scharf.

President Donald Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to quell ongoing anti-ICE demonstrations in Minnesota in the wake of the shooting death of Renee Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. Protests have erupted nationwide after Good's death, and there have been many in Northeast Ohio communities, including Cleveland, Akron and Kent. This week, social media has be...

Ohio's psychiatric hospitals are primarily serving patients who face criminal charges due to a rise in long-term, court-ordered stays, according to reporting from The Marshall Project - Cleveland and KFF Health News.

The fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE agent in Minneapolis has led to protests across the country, including several in Northeast Ohio.

Cuyahoga County Board of Public Health officials are urging parents and guardians to vaccinate children against measles, mumps and rubella, all potentially life-threatening, but preventable diseases.

Ideastream reporters examined how volunteer fire departments across Ohio are run and how those departments often deal with staffing shortages and financial challenges.

It's a midterm election year and the Ohio governor's seat is up for grabs as there is no incumbent. The presumptive nominees for the two major parties finalized their tickets this week. Presumptive Republican nominee Vivek Ramaswamy, the businessman and former presidential candidate and Department of Government Efficiency partner, selected Senate President Rob McColley of Northwest Ohio as his run...

Having a child is expected to be a joyous and exciting occasion. But if the baby comes early, that experience can become a rollercoaster of emotions.

2026 is underway, and with the new year comes a familiar tradition: making resolutions. Common goals are to read more, eat healthier, start exercising or save more money. But for some, the idea of resolutions has lost its appeal altogether, abandoned amid concerns that goal setting can slip into self-criticism and harm one's mental health. So why are resolutions so hard to keep? Should we be setti...

Its 2026 and the political world order has already seen major change, as just days ago U.S. forces captured former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife during a military raid on the country's capital, Caracas. The implications of this attempted regime change are still unclear. President Donald Trump claimed Saturday that the U.S. intends to quote "run the country" until a transition of...

The "Sound of Ideas" assembles another panel of area readers to recommend books from across the spectrum that they think folks should read in 2026.

Property owners are howling as their property values, and their taxes keep going up. And the howls are loud enough for legislators to hear. They passed a number of measures aimed at providing property tax relief. But a grassroots effort to eliminate property taxes persists with the goal of qualifying a constitutional amendment for the 2026 ballot. Local governments and schools say that would be de...