Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg has a new, ambitious economic development plan for the city. Pat Mulloy is the man in charge of making it happen. Mulloy, a lawyer who spent most of his career managing senior living companies, joined Greenberg as deputy mayor for economic development earlier this year. In this WDRB+ Studio conversation with WDRB's Chris Otts, Mulloy discussed the broad goals of the plan and how Mulloy plans to prevent it from languishing on a shelf with little action, like so ma...
Dec 22, 2023•35 min
Downtown Louisville is still recovering from the pandemic, and in some ways, it will never be the same. Rebecca Fleischaker sits down with WDRB's Chris Otts to discuss how Louisville's central business district is evolving in the remote-work era. Fleischaker is the executive director of the Downtown Partnership. The episode was recorded Oct. 24, 2023. NOTE: This is a pilot episode for an interview show hosted from our new WDRB+ Studio. Should we keep it up? Who would you like to hear from next? ...
Nov 09, 2023•41 min
WDRB's Chris Otts is headed to Columbia for a fellowship. What does it means for the future of this podcast? He leaves a quick note for subscribers.
Jul 30, 2021•2 min
In 2013, the theft of large quantities of coveted Pappy Van Winkle and other bourbon from the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Ky. captured the world's attention. WDRB's Dalton Godbey discusses his recent interview with Toby Curtsinger, the alleged "ringleader" of the bourbon thefts, who pleaded guilty to charges and served a brief prison stint but still insists the story is not as cut-and-dry as it seems. Curtsinger embraces the moniker, "The Bourbon King," in Netflix's new documentary se...
Jul 20, 2021•20 min
Journalist Alec MacGillis joins the podcast to discuss his recent book, " FULFILLMENT: Winning and Losing in One-Click America ," which uses Amazon as a frame to explore regional inequality in the U.S. MacGillis writes that Amazon that has three types of towns: its software development-engineering towns, its data center towns and its warehouse towns. What is the impact of these broad economic forces on 'warehouse towns' like Louisville? How is blue-collar work different now than decades ago? Wha...
Jul 13, 2021•1 hr
One year ago, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said the state would get 'caught up' on a backlog of unemployment claims. It didn't happen. Thousands of Kentuckians still struggle with this frayed social safety net. Have elected officials stop trying to improve the system? WDRB.com business reporter Chris Otts explains.
Jul 07, 2021•27 min
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is allowing college athletes to profit on endorsement deals, autographs and other "name, image and likeness" opportunities. The Supreme Court undercuts the NCAA's business model. What does it all mean in a state where college sports is king? WDRB sports columnists Rick Bozich and Eric Crawford break it down.
Jun 29, 2021•31 min
WDRB.com's Marcus Green takes back to a simpler time, when one of the biggest controversies in Louisville centered on the plan to build a Topgolf. Three years later, Topgolf still isn't here, but it looks to be coming soon. Green explains what's going on with the much-anticipated project.
Jun 22, 2021•14 min
The presumed frontrunner is suddenly out. Another candidate picks up a key endorsement. A moderate Republican enters the fray. And there are likely more announcements ahead. WDRB political reporter Lawrence Smith discusses recent developments in the 2022 race to succeed Greg Fischer as Louisville Metro mayor. What does David James' exit mean for the race? Why is Barbara Sexton-Smith working for Craig Greenberg instead of mounting her own campaign? Does J'town Mayor Bill Dieruf have a path to vic...
Jun 15, 2021•25 min
Ashleigh and Brooke Skaggs, sisters from Georgetown, Indiana, hardly recognized their father in the months leading up to his tragic death in July 2020. WDRB.com reporter Marcus Green joins the show to discuss his recent story - the first of a series - examining the pandemic's effect on mental health in Kentucky and Indiana. Background: QUIET CRISIS: An ‘unprecedented’ mental health toll: COVID-19 drives surge in crisis line calls, therapy wait lists...
