This week on bigcitysmalltown, we turn our attention to local leadership and public service in San Antonio. Bob sits down with former San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, now the Democratic frontrunner for Bexar County Judge, to discuss his new memoir, The Education of a Texas Public Servant, published by Trinity University Press.

The conversation delves into Nirenberg’s journey from jazz station manager to public servant, as well as the personal and professional experiences that have shaped his time in office. The episode explores how family, crisis, and San Antonio’s unique culture have influenced Nirenberg’s approach to leadership—and how those lessons may inform the city’s future as he pursues county office.

They discuss:

• The impact of personal loss, family, and upbringing on public service
• San Antonio’s pandemic response—what worked, what didn’t, and what needs to change
• Persistent challenges around poverty, economic mobility, and health care in Bexar County
• The role of public-private partnerships and collaboration between city and county governments
• Why investments in downtown, infrastructure, and workforce development matter for San Antonio’s resilience

Listen in for a candid reflection on leadership, the city’s evolving identity, and the ongoing work of building a more equitable San Antonio.

RECOMMENDED NEXT LISTEN:

▶️ #153. The Race to Lead Bexar County: Ron Nirenberg – Hosts Cory Ames and Bob Rivard dive into Ron Nirenberg’s campaign to become Bexar County Judge. Hear candid insights into his vision for public health, justice reform, and regional leadership as San Antonio faces a pivotal moment of growth and change.

…..

GET THE NEWSLETTER

📰 If you enjoyed this conversation, sign up for Bob Rivard's Midweek — sharp takes on San Antonio's politics, culture, and civic life, delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Independent, nonpartisan, and free to read.

Subscribe here.

-- --

CONNECT

📸 Connect on Instagram

🔗 Join us on LinkedIn

🎥 Subscribe on YouTube

SPONSORS

🙌 Support the show & see our sponsors

THANK YOU

⭐ Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

⭐ Rate us on Spotify

This week on bigcitysmalltown, Bob Rivard sits down with registered dietitian Claudia Zapata to examine the challenges and opportunities facing San Antonio’s food culture and public health. A longtime advocate for healthier eating and community well-being, Claudia brings her experience as a columnist, former television host, and founder of the Diplomacy Diet to the discussion.

Bob and Claudia discuss the roots of San Antonio’s health issues, the realities of changing eating habits in a city known for its food traditions, and the small steps individuals and institutions can take to improve outcomes for residents of all ages.

They discuss:

• The limits of “everything in moderation” and the importance of daily choices
• How affordability and access shape San Antonio’s nutrition landscape
• The role of education in changing family and community health
• How policy, school cafeterias, and marketing influence what we eat
• The importance of mobility, exercise, and social connection in lifelong health
• Claudia’s personal approach to working with clients, meal planning, and teaching healthy habits

The episode also looks at the impact of federal policy, the evolution of GLP-1 weight loss drugs, and why prevention—and practical, non-judgmental support—are central to Claudia’s work with Methodist Healthcare and her broader vision for San Antonio.

RECOMMENDED NEXT LISTEN:

▶️ #140. The Food Bank is Harvesting Solutions to San Antonio’s Hunger – Food, health, and housing are deeply interconnected in San Antonio. In this conversation, host Cory Ames sits down with Mitch Hagney of the San Antonio Food Bank to explore how innovative farming, drought-resistant crops, and sustainable agriculture are transforming both emergency food services and long-term food security for the city’s most vulnerable communities.

…..

GET THE NEWSLETTER

📰 If you enjoyed this conversation, sign up for Bob Rivard's Midweek — sharp takes on San Antonio's politics, culture, and civic life, delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Independent, nonpartisan, and free to read.

Subscribe here.

-- --

CONNECT

📸 Connect on Instagram

🔗 Join us on LinkedIn

🎥 Subscribe on YouTube

SPONSORS

🙌 Support the show & see our sponsors

THANK YOU

⭐ Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

⭐ Rate us on Spotify

This week on bigcitysmalltown, we sit down with San Antonio Police Chief William  McManus as he approaches the end of his nearly 20-year tenure leading the San Antonio Police Department. With retirement on the horizon in September 2026, Chief McManus offers a candid reflection on two decades of service in a city that has grown and changed dramatically.

Bob Rivard guides a conversation that covers the evolving challenges facing law enforcement in San Antonio. From changes in public celebrations to the impact of state legislation on policing practices, Chief McManus discusses the complexities of running a department in one of the country’s largest and fastest-growing cities.

