Lee Emma Running is an artist who sculpts with animal bones, glass and precious metals. She uses her work to engage audiences in conversations about the impact of human-built systems on the natural world, and explore the intersection of art and science. Running’s work “Opera Coat” was unveiled on Nov. 11 at Kaneko, the culmination of her year-long residency with Opera Omaha. “Opera Coat” is an enameled cast iron sculpture, embellished with copper and bronze. It’s a direct cast of a coat in Opera...
Dec 17, 2023•54 min
Jen Landis is an artist, author, and assistant professor of practice in graphic design at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. Her organization, Pincurl Girls , started in 2009 and creates products and services to help young girls find their confidence--including a podcast, art classes, a scholarship program, and a text club that sends daily words of affirmation to members. In July, Landis published the tween and teen self-help book, 'Skip the Bad Songs: the Art of Rocking a Happy Mindset.' On...
Dec 09, 2023•54 min
Omaha native Aissa Aset Bey is a loctician, artist, and entrepreneur. Her business, Loc Legacies , offers services related to Black haircare as well as education and training for aspiring locticians. Bey is in conversation with Michael Griffin about the culture and science of hair.
Dec 02, 2023•54 min
Problems today rarely originate in our present context. Some problems are so deeply rooted in human history and maybe human nature that it’s a tall order to try to diagnose, let alone solve them in an hour on the radio. But we try! Today, attorney and Common Cause Nebraska advisory board member Wes Dodge is back on the show to discuss the thorny issue of religion in our political discourse–how America’s complicated relationship with Christianity has manifested and been co-opted across our histor...
Nov 27, 2023•54 min
On today's show, Nebraska State Senator Tony Vargas talks with Michael Griffin about the issues on his mind as he runs against Congressman Don Bacon to represent Nebraska's Second Congressional District in the 2024 election.
Nov 10, 2023•54 min
Kristine Langley Mahler is a local author who grew up all around the country. The lack of a permanent home in her childhood informs much of her current writing. In her most recent book, ' A Calendar is a Snakeskin, ' Mahler excavates personal meaning from astrology, tarot, motherhood, and the past, present and future. On today's show, Mahler is in conversation with Michael Griffin about the art of memoir and the process of putting together her new collection....
Oct 27, 2023•54 min
The Inflation Reduction Act, passed last year, is said to be the largest bill ever to address the climate disaster. The legislation includes about $30 billion for homeowners to make energy-efficient upgrades to their houses, such as installing solar panels or a heat pump. Sounds great, right? But it’s daunting for the average taxpayer to navigate the byzantine world of tax credits to access IRA funds for those upgrades. David Holtzclaw wants to help. He owns Transduction Technologies, an enginee...
Oct 21, 2023•54 min
The funny thing about genres like alt, punk, indie is that there was a point when these things were directly in opposition to something mainstream and corporate, but then somewhere along the way they became styles and aesthetics that could also be mainstream. It's not always clear what it means to be alt-rock or alt-country these days or even how to listen to an album in the streaming age where our music habits are changing so rapidly all the time. On today's show, Tom Knoblauch is in conversati...
Oct 05, 2023•53 min
On today's show, Maria Corpuz is in conversation with Andy Saladino, development director of Youth Emergency Services. Youth Emergency Services, or YES, assists youth ages 16 to 21 experiencing homelessness and near homelessness by meeting immediate needs for food, shelter, clothing and safety. YES has a street outreach team whose members distribute supplies out of backpacks and provide immediate information and services. YES’s services also include a 24-hour emergency shelter, transitional livi...
Sep 29, 2023•53 min
The Flatwater Film Festival is an annual event committed to bringing together established and first-time filmmakers from across the state of Nebraska to celebrate their art by providing a non-competitive platform that showcases their work, to develop a strong community that promotes inspiration and support, and ultimately to foster the next generation of Nebraska filmmakers. The 2023 festival will be held October 6-8 at the historic Rivoli Theatre in downtown Seward, NE. On today's show, Tom Kno...
Sep 22, 2023•53 min
On today's show, Maria Corpuz is in conversation with Jewel Rodgers - a poet, artist and placemaker from North Omaha. She was a Buffett Scholar at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and went on to receive a Master’s in Real Estate Development from New York University. She was nominated for best performance poet at the 2022 Omaha Entertainment and Arts Award. Her multi-sensory poetry collection “Wax Over Water” received a Populus Fund Grant in 2023 through the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visua...