Jun 08, 2021•21 min
The constant on-again, off-again schedule at Ford's Louisville plants has an economic impact far beyond the automaker itself. This week's show focuses on how automotive supplier plants are also going dark and struggling to keep their workers during a red-hot job market. Sara Wells, a former worker at Martinrea Heavy Stamping in Shelbyville, Ky., shares her story. WDRB business reporters Chris Otts and Katrina Helmer discuss their recent story, " Ford shutdowns ripple through Louisville-area supp...
Jun 02, 2021•22 min
WDRB.com reporter Marcus Green discusses a recent court ruling and other developments in Louisville Gas & Electric's five-year-old plan to build a natural gas pipeline across Bullitt County, an effort opposed by Bernheim Forest and some rural landowners. Recent court documents raise the question: Is the controversial pipeline mainly for the benefit of one big customer: Jim Beam?
May 25, 2021•16 min
WDRB's Chris Otts and Katrina Helmer discuss the years-long fight over two proposed 'affordable housing' apartment complexes that could provide public housing in the suburb of Prospect, home to Kentucky's second-wealthiest zip code. Background: Judge upholds rejection of low-income housing in Prospect Prospect affordable housing complex on cusp of construction...
May 19, 2021•26 min
WDRB sports columnists Rick Bozich and Eric Crawford discuss the controversy surrounding Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit's positive drug test and the shifting explanations from famed trainer Bob Baffert. Does Baffert have credibility? What does this mean for a sport already marred by past drugging incidents?
May 12, 2021•37 min
WDRB's Jason Riley and Travis Ragsdale discuss their recent story about incidents in which Louisville Metro homicide unit personnel are alleged to have been drunk on the job or at the office, and the police department's lackluster internal investigation of the claims. Background: ATF agent claims Louisville homicide chief was drinking before Kroger hate crime murders...
May 04, 2021•34 min
WDRB.com education reporter Kevin Wheatley joins the podcast for an update on Jefferson County Public Schools. Wheatley discusses: - How the district's classroom-virtual hybrid schedule is going - Why some parents feel it shortchanges their children - Whether the Louisville school district will be back to pre-pandemic operation in August when the next school year begins - Why teachers and staff are resistant to the superintendent's proposal to add four school days to next year's calendar to make...
Apr 27, 2021•24 min
Louisville Metro Police first learned of an accusation that narcotics Det. Brian Bailey, one of the department's top cops in obtaining residential search warrants, had abused a female confidential informant in 2016. What did police do with the information? WDRB News and the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting have learned that a total of four women have accused Bailey of coercing them into becoming confidential informants and sexually assaulting them. On this week's show, WDRB reporters ...
Apr 20, 2021•28 min
One of the biggest Louisville business stories of 2021 has been the frequent disruption at Ford Motor Co.'s vehicle plants. Louisville Assembly Plant has borne the brunt, missing six weeks of production so far. The impact extends far beyond Ford's two factories to dozens of supplier plants in the region. WDRB's Chris Otts and Katrina Helmer explain the roots of the global shortage of computer chips that is roiling the auto industry, with the help of Joseph McCabe of AutoForecast Solutions LLC....
Apr 13, 2021•21 min
How close are we to having COVID-19 under control? Will Louisville's public schools go back to normal in the fall? Will COVID-19 shots become an annual ritual? Dr. Jon Klein, vice dean of research at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, says that much of life as we knew it may return by the of the summer, but the next one-to-three months are critical. There could be a costly fourth surge of COVID-19 as social behavior loosens faster than vaccines take effect, Klein says. He joins the...
Apr 06, 2021•43 min
CNN Special Reports producer Matthew Reynard joins WDRB's Chris Otts and Gilbert Corsey to discuss the making of the network's recent hourlong special on Kentucky's unemployment insurance failure. Why did CNN chose to focus on Kentucky? How did the team handle the suicide of former unemployment director Muncie McNamara only 11 days after he was interviewed for the program and before it aired? The documentary, " The Price We Paid: The economic cost of COVID " premiered March 27. It is available t...