They discuss:

• The unique pressures of policing during major community events such as Spurs celebrations and Fiesta
• How the department responds to trends in drunk driving, road rage, and domestic violence
• The growing influence of state immigration laws, cooperation with federal authorities, and the evolving relationship with ICE
• Efforts to improve recruitment, strengthen community relations, and address officer wellness and mental health
• Policing homelessness, the expansion of mental health response units, and San Antonio’s efforts to support its most vulnerable residents
• The significance of cultural awareness and community immersion for new officers, and thoughts on leadership succession within SAPD

Through personal stories and policy details, Chief McManus reflects on the accomplishments and challenges that have defined his leadership and shares what he believes San Antonio needs as it looks to the future of public safety.

RECOMMENDED NEXT LISTEN:

▶️ #162. Close to Home on Why the City Struggles to Keep Up With Homelessness Building on this week’s discussion of policing and homelessness, Bob Rivard and Cory Ames talk with Katie Wilson of Close to Home about San Antonio’s ongoing struggle to address housing, mental health, and chronic homelessness. Discover why collaboration and long-term planning are crucial as they unpack the local realities and policy challenges behind this persistent citywide issue.

-- --

CONNECT

📸 Connect on Instagram

🔗 Join us on LinkedIn

🎥 Subscribe on YouTube

SPONSORS

🙌 Support the show & see our sponsors

THANK YOU

⭐ Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

⭐ Rate us on Spotify

This week on bigcitysmalltown, Bob Rivard sits down with Charlie Amato and Gary Dudley, co-founders of SWBC, to mark the company's 50th anniversary. What began in 1976 with $1,500, a third partner in Dallas, and car trunks for offices has grown into one of San Antonio's largest and most diversified private companies, with 2,500 employees, operations in all 50 states, and a growing presence in Monterrey, Mexico.

They discuss:

• How two friends from the Gulf Coast reunited in college, learned the insurance business from the inside, and quit their jobs on the same day to start something better
• Why they chose San Antonio as their headquarters — and why a vote, a house sale, and a buyout sealed it
• How surviving 17–19% interest rates in the 1980s shaped their philosophy on diversification and financial resilience
• The decision to expand into multifamily real estate development — and what the post-COVID softening of that market looks like now
• Why they joined the group that kept the Spurs in San Antonio in 1993, and what that $85 million bet looks like at a $3.5 billion valuation
• Their operation in Monterrey — why they went, how H-E-B showed them the way, and how they're thinking about security during the World Cup
• What 6,000 intern applications revealed about SWBC's reputation — and how they're thinking about AI across their businesses
• Why San Antonio has work to do on corporate recruitment, workforce development, and staying top of mind for CEOs

RECOMMENDED NEXT LISTEN:

▶ 161. Former Assistant City Manager Lori Houston Reflects on 23 Years at City Hall and Her Next Steps — SWBC's growth mirrors San Antonio's own civic evolution. This episode examines the infrastructure and leadership decisions that shaped the city Charlie and Gary bet on.

…..

GET THE NEWSLETTER

📰 If you enjoyed this conversation, sign up for Bob Rivard's Midweek — sharp takes on San Antonio's politics, culture, and civic life, delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Independent, nonpartisan, and free to read.

Subscribe here.

-- --

CONNECT

📸 Connect on Instagram

🔗 Join us on LinkedIn

🎥 Subscribe on YouTube

SPONSORS

🙌 Support the show & see our sponsors

THANK YOU

⭐ Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

⭐ Rate us on Spotify

This week on bigcitysmalltown, Bob Rivard sits down with Ambassador Tony Garza, a Brownsville native who served as U.S. Ambassador to Mexico under President George W. Bush from 2002 to 2009 and now works as counsel and special advisor to the global law firm White & Case in Mexico City, to discuss the state of the U.S.-Mexico relationship at a moment of unusual tension and opportunity.