Sep 16, 2023•53 min
Money is nice, right? It’s fun to buy things. But there are contexts where you’d hope that the equation is more complicated than dollar equals result, like medicine or politics. In particular, Nebraska has been the focus of several concerns about the line between money and political results. Today Jack Gould from Common Cause Nebraska is in conversation with Tom Knoblauch about the influence of lobbyists and special interest groups in our state legislature--as well as what can be done to improve...
Sep 09, 2023•53 min
Drew Shuck sings and plays the drums in local punk band Bug Heaven. Adam Haug produces beats as Haunted Gauntlet for emcee Conny Franko in M34n Str33t. The bands recently collaborated on the remix of the song “Survived By,” written by Shuck and performed by Bug Heaven. The song, off Bug Heaven’s debut album “We Love to Live in Hell,” is about the pain of losing loved ones to suicide. Bug Heaven and Mean Street, along with rapper S1SW, will perform at The Slowdown on Sept. 7. A portion of the pro...
Aug 28, 2023•53 min
Last year, author, screenwriter, and host of Studio 360 Kurt Andersen joined Riverside Chats to discuss his two volume explanation of America, Fantasyland and Evil Geniuses . In that conversation, he mentioned that he was working on a third part to this series, which would be fictional. He wouldn’t give away any details at the time, but it turns out that he was working on Command Z , a new 8 part web series directed by Steven Soderbergh. The show follows a team from the 2050s who can transport t...
Aug 18, 2023•53 min
If you’ve ever had Adult Swim on at night and wondered what in the world you’re watching, there’s a good chance you’ve seen something created by Tim Heidecker. He got his start making bizarre sketch series like Tim and Eric’s Awesome Show, Tom Goes to the Mayor, and On Cinema. Since then, he’s appeared in several movies, such as Us, Bridesmaids, and The Comedy and he’s extended his On Cinema universe into the film Mister America and a new subscription service called the Hei Network. His latest t...
Aug 12, 2023•53 min
Nebraska prides itself on its Unicameral, which in theory reduces partisanship by forcing cooperation and moderation. That is, unless it doesn’t. In the headlines from this year’s legislative session, a common concern was whether partisanship had finally overtaken the body. Was this a breaking point? A sign of the future? Just a fluke year? It can be difficult to tell in a vacuum, so today's show has Tom Knoblauch in conversation with attorney Wes Dodge to parse through what happened, why it hap...
Aug 05, 2023•53 min
Satire uses exaggeration to critique something about the world we live in, but what happens if the world is crazier than any satirist can come up with? How does one parody, as Kurt Andersen has put it, "the greatest self-parodists of all time"? On today's show, Tom Knoblauch is in conversation with Geitner Simmons, author of the new book, Android Run , a sci-fi thriller with a heavy dose of satire to discuss the societal role of fiction, journalism, and the pervasive absurdity no one can escape....
Jul 31, 2023•53 min
BFF Omaha, formerly known as Benson First Friday, is a nonprofit arts organization whose mission is to build community through art engagement. BFF started in June 2012, and was named the first official Creative District in Nebraska in 2022. On today's show, Michael Griffin is in conversation with Annie Butler, production manager and the advocacy chair, and Petfest founder Zach Schmieder about the annual showcase of local and national musical acts within the Benson community. Petfest 2023 is on A...
Jul 22, 2023•53 min
The HALLINS Corporation is a nonprofit whose mission is to stimulate constructive change in underserved communities through art and culture. It was founded in 2016, and puts on both the Omaha Jazz Experience and the LOVAM Jazz Festival. The Omaha Jazz Experience is a ticketed jazz concert that raises for the Hallins Corporation. This year’s show is this Saturday, July 22 at Stinson Park and will feature Grammy-winning saxophonist Najee. On today's show, Michael Griffin is in conversation with La...
Jul 14, 2023•53 min
Think of the last fruit or vegetable you ate. Do you know where it was grown? Who cultivated it? Harvested it? Transported it to the grocery store? Could you begin to guess all of the people and places involved in making sure that apple or celery or bok choy made it to your plate? When the food production system is global, it can be easy to forget that it’s possible to grow produce right here at home. Today Maria Corpuz is in conversation with Stephanie Finklea and Alex O’Hanlon, two urban farme...
