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Steve Klamkin is a news personality on Providence-based legacy news/talk radio station WPRO.  

A newsman’s newsman on the journalistic side of the job, and a highly entertaining and singular personality as a broadcaster, Klamkin can be heard on-air most days as a reporter, anchor, and on Saturday mornings, a host.

In an era of shifting media consumption habits and changes to the landscape and dynamics of the Rhode Island media market, Steve offered his perspective on a number of relevant topics, including the Boston Globe’s foray into the Ocean State and the future of radio.  Not to mention, we dig into Steve’s backstory in journalism, including when he was bitten by the radio bug and the development of his signature tagline.

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College campuses across the United States are filled with a vast array of clubs and organizations that can serve a range of purposes from filling students downtime with amusement to encouraging scenarios that sculpt leaders of the future.  

College political party clubs provide an outlet for young politicos to engage with each other, the student body, the general public, media and elected officials, and they provide an interesting portal to understand where political ideologies and priorities might pivot in the coming years.

I recently addressed a group of College Democrats at my alma mater, The University of Rhode Island and was pleasantly surprised by many students in-depth understanding of local issues, and the variety of perspectives that different students possessed within the confines of identifying as Democrats.

On today’s episode of Bartholomewtown, I sit down with the College Democrat Presidents of three Rhode Island university’s for an intriguing and fun discussion on where the Democratic Party is and where it is heading.  

Joining me at the loft are Brown University’s Rose Lang-Maso,  Bryant University’s Quinton Law and The University of Rhode Island’s Andy Boardman.

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Joe Wilson, Jr. is a theatrical actor and activist, who is Coordinator Of Activism Through Performance and Resident Acting Company Member with Providence’s Trinity Repertory Company, described as "one of the most respected regional theatres in the country"

Our conversation included Mr. Wilson’s journey as an artist and political activist, including his origins in the deep south, and stints in New York City.

However, the core of our discussion focused on many critical social justice and creativity fertilization issues facing Rhode Island and beyond.

How do we measure the impact that arts have on students, municipalities and society at large, when hard data is so often unable to quantify the intangible benefits that art provides?

And how does Providence, and Rhode Island as a whole stack up against other regions when it comes to using the arts as a springboard for ideas and development?

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There’s no question that economies of the future will be strengthened by, and eventually depend on a broad, multilingual workforce and pool of innovators.

Simultaneously, today, many people are unable to access educational and other developmental opportunities because of their lack of command of English, and are left out of the field of potential contributors to an improved economy.

From various European explorers, to its formative roots as a colony, and through its tenure in statehood, Rhode Island has long been defined by a shifting, expanding and, now, more integrated blend of ethnic identifications.  

Today, perhaps more than at any other recent point in the region’s history, language barriers are becoming more and more apparent, in areas such as standardized testing and hospitalization.

In a report from Friday’s The Boston Globe, Dan McGowan noted that the on time graduation rate for public school English Language Learners in Rhode Island dropped to 71.7 percent - from 77 percent in 2015 - and Rhode Island policy makers are plotting how to resolve the issue as part of a broad education rethink.

Perhaps central to this rethinking could be the  World Language and Dual Language Immersion Act, which in sum, would implement a statewide dual language curriculum, working to improve outcomes for both English Language Learners as well as primary English speaking students.

On this episode, I’m joined by a roundtable of respected dual language educational policy advocates in Rhode Island for a detailed look at The Immersion Act, as well as the many challenges surrounding this issue.  They are: Christopher Sanacore, Rhode Island College’s Erin Papa and The University of Rhode Island’s Rabia Hos, each part of The Rhode Island Road Map to Language Excellence

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Stephen Smith is a West Virginia gubernatorial candidate, who has built a people-powered political and social movement in West Virginia which seeks to overtake the state’s gouvernement from the hands of what they describe as the ‘Good Ol’ Boys” club that has long-controlled the state’s political might.

What sets Mr. Smith apart from conventional political candidates, though, is his championing of a state-wide organized opposition movement, dubbed West Virginia Can’t Wait.   The movement has organized more than 50 races around the state under on     banner and one clear message: to spread the levers of power equitably amongst the state’s residents.

During our conversation earlier this week at our loft here in Providence, Mr. Smith described many of the mechanical and practical elements that have allowed for the West Virginia Can’t Wait movement to develop and experience significant momentum.

What can Rhode Island, and other small to mid-sized states and regions learn from Mr. Smith’s campaign and the West Virginia Can’t Wait movement?  And now that an infrastructure has been created, what will it take to build the broad, non-partisan and nimble base of support to turn out on election day?

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Scott MacKay is a political analyst for The Public’s Radio, the NPR affiliate that covers Rhode Island and southeastern, Massachusetts through a variety of terrestrial and digital platforms.

Our conversation touched on Scott’s storied, multi-decade career in journalism, including covering then-Burlington, Vermont mayor Bernie Sanders, time spent at The Providence Journal and transitioning to radio.

We touched on all sorts of elements of Rhode Island history, politics, media and art, and Scott had no problem offering his signature commentary style throughout of our conversation

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Kathleen Pletcher is the Executive Artistic Director of FirstWorks, a Providence-based arts performance and educational non-profit, which she founded in 2004 on the heels of her work overseeing the highly successful First Night Providence..  

FirstWorks has produced dozens of events in Rhode Island across a wide spectrum of multimedia art, and are partner in the ever-expanding PVDFest, now entering its fifth year.

The Bartholomewtown Podcast was awarded a producer’s grant for this year’s PVDFest, and I’m excited to explore some of the artists and producers involved in the festival over the coming months here on the pod.

Our conversation touched on Kathleen’s journey as an artist, including her time in New York as an experimental puppeteer, the immeasurable aspects of the impact that live art brings to community and how the intersection of art, media and design can be the rising tide that lifts Rhode Island’s future.

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Peter Neronha is only a few months into his first term as Rhode Island Attorney General, but has already introduced several key policy and procedural changes, spanning from drug-related penalties to opening lines of communication between the public and the AG’s Office. 

Our conversation examined The General’s proposed new drug policies, which would reclassify many simple possession charges from a felony to a misdemeanor, amongst other shifts that would further refocus addiction as a public health issue, while keeping the pedal down in combating large scale drug dealers.

We also discussed The Attorney General’s new interactive outreach programs, in which his office is ostensibly setting up a pop-up shop throughout different regions of the state.  

And, I asked The AG for his take on the buzzworthy and critical topic of Rhode Island obtaining an accurate count in Census 2020.

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John Marion is the Executive Director of Common Cause Rhode Island, a nonpartisan public interest organization that was founded in 1970, and whose mission is to quote promote representative democracy by ensuring open, ethical, accountable, effective government processes at local, state and national levels by educating and mobilizing the citizens of Rhode Island.

During our wide-ranging conversation, John and I discussed several pressing issues facing Rhode Islanders, including the consequences of an undercount in the 2020 census, modernizing the state’s elections and his assessment of  change agents in the state’s General Assembly.

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Mike Raia is well-known to Rhode Islanders as the former Director of Communications for Governor Gina Raimondo.  He has built an impressive resume as a government, political, media and brand communications strategist.

He recently announced that he was joining NAIL, a boutique communications firm, and heading up a new PR wing of the outlet, based in Providence, RI.

Our conversation touched on Mike’s experience as a comm professional, changes in the media and public relations landscapes, Rhode Island economic development plus some stories from the field.

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