They discuss:

• Why the transactionalism defining U.S.-Mexico relations today was always present beneath the surface — and what changed when it became explicit
• How President Sheinbaum has managed the relationship with Washington, and why her approach has earned approval on both sides of the border
• The coordinated operation that took down El Mencho, and what it reveals about the level of intelligence-sharing between the two governments
• Why "cartels" is the wrong word for what Mexico is actually dealing with — and why that distinction matters for policy
• Whether the Trump administration would ever order direct military action inside Mexico
• How multinational companies navigate corruption and security risks while continuing to invest heavily in Mexican manufacturing
• Why nearshoring has proceeded more slowly than the headlines suggested — and where the real growth has actually come from
• The missed opportunity for comprehensive immigration reform in 2001, and what a more pragmatic path forward might look like today
• Why San Antonio's DNA — automotive, cyber, aeronautics, and its deep ties to northern Mexico — positions it better than Austin for what's coming next in North America

RECOMMENDED NEXT LISTEN:

▶ 165. How Hill Country Landowners Are Challenging CPS Energy's 370-Mile Transmission Line Plan — Ambassador Garza references water and energy infrastructure as emerging areas for U.S.-Mexico cooperation. This episode examines one of the most consequential energy projects now moving through the Texas Hill Country.

…..

GET THE NEWSLETTER

📰 If you enjoyed this conversation, sign up for Bob Rivard's Midweek — sharp takes on San Antonio's politics, culture, and civic life, delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Independent, nonpartisan, and free to read.

Subscribe here.

-- --

CONNECT

📸 Connect on Instagram

🔗 Join us on LinkedIn

🎥 Subscribe on YouTube

SPONSORS

🙌 Support the show & see our sponsors

THANK YOU

⭐ Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

⭐ Rate us on Spotify

This week on bigcitysmalltown, Bob Rivard sits down with Ashley Alvarado, CEO of Texas Public Radio, and Angie Mock, CEO of the San Antonio Report, to discuss a major development in San Antonio's local news landscape: the two organizations are merging. 

Effective July 1st, the San Antonio Report will donate its assets to Texas Public Radio, combining operations under one roof to strengthen independent, nonprofit journalism in San Antonio.

They discuss:

• Why two financially healthy organizations chose to merge — and how this is different from the consolidations happening elsewhere in the industry
• What the combined newsroom will look like on day one: 31 journalism positions, with all but four working as reporters in the community
• How the San Antonio Report's digital specificity and Texas Public Radio's broadcast reach complement each other — and what that means for covering the city
• Why YouTube has become unavoidable for reaching younger San Antonians, with 60 to 75 percent of county residents turning to it for news every week
• What Ashley Alvarado learned leading a similar merger at KPCC in Los Angeles — and how those lessons are shaping the approach here
• How the two newsrooms will physically unite, with the San Antonio Report moving to TPR's downtown facilities in late July
• The challenge of serving a politically diverse city — and why relevance and trust have to be built together, not assumed
• What the merger means for investigative and accountability journalism at City Hall and beyond

RECOMMENDED NEXT LISTEN:

▶ 170. Don Graham and Dr. Abel Antonio Chávez on Journalism, Our Lady of the Lake, and Why Access to Education Changes Everything — The retired chairman of The Washington Post Company and the president of Our Lady of the Lake University on the state of journalism, democracy, and what it takes to keep independent news alive in a city like San Antonio.

…..

GET THE NEWSLETTER

📰 If you enjoyed this conversation, sign up for Bob Rivard's Midweek — sharp takes on San Antonio's politics, culture, and civic life, delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Independent, nonpartisan, and free to read.

Subscribe here.

-- --

CONNECT

📸 Connect on Instagram

🔗 Join us on LinkedIn

🎥 Subscribe on YouTube

SPONSORS

🙌 Support the show & see our sponsors

THANK YOU

⭐ Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

⭐ Rate us on Spotify

This week on bigcitysmalltown, Bob Rivard sits down with two guests at the podcast studio at Our Lady of the Lake University — a first for the show. Don Graham is the retired chairman and publisher of The Washington Post Company, whose family also owned Newsweek Magazine, where Bob worked as a war correspondent and later chief of correspondents in the 1990s. Dr. Abel Antonio Chávez is the 10th president of Our Lady of the Lake University, a position he has held since July 2022. A first-generation, first-in-family college graduate and son of immigrants, he went from Front Range Community College to a BS in mechanical engineering, an MBA, and a PhD in civil and environmental engineering, and built a career partnering with local governments and universities across the globe on community-based energy and emissions accounting.

Graham came to campus as a commencement speaker. The visit grew out of his decades-long commitment to college access — work rooted in Washington, DC, where the city's lack of a state university system means students pay out-of-state tuition everywhere they apply.

