The Monthly, Weekly

For Derek's final episode as host of the Monthly, Weekly he's joined by Indy Monthly editor-in-chief Michael Rubino to talk about his vision for the magazine, how it survived the pandemic, and the role he sees city and regional magazines playing in their communities. They discuss the unique challenges (and joys) of putting together a magazine for such a general audience, how to identify stories that will not just amuse, but enrich that audience, and what's lost when magazines lose track of the many small, human-scale stories that together make up a city in their own right.

This week Indianapolis Monthly's home editor, director of editorial operations, and Good Bones recapper Megan Fernandez joins the podcast, to talk about her profile of Two Chicks and a Hammer's Mina Hawk in our June issue. With the sixth season of “Good Bones” underway, Megan recounts why she decided to turn feature-length attention to Mina and her cohort at this point in the show's run, what it's like to recap fundamentally formulaic reality television every week, and what makes Indianapolis the right city for a program with Good Bones' particular charms. “Mina Hawk's Quest For “Attainable Comfort” — And Great Reality TV,” Indianapolis Monthly, June 2021

Insider national politics features correspondent Adam Wren joins the podcast this week to discuss his August feature about Scott Jones, the Indianapolis tech mogul who's experienced, in Adam's words, an unlikely "riches-to-rags" story. Adam explains how the story first came on his radar, the tricky calculus of framing a feature that revolves around ongoing legal proceedings, and how Jones ended up spilling his guts to him from a barstool near Butler's campus in the first place. "Scott Jones Got Rich Inventing The Next Big Thing. Can He Reinvent Himself?," Indianapolis Monthly

Niki Kelly has reported on state government and politics for the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette since 1999, when Eric Holcomb was gearing up for a failed congressional run and Pete Buttigieg was planning for his senior year of high school. This week, she brings the insight she's gained to bear on the odd family feud that's been unfolding in slow motion over the past year in Indiana politics: the Republican governor, suing the Republican-controlled legislature, represented by Republican attorney general Todd Rokita. She also talks about her work as one of the last of a valuable, yet dying breed as a bureau reporter in the state's capitol, and what the rest of this year has in store, including the all-important redistricting process.

Michael DeCourcey, the Indy-based Sporting News reporter and columnist, has covered college athletics for four decades. With the benefit of that experience, he joins the podcast this week to analyze the recent unanimous Supreme Court ruling in favor of increased financial compensation for student-athletes, and what it means for the NCAA. Mike and Derek talk about the history of the NCAA's legal struggles going back to the 1980s, why they continue fighting a battle they've already mostly lost in the court of public opinion, and how an NCAA with more player compensation might not look very much different from the one we already have. Note: This episode was recorded before the NCAA's announcement Monday that it would recommend players be allowed to monetize their likenesses, so that decision is not discussed. "If NCAA had never taken on Ed O'Bannon, it might not have been dunked on so furiously by the Supreme Court," Mike DeCourcy, the Sporting News, June 21 2021

Indiana University's newly-minted Chief Health Officer joins the Monthly Weekly once more now that COVID numbers are on the retreat, to look back on our statewide response to the pandemic, as well as how universities handled it in their own right, and to talk about the unique challenges around health communication, including in his own writing. Aaron Carroll, New York Times: "You Can't Rely on the C.D.C. to Make Your Pandemic Decisions"

The Rev. Dr. Charles Harrison of Barnes United Methodist Church is one of the founders of Indianapolis Ten Point Coalition, which dates back to the late 1990s as a community group that patrols the streets of high-crime neighborhoods in an attempt to defuse and de-escalate violent crime. As those crime rates creep back toward levels not seen since the group's founding, and Black community organizations are simultaneously rethinking their ties to police, we spoke with Harrison about how and why Indy Ten Point does the work that it does, and how he works to maintain credibility both with the police who apprehend violent criminals and the people who suffer from violence at both the hands of those criminals and, occasionally, the police themselves.

James Briggs became the Indianapolis Star's metro columnist in October 2019, just a few months before the world as we know it turned upside-down. This week, he joins the podcast to talk about some of the biggest news stories of the past year, from the wild rise in Indy home prices, to the city's emergence from the COVID-19 pandemic, to the controversy over Carmel Clay Schools' hiring of a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion director. He also talks about what it's been like to transition from beat reporting to the columnist's perch, and why he's optimistic about the future of the daily newspaper.

