Dr. Margaret Larkins-Pettigrew, Allegheny Health Network’s first chief clinical diversity, equity and inclusion officer, wrote in a widely shared 2023 op-ed: “It is perilous to be Black and pregnant in America. We need to do better.” The nationally respected expert in maternal and infant health equity is not afraid to speak out against health injus…

VoteRiders CEO and Executive Director Lauren Kunis is clear about what is at stake when it comes to those who are using false claims of voter fraud as the basis for enacting overly stringent voter ID laws. The laws affect 35 million voting-age citizens – a majority of whom are first-time voters, low-income residents, people of color and/or differen…

Jen Flanagan is founder and executive director of Community Kitchen Pittsburgh, an employment-based social enterprise that empowers people through food service training and life skills mentoring. With an impressive 93% placement rate in professional kitchens for those who complete their training programs, she and her team are giving brighter future…

Leah Penniman, “Farming While Black” author, co-founder of Soul Fire Farm and Heinz Award for the Economy honoree has a deep commitment to sharing regenerative farming best practices and land stewardship with Black, Indigenous and people of color. Addressing racism and injustice in the food system is a central focus of her work. “When I was a young…

Dr. George Thurston, internationally respected scientist, professor and pioneer in the study and communication of the effects of air pollution’s impact on human health joins the “We Can Be” family. ”Science is a way to bridge a lot of our societal division and distrust,” he tells Chris DeCardy, Heinz Endowments president and “We Can Be” host. “Peop…

Ron Gleason worked in sports for many years before switching to news at WBBM Newsradio. He talks about Sports Phone, doing play-by-play, sportscasting, being the boss at WSCR The Score, Mike North and Dan Jiggetts, radio before and during the Internet, how radio can be effective and entertaining, being management vs on the air, starting his radio c…

I first interviewed Rafer Weigel 11 years ago when he was at WLS-TV in Chicago. When I did this livestream with him, he was at KUSI-TV in San Diego. Now he's Chief Communications Officer at VetComm, so but I want to post this anyway because Rafer talked a lot not just about his professional experience, but his personal struggles as well, which is p…

Kilolo Luckett, nationally renowned art curator & founding executive director of ALMA | LEWIS, believes in the transformative power of art for both artist & audience. “When we genuinely connect with art, we can dream whole other worlds of possibility,” she tells Heinz Endowments President Chris DeCardy, who takes the wheel as our podcast’s host on …

By Rose Cushing

By Rose Cushing

Meet the incredible Damien Larking talking with us about his books and being an author all the way from Ireland.By Rose Cushing

Michelle Nangle is the creative genius behind Shelly Mack Books, living in Scotland and raising her children she is a busy mom as well. Published by Monarch Books, I think you will enjoy getting to know her and picking up her books!By Rose Cushing

Grief' Deception is the title of her latest book.By Rose Cushing

A musical discussion: Steve Leventhal, creator of InternetFM, and his son and cofounder Eric Leventhal, talk about their music and broadcasting experience, what is top-shelf radio, paying for songs, why vinyl is popular with some younger music fans, commercials, changing technology and music delivery, how they define oldies, the resurgence of psych…

Novelist and writing coach John DeDakis (pronounced: dee-DAY-kiss) is a former editor on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer." DeDakis is the author of five mystery-suspense novels. His fourth novel, Bullet in the Chamber, is the winner of Reviewers Choice, Foreword INDIES, and Feathered Quill book awards. In his most recent novel, Fake, pr…

Lori lives in sunny Southwest Florida with her wonderful husband and daughter. Ever since she was in the fourth grade and entered a young author's contest and won, she knew she wanted to be an author someday. When she's not writing, her favorite activities are spending time with her family, reading, traveling, and enjoying time on the beach. Alyssa…

John Siuntres (host and creator of the popular Word Balloon livestream and podcast and I often talk on the phone for at least an hour, so we decided to do a livestream conversation, and it ended up being much longer! Topics covered: how entertainment and the media have changed, the WGA and SAG/AFTRA strikes, creativity and syndication in TV and rad…

Margaret is an accomplished three-day eventer. Margaret as an Author has written an excellent book titled Grid Pro Quo. She is also the founder of Mythic Landing Enterprises, a business formed to help professional horse industry people conduct and promote their business. I know you will enjoy listening to her as she discusses h er writing challenge…

Bio: With an English teacher as a father and a librarian as a mother, it’s no surprise that Angelique Burrell grew up loving to read. Now, she teaches high school English and creative writing in a suburb of Chicago, working to bring her love of reading and writing to high school students. She is blessed to have a supportive husband, daughter, and s…