They discuss:

• How Our Lady of the Lake has served San Antonio's most economically challenged students for 130 years — and what it takes to sustain that mission today
• Dr. Chávez's path from a Denver neighborhood to a top engineering school he couldn't afford, a pivot to community college, and eventually the presidency of a university in a neighborhood that looks just like the one he grew up in
• How Don Graham's time as a beat cop in Washington, DC after Vietnam shaped his understanding of what college access actually means
• The federal scholarship program Graham helped push through a unanimous Republican Congress in 1998 to help DC students afford college
• What Graham witnessed as an early Facebook board member — and what it taught him about giving young people real responsibility
• The sale of The Washington Post to Jeff Bezos in 2013, why it happened, and what Graham thinks of the paper today
• San Antonio's deep economic and cultural ties to Mexico — and how tariffs are affecting the local auto manufacturing economy
• What it means to be an optimist about American democracy after decades at the center of Washington life

RECOMMENDED NEXT LISTEN:

▶ 149. How AlamoPROMISE Continues Expanding College Access for San Antonians — Stephanie Vasquez, Chief Program Officer for Alamo Promise, on what it takes to make college accessible to every Bexar County high school graduate — and what the program has learned from serving more than 30,000 Promise scholars.

GET THE NEWSLETTER

📰 If you enjoyed this conversation, sign up for Bob Rivard's Midweek — sharp takes on San Antonio's politics, culture, and civic life, delivered to your inbox every week. Independent, nonpartisan, and free to read.

Subscribe here.

-- --

CONNECT

📸 Connect on Instagram

🔗 Join us on LinkedIn

🎥 Subscribe on YouTube

SPONSORS

🙌 Support the show & see our sponsors

THANK YOU

⭐ Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

⭐ Rate us on Spotify

This week on bigcitysmalltown, host Cory Ames tells the story of the Robert L.B. Tobin Land Bridge at Phil Hardberger Park — in a new format for the show. Rather than a traditional guest conversation, this episode is a narrated oral history, recorded in the field at the park itself, weaving together tape from a morning walk Cory took with former Mayor Phil Hardberger and natural resources manager Wendy Leonard.

Just a week or so before this episode was released, a bronze statue of Phil Hardberger was unveiled at the park that bears his name. He is 91 years old and still walks the trails.

The episode covers:

• How Phil Hardberger promised San Antonio a new park while running for mayor — and spent two years looking for the right land
• The phone call that led him to a former dairy farm on the north side, never fully clear-cut, 330 acres still largely as nature left it
• How Wurzbach Parkway split the property in two — and why that became the genesis of one of the most celebrated wildlife bridges in the country
• The $23 million fight to fund the land bridge, the jury of architects Phil assembled, and the moment he committed to raising $12 million himself
• How the bridge was engineered — steel girders, three feet of soil, Corten steel walls designed to block sight and sound from 60,000 cars passing underneath daily
• Why animals began crossing before construction was even finished — and how within one year, all 31 mammal species known to inhabit the park had been documented using it
• What Wendy Leonard has learned managing the bridge's natural systems, and why the vegetation hasn't always cooperated
• How the land bridge reconnected a wildlife corridor stretching to the Salado Creek Greenway — and brought painted buntings back to the park

RECOMMENDED NEXT LISTEN:

▶ 168. More Than Parks: How San Antonio Is Building Trails, Gardens, and Green Space Into a Growing City — A Creative Futures panel on green equity, urban nature, and the push to integrate green spaces into every corner of a fast-growing city. Essential context for this conversation.

…..

GET THE NEWSLETTER

🗺️ If you enjoyed this conversation, subscribe to The San Antonio Something — Cory's newsletter with few things worth your attention about the city we call home. Things to do, taste, read, notice, and consider. Thoughtful, grounded, and unapologetically local.

Subscribe here.

-- --

CONNECT

📸 Connect on Instagram

🔗 Join us on LinkedIn

🎥 Subscribe on YouTube

SPONSORS

🙌 Support the show & see our sponsors

THANK YOU

⭐ Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

⭐ Rate us on Spotify

This week on bigcitysmalltown, Cory Ames moderates a live panel from Creative Futures, a two-day summit in San Antonio bringing together creators, builders, entrepreneurs, and civic thinkers. This conversation focuses on green spaces in San Antonio — how we grow them, how we protect them, and how we creatively integrate nature into a city that is expanding fast.

