Riverside Chats

Erik Larson is the author of bestselling historical nonfiction like The Devil in the White City, The Splendid and the Vile, and In the Garden of Beasts. Today he talks with Tom Knoblauch about how he uses history to process his anxieties about the present and what made him turn to fiction for his latest work, a ghost story called No One Goes Alone, which is exclusively available on Audible. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/riversidechats/support

Katie Otten is an actor and writer who has worked with just about every local filmmaker and has just launched her first web series called Inner Worlds, which follows a series of friends who engage in a tabletop roleplaying game of the same name. Otten created, wrote every episode of, and stars in Inner Worlds, and every episode is streaming now. She talks with Tom Knoblauch about the project, her evolving process, and her vision for its future. Learn more about the project (and support season 2) here. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/riversidechats/support

Ross Benes wrote the 2021 book Rural Rebellion: How Nebraska Became a Republican Stronghold in which he diagnoses “a gradual shift in the types of candidates we elect to our state legislature and the US Congress." He argues that "[t]he accumulative changes over the past few decades have made it extremely difficult for Democrats to be competitive outside of certain parts of our two biggest cities, Omaha and Lincoln, and even there, it is often an uphill battle for liberals.” He came on the show last year to discuss the cultural landscape of highly loyal GOP voters and today he’s back to talk with Tom Knoblauch about just how strong that Republican stronghold is in what appears to be a 2022 rocked with scandals, resignations, in-fighting, dark money, and the specter of Donald Trump. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/riversidechats/support

Randy Nogg currently runs the talent agency Actors Etc. Limited and its entertainment division Theater-To-Go. He previously lived in LA where he produced the film Reefer Madness 2, which is now available on Amazon Video, before returning to Omaha to bring a bit of Hollywood back to the Heartland. Today he talks with Tom Knoblauch about the way Hollywood dreams entered his Midwestern life and how that brought him on the long journey to both making and distributing his film.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/riversidechats/support

Matthew Wurstner returns to the show for a history of Nebraska's unique system of governance: the unicameral. The unicameral has only one legislative house, an idea that was proposed and fought for by U.S. Sen. George Norris nearly a century ago under the belief that a unicameral legislature would cost less to the taxpayers of Nebraska and would work more efficiently than a two-house legislature. Talking with Tom Knoblauch, Wurstner chronicles the origin of the concept and how it came to pass in Nebraska, as well as assessing how the original aims line up with the reality in today's polarized world.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/riversidechats/support

Alisha Shelton is running to represent Nebraska’s Second Congressional District in the House of Representatives–a seat currently held by incumbent Don Bacon. Today she talks with Tom Knoblauch about what motivated her to run, how her legislative style offers a fresh perspective, and what her vision for America would look like. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/riversidechats/support

Craig Moody was elected to the Omaha Public Power District in 2016, served as board chair in 2020, and currently serves as the chair of the board’s governance committee. Today he talks with Tom Knoblauch about his story and makes his case for reelection in order to continue his vision of Omaha’s response to the climate crisis by transitioning to renewable energy and participating in Nebraska’s coordinated plan to become net zero carbon by 2050. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/riversidechats/support

Jazari Kual Zakaria is in the middle of a congressional campaign to represent Nebraska’s First Congressional District in the House of Representatives, a seat held by Republican Jeff Fortenberry for nearly two decades until he resigned from the position in March after being convicted of three felonies. Zakaria is a student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a founder of LNK Freedges, an initiative to provide free, fresh food to underserved people in Lincoln. Talking with Tom Knoblauch, Zakaria tells his story on today's show, as a child of refugees and potentially the youngest member of congress should he get elected in a vision of a more representative legislative body that understands the challenges of the average citizen and can address them from a place of understanding that he does not see in the current set of representatives.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/riversidechats/support

Nebraska State Senator Patty Pansing Brooks talks with Tom Knoblauch about her upbringing, the formation of her worldview, what working in the Nebraska Legislature has taught her about the process of governing, and how she'd take those lessons to the House of Representatives to represent Nebraska's 1st Congressional District--a seat held by Jeff Fortenberry for nearly twenty years until his resignation this week due to a conviction for lying to federal authorities about campaign donations.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/riversidechats/support

Earlier this year, Mayor Jean Stothert announced intentions to give the land where Omaha's downtown library sits to Mutual of Omaha so they can build a new headquarters roughly 20 streets away from their current building in Midtown Crossing. This meant finding new land to develop as a downtown library further from public transportation routes and which looks likely to cost the city considerably more than it currently spends on the W. Dale Clark Library. Many, including members of the Omaha City Council, have been critical of the process, particularly for its sudden urgency. Today, Dawaune Lamont Hayes returns to the show to talk with Tom Knoblauch about the process Mayor Stothert has chosen to undertake to move the library and to present an alternate vision for what to do with the space as a transit station and cultural center.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/riversidechats/support

