Eastern Standard

“What’s On the Ballot,” a cheat sheet of elections everywhere, is the brainchild of Daniel Nichanian, a reporter and the founder of Bolts Magazine. The publication covers the “nuts and bolts of power and political change” with a bottom-up approach, focusing primarily on state and local issues that shape public policy but are largely overlooked by the national media.

Also joining us on this edition is Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Al Cross, one of the most significant reporters in Kentucky, particularly in the area of politics. Cross is also known for lifting up the voices of rural communities.

** WEKU is working hard to be a leading source for public service, and fact-based journalism. Monthly supporters are the top funding source for this growing nonprofit news organization. Please join others in your community who support WEKU by making your donation.

The issues and obstacles faced by working mothers are Beth Polin’s focus in this debut of her new ES series on working moms. EKU Business Professor James Kirby Easterling joins us to connect supply chain issues with consumer inflation. We get some insights about those personality tests from UK Clinical Psychologist Shannon Sauer-Zavala. Tom Eblen explores Katarina Stoyokova’s poetic bridge between her home country of Bulgaria and her new life in Kentucky.

Most people agree that Kentucky Republicans drew a severely gerrymandered map in this past redistricting cycle, helping to turn their legislative majority into a supermajority. Democrats challenged the state House and congressional maps, and the case went all the way to the Kentucky Supreme Court, which upheld the maps as drawn. Justice Michelle Keller dissented to part of that ruling and she joins us to discuss the case.

Also in this episode:

The amount of money raised and spent in judicial campaigns has soared. Joining us to discuss the implications are law professors Joanna Shepherd and Michael Kang, authors of “Free to Judge: The Power of Campaign Money in Judicial Elections.”

In celebration of our nation’s independence our guests include A.J. Jacobs, author of “The Year of Living Constitutionally”; UK law professors Paul Salamanca and Josh Douglas in a debate between interpreting the Constitution as it was written in the 18th century versus as a guideline intended to evolve with society and technologies; and, David Blankenhorn of the organization “Braver Angels” on the group’s efforts to host honest, civil discussions of public policy issues across today’s political divide.

You’ve heard about Zuckerbucks, right? Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Pricilla Chan donated almost $400 million to local election officials to help run the 2020 election during the pandemic. Critics claim the funds were used in only liberal-leaning places. Is that true? Josh takes up that issue and more with David Becker, Executive Director and Founder of the nonpartisan, non-profit Center for Election Innovation and Research.

County clerks are at the frontlines of our elections. They are literally the people who decide where the polling places are located, which voting machines to use, and how to ensure there are enough poll workers. Two Kentucky county clerks join us to explain how elections actually operate. Susan Lamb is the county clerk of Fayette County, which includes Lexington, the state’s second largest city. Kenny Barger is the county clerk in Madison County, which encompasses Richmond, Ky.

Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, is pushing for a warning label on social media platforms advising parents that using the platforms might damage adolescents’ mental health. Kentucky Youth Advocates Executive Director Terry Brooks discusses the influence of social media on children with Dr. Tony Zipple of the Bounce Coalition and Kelly Pullen, of the Aetna SKY Program in Kentucky.

We’ll tell you about a project to restore forests to old surface mine sites, and about the pumped storage power generation technology coming to Bell County.

And, experiencing as a child, memories of adults we never met. It’s the basis of a new novel from Kentucky author Ellen Birkett Morris.

Voter turnout in America is usually quite low. Could we adopt compulsory voting, as they have in Australia, Belgium, and several places in South America and Latin America? Our guest: EJ Dionne, Washington Post columnist, Brookings Institution senior fellow in governance studies, and co-author with Miles Rapaport of 100% Democracy, The Case for Universal Voting.

What is the journalist’s role in American democracy? Our guest: Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Joe Sonka, whose work with the Louisville Courier-Journal and Kentucky Public Radio has been vital to awareness of the workings of democracy in Kentucky.

** WEKU is working hard to be a leading source for public service, and fact-based journalism. Monthly supporters are the top funding source for this growing nonprofit news organization. Please join others in your community who support WEKU by making your donation.

The Kentucky Board of Elections membership is split, 50-50, Republican/Democrat. Surely they can’t agree on anything in today's polarized atmosphere, right? Wrong. They’ve managed to accomplish much in a bi-partisan fashion. Our guests: board members Deanna Branger (R), and Ben Chandler (D).

With abortion looming as a pivotal issue in the 2024 elections, a look back at how we got here. In the debut of her new ES series on reproductive matters, Laura Daly hosts Leila Abolfazi, Director of National Abortion Strategy at the National Women’s Law Center for a primer on the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v Jackson, overturning the abortion rights established by the court’s 1973 decision in Roe v Wade.

Jack “Goose” Givens is a Wildcats legend. In his senior year at the University of Kentucky, Givens led the Wildcats to the 1978 NCAA National Championship with a win against Duke scoring 41 points to earn Most Outstanding Player. Now, he has published a memoir with co-author Doug Brunk. They are Gerald Smith’s guests in his ES series on racial justice and equality.

** WEKU is working hard to be a leading source for public service, and fact-based journalism. Monthly supporters are the top funding source for this growing nonprofit news organization. Please join others in your community who support WEKU by making your donation.

This week on Episode Six of the Eastern Standard special series, “Democracy Optimist”:

The Kentucky League of Women Voters has been part of the debates on the state’s voter ID law, redistricting battles, and efforts to improve transparency within Kentucky’s government. Our guests are three officers of the League: Jennifer Jackson, Becky Jones, and Laura Weinstein.

Also joining us for this episode: Amber McReynolds, vice chair of the United States Postal Service Board of Governors, focuses on the postal service’s processing of mail-in ballots. She’s the person who guarantees that millions of ballots are processed correctly.

** WEKU is working hard to be a leading source for public service, and fact-based journalism. Monthly supporters are the top funding source for this growing nonprofit news organization. Please join others in your community who support WEKU by making your donation.

As we hear from Brooke Bentley, Chair of the EKU School of Nursing, and Associate Chair Lisa Jones, Kentucky needs registered nurses - 6,000 of them.
Sportswriter Jerry Tipton talks with Tom Eblen about his memoir on four decades of Kentucky Basketball.
Novelist Bobi Conn’s “Someplace Like Home” is out and we get background on the dysfunctional household abuse that inspired it.
Chad Hembree runs Berea’s Spotlight Acting School, Spotlight Film School, and the community theatre Bluegrass Players. He is Bill McCann’s guest for the latest in our series on Kentucky Theatre production.

** WEKU is working hard to be a leading source for public service, and fact-based journalism. Monthly supporters are the top funding source for this growing nonprofit news organization. Please join others in your community who support WEKU by making your donation.