Jul 09, 2023•53 min
In the Midwest, we love our cars: fast cars, big cars, small cars, loud cars, quiet cars, different cars for different occasions like shoes. Car culture, in other words, is often indistinguishable from Midwest culture, and has been for so long that it feels natural. But what if it's not? On today's show, Daniel Knowles makes the case that cars are ruining the world while making us unhappy and unhealthy—the subject of his new book, Carmageddon: How Cars Make Life Worse and What to Do About It. Ta...
Jul 01, 2023•54 min
In China, the phrase “to eat bitterness” means to persist through hardship without complaint. Artist Jennifer Ling Datchuk used the idiom to title her collection of new and recent work, comprising ceramics, textiles, video and other mediums. Datchuk is a Texas-based artist of Irish and Chinese ancestry. In this conversation with Maria Corpuz, she discusses her work, which explores the intersections of her own identity, as well as the role of women and global labor inequality. Through material cu...
Jun 25, 2023•54 min
Chalis Bristol, AKA Crabrangucci, was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. She has been actively involved in the music community for years, and has played over 250 shows since 2021. She features an eclectic mix of genres from indie rock to Top 40, to house music, and K-Pop. Bristol also won the 2022 and 2023 Omaha Entertainment & Arts award for “Outstanding DJ.” Additionally, she is the Assistant Director of Sales & Marketing at the Omaha Symphony and a board member at Omaha Girls Rock. T...
Jun 16, 2023•54 min
Alajia McKizia was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. She’s had varied experiences in the local arts community, including as a studio assistant at Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts. Her work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions at multiple Nebraska galleries including the Union for Contemporary Art, Kaneko and the Tugboat Gallery. She’s also performed with African Culture Connection and .tbd Dance collective. On today's show, Michael Griffin is in conversation with McKizia about her...
Jun 09, 2023•54 min
Because Nebraska has been the birthplace of a relatively small number of Hollywood legends, you end up hearing the same names over and over again. And one name anyone listening to this has likely heard of, whether or not they've watched the movies, is Fred Astaire. Astaire was born in Omaha in 1899 and went on to star on stage and screen in a number of highly acclaimed musicals and Hollywood's Golden Age, such as Top Hat and Swing Time . What you may not know is that Fred Astaire had a sister, A...
Jun 02, 2023•54 min
In 1919, Nebraska enacted a statute known at the Siman Act, which restricted the use and study of foreign languages in the classroom. A year later in Hampton, Nebraska, a parochial school instructor named Robert Meyer was convicted under the law for teaching German to a 10-year-old boy. The case made it all the way to the United States Supreme Court in Meyer v. Nebraska, which ruled in Meyer’s favor in 1923. The Court declared the law violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, ...
May 19, 2023•54 min
Marcey Yates is a hip hop artist and community advocate who was born and raised in North Omaha. He won the 2021 and 2022 Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards album of the year for “Culxr House: Freedom Summer," released on Omaha’s Saddle Creek Records. On today's show, Yates is in conversation with Michael Griffin about the role of culture in establishing a relationship between art and advocacy, his artist process when making music, as well as the creation of Culxr House, an organization in North...
May 14, 2023•54 min
Audiences are very concerned with genres–is it a comedy? Is it drama? Is there sci-fi? Especially when it comes to works of art that emulate life, it can be difficult to say our lives fit into neat genres. Life is often difficult, funny, scary, and sweet–sometimes within a few hours. Today Megan Tady is in conversation with Tom Knoblauch about her new book, Super Bloom , which balances tragedy, humor, and insight on how we move forward and reinvent ourselves through art. The book follows massage...
May 07, 2023•54 min
Paul Thomas Anderson may be one of the last American auteurs. The term, which means author in French, grew out of the French New Wave and eventually made its way to America by the 1960s where the director asserted control and authorship over his–and it often was his–films. The concept has come to represent a kind of rebellion against the corporate content machine, a lone, independent cowboy of authenticity in the arts. And yet today, while the theory is still around, it’s difficult for a filmmak...
Apr 28, 2023•54 min
It's not unusual among educated Nebraskans to hold the expectation that, if you’re an ambitious young person in this state, you’ll leave. This is within a moment where, over the past decade, the Nebraska Examiner has reported that “more people have continued to leave than enter Nebraska from other states, and the loss is heavily those with an education level of at least a bachelor’s degree.” Today Dr. Josie Schafer, director of the Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Nebraska...
Apr 21, 2023•53 min
