Reader Radio

Latinos are the second-largest group of voters and the fastest-growing demographic in Nebraska. As they grow in political power, candidates in the 2nd Congressional District fight for their support. Elizabeth Rembert, a reporter with Nebraska Public Media News, reports in collaboration with The Reader's Bridget Fogarty. This is audio news story was first published by Nebraska Public Media News.

Back when vampires didn't sparkle and downtown Omaha gave its oddballs room to play, a crew set out to hunt a Midwestern monster. Listen to our reading of Gabriella Martinez-Garro's October story about the '90s Omaha vampire flick that's finding new life on YouTube.   ***   This episode was produced by Chris Bowling. Music also by Chris Bowling.

On a special Halloween episode of Reader Radio, Lynn Sanchez reads our story on Derek Everhart. The local business owner finds calm and community in the strange. For him, opening his business, Voodoo's Odd Shop on the corner of 13th and Martha Streets is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream he never thought possible. Read the story by Annie Albin. This episode was produced by Lynn Sanchez. Music by Chris Bowling.

The grand finale approaches. Over 40 hours of instruction condensed into five days prepare the campers to perform for a crowd of over one hundred at the Slowdown. Plus, Lucy, Ollie and Renee reflect on their experience. This is the final episode in The Omaha Reader's six-part series spending a week with Omaha Girls Rock in July 2022.   This episode was recorded and produced by Isa Luzarraga. Additional editing by Chris Bowling. Music by Jon Rix (https://naturalistic.bandcamp.com/)

Excitement and nerves are at an all-time high as the campers prepare for dress rehearsal. Lucy, Ollie and Renne must overcome obstacles to get their songs completed and performance-ready. Renee has an unfortunate encounter during kickball. This is the fifth episode in The Omaha Reader's six-part series spending a week in July 2022 with Omaha Girls Rock.   This episode was recorded and produced by Isa Luzarraga. Additionally editing by Chris Bowling. Music by Jon Rix (https://naturalistic.bandcamp.com/)

This is the fourth episode in The Omaha Reader's six-part series about Omaha Girls Rock, a nonprofit that empowers young girls and femmes with music, teamwork and performance. We spent a week in July 2022 hearing the campers stories. Today we sit down with program director Kat Ludwick. Ludwick is no stranger to the stage. The frontwoman and guitarist of former folk band The Black Squirrels, she has always embraced the community and creativity that comes with making music. However, her exposure to OGR occurred somewhat surreptitiously.   This episode was recorded and produced by Isa Luzarraga. Additionally editing by Chris Bowling. Music by Jon Rix (https://naturalistic.bandcamp.com/)

It's day three of The Omaha Reader's six-part journey with the young musicians of Omaha Girls Rock and they're just starting to learn how complicated writing a song can be. Lucy, Ollie and Renee work within their bands during workshops and in band practice to fine tune their creations.   This episode was recorded and produced by Isa Luzarraga. Additional editing help by Chris Bowling. Music by Jon Rix (https://naturalistic.bandcamp.com/)

This the second part in The Omaha Reader's six-part series spending a week with Omaha Girls Rock as young girls and femmes learn instruments, put together a band and practice toward an end-of-week performance. For the second day of camp, we sat down with the woman in charge. Omaha Girls Rock's Executive Director, Halley Taylor helps campers find their love for music each week. However, her connection to OGR spans a decade and started when her younger sister Cecily attended the first year of camp in 2011.   This episode was recorded and produced by Isa Luzarraga. Additional editing help from Chris Bowling. Music by Jon Rix (https://naturalistic.bandcamp.com/)

In July 2022, The Omaha Reader spent a week with Omaha Girls Rock, a nonprofit that connects young girls and femmes with instruments and band instruction with the ultimate goal of writing, and performing, an original song. This episode one of our six-part series "Omaha Girls Rock: Musicians with Ambition." In this episode, our reporter Isa Luzarraga (and an alum of Omaha Girls Rock first-ever camp in 2011) takes listeners to the start of camp, which always starts the same way. A group of excited, anxious young people gather in the Holland Performing Arts Center's recital hall. They are assigned an instrument, broken up into bands and guided into the world of music.   This episode was recorded and produced by Isa Luzarraga. Additional editing by Chris Bowling. Music by Jon Rix (https://naturalistic.bandcamp.com/)  

