The City Club of Cleveland Podcast

What if all Clevelanders were guaranteed a job? And that job offered a salary suitable enough to provide for their families? As it turns out, the idea of a jobs guarantee gained momentum in the 1940s with President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Second Bill of Rights. Now, the City of Cleveland will become the first city in the nation to launch a $21 million Universal Basic Employment (UBE) pilot program. Put simply, it will provide 100 participants with a job guarantee of $50,000 for three years. It plans to launch in 2026.\r\n\r\nAs the second poorest major city in America, Cleveland is looking to reduce poverty and the need for public assistance by guaranteeing a well-paid job. As opposed to the more popular \"Universal Basic Income\" - made popular by former presidential candidate Andrew Yang - UBE works directly with employers to subsidize existing, or new wages for its employees.\r\n\r\nJoin the City Club as we hear from Councilwoman Stephanie Howse-Jones, Devin H. Cotten with Universal Basic Employment & Opportunity, and Ken Surratt with the United Way of Greater Cleveland on what exactly UBE is - and is not - and what we can expect to learn from Cleveland\'s UBE pilot program.

Freshwater is one of Earth\'s most precious resources. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), our Earth\'s freshwater habitats-lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands, and aquifers-house an incredible proportion of the world's biodiversity. More than 10% of all known animals and about 50% of all known fish species call our freshwater habitats home. But how do our Great Lakes stack up when looking at global trends in freshwater systems?\r\n\r\nAs the world's leading conservation organization, the WWF works in nearly 100 countries to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on Earth. This includes safeguarding the world's freshwater resources and landscapes to support biodiversity and human livelihoods.\r\n\r\nAs global lead scientist for freshwater, Jeff Opperman works across the WWF network and with external partners to direct research that can strengthen conservation strategies and integrate science into freshwater programs and projects. Opperman has written for a number of publications, including the New York Times, and is currently a regular contributor to Forbes.

Taking your first bite of Chef Jeremy Umansky\'s fried chicken or pastrami sandwich is one of those blissful food moments that is guaranteed to live in your head rent-free. His secret ingredients? Koji-culturing, foraged edibles, and sustainable food sourcing that earned him four James Beard Award nominations, including Best New Restaurant, Best Chef, and for his recent book Koji Alchemy. Jeremy and his wife Allie La Valle-Umansky opened Larder Delicatessen & Bakery in 2018 in Ohio City\'s Hingetown district. Larder\'s menus are constantly evolving and Umansky\'s innovative techniques remind us of what is possible right in our own backyards.\r\n\r\nTraditional knowledge of fermenting and foraging is a cornerstone for many cultures including Indigenous and African American communities. But centuries of colonization and modern urban sprawl decimated natural ecosystems. And the industrialization of our food supply forever shifted America\'s relationship with the food we eat. Across the country, efforts are underway to improve food sovereignty and reclaim traditional practices.\r\n\r\nJoin the City Club as Ideastream\'s Amy Eddings chats with Chef Jeremy Umansky, on the benefits of foraging, sustainable food sourcing, and the art of fermenting in his book Koji Alchemy.

President Biden\'s decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential contest has fundamentally changed the race. It\'s not just that there\'s no historical precedent for an incumbent choosing not to run at such a late date, but Kamala Harris\' swift ascendancy as the presumptive Democratic nominee brings its own historical firsts and a tectonic shift to the race for the White House.\r\n\r\nOn the right, a Republican campaign geared toward unseating Biden will be retooled to focus on Harris, a significantly younger candidate with a very different political resume. On the left, the financial and electoral support that had moved to the sidelines is quite suddenly back in, providing momentum that had flagged after the first debate.\r\n\r\nAs the nation prepares for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago later this month, we\'ll hear from a panel of political insiders about the newly remade landscape of presidential politics.

Who Owns America ? (WHOA) is an ambitious effort by the Center for Geospatial Solutions (CGS) at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to uncover land ownership patterns with unprecedented accuracy, ease, and nuance. By equipping municipalities, states, and nonprofits with comprehensive, tailored analyses of ownership, WHOA helps purpose-driven organizations understand and respond to their challenges, including unprecedented investment by institutional investors in moderate income housing across America.\r\n\r\nFounded to help people and the planet keep up with the pace of change, the Lincoln Institute's CGS specializes in improving how data is accessed and applied across boundaries - within an organization, between partners, and across sectors or jurisdictions. Its WHOA analysis uniquely fuses parcel data with environmental and social information to unlock a holistic understanding of our systemic challenges. To date, the organization has helped reveal property ownership patterns in dozens of cities and states, including Cincinnati, helping local leaders to take action to drive more equitable outcomes.