Alvo is a small town of about 115 between Omaha and Lincoln. The kind of place you probably haven’t ever thought about unless you live near it. The kind of place that can be easy to romanticize as a typical small town in the Heartland. And where nobody is looking, sometimes it’s because there’s nothing to see. But other times, there’s so much under the surface that it can be difficult to wrap your mind around all of it. Flatwater Free Press reporter Yanqi Xu is in conversation with Tom Knoblauch on today's show to look at Alvo for a story of toxic contamination and a cultural crisis that stems from a pile of tires. Read her original reporting here.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/riversidechats/support

Vice Chair of the OPPD Board of Directors Eric Williams is in conversation with Tom Knoblauch about Nebraska's coordinated plan to address the climate crisis by transitioning to primary reliance on renewable energy and becoming carbon neutral by 2050.  Learn more here. Join the conversation on social media or call in with what issue is  on your mind in a brief voicemail to 402-881-0089 for a chance to be featured on one of our upcoming shows. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/riversidechats/support

Jo Giles is the executive director of the Women’s Fund of Omaha, which addresses gender-based inequities in our community through collaboration that identifies, researches and creates solutions to advance, educate and fund lasting impact. Giles is in conversation with Tom Knoblauch on today's show about her early days as a journalist before transitioning to her current position as well as the vision she has for implementing equity in a patriarchal world.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/riversidechats/support

Terry Sanders, publisher of the Omaha Star, is in conversation with Tom Knoblauch on today's show exploring the legacy of the institution as a good news-based model of journalism. The Omaha Star was founded in 1938 by Mildred Brown and remains the only Black owned newspaper in Nebraska. Sanders took over in 2020 and is guiding the institution into the digital age as she adapts to new models of journalism today. Read the Omaha Star here.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/riversidechats/support

Joel Damon and Josh Powell founded and curate Project Project: an independent contemporary arts space in South Omaha. Project Project hosts new visual art exhibitions on the second Friday of every month as well as public lectures and performances. Today Damon and Powell are in conversation with Tom Knoblauch about their journeys and vision for Project Project's future.  Check them out at projectprojectomaha.com or meatloafmeatloaf.com.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/riversidechats/support

Dave Pantos served as Executive Director of the Legal Aid program in Nebraska, ran several congressional campaigns, and teaches law and policy at the University of Nebraska. He’s currently running for Douglas County attorney against incumbent Don Kleine. Today he is in conversation with Tom Knoblauch to tell his story and vision for Omaha.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/riversidechats/support

Adam Nayman is a critic at The Ringer and Cinema Scope and he is also the author of The Coen Brothers: This Book Really Ties the Room Together and Paul Thomas Anderson: Masterworks, which he discussed in an earlier episode of this show. His latest book, David Fincher: Mind Games is a critical and visual survey of the filmmaker behind incredibly influential works include Seven, Fight Club, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Gone Girl, and more. Nayman gives context, analysis, links themes, and conducts interviews with various people involved across Fincher’s career, grouping Fincher’s work around themes of procedure, imprisonment, paranoia, prestige, and relationship dynamics. Today he talks with Tom Knoblauch about Fincher's career and shifting place in the cinematic landscape.  Check out David Fincher: Mind Games wherever you get books.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/riversidechats/support

Lydia Kang practices internal medicine at Nebraska Medicine and has written several novels including Opium and Absynthe, The Impossible Girl, The Beautiful Poison, and Toxic. Her latest book, co-written with Nate Pedersen, is nonfiction and incredibly timely. It’s called Patient Zero: A Curious History of the World’s Worst Diseases, which chronicles how diseases spread, the scientific race to understand them, and how we race to destroy them before they destroy us. Each chapter chronicles a particular disease or virus–such as smallpox, the Bubonic plague, polio, HIV, or COVID-19. Kang and Pederson combine the human stories behind outbreaks with historical examinations of missteps, milestones, scientific theories, and more in a darkly funny, very accessible read.  In this conversation with Tom Knoblauch, Kang discusses the massive scientific advancements made to combat infectious diseases, how our reactions to pandemics have and haven’t changed, and what might be in store for our future. Find the book here

Paul B. Allen IV runs the Allen Showcase Media Group building teams for media operations like Mind and Soul 101.3 or 1st Sky Omaha. Allen comes from a long legacy of entrepreneurship in music, art, and media with a fascinating family history right here in the metro. He also is involved in the recently relaunched Benson Theater, a multi-million dollar community theater project. In this conversation with Tom Knoblauch, Allen discusses about his wide-ranging career and his vision for Omaha going forward, as well as the important distinction he sees in being passionate vs. being ambitious.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/riversidechats/support

Ethan Warren, film critic and editor for the online film journal Bright Wall/Dark Room discusses his 2018 article “I Can Whistle With That: What the Stories of 2018 Show Us About Responding to Despair,” which tries to grapple with our current moment of anxiety, apocalypse, and despair and the ways that seeps into our cultural entertainment. In this conversation with Tom Knoblauch, Warren explains how this concept of despair was appropriate for 2018, but may have evolved since then into feelings of formless anger and longing, as well as what that means for the entertainment of 2021 and 2022. Warren also discusses his upcoming book The Cinema of Paul Thomas Anderson: American Apocrypha, as well as where Anderson fits into it all.  Terror Management Theory originates in the book The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life by Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, and Tom Pyszcynski.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/riversidechats/support