Who Gets What?

Dr. Stephen Jay, a founder of the I.U. Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, answers the question:  What is public health?   Do autocrats utilize public health to win elections? Do domestic violence, suicide by guns, coughing in church, or arthritis, constitute public health problems?  Do they infect like a virus. Answers are here. A movie suggestion appears at the end.  

Julia Ricci is senior programmer of The Heartland International Film Festival, processing more than 4,000 submissions each year, with the help of over 100 volunteer screeners. She also loves films, starting before age 8, when even Disney films seemed scary, but "Singin' in the Rain" and "The Sound of Music" were wonderful.  She headed towards the professional side by helping to produce award winni...

Who is right:  Seneca, Ken Jennings, Newton, Guy, Marcus, or Brand? Just a little philosophy here about random events, plus a few practical points about starting a new business.

Indiana's Knobstone Trail starts near Salem, Indiana, and moves northeast to Martinsville, about 160 miles.  The southern portion is rugged, largely for back packers.  More northern portions are suitable for day walkers. We learn this from Randy Pflueger, who learned to enjoy the trail while hiking with his Boy Scout son.  

A stimulating conversation (at least to them) between John and Morton, about the future, the stock market, success and luck, Ken Jennings, and school corporations.

The expansion north, followed by emphasis on downtown, and subsequent developments, are the subjects of this interview with James Lingenfelter whose professional objective is to improve Indianapolis.  

Gina Leckron, State Director for Habitat for Humanity in Indiana, explains owner commitments ("sweat equity"), her love of construction, and how Habitat builds almost 275 homes a year, some for disaster recovery, using resources of almost 75,000 volunteers.

An animation studio exists in Indianapolis.  (John and Morton did not believe it.) Tropical Squirrels Productions is managed by Producer/Animator Jarrod Moschner.  It produces motion graphics, kinetic text, cartoons and presentations, with this business philosophy: "Plan Hard; Work Smart; Play Often."

Details about the 2020 census in Indiana and requirements to respond.

Dee Thornton, running for Congress in Indiana's Fifth District, speaks charmingly about her life and goals.  Having run in 2018, and having garnered more votes than any previous Democrat candidate, she is experienced, optimistic and seriously committed to both listening and to understanding.  

Former Peace Corps Volunteer Gabriella Guy (Costa Rica) describes how skills learned apply to her role as a social worker in elementary schools. (Yes.  She is a granddaughter.)    

Jeff Stant, head of The Indiana Forest Alliance, talks about potentially terrible effects of "The Houston South Vegetation Management and Restoration Project," which "will add pollution to Lake Monroe and kill many animals including endangered species. He also talks about forest management in cities, and in other parts of the state.  

Greg Sorvig leads film programming and artistic vision for this 28-year-old festival in Indianapolis. Greg and staff, with help from dozens of volunteers, view more than 3,000 films a year for both feature-film and shorts festivals.  His original motivations appear to have come from several professional and volunteer positions, but what he remembers most--with obvious sentiment and nostalgia--is h...

Executive Coach Daniel Poynter explains--clearly--carbon neutrality for a better world. His company, Applied Ideals, teaches executives and entrepreneurs the philosophical and scientific importance of reducing carbon emissions while simultaneously increasing productivity and profits.  

https://www.wfyi.org/programs/debs is a reference to a fine documentary film about Eugene Debs, the "socialist" from Terre Haute.   The film's producer, Kim Hood, here talks about the film, social issues, her experiences as both wife of one political leader and mother of another emerging leader, teaching, and fleecing of senior citizens, while Morton comments appropriately about parents who do not...

With more than 40 years on the job, real estate professional Patty Morton talks about "this unbelievable market," how up to 48 photographs accompany each listing, how "energy flow" in the home interior set up affects buyers, the affordable tax environment of central Indiana, and the power of marketing under phrases such as "Talk to Tucker" or company names such as Berkshire Hathaway which always i...

What do you hear or see from Indiana Public Broadcasting?  Who decides?  The answer is:  Matt Shafer Powell, Chief Content Officer of WFYI public radio and television. Here we learn about the consortium of nine stations which has 14 reporters and several proprietary shows such as "All In" with news, interviews and commentary. And, of course, Matt talks about the many challenges of making content d...

While serving food to the homeless at ReCraft, John met violinist-turned-entrepreneur Bethany Daugherty who describes the environmental importance of recycling used craft materials.   A musician since age 5, Bethany, now 29, has played in orchestras all over central Indiana, but physical pain caused her to look for new opportunities in the world of waste.  

Starting with volunteer work in hospice, our guest, Mike Dunn, has been counseling individuals with loss and stress. Now he directs more than 30 volunteers and staff who respond 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to crisis line calls.  In this role, he has learned how to listen, to teach, and to manage.   In this conversation he describes how volunteers are trained, two indications of pending suicide,...

Jeff Lewis, with over 30 years as a professional opinion pollster, speaks about the practical uses of opinion polling in the current election cycle.  

Morton defends the right of a professor to say whatever he wants, no matter how obnoxious, in the context of private opinions.  A tweet is not a classroom, and a teacher should not be disciplined within the classroom for opinions expressed elsewhere.

Opening with the sounds of a kennel, this revealing conversation with Katie Kennepohl describes the operations and philosophies of Indianapolis Animal Care Services, of which she is Deputy Director. Here we discuss books, movies, adoptions, volunteers, the Parvo virus and a fact that surprised John and Morton:  more than 90% of the agency's pets are adopted.  

After 28 years as a public broadcasting leader, Greg Petrowich joined WFYI Radio and Television in Indianapolis as President and CEO. Greg was broadcasting from his bedroom before the word "teen" was associated with his name. In this conversation we consider the emergence of non-profit journalism nation wide as well as possible weaknesses in local business coverage and one-sided biographical docum...

With a big smile--and a heart that extends to childhood hunger, Leukemia, and other societal needs--Dennis Southerland talks about construction planning and execution, taxes, encouraging African-American high school students to learn the lucrative profession of surveying, and even the annual football battle between Wabash and DePauw. Dennis is senior vice president of Cripe, an architecural and de...

Composer, writer, critic, filmmaker, 19-year-old Ashton Gleckman is our guest today. Mr. Gleckman's powerful and sensitive film, "We Shall Not Die Now," won the 2019 Heartland International Film Festival Audience Choice Award, Indiana Spotlight.  The film has compelling interviews with Holocaust survivors.