Sometimes it's hard to forget that cities don't just appear. Omaha's office buildings and suburbs, highways and cobblestone sidewalks, are pinpoints in a constellation of decisions made year after year, decade after decade, that define a place, and more importantly the lives of the people who live there. "You know, these houses don't really belong to us," said Ryan Reed, who runs East of 72nd, an Instagram account that tells the stories of Omaha's buildings. "You go down to the courthouse and go to the assessor's office and your name is on the deed, but they belong to the people before us and they belong to the people after us. So it's kind of like, part of our community and telling the story of our community." But when development hits the crossroads of new vs. old, how do we decide what's worth keeping and what's worth taking away? Omaha has had to grapple with that question recently with the decision to raze its central public library to make way for a new Mutual of Omaha skyscraper which many in the public fought, unsuccessfully, to stop. It's a similar fight that's taken place in other areas of the city like Jobbers Canyon on the city's riverfront, the largest destruction of historic architecture in the country. The advantages seem obvious, but what stories, history and opportunities do you lose? Reporter Chris Bowling drove around with Reed to hear about what he's learned about that by researching the past of Omaha's buildings — from historic homes to downtown success stories to a former church with a disturbing past.   Produced by Chris Bowling Music by Jon Rix (p0h_k https://p0hk.bandcamp.com/)

When Marisa Hattab moved to Omaha, her husband's employer at Offutt Air Force Base gave her a clear piece of advice. Don't live in North Omaha.   "They didn't tell us that's where the Black people live, but they were like 'That's where crime is' and 'You can't walk by yourself there,'" Hattab, who is Black, remembered being told in 2016. "And if we wanted to live there we'd need get permission."   Hattab, who became Douglas County's first diversity, equity and inclusion officer at the start of 2022, wasn't surprised that Omaha was segregated. But she was surprised just how fractured the city felt and dedicated her professional career here to addressing inequity. Now Hattab has a chance to make serious change. But what is her position with the county's supposed to look like? Is she evaluating the current system or trying to build a new one from the ground up. That's for Hattab to find out. In this conversation with news editor Chris Bowling, Hattab talked about true community engagement, leading with a collective vision and how her history in promoting diversity can inform her new county-wide purview. *** Produced and Edited by Chris Bowling Music by Jon Rix (https://p0hk.bandcamp.com/)

Cammy Watkins and Maggie Wood believe honest conversations about equity and inclusion in Nebraska's schools and businesses — and in everyday life — can help create The Good Life for all Nebraskans, not just some. They are the co-executive directors of Inclusive Communities, a nonprofit organization providing advocacy and education around diversity and equity in Nebraska. Maggie and Cammy joined reporter Bridget Fogarty at The Reader's newsroom on a cold February night to talk about Inclusive Communities and its latest role leading national conversations on equity with the National Federation for Just Communities.     This podcast was produced by Bridget Fogarty. Music by Jon Rix (https://p0hk.bandcamp.com) Learn more about Inclusive Communities by visiting the nonprofit's website or follow them on Facebook.

Sarah Johnson had been part of the 10-year fight to bring a protected bike to Omaha when one finally came to Harney Street. Then she found out the two-mile stretch of road, which are common in most U.S. cities, wasn't permanent and it's future wasn't in the city's budget. To her, the whole fight—which includes firings, vetoes and city council members calling the police on their own public works department—says less about biking, and more about how decisions are made in Omaha.   This podcast was produced by Chris Bowling. Music by Jon Rix (https://p0hk.bandcamp.com/) Read Mode Shift Omaha's history of the fight to get a bike lane in Omaha. Read Sarah Johnson's op-ed in NOISE.