Joining Cory are Brandon Ross, capital programs manager for San Antonio Parks and Recreation, where he has spent two decades overseeing the Howard Peak Greenway Trail System, now over 100 miles of connected trail and growing; Bob Webster, co-owner of Shades of Green Nursery, a San Antonio institution he and his business partner Roberta Church built over 45 years, now being transformed into a public legacy garden; Stephen Lucke, founder and CEO of Gardopia Gardens, a nonprofit stewarding more than 20 acres across 75 schools and 10 school districts, reaching over 25,000 people annually; and Adriana Quiñones, President and CEO of Arboretum San Antonio, a 230-plus-acre former golf course on the southeast side being converted into one of the city's most significant public green spaces.

They discuss:

• How the Howard Peak Greenway Trail System grew to over 100 miles — and why connecting green spaces multiplies their ecological value
• The physical barriers — rail lines, major roadways, lack of safe crossings — that limit access to parks and trails across the city
• Why Bob Webster turned down $3.5 million for Shades of Green, and what he's building in its place
• The difference between a park and a garden, and why San Antonio needs both
• How Gardopia Gardens uses school yards, churches, and public land to integrate food growing into everyday life
• Why native and edible trees — pecans, Mexican plums, mulberries — should replace the default landscaping choices across the city
• How Arboretum San Antonio is using community input from over 18,000 San Antonians to shape a 20-year development plan
• What green equity means in practice, and why access to green space shouldn't require traveling far

RECOMMENDED NEXT LISTEN:

▶ 160. How a Polluted Lake Became a Wildlife Haven in San Antonio — A closer look at how one of San Antonio's most degraded natural spaces was reclaimed — and what it says about the city's relationship with its environment.

…..

GET THE NEWSLETTER

🗺️ If you enjoyed this conversation, subscribe to The San Antonio Something — Cory's weekly newsletter with five things worth your attention about the city we call home. Things to do, taste, read, notice, and consider. Thoughtful, grounded, and unapologetically local.

Subscribe here.

-- --

CONNECT

📸 Connect on Instagram

🔗 Join us on LinkedIn

🎥 Subscribe on YouTube

SPONSORS

🙌 Support the show & see our sponsors

THANK YOU

⭐ Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

⭐ Rate us on Spotify

This week on bigcitysmalltown, Cory Ames moderates a live panel from Creative Futures, a two-day summit in San Antonio bringing together creators, builders, entrepreneurs, and civic thinkers. The conversation centers on what it looks like to build a creative life and creative career in San Antonio — and what the city still needs to get there.

Joining Cory are Lionel Sosa, founder of what became the largest Hispanic advertising agency in the United States, a consultant on multiple national presidential campaigns, and a portrait artist whose work has been exhibited at the Smithsonian and presidential libraries; Kathy Sosa, co-founder of one of the Southwest's largest independent Hispanic ad agencies, a veteran of national political campaigns, and a mixed media artist whose work exploring the Texas-Mexico borderland has earned national recognition; and Andi Rodriguez, Vice President of Cultural Placemaking at Centro San Antonio, whose Art Everywhere project has placed hundreds of commissioned works by local artists throughout downtown since 2020.

They discuss:

• How San Antonio's arts infrastructure has grown — from grant programs to the 1.5% public art provision in city building projects
• Why strong mayoral leadership has historically driven the city's creative identity, and what a leadership vacuum means for the arts community
• What the Art Everywhere project has taught Andi about building a supply chain for public art in the private sector
• What Lionel and Kathy have observed in Querétaro, Mexico — including a program that lets artists pay income taxes with their work
• The mindset differences between artists who thrive and those who don't — and why shameless self-promotion is a survival skill
• How the discovery of a Querétaro church's role in building San Antonio's missions led to a documentary, a binational art show, and a student cultural exchange

RECOMMENDED NEXT LISTEN:

▶ 64. Kathy Sosa and Antonio Arelle Barquet: The Other Side of the Mirror — Kathy Sosa and Antonio Arelle Barquet, director of the Museum of Art in Querétaro, discuss the binational art project that grew out of the historic connection between Querétaro and San Antonio's missions — the same story Kathy and Lionel recount in this episode.

.. ..

GET THE NEWSLETTER

🗺️ If you enjoyed this conversation, subscribe to The San Antonio Something — Cory's weekly newsletter with five things worth your attention about the city we call home. Things to do, taste, read, notice, and consider. Thoughtful, grounded, and unapologetically local.

Subscribe here.

-- --

CONNECT

📸 Connect on Instagram

🔗 Join us on LinkedIn

🎥 Subscribe on YouTube

SPONSORS

🙌 Support the show & see our sponsors

THANK YOU

⭐ Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

⭐ Rate us on Spotify