Sheila Kennedy has done just about everything there is to do in Indianapolis civic life, from practicing real estate and business law, to running to represent the city in Congress in the early 1980s, to working extensively in city government, and now in her current position as professor emeritus of law and public policy at IUPUI's O'Neill School. This week, she joins the podcast to talk about the unique structure that's governed that civic life for roughly as long as she's been a part of it: Unigov, the consolidated city-county government that's run Indianapolis and Marion County since 1970, impacting everything from education and segregation, to local politics, to the COVID recovery. She also talks about the striking rise in polarization over the course of her career in politics, and how it's reflected in the ongoing struggle between the city and Indiana's General Assembly.

Derek Schultz is back on the podcast this week to catch up on everything that's happened in the world of Indy sports since his last visit, including the return of fans to the Speedway, the Colts' eyebrow-raising draft choices, and the chaos in the Pacers' locker room. The two Dereks also talk about the unexpected resurgence of the New York Knicks and attendant 1990s nostalgia, and play a round of "overrated or underrated" that settles scores on everything from Twitter to pork tenderloin.

Adam Wren, national features correspondent for Insider and repeat Monthly Weekly guest, is a familiar voice to Hoosier readers whether in the pages of Indianapolis Monthly, his features for Politico Magazine, or his scoopy politics newsletter Importantville. In just the first few months of his new role he's already tackled big stories including Pete Buttigieg's campaign to remake the Department of Transportation, Republican Sen. Todd Young's attempts to find bipartisanship in a polarized Washington, and the fraught decision by Michigan's Rep. Peter Meijer to vote for Donald Trump's impeachment. This week we spoke about all of those, as well as what it's like to report on national politics from right here in Marion County.

Martha Hoover, like her restaurants including the flagship Cafe Patachou, Napolese, and many more, is an Indianapolis institution in her own right. So when the COVID-19 pandemic began, she responded on an institutional scale, consolidating her restaurant group and pivoting to carryout. As the ever-elusive return to normalcy draws nearer, she joined the show this week to talk about the state of Indy hospitality, her journey to mogul-dom, and how the pandemic taught her something new even after more than 30 years in the restaurant business.

The end of the COVID-shortened 2020-21 NBA season is roughly a month away, and Caitlin Cooper of the SB Nation Pacers blog Indy Cornrows joins the Monthly Weekly to talk about what the postseason might look like for Indy's OG pro franchise. Caitlin breaks down the team's bad injury luck and disappointing on-the-court play, the midseason departure of former IU star Victor Oladipo, and the progress of rookie head coach Nate Bjorkgren, before talking about what it's been like to cover an NBA season that's been out of the ordinary, to say the least, and how she developed her keen eye for hoops analysis and knack for expressing it through the written word.

Courtney Thompson is a co-owner and the head roaster at Certain Feelings, the new roastery and cafe that just opened in the Bottleworks' Garage Food Hall.  Courtney spoke with Derek this week about her background in the industry, what Certain Feelings brings to an already robust Indy specialty coffee scene, and how even a total coffee novice can learn how to identify flavor notes with the best of them.

Bloomington native Angelo Pizzo is one of the key creative forces behind iconic Indiana sports films like "Hoosiers" and "Rudy," and has worked in the entertainment industry now for more than four decades. He joined the Monthly Weekly this week to talk about what it took to bring Hoosier basketball culture realistically to life, what "Breaking Away" got wrong about his hometown, how to sustain a career in showbiz, and why he hasn't seen a new sports movie in decades.

The Washington Post's John Feinstein has done just about all you can in a journalism career, starting out as a night reporter under Bob Woodward (yes, that Bob Woodward), writing some of the best-selling sports non-fiction of all time, and even recently "pivoting to video" with his popular "Storytime" web series. This week he joined the Monthly Weekly to provide his takes on the tournament so far, share some stories about what it was like to write "Season on the Brink," and share what he's learned about storytelling after more than four decades in the business.

This week, IM's dining editor Julia Spalding takes the reins of the Monthly Weekly to catch up with Carlos Salazar, a veteran of favorites like Rook and Oakleys Bistro and one of Indiana's top young chefs. Carlos and Julia talk about his endlessly innovative menus, what it's been like to survive last year's relentless restaurant closures, and how Asian-owned businesses like his own have been impacted by the recent rash of hate crimes against Asian-Americans.

This week local sportswriter Dustin Dopirak of the Daily Hoosier joins the Monthly Weekly to break down this year's NCAA tournament, taking place entirely within the confines of the Hoosier State. Dopirak previews the on-court action, from the numerous high-profile first-round matchups to the potential ceiling for Indiana's only team in the tournament, the Purdue Boilermakers. He also looks forward beyond the Archie Miller era in Bloomington, and predicts who will be the next Hoosier team to make the tournament.

