The City Club of Cleveland Podcast

As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation, Cleveland has a pretty loud reason to join the party: We are the birthplace of Rock & Roll. In the 1950s, our city played a pivotal role in launching a new global musical movement that many credit to DJ Alan Freed, who coined the phrase \"rock & roll.\" Since then, countless iconic rock moments shook the region, from the Beatles first concert in 1964 at Municipal Stadium, to David Bowie\'s 1972 Ziggy Stardust U.S. debut. Ohio is also home to some notable names in rock, including The Black Keys, Nine Inch Nails, Filter, Devo, and Dave Grohl-to name a few.\r\n\r\nIn 1995, Cleveland\'s legacy as the rock capital of the world was cemented with the opening of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on the shores of Lake Erie. For decades, the Rock Hall has honored the genre\'s trailblazers, and immersed its visitors in the history of rock music.\r\n\r\nToday, Cuyahoga County\'s live music scene truly punches above its weight, boasting a total economic output of $1.17 billion. At the same time, only 25% of independent music venues were able to turn a profit. This is well below a national average of 36%, but just above Ohio\'s average where just 1 in 5 Ohio independent music venues were profitable. Rising costs for artists, venues, and consumers have stretched budgets across the board. Adding in the rise of Artificial Intelligence, and changing consumer tastes, today\'s music scene is facing its share of challenges, but also opportunities.\r\n\r\nHow can we ensure the heart of rock and roll still beats in Cleveland?

Over the last 50 years, Apple has firmly established itself as a leading company that has changed the trajectory of American culture-reshaping how people communicate, work, and create through technology. Yet, with such long-standing notoriety comes myths and legends. Some of which are rooted in truth, and some in lore. In Apple: The First 50 Years, author and CBS Sunday Morning correspondent David Pogue tells the iconic company's entire life story: how it was born, nearly died, was born again under Steve Jobs, and became, under CEO Tim Cook, the most valuable company in the world. The book includes new interviews with 150 key people who made the journey, including Steve Wozniak, John Sculley, Jony Ive, and many current designers, engineers, and executives.\r\n\r\nDavid Pogue is a seven-time Emmy Award winner for his stories on CBS Sunday Morning, a five-time TED speaker, host of twenty NOVA specials on PBS, and a New York Times bestselling author. He's written about Apple for his entire career, including thirteen years as a Macworld columnist, thirteen more as tech columnist for The New York Times, and twenty years as the #1 bestselling author of books about Macs and iPhones.\r\n\r\nIn time for Apple\'s 50th anniversary, join us as we hear from David Pogue on what he learned about Apple, its triumphs, and its flops-and the business lessons we can learn from them.

Innovation is no longer a niche topic, it is a public priority with implications for economic mobility, workforce development, public trust, and regional identity. The latest in tech innovation is Artificial Intelligence (AI), which his now widely embedded in industries from workforce recruitment and healthcare to business operations and design.\r\n\r\nGreater Cleveland is also entering a defining moment in its economic evolution. Our region is home to some of the nation's (and world\'s) most influential enterprises-organizations that are modernizing at scale, adopting AI and data-driven strategies, and reshaping how people live, work, bank, manufacture, and receive care. At the center of this transformation are women leading technology and innovation across our largest institutions.\r\n\r\nPanelists: Elise Bockman, VP, Enterprise Data and Insights, Sherwin-Williams; Amy G. Brady, Chief Information Officer, KeyBank; Amy Merlino, MD, VP - Chief Health Information Officer, Cleveland Clinic; Katrina Redmond, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer; Eaton\r\nModerated by Felicia Johnson, Executive Technology Leader, AI Adoption, Business Value & Digital Transformation

On Dec. 22, 1984, Bernard \"Bernie\" Goetz, a white man, shot and seriously wounded Barry Allen, Darrell Cabey, Troy Canty, and James Ramseur-four teenagers from the Bronx, at point blank range. Goetz claimed they were going to mug him; the teens claim that one of them had simply asked for five dollars.\r\n\r\nIn Five Bullets, Elliot Williams vaults back to gritty 1980s Manhattan and reexamines the first major true-crime story of the cable news era. Drawing on archives and interviews with many main characters, including Goetz, Williams presents a masterful and vivid tale that also tells the origin stories of larger-than-life figures like Al Sharpton, Rudy Giuliani, and Rupert Murdoch. Five Bullets demonstrates why, in order to understand today's debates about race, crime, safety, and the media, it's imperative to reflect on what went down in the subway four decades ago.\r\n\r\nElliot Williams is a CNN legal analyst and regular guest host on SiriusXM and WAMU, NPR's Washington, DC, station. He has spent his career thinking about law, crime, and politics, serving as a federal prosecutor and later as a senior official at the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security. A Brooklyn-born son of Jamaican immigrants, he grew up in New Jersey and vividly recalls the powder keg that was 1980s New York.\r\n\r\nNamed a Most Anticipated Book of 2026 by The New York Times and The Washington Post, join us as we hear from Five Bullets author, and CNN Legal Analyst Elliot Williams.

What if our loyalty is not to the healthcare system we were handed, it's to the future we can build? And how do we crack an industry highly resistant to change? In Halle Tecco\'s newest book, Massively Better Healthcare, Tecco offers an insider's guide to transforming healthcare through innovation. Drawing on her experience as an entrepreneur, investor, and educator, she distills 15+ years of lessons into a practical roadmap for building solutions that align profit with purpose, and a guide for leaders who want to leave the system better than they found it.\r\n\r\nHalle Tecco has dedicated her career to making healthcare massively better. She is the founder of Rock Health and has backed and advised dozens of healthcare companies. She teaches future healthcare leaders at Columbia Business School and Harvard Medical School, and serves on the boards of Collective Health and Cofertility. Tecco's work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg. She was named as one of Goldman Sach's Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs and listed on Fast Company\'s Most Creative People in Business 2023.

