Host Dave Stewart welcomes George Von Furstenberg, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Indiana University. In the first segment, Professor Von Furstenberg provides two examples of the recent Michael Moore movie “Capitalism: A Love Story” which appeal more to our emotions than our reason. In the second segment, Professor Von Furstenberg provides a third example from the movie and we move …

Yesterday the environmental advocacy group Heartwood hosted a premiere of “Coal Country”, the award-winning new release by filmmakers Mari-Lynn Evans and Phylis Geller, documenting the courageous and inspiring stories of people living in Appalachian communities affected by mountaintop removal coal-mining and the entire cycle of coal power. Mountaintop removal uses enormous quantities of explosives to blast the tops off of …

Local landowners and business leaders held a town forum this week to voice concerns over the county’s proposed comprehensive land use plan. Some argued that the public hasn’t been given enough time to review the proposal. Monroe County Commissioner Mark Stoops says those claims are unfounded, pointing out that copies of the 115-page plan have been available since September. The …

Local First Indiana is a new chapter of a national network of grassroots non-profits focused on supporting locally-owned independent businesses and local economies. Local First Indiana launched Monday night in Bloomington with a talk by Michelle Long, executive director of the Business Alliance of Local Living Economies. Long was formerly the director of Sustainable Connections, a local business network in …

The number of U.S. Military veterans and family members enrolled at Ivy Tech’s Bloomington campus has risen significantly in the past two years, at an increase of more than 130 percent. Today the campus commemorated Veteran’s Day with a visit from four local veterans who serve on the executive board of the local AmVets Post 2000. Dave Cobb, Phillip Purtlebaugh, …

Last month the Bloomington Community and Family Resources Commission hosted a public forum on affordable housing and shelters for the homeless. Commission members say they will consider the public input offered at the forum in searching for innovative ideas for programming and public policy to increase affordable housing options for more Bloomington citizens. On yesterday’s program we heard from Joel …

Host Dave Stewart interviews Eileen Julien, author of the 2009 IU Press book “Travels With Mae” and chairperson of the Comparative Literature department at Indiana University. We discuss comparative literature from its beginning on the IU campus, how Professor Julien came to comparative literature from a background in French, and she talks about “Travels With Mae” as a montage of …

Last month the Bloomington Community and Family Resources Commission hosted a public forum on affordable housing and shelters for the homeless. Commission members say they will consider the public input offered at the forum in searching for innovative ideas for programming and public policy to increase affordable housing options for more Bloomington citizens. On tomorrow’s program we’ll hear members of …

2009 sucked, and 2010 couldn’t possibly be much worse. That’s the gist of the annual economic forecast presented yesterday by experts from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. Some have declared that the national recession is over, but the Kelley School panel said any economic progress will continue to be weakened by the aftermath of a historically severe downturn. …

The City Council went against the wishes of the Elks Lodge Number 446 by approving the recommendation of the Bloomington Historic Preservation Commission to designate their building on North Walnut street as a historic structure. The building was constructed in 1938 as a local home for the Elks, a fraternal order with over one million members in the United States. …