Zoe LaVerne, the Greenwood 19-year-old with nearly 20 million followers on the social media platform TikTok, is a magnet for drama. Fortunately, drama is her business, earning her in the high six figures for the short videos that capture her dancing, drama, and day-to-day life. The author Lili Wright profiled LaVerne in our March issue, and she joins the Monthly Weekly this week to talk about her experience going down the rabbit hole that is influencer drama, what it was like as a mother of teenagers herself to chronicle LaVerne's sometimes very grown-up issues, and the extent to which the whole affair made her want to put away her own smartphone for good.

Indiana State Representative Vanessa Summers succeeded her father to represent the 99th District three full decades ago in 1991, and she's seen more than her share of partisan rancor — but nothing like what happened last month, when GOP members booed Black lawmakers speaking about discrimination during a session of the General Assembly. The heated climate nearly led to a physical confrontation between Republican Rep. Sean Eberhart and Summers, who recently spent more than a week in an intensive care unit for COVID-19. Amid such a tense political climate, Summers joined the podcast to talk about what happened during that debate over House Bill 1367, her struggle with COVID, and how this political moment is unlike any she's seen in her lifetime.

After last summer's racial justice protests, IMPD Chief Randal Taylor knew he had his work cut out for him restoring trust in the police among some of Indianapolis' most vulnerable communities. Now more than half a year later, Taylor joins the podcast to talk about his career as a black man in law enforcement, how the IMPD has adapted to the demands made by the communities they police, the city's startling uptick in gun violence, and politicized efforts by the state legislature to exercise oversight of the department.

When Dr. Aaron E. Carroll joined the team tasked with ensuring IU Hoosiers' safe return to school last fall, he knew it wasn't the science he'd have to figure out, there being a standard playbook in place for managing the spread of diseases like COVID-19 — it would be the logistics and implementation of that playbook, including getting buy-in from a justifiably fearful and skeptical public. Now, many months later, case numbers are falling across the country and multiple vaccines are rolling out, but the coronavirus isn't done with us just yet. Dr. Carroll joined the Monthly Weekly to talk about how he fought the pandemic in Bloomington, why a safe return to school is not only possible, but desirable for most of America's schoolchildren, and how vaccines will change the way we live in 2021.

In December Indianapolis Monthly published a series of first-person essays from various "Heroes of the Pandemic" around the city that included Consuelo Poland, the founder of the Latinas Welding Guild. The Latinas Welding Guild trains minority women to enter a field that's overwhelmingly (96 percent, according to recent statistics) male. This week, she joins the Monthly Weekly to talk about her experience growing up in a largely white Northern Michigan community, discovering welding through her training as an artist, and what drove her to fight for Indianapolis-area minority women to have the same opportunities in the field that she's had.

Whitley Yates is the director of diversity and engagement for the Indiana GOP. As a young, black woman in a mostly older, white party, she's faced serious challenges in trying to convince the party that it needs to broaden its outreach when it already has an electoral stranglehold over Indiana. We talked about how her work is going, how uniformly white rooms full of state Republicans have responded to her diversity seminars, and what it was like for her to witness the events of the past few months, as large numbers of Republicans, including some in her own state, attempted to disenfranchise Black and other minority voters across the country.

This week Derek speaks with Steve Raymer, the veteran photojournalist and Indiana University professor who photographed the South Side's Burmese Chin refugee community for our December issue. Raymer discusses his long career dating back to the Vietnam War and National Geographic's 1970s heyday, as well as the decline of storytelling photojournalism and how he was able to bring it back for the December feature. "Welcome to Chindianapolis": https://www.indianapolismonthly.com/arts-and-culture/circle-city/welcome-to-chindianapolis

This week Derek is joined by his fellow, well, Derek, beloved Indy sports radio host Derek Schultz to break down the Colts' Wild Card loss against the Buffalo Bills and its aftermath. They talk about everything from Philip Rivers, to sports media's collectively short memory, to the Notorious B.I.G.'s "Juicy," and play a lightning-round game of "Overrated or Underrated."   The final recap of the season: https://www.indianapolismonthly.com/arts-and-culture/sports/indianapolis-colts-recap-wild-card-at-buffalo-bills Derek's essay about his experience during the pandemic: https://www.indianapolismonthly.com/arts-and-culture/what-i-did-with-my-mandatory-unpaid-eight-month-long-summer-vacation

In our first episode of 2021 Derek talks with Scott Soltys-Curry, the creator of the Indianapolis Coffee Guide and a contributor to our January cover story featuring the best coffee in the city. They talk about Indy's coffee scene, how to develop a taste for a fine pour-over, and what it's like to start a new publication in 2021, as Scott prepares to launch the coffee-focused Batch Magazine in stores soon.