Dr. T.W. Harvey is a retired Associate Professor of Finance at Ashland Univeristy. He has published two books. Quality Value Banking' Effective Managment Systems that Increase Earnings. His latest work is Seeing the Elephant released in 2018 about a mans return home after the Civil War. and in 2022 Answering LIncoln's Call. Both books are outstandi…

Ravi Baichwal is an anchor at ABC 7 Chicago and talks about his hockey documentary Summit 72; his hometown Toronto and Canadian culture; his radio career at CKNW in Vancouver before he went to CTV National News, then doing CTV and being on the air at CFRB radio in Toronto (where I previously interviewed Jerry Agar and John Moore); filling in at WLS…

Lois Hutchinson is an author from Ohio. Her book reflects the peace and beauty of the Ohio countryside became still when the real presence of the war came knocking. Thousands of young Ohio men eagerly enlisted and abandoned their families and everyday lives. There would be no contentment for a long time to come. Discover how one family struggled th…

Famed author Russell Towne has published over 60 books! Listen to his valuable insights into all aspects of writing.By Rose Cushing

Justin Roman has done a lot during the 21st century: he hosts The MVP Game (sign up there to be a guest on the show) with Kenzie K (who was his fiancée when this was recorded); it's a super-fan Cubs game show (and a couple of Bears shows during the off season) on the Marquee Sports Network. He talks about his media and performing career, which incl…

Bluebird, the first children’s book written by St. Johns, Arizona resident, and Blackhat Humane Society founder Tamara Martin, exemplifies the axiom, “Write about what you love.” The title character is an indigenous Native American dog, known colloquially as a Rez Dog. The book illustrations by Navajo artist Ernest John are perfect for this collabo…

Karen Smith Author, Publisher at Hen House Publishing. Holly Bargo is a pseudonym for the author, but she really did exist. The original Holly was an elegant and temperamental Appaloosa mare with loads of character. That Holly has long since crossed the Rainbow Bridge and is remembered fondly. The author herself really does exist, too. Unlike many …

Doug Cummings is a resident of Highland Park, where the shooting tragedy happened on July 4th at the Independence Day parade. He wrote the personal safety handbook, Escaping the O-Zone, to help people take steps to keep themselves safe and preventing becoming a victim. All proceeds go to the Highland Park Community Foundation. He talks about his re…

C. Lee McKenzie author can be reached at https://cleemckenziebooks.com . Her latest book Shattered is available on Amazon and wherever good books are sold!By Rose Cushing

Karen Schaler was a journalist and crime reporter who is best known for the Netflix hit "A Christmas Prince." She talks about how her journalism experience led to Hollywood success; how she got into the TV biz at a station in Billings, Montana, then worked at a number of stations: in Twin Falls, Idaho, in South Dakota, at KSTP-TV in Alexandria, Min…

Meet Matthew Caracciolo, Author of The Waygook Book: A Foreigners Guide to South Korea. A delightful description of things to do and see on your visit!By Rose Cushing

Patricia Black. Patricia taught English in Italy, was editor of Ohio University Publications, worked as a travel agent and drove a bookmobile. Now she writes poems, does beadwork, gardens, and edits academic papers for international students. She is a member of the Athens Poetry Group, the PentaPoets online poetry group, the Evening Poets, and the …

For two decades, Kathy Hart was part of the most popular morning show in Chicago, on 101.9 WTMX The Mix. She talks about how she went from being an intern to getting on the air in Rockford at WKKN and WYFE, then driving the station van at WZOK and WROK; how she was different from the "pukers" and wanted to be authentic on the air; how her radio exp…

Kathy Elasky is an author from Ohio. She is the author of the new children’s book Pudgy Possum and the Porcupine (Monday Creek Publishing 2020). She is a retired teacher/counselor. She lives on a small farm with my husband, three dogs, one cat, several squirrels, and the occasional raccoon or possum. I think you will enjoy meeting her.…

Meet Author Deannie Humphreys Dunne. She has a delightful new book out and I know you will enjoy learning more about her and her book!By Rose Cushing

Hannah Brummer is on the air every morning with Eddie Volkman on Star 96.7. She talks about her radio career, which includes hosting afternoons on 103 WXLC, and working in promotions at US 99, 104.3 Jams, WLS, and Q101. She talks about how she got into radio, why she loves radio, what auditions are like, show prep, why she's so grateful, her podcas…