Dana Swope is one of many residents forced to leave an apartment complex in midtown deemed unlivable by the City of Omaha in late January 2022. Chris Bowling sat down with her in her former home on the third floor of the Flora apartments at 2557 Jones Street on January 25 to learn about how she ended up paying $700 a month in a cramped studio apartment with mold, no heat and mice. Unfortunately her story may not be that uncommon as many in Omaha pay too much for poor, substandard living arrangements as the city is short 80,000 affordable housing units.   See pictures of Dana and her apartment.   If you want to donate to organization serving those facing housing stability, we recommend: Heartland Family Services https://www.heartlandfamilyservice.org/donate-now/ Together https://togetheromaha.org/get-involved/donate.html Metro Area Continuum Care for the Homeless https://shareomaha.org/donate/metro-area-continuum-care-homeless   This podcast was produced by Chris Bowling. Music by Jon Rix (https://p0hk.bandcamp.com).  

Nearly 30 years ago a motley crew of alt-y Omahans put together the first Reader. All these decades later our paper still follows the same mission: find the unheard stories and uplift communities boxed out by other media. But to get to all that we need to talk about classic 80s movies and music, saving one of Omaha's most historic venues, jam bands, early internet and the man at the center of it all — John Heaston. Our publisher and editor co-founded The Reader and has been a part of it ever since its inception and sat down with news editor Chris Bowling to talk about it. The story that follows is as much a story about journalism as it is Omaha history. If you enjoy our work, please consider becoming a member during our first-ever membership drive.  https://thereader.com/membership-plans   ----- Production by Chris Bowling Music by Jon Rix aka p0h_k (https://p0hk.bandcamp.com/)  

Omaha Reader reporter Chris Bowling joins Paul Allen IV and Buddi3 Da Gawd on 1st Sky in the morning on Nov. 8 to talk about his cover story in this month's issue of The Reader, "The Tiff with TIF." Tax increment financing is the city's greatest tool to incentivize private development, but some wonder how fair the system is. This show was produced by Paul Allen IV, Buddi3 Da Gawd and Richard Lewis III at Webberized studios north of downtown Omaha.

If you don't own a car in Omaha, getting to work, buying groceries and navigating the city becomes a lot harder. Over the summer of 2021, The Reader tasked reporter Addie Costello to ride every route in the city. From Florence to Bellevue, Westroads to Downtown, she talked with riders to hear their stories and ask a central question: is Omaha's transit system working for the people who need it most? The results are mixed. The buses are clean, but they're also usually empty. They get most people where they need to go, but people still need to use rideshare apps to fill in the gaps. And while Omaha's transit system is underfunded compared to nearby cities, it's attracting new "choice" riders which can help strengthen the service. But everyone, from riders to administrators, agrees on this: there's work that needs to be done. ----more---- This podcast was produced and edited by Addie Costello. The theme music is by Jon Rix and Chris Bowling.  

This week, we pick up on our conversation with Ryan Sallans and Megan Smith-Sallans to talk about why more information doesn't always mean more understanding when it comes to our gender and sexuality. Should I say my pronouns when I'm meeting new people? How do I define myself to others? To myself? Does gender and sexuality ever get easier to understand? The answers are complicated, but Ryan and Megan offer perspective informed by a deep background of lived experience in Nebraska LGBTQ+ community.   Learn more about Ryan on his website: https://ryansallans.com/ Learn more about Megan on her website: https://megansmiththerapy.com/   Host: Emma Schartz Producer: Chris Bowling Music: Jon Rix https://p0hk.bandcamp.com/  Theme music: Chris Bowling and Jon Rix

In the first of our two-part talk with Ryan Sallans and Megan Smith-Sallans we dive deep into their experiences as members of Nebraska's LGBTQ+ community. The conversation spans growing up in small-town Nebraska and the journey toward coming out as a trans man, to working with families with queer children.   Learn more about Ryan Sallans and Megan Smith Sallans.     Hosted by Emma Schartz Produced by Chris Bowling Music by Jon Rix and Chris Bowling.

Welcome to Reader Radio. A new podcast from The Omaha Reader, Omaha's oldest alternative newspaper. With this biweekly podcast will be talking about the stories that cover news, entertainment, food and so much more. Produced by Chris Bowling.