For the holiday week the Monthly Weekly is turning back the clock to revisit our conversation with contributing editor Adam Wren, about his March retrospective on Pete Buttigieg's presidential primary campaign. Adam described the experience of reporting the "Pete beat" from his humble beginnings in South Bend to his surprise victory in the Iowa caucuses, as well as discussing his bright future, which now includes his impending nomination as the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. We'll be back with new episodes in the new year, and we hope you and yours have a safe and happy holiday.

This week, Derek speaks with Indianapolis' own Michael Bricker, a production designer for film and television who won an Emmy for his work on the Netflix hit "Russian Doll." Derek and Michael talk about the latter's approach to creating that series' magical-realist version of New York City, his unique path to the entertainment industry, and exactly what it means to be a "production designer" in the first place.

This week, Derek and deputy editor Daniel Comiskey are joined by NPR television critic Eric Deggans to talk about Indy native Ryan Murphy's new film for Netflix, "The Prom," premiering this week. They discuss how Murphy's Hoosier roots have influenced his career and approach to this project, as well as Deggans' day-to-day life as a TV critic in a time when streaming services and the pandemic have upended how we consume media.

This week, Derek and dining editor Julia Spalding are joined by Jon Warner, the executive chef at Traders Point Creamery, who talks about their Thanksgiving takeout menu and dispenses his own tips for Indy's home chefs. Then, we speak with Rebecca Raffle, the founder of Elevate Bakery and Barkery, about her unique experience developing a proprietary blend of flavorless CBD that goes into their cookies, gummies, and more.

This week we talk with sportswriter Dustin Dopirak about Indiana University football, as the as-yet-undefeated Hoosiers are set to play maybe their most important game since the Nixon era against Ohio State this weekend. Then, Derek interviews Connor and Christa Hitchcock, the founders of Indianapolis' own Homefield Apparel, the startup featured in a recent Athletic feature (paywall) that's building a national following with their stylish college sports apparel. The Hitchcocks reacting to IU's winning touchdown over Penn State: https://twitter.com/HomefieldApparl/status/1320149293261594624

This week, the Monthly Weekly is joined by editor-in-chief Michael Rubino and contributing editor Adam Wren to talk about the results of the 2020 election in Indiana, including President Trump's continued stranglehold on the state, Christina Hale's narrow miss in the 5th Congressional District, the enduring popularity of incumbent Gov. Eric Holcomb, and the future of Democrats in Indiana statewide. Then, Derek speaks with Dr. Heather Fretwell, Chief Medical Officer of Psychiatry with the Sandra Eskenazi Mental Health Center, to discuss what Hoosiers can do to care for their mental health amid the COVID-19 pandemic as the dark winter months set in.

This week, the Monthly Weekly hosts IM director of editorial operations Megan Fernandez and interim director at City Market, Catherine Esselman, for a chat about how downtown Indy can move forward after a chaotic 2020. Then, Derek speaks with Indiana Repertory Theater artistic director Janet Allen about the IRT's decision to move to a virtual season, streaming live performances directly into living rooms across Indiana and beyond.

With just a week to go until a historic Election Day, the Monthly Weekly was joined by contributing editor Adam Wren and editor-in-chief Michael Rubino to talk about the state of the races up and down Indiana's ballot. Then, host Derek Robertson interviews local comedian Brent Terhune about how his series of videos lampooning fervent Trump supporters have fueled his rising star.

This week, host Derek Robertson is joined by Indianapolis Monthly's editor-in-chief Michael Rubino and Caitlin Cooper of Indy Cornrows, SB Nation's dedicated Pacers site, to talk about the team's uncertain future amid a head coaching search and the potential departure of their star player. Then, Derek interviews Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dr. Woody Myers about the state of his campaign, and how he plans to approach its final weeks as he faces a serious polling deficit.

Host Derek Robertson is joined by emergency room doctor and MSNBC staple Stephen Sample and Indy Monthly director of editorial operations Megan Fernandez to talk about the state's recent uptick in coronavirus cases, as well as its prospects for winter. Then, Becky Hostetter of the recently shuttered restaurant Duos describes her experience trying to stay afloat amid the pandemic, and Derek gives the weekly recommendation. Music: "Shaving Mirror" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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