For more than two decades, The City Club of Cleveland has hosted the annual High School Debate Championship.\r\n\r\nEvery year, the top two area high school debaters square off in a classic \"Lincoln-Douglas\" style debate at a Friday forum. This allows the debaters to compete-not only for the judges and audience in the room-but also for our radio and television audiences.\r\n\r\nThe finalists Charlotte Kleid, Student, Hathaway Brown School and Anshul Sharma, Student, University School will debate the topic Resolved: The United States military ought to abide by the principle of non-intervention.\r\n\r\nColor commentary throughout the debate is by Michael K. McIntyre, Executive Editor, Ideastream Public Media, and Rory Rohde, Student, Chagrin Falls High School. \r\n\r\nThe debate will be judged by:\r\nMarti Flacks, President & CEO, Cleveland Council on World Affairs\r\nCorinne Lashley, Speech and Debate Coach at Chagrin Falls High School; Cleveland Area Coach of the Year\r\nDevon Snook, Speech and Debate Coach at Vermilion High School\r\n\r\n\r\nOn behalf of BakerHostetler, we are honored to support this annual tradition in memory of Patrick Jordan--a lawyer, fierce protector of democracy and free speech, and a championship debater himself.

On the heels of an unprecedented military operation in Venezuela, the United States joined Israel in a direct attack on Iran, citing a variety of justifications for the attack, including a nuclear threat, a predicted strike, a desire for regime change, and decades of hostilities. More recently, widespread protests and a crackdown by the regime have dominated headlines. Congress has responded to this sudden escalation of the conflict with attempts to rein in the White House. Meanwhile, Iran and its proxies responded with multiple retaliatory attacks across the Middle East. Already, the conflict has disrupted air travel, fuel prices, the global stock market, and further rocked the instability of an already conflict weary Middle East. At the root of the issue are lingering questions regarding White House motives and exit strategies.\r\n\r\n\r\nAmbassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley is a 30-year diplomat with deep experience in the Middle East and serves on the board of the Middle East Policy Council. Avidan Y. Cover is a Professor of Law and Director of the Institute for Global Security Law & Policy at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law, where he writes and researches in areas of national security, human rights, civil rights, international law, and ethics. Manouchehr Salehi is a longtime member of the Cleveland Iranian community. Marti Flacks, CEO of the Cleveland Council on World Affairs will moderate.

As record cold settles over the region this winter, the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH) remains on the front lines defending the civil rights of unhoused people to access public space, to vote, and secure shelter and housing. Newly opened by NEOCH is a seasonal homeless shelter located on 1530 E. 19th Street. It now offers a warm place to go for up to 45 adults during the coldest months of the year.\r\n\r\nLeading the work is Executive Director Chris Knestrick, who originally joined NEOCH as its sole employee before taking the helm in 2017. Since then, he has grown the organization into one of the most trusted resources and partners for unhoused organizing, advocacy, street outreach, and education. Chris brings over 10 years of experience working on homelessness in Cleveland, and he has also directed advocacy efforts in the international and local community. Chris is committed to community organizing, undoing oppression, and promoting nonviolence that centers the voices of those most impacted by public policy.\r\n\r\nPart of the City Club\'s Local Heroes series, join us as we hear directly from NEOCH Executive Director Chris Knestrick on the organization\'s challenges, priorities, and how we can end unsheltered homelessness today.

Home to the Wright Brothers and the birthplace of aviation, Ohio boasts a proud legacy in scientific discovery and innovation. Included in this legacy is NASA's Glenn Research Center-which was established by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in 1941 to study all aspects of aircraft propulsion. It was incorporated into NASA in October 1958 and has been making the nation's most successful and notable aerospace missions possible for 85 years. As one of the leading research and innovation sites in the nation, NASA Glenn\'s highly skilled workforce and unique test facilities transform aviation, revolutionize space exploration, and inspire new discoveries for the benefit of all. NASA Glenn also serves as a regional economic engine, attracting scientific innovation and opportunities from around the world.\r\n\r\nDr. James A. Kenyon is director of NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. He oversees a staff of more than 2,580 civil servants and support service contractors and an annual budget of approximately $900 million. Prior to becoming Glenn's director, Kenyon served as director of the Advanced Air Vehicles Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. He also worked at Pratt & Whitney, where he held leadership roles in business development, program management, and engineering. Dr. Kenyon joined Pratt & Whitney after 17 years as a civilian in the Department of Defense, including six years in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

This is a youth-led forum, powered by student voices.\r\n\r\nEnvironmental issues affect everyone, shaping the health of our communities, the spaces we live in, and the resources we rely on each day. Access to clean air and water, green spaces, and healthy food plays a major role in quality of life and long-term well-being.\r\n\r\nThis forum will explore environmental justice as a local issue, with a focus on how communities respond to environmental challenges and work toward more equitable outcomes. The conversation will highlight the role of local organizations and programs that are acting as change agents across Northeast Ohio.\r\n\r\nThe forum will also introduce ways young people can learn more about these efforts and find opportunities to get involved, helping them better understand how local action connects to broader environmental issues.