As more of our daily lives move to the digital realm, protecting our sensitive information from unauthorized access, theft, and hacking has never been more important. Still, every month, major corporations, school districts, health systems, and even municipalities and public utilities have become targets of these increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. This puts not only our personal information at risk, but also raises questions about national security. What trends are experts seeing in cybercrime? And what are the actionable insights and tips to safeguard our digital realm?\r\n\r\nJoin the City Club as we explore the current cyber threat landscape and learn about the threat actor's tactics, techniques, and procedures with leading experts in the industry.

BorderLight is an annual theatre festival showcasing innovative theatre that inspires, builds cross-cultural understanding, and celebrates the diversity of the human experience. A nonprofit organization founded in 2015 by Dale Heinen and Jeffrey Pence, the festival will once again open on July 24th and run through July 27th. And this year, they have really outdone themselves! Part of the lineup includes 4 International Shows, 43 Fringe Shows, and 8 Workshops across 20 stages in and around the Playhouse Square District.\r\n\r\nAt the heart of the festival are the artists. The Festival strives to give exposure to up-and-coming and BIPOC artists to share their stories and creativity on their own terms. Join the City Club, in partnership with BorderLight, as we hear from featured artists from the 2024 Borderlight Theatre Festival about the importance of representation and diverse creativity in the arts and culture industry.

After a rollercoaster few years defined by a global pandemic, war, supply chain chaos, and a technology arms race, many people are left asking, \"Is Manufacturing Okay?\" The answer to that high-stakes question is worth 50% of Northeast Ohio\'s economy.\r\n\r\nJoin us as Dr. Ethan Karp, President & CEO of MAGNET, provides a state-of-the-union for manufacturing, addressing the myths and misconceptions that threaten our collective promise and prosperity, while providing a blueprint for the future of our regional economy\r\n\r\nA former consultant with McKinsey & Co, Dr. Karp joined MAGNET in 2013. MAGNET works across Northeast Ohio to support manufacturers of all sizes, creating opportunities for growth, economic inclusion, and workforce training.

This summer, Superman announced they will begin filming in Cleveland from June 17 to July 16, joining a legacy of pictures filmed in our neighborhoods--like The Avengers, Spider Man, and A Christmas Story. For decades, major cities across the United States have jockeyed to attract the major motion picture industry in hopes of spurring jobs and economic growth. But the industry isn\'t limited to just Hollywood blockbusters. Film, television, and media production as a whole leave a notable footprint in the economic engine of Northeast Ohio. Yet, BIPOC representation in this industry for Ohio lags behind other states. Is opportunity being left on the table?\r\n\r\nSheila Wright, Founder and President of The CREW Foundation wants to make sure Ohio builds a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive industry to catalyze economic growth. CREW strategically supports projects and partners committed to providing hands-on training, full access, and real work opportunities for underrepresented populations. And with these skills and experience comes the power to become creators themselves--telling their community\'s stories in their own words and shifting narratives for lasting change.\r\n\r\nJoin us for a panel conversation featuring Sheila Wright, Founder and President of the CREW Foundation, and Amir Miller, CEO/ Founder, Pure Vitality Productions, and learn how we can catalyze economic growth and increase representation in film, television, and media production industries.

Eric D. Seals grew up eating just about every southern delicacy you could name: pulled pork, liverwurst sandwiches, fried fish, alongside his father, Donnie Seals Sr. Living in Wheaton, a west suburb of Chicago. He also watched his dad drink and smoke for almost 10 years, until 1995 when he almost died. Over the next fifteen years, Donnie would have a total of three quadruple bypass surgeries and be forced into early retirement.\r\n\r\nHowever, the story doesn't end there. Donnie is now 70 years old and bicycles more than 30 miles a day; his heart problems have all but disappeared. Having once been on more than 20 daily medications, he is now down to one and his doctors call his recovery miraculous. Directed by son Eric Seals, Bike Vessel follows father and son as they cycle from St. Louis to Chicago. The film takes a hard look at the health disparities plaguing Black men, and the systemic racism that has elevated them to one of the lowest life expectancies and highest death rates in the nation.\r\n\r\nPart of the Health Equity Series sponsored by the Saint Luke\'s Foundation, join the City Club, Bike Your Neighborhood, and the Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival for a special film screening of Bike Vessel. Following the film, Donnie Seals will join a panel conversation about the documentary, health equity, and the transformative power of cycling.