It's been a year. The GovLove co-hosts teamed up to hand out awards and recap the fifth full year of a podcast about local government. Kirsten, Kent, Alyssa, Javon, and Ben all selected four of their favorite episodes to honor with the most prestigious award in local government podcasting, a GovieLovie. They also debated the best holiday movie, made up local government themed songs, and shared a memory from the first five years of GovLove. Plus meet some new GovLove contributors for 2021 in Lauren, Toney, & Mike.

Hosts: Kirsten Wyatt, Kent Wyatt, Ben Kittelson, Alyssa Dinberg, & Javon Davis

The GovieLovies

Kirsten

1. Race and Equity in Minneapolis with Joy Marsh Stephens
2. Public Art & Black Lives Matter with Amina Cooper, Arts & Science Council
3. Greedy Bastards with Sheryl Sculley, San Antonio, TX
4. Remote Public Meetings & COVID-19 with Lindsay Lara, San Rafael, CA

Ben

1. Leadership and FireStat with Chief Reginald Freeman, Hartford, CT
2. Community Safety & Innovation with Sarita Nair, Albuquerque, NM
3. Building Inclusive Communities with Juan Carlos Gonzalez, Oregon Metro
4. Budgeting During COVID-19 with Gregory Patrick, Norfolk, VA

Javon

1. Civic-Minded Journalism with Lucas Grindley, Next City
2. Embracing Failure in Local Government with Andi Mirviss
3. Reducing Reliance on Policing with Alex Vitale, Brooklyn College
4. Reducing Evictions in Newark, NJ with Khabirah Myers

Alyssa

1. Leadership Through Crisis with Betsy Hodges, Kauffman Mayors Council
2. Building Strong Towns with Chuck Marohn
3. Addressing Equity During COVID-19 with Shannon Hardin, Columbus, OH
4. Leadership in Times of Crisis – The Drucker Playbook with Tanya Ange and Lawrence Greenspun

Kent

1. Advocating for Public Records with Ginger McCall
2. Recruiting in the City of Bend, OR with Eric King & Stephanie Betteridge
3. Supporting Akron Businesses During COVID-19 with James Hardy and Michael Mazur
4. Library Operations During COVID-19 with Jamie Eustace, Baytown, TX

Exit music: The 12 Clogs of Christmas by NEORSD