Sound of Ideas

Voters in Cleveland Heights overwhelmingly approved a recall of Mayor Kahlil Seren--the first person directly elected to hold the job of mayor in that city. We'll talk about the recall vote as well as several other results from the September primary in Cuyahoga County. The primary winnows ward and mayoral races down to two candidates who advance to the November ballot. Later, we hear from All Thin...

A local professor from Case Western Reserve University is one of dozens of scientists who are pushing back against a Department of Energy report.

Relay Cleveland, a public history campaign, takes its name from Cleveland’s historic “relay” policy — a system that split school days into half-day sessions in overcrowded, predominantly Black schools.

Cleveland's director of airports talked to the media this week about his opposition to the Browns new stadium complex, which is planned for land near the city-owned Hopkins International Airport. Bryant Francis told reporters that he has not changed his mind about safety concerns he believes the new stadium, because its height encroaches 58 feet into protected airspace, would pose to the airport....

Psychedelics like LSD, psilocybin, and ketamine are being tested to treat disorders like PTSD and anxiety.

Human trafficking may seem like a problem that only happens in places far away, but in reality, it happens here in Ohio. According to the United Nations' International Labour Organization, human trafficking impacts more than 27 million people worldwide. And though there's no reliable estimate of human trafficking in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, it has been repor...

We'll talk about the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the role Ohioans played in the fight against fascism.

A bystander was killed last weekend when a suspect being chased by Cuyahoga County Sheriff's deputies crashed into her car at St. Clair and Addison Avenue. It's raising anew questions about police chase policy and the sheriff’s downtown safety patrol. Sharday Elder, 37, was killed. She was the mother of two. The Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office formed the safety patrol in 2023 to help Cleveland ad...

President Trump has taken aim at the Smithsonian Institution and with it, how America tells the story of itself, warts and all.

The "Democracy and Academic Freedom: A Forum" series kicks off on the College of Wooster's campus on Sept 3.

In Ohio, financial problems eventually led to the closure of two institutions: Notre Dame College in South Euclid and Eastern Gateway Community College in Steubenville. Both shut their doors last year permanently. Coming up we will talk about what happens when a college shuts its doors. What about the students, faculty and vibrancy of the surrounding community? Later, Ohio's soggy spring and hot,...

The latest "Sound of Ideas: Community Tour" examined the possible future of Lower Shaker Lake, after the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District recommended it be drained to prevent flooding.

We learned more this week about the latest hurdle for the Browns' plans to build and move to a new covered stadium in Brook Park beginning in 2029. The Ohio Department of Transportation this month denied a construction permit for the stadium after Cleveland's top airport official said the current design would "permanently and negatively impact" the airspace at Hopkins International Airport.  We wi...

The "Solar for All" program was designed to help low-income households by lowering pollution and utility costs in underserved communities. It funded initiatives across the country to expand access to rooftop solar panels, community solar farms and battery storage systems.

Sherrod Brown announced this week his intention to challenge Jon Husted next November in a bid to return to the U.S. Senate. Now that Brown has clarified his political ambitions, how does that affect other potential races?

Food waste is estimated to be about 30 to 40% of the food supply, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Department of Agriculture.

Suicide was the second leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 10 and 34, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2022.

Cleveland City Councilmember Joe Jones, stripped of his committee assignments in January for bad behavior, is now set to be censured by council after an investigation found credible allegations that he threatened the life of a staffer. Jones will face censure next month. Cleveland City Council has not censured one of its members since the 1970s. A working group looking at possible changes to prope...

The Positivity Spectrum launched a virtual legal clinic to help families in the autism community earlier this month.

For an estimated 5 million Americans, every beat of their heart can be heard in their ears as a constant "whooshing" sound making it difficult to sleep or concentrate and contributing to anxiety and depression. The condition is known as pulsatile tinnitus or P-T. Those who treat people with P-T say the condition can go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed due to its rarity and the difficulty in determining...

Educators at a variety of levels are re-examining the "literary canon" and bringing new works into the classroom. "Romeo and Juliet" and "Of Mice and Men" might be moved to make room for more modern, diverse voices.

Every day, more than 100,000 people in the U.S. are waiting for an organ transplant, yet an average of 13 patients on the transplant list die each day. Experts in organ procurement and advocacy from Northeast Ohio will discuss the disparities and inequities in the organ donation system, and why some organs are going to waste.

Ohio electric customers will soon stop propping up two coal plants with subsidies tacked onto their bills. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio voted to zero out the charges as of Aug. 14. The subsidies were part of the scandal-tainted House Bill 6 that also bailed out nuclear power plants. Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and former Ohio GOP Chairman Matt Borges were sentenced to pr...

President Donald Trump's executive order, "Ending Crime and Disorder on America's Streets" aims to crackdown on homeless encampments and involuntarily place unhoused individuals in treatment for mental health and addictions. The efforts reverse the decades-old "housing first" policy, used locally and nationwide.

It’s been one year since Ohio began recreational marijuana sales for adult use. The launch of recreational products came less than a year after voters approved a citizen-initiated statute in 2023, paving the way for both recreational marijuana sales and home cultivation. The recreational market joined the state’s existing medical marijuana program, which has been in operation since 2019. According...