News & Public Affairs

What will Bloomington look like in ten, twenty, or fifty years? How does smart planning keep Bloomington a beautiful place to live? Host John Brunicon talks with city planning director Tom Micuda about building a collective vision to maintain and enhance our quality of life. Topics include the new unified zoning ordinance for the city, specific challenges to local planning …

Explore our local independent youth symphony with its director and key staff. Host Lisa Morrison welcomes Thomas Loewenheim, conductor of the Bloomington-based Musical Arts Youth Orchestra along with board members Catherine Marchese and Richard Jenness, both of whom are also parents of participants. Topics include the history of the organization, the challenges and triumphs of youth symphony performance, and the …

Host Andy Mahler interviews legendary forest activist and Earth First! co-founder Mike Roselle. A Louisville, Kentucky native, Roselle has travelled to the farthest reaches of the planet to defend wild places and the indigenous communities that depend on the forests for their survival. He is also the founder of the Ruckus Society (www.ruckus.org), co-founder of the Rainforest Action Network (www.ran.org), …

Host Lisa Morrison interviews Danielle Bachant-Bell from Bloomington Restorations Incorporated, a private not-for-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of Bloomington and Monroe County’s historic architecture and old neighborhoods. Our discussion focuses on the organization’s unique headquarters, the historical Hinkle-Garton farmstead. Plans for the Hinkle-Garton farmstead focus on making the property an educational resource for the local community and the region, …

Host Andy Mahler explores cultural divides with Indiana University doctoral students Munir Gibrill and Abdulai Salifu, both natives of Ghana. They discuss Ghana’s history and cultural traditions, its role in the slave trade, and post-colonial independence under charismatic pan-African leader Kwame Nkrumah. They reflect on their lives and studies, the paths that brought them to Bloomington, and their perceptions of …

Host Lisa-Marie Napoli interviews Karta Kaur about her work as a Yogini, Co-founder of the Midland Yoga Center, and Music Engineer. The interview explores Karta’s personal journey on her spiritual path and the role that the Bloomington community has had on her development. Two beautiful songs, played on the harmonium instrument and sung by Karta, are shared for listeners to …

Host John Brunicon interviews Bill Williams, Director of Engineering for the Monroe County Highway Department. Topics include the local impact of the I-69 project and other funded and unfunded projects, pollution caused by ice melting ingredients, costs of asphalt verses concrete, Curry Pike then and now, and increasing the gas tax as an alternative source of funding to leasing public …

Host Andy Mahler speaks with long-time Orange County resident and Texas native Helen Monica Vasquez about her activism on behalf of immigrants. Helen, a retired civil servant, has been a volunteer with the Guadalupe Center in Dubois County which provides services to the area’s Hispanic community which has more than doubled in the last decade. The conversation touches on the …

Host Sarah Eckard gets up close and personal with Betty Cockrum, CEO Planned Parenthood of Indiana. Cockrum talks about her fight to stop Attorney General Steve Carter from seizing medical records in a battle over patient confidentiality and recalls the little-publicized story of how a state bill introduced last year sought to criminalize abortion in Indiana. She also expresses frustration …

Host John Brunicon talks with Monroe County Commissioner Herb Kilmer, who is running for Judge Circuit Court 5. Topics include taxes, I-69, funding mandates, septic issues, the jail system and law enforcement, Herb’s involvement with the Monroe County School Board, and the ways Bloomington has changed (and remained the same) over the last forty years.