Mar 31, 2021•39 min
Kentucky doesn't have money for teacher raises, but the GOP-dominated legislature recently passed or advanced several new or expanded tax giveaways. WDRB's Chris Otts and Lawrence Smith discuss a sweetheart deal for the well-connected developer of a Louisville hotel , an effort to lure remote workers from other states and the controversial school choice bill that would give breaks for supporting private education....
Mar 24, 2021•26 min
An accused child rapist and violent predator in Louisville is on the cusp of being let out of jail once again thanks to a loophole in Kentucky law: one that allows a person to be both mentally incompetent to face criminal prosecution and too mentally ill to be kept in psychiatric treatment. Now, Louisville-area lawmakers are trying to make up for lost time, mounting a last-minute push to close the loophole before the end of the legislative session this month. WDRB reporter Chad Mills explains....
Mar 16, 2021•22 min
The pandemic has kept most of Louisville's downtown office workers at home for nearly a year. But even before COVID, the downtown office scene was stagnant despite all the other things happening in the Central Business District -- the Yum! Center, bourbon distilleries, a plethora of new hotels. What happens if workers never return to the office? And, how does the remote work paradigm present an opportunity for an approachable city like Louisville? WDRB's Chris Otts and Katrina Helmer discuss the...
Mar 09, 2021•32 min
Republican State Rep. Jerry Miller joins the podcast to explain why he's pushing a bill that would make the Louisville mayor into a nonpartisan position, reduce the mayor's power and make other changes . Miller makes no bones about challenging the Democratic power structure in Louisville. He even thinks removing the 'Democrat' and 'Republican' labels from mayoral candidates might make Louisville more likely to elect its first Black mayor....
Mar 02, 2021•52 min
Tae-Ahn Lea was a senior at Central High School in 2018 when Louisville police cuffed him, patted him down and searched his car after the teenager made a wide turn in a high-crime neighborhood. Video of the stop went viral. Many in the community were outraged. But despite the attention, and all the police reforms promised in the wake of Breonna Taylor, the internal investigation into Lea's traffic stop failed to include the main detective involved and was swept under the rug by exception in 2020...
Feb 25, 2021•34 min
Kentucky's Republican-dominated legislature finally confronted the reality of slot-like gaming in the commonwealth last week. The vote to legalize "historical horse racing" machines showed deep differences among GOP lawmakers about how to help the poor, "trickle down" economics and whether morality should be legislated. WDRB's Chris Otts and Lawrence Smith break it down.
Feb 16, 2021•23 min
The Louisville detective who has obtained more residential search warrants than any other during the last 18 months is facing serious questions about his work. Eleanor Klibanoff of the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting and Travis Ragsdale of WDRB explain the latest story in our newsrooms' joint investigation into LMPD search warrant practices in the wake of the Breonna Taylor shooting. Background: LMPD’s Top Warrant Cop Accused Of Sexual Abuse, Questionable Tactics Dig: Klibanoff's 201...
Feb 09, 2021•28 min
After the killing of Breonna Taylor, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer ordered a "top-to-bottom" review of the Louisville Metro Police Department. The audit is out, and it isn't flattering. WDRB reporters Chad Mills and Jason Riley break down the key findings, the reaction from the Black community and what happens next. Background: LMPD review finds department needs 'major changes'...
Feb 02, 2021•27 min
Kentucky transportation planners are looking at ways to improve Interstate 64 in Louisville, and one of the options is to widen the highway and expand the Cochran Hill tunnel. Is this a realistic plan? Will it happen anytime soon? What about the impact on Cherokee and Seneca parks? WDRB.com reporter Marcus Green discusses his recent story on the topic ....
Jan 26, 2021•21 min
More Republican-dominated than ever, Kentucky's legislature has begun its 2021 session by passing bills curbing Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear's COVID-19 emergency powers, as well as measures relating to abortion. WDRB's Lawrence Smith takes stock of the first couple of weeks of the General Assembly and what's ahead. How will Republicans' budget priorities differ from Beshear's? Will they muster the votes to save slot-like gaming in the state? And is a citizen petition to impeach the governor gain...
Jan 19, 2021•35 min