Robert Eversole is an internationally recognized clinician, author, keynote speaker, and riding instructor, Robert “the TrailMeister” coaches horse owners and aspiring riders on how to enjoy trail riding and to camp with equines. Robert has written and published thousands of articles on trail riding. Last year he wrote a book combining all those ye…

Leslie has written multiple books, her latest release is Horse on the Loose. Horse on the Loose Leslie McDonald, Illustrated by Tanya Glebova The Mighty Quin, is a retired show horse who is afraid his beloved owner will sell him because he can no longer jump the big fences to win blue ribbons as he did in his youth. Determined not to let humans gov…

Vicki Quade is best known for her popular show, Late Nite Catechism, and she talks about how she came up with the idea for that show; her journalism career, which included the News-Tribune newspaper in La Salle and the Waukegan News-Sun; her books Close Encounters of a Chicago Kind and I Remember Bob Collins; the decline of newspapers and how the I…

Corkey Mabry is a song writer that lives in Panama! He has written multiple songs listed in Nashville song books waiting to be picked up by a famous singer. He discusses his motivation for the songs he writes and how you can write songs and market them. I think you will enjoy this episode.By Rose Cushing

John "Bulldog" Drummond has had a long career and is best known for being a world-class reporter covering breaking news, corruption, and, most notably, the Chicago Outfit. He grew up in Wisconsin and worked in Des Moines, Iowa before coming to Chicago to cover the Illinois legislature for WIND Radio. He worked at WREX-TV, then joined CBS-TV in the …

Brian Pecht has been a jock and programmer at music radio stations for several years, and he hosts the very popular The Catholic Word Podcast. He talks about why he enjoys doing traffic at WBBM Newsradio; his on-air work at WLS-FM; payola in the music radio business; office politics; being on the air and Program Director (the youngest in the countr…

Ohio River Valley Institute Executive Director Joanne Kilgour joins host Philip Johnson, the Endowments’ senior program director for Environment & Health, in breaking down the hype around hydrogen hubs and carbon capture. Hydrogen hubs have as their centerpiece massive pipeline networks that funnel carbon captured from power plants and factories to…

The last time I interviewed Sam Panayotovich, he was just getting his career started in sports radio. Now Sam is on NESN and Fox Sports TV. He talks about his journey from Chicago to Las Vegas to Boston, his sociability, sports betting, working hard and paying your dues, comparisons between Boston and Chicago, advice, locker rooms, covering pro tea…

Dr. Daniel Perkins, professor, founder and principal scientist of the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State University, leads the largest-ever longitudinal study of post-911 transitioning veterans, “The Veteran Metrics Initiative.” Danny joins host Megan Andros, the Endowments’ senior program officer for veterans, in diving into…

NC Matheny author of A Hard Way to Go, The Horse of a Lifetime. NC Matheny was raised in the Ohio Valley, where he still resides. Horses have always been his passion. Casey, NC's Tennessee Walking Horse, was his loyal companion for over 22 years. Through trials and tribulations, God has seen all of NC's dreams to fruition, including life with Casey…

Raqueeb Bey, the founder and executive director of Black Urban Gardeners and Farmers of Pittsburgh, joins this episode’s host, Endowments Vice President of Sustainability Andrew McElwaine, to discuss food deserts, the healing effects of holistic gardening and the organization’s surprise boost from alt-rock stars Rage Against the Machine. Raqueeb fo…

Jeffrey Brown, PBS NewsHour chief correspondent for arts, culture and society, joins “We Can Be” host Janet Sarbaugh, The Heinz Endowments’ vice president of Creativity, as they tackle one of the creative realm’s big questions: Are the arts essential? “Art matters because it shows us a bit of the world we might not otherwise see,” Jeffrey says. “It…

Van Hargis is from Texas and has been a horseman most of his life. He has written a new book about his experiences and I think you will enjoy it. Learn more about Van in today's episode.By Rose Cushing

“I’ve had letters from young Black girls saying ‘I now know this is possible,’” Carlow University’s groundbreaking president Dr. Kathy Humphrey, tells “We Can Be” host Michelle Figlar, The Heinz Endowments’ vice president of Learning. As the first Black president in Carlow’s nearly 100-year history, Dr. Humphrey brings a life-long love of teaching …

Charlie Meyerson is publisher of Chicago Public Square. He talks about how he's become successful in digital media, what he thinks of the news business, his belief in independent pursuits, his podcast, and more. If you want to know more about his radio and newspaper career, listen to the interview that we did ten years ago. This is from a livestrea…