Follow the Data Podcast

In Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Ras Baraka recently commissioned a monument honoring abolitionist Harriet Tubman - who escaped slavery and helped many others do the same as a "conductor" of the Underground Railroad, which passed through many sites in New Jersey and specifically in Newark. 

Designed by New Jersey-based artist and architect Nina Cooke John, the new monument will be built on the former site of a Christopher Columbus statue that was removed from a downtown park in the summer of 2020 following calls for racial justice.

In Fall 2020, the City of Newark engaged the Arts & Culture Team at Bloomberg Associates, the pro bono consulting arm of Bloomberg Philanthropies, to develop a commissioning process for this major new piece of public art, and provide ongoing guidance as the project develops.

In this episode - which is part of a series about how memorials, monuments, and temporary public art pieces can be more reflective of our society -David Andersson of the Bloomberg Associates Culture team sits down with Fayemi Shakur, the Arts and Cultural Affairs Director of the City of Newark. They discuss the process of selecting Cooke John's design, how the artist team is working with the community, and what it means for cities to construct new monuments today. 

We're almost two years into the pandemic, which has posed challenges to a range of public health issues, from the overdose crisis to mental health.

This week's podcast episode was adapted from a Bloomberg Philanthropies virtual conversation which took place on February 10, 2022 about the future of American public health, featuring WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries Mike Bloomberg along with Dr. Vivek Murthy, the U.S. Surgeon General, and Dr. Kelly Henning, who leads Bloomberg Philanthropies' public health program.

They discuss how to address health misinformation, how the pandemic has exacerbated the opioid and mental health crises, and what's keeping the Surgeon General optimistic about the future of public health.

At a time when high school students need access to high-quality job training opportunities more than ever, and businesses are eagerly looking to hire qualified talent in a range of middle skill jobs that require more than a high school diploma, but less than a four-year college degree — Bloomberg Philanthropies has committed an additional $25 million to support career and technical education programs in nine U.S. cities and across two states.

This commitment highlights our founder Mike Bloomberg’s belief that it's critical for states, cities, local businesses, and schools to grow career programs and pathways for students not heading to four-year college in order to gain greater economic mobility. More than 15,000 high school students have benefited from Bloomberg Philanthropies' support of career and technical education programs since 2016. This new investment brings our support of these programs to $90 million.

​On this episode, Jenny Sharfstein Kane of our education team sits down with Julia Baez, CEO of Baltimore’s Promise​, a city-wide collaborative which supports the health and education of Baltimore City youth from cradle to career. Julia tells us more about the organization's Grads2Careers initiative, which focuses on helping Baltimore City Public Schools graduates who aren't immediately bound for college or careers enter the workforce by offering occupational skills training in fields like tech, health care, logistics, and transportation.

Jenny also sits down with the Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, Randall Woodfin, to discuss how internships and apprenticeships will help shape the employment landscape in his city and the challenges entry-level workers are facing as a result of the pandemic.

2021 marked the 100 year anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre - one of the ugliest events in American history, where a white mob destroyed the affluent Black neighborhood of Greenwood, dubbed “Black Wall Street,” for its thriving economic power. Hundreds were killed in the attack. More than 10,000 people were left homeless overnight, and the neighborhood was razed. This massacre led to years of silence and shame, suppressing the history for the following decades. The residents of Greenwood rebuilt their community, but it was ultimately destroyed due to disinvestment and urban renewal efforts -- which placed the I-22 highway in the middle of Greenwood.

To commemorate this history and honor Greenwood, the City of Tulsa and the Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission applied for the Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge. Their winning concept, “The Greenwood Art Project,” features dozens of temporary public art works celebrating and commemorating this community’s history, present, and future.

The Public Art Challenge is a Bloomberg Philanthropies initiative encouraging cities to work with artists to create temporary public art projects that celebrate creativity, enhance urban identity, encourage public-private collaborations, and address significant civic issues.

The MacArthur Award-winning artist, Rick Lowe worked with local artists to showcase the legacy and resilience of Greenwood. Lowe previously founded Project Row Houses, a community platform that engages residents, artists, and businesses in Houston's Historic Third Ward, one of the city's oldest Black neighborhoods through community initiatives, art programs, and neighborhood development activities.

In this episode - which is part of a series about how memorials, monuments, and temporary pieces can be more reflective of our society - Stephanie Dockery from the Bloomberg Philanthropies Arts team sits down with Rick Lowe for a conversation around community-centered public art projects. They discuss the importance of creating community through public art, what they've learned from working with the City of Tulsa on the Greenwood Art Project, and how cities can implement art as a catalyst for community healing.

The City of Detroit estimates that 215,000 residents have criminal records — and that about 75% of those residents are eligible for criminal record expungement – a proceeding that removes a person’s criminal record or conviction. ​

Last year, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan advocated for new state legislation that was signed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer significantly expanding eligibility for expungement in Michigan. As you will learn, research and data has shown that expungement translates to better opportunities for employment, education, and housing for those who qualify.

Yet many residents don’t seek expungement because they don’t know they’re eligible, the process is complex, they may not be able to afford attorney fees, or they have had negative experiences with the criminal justice system.

In this episode, we turn our attention to Project Clean Slate, a program launched by Mayor Duggan to help people clear their criminal records and be a part of the city's comeback story – at no cost. The program recently filed its 1,000th expungement application.

On this episode, Rose Gill of the Bloomberg Associates Municipal Integrity team sits down with Carrie Jones, who leads Project Clean Slate, and Stephani Labelle, the program's lead attorney to discuss how the program has grown since it was launched in 2016 and how it supports residents throughout the expungement process. Mr. Bell, a Detroit resident who was previously a client of Project Clean Slate, and Mayor Duggan also join the podcast to discuss the importance of prioritizing expungement and what it means for Detroit residents.

Memorials, monuments, and art installations can challenge viewers to confront the history of the places where we live and work. They also offer a place to honor those lost, to reckon with racial and social justice movements, and to engage with communities in new and inclusive ways.

This is the first episode in a series about the new ways that artists and city leaders are thinking about the creation of memorials, monuments, and temporary public art.

The 9/11 Memorial in downtown Manhattan is one of the most recognized memorials around the world. It's a beacon of hope, a tribute to those lost, and a place of learning to ensure future generations never forget. It's also become a leader in offering consulting to other cities and countries grappling with the challenge of commemorating loss to mass tragedy, and in working with communities around the world afflicted by terrorism and violence.

Bloomberg Philanthropies' founder, Mike Bloomberg, was elected mayor of New York City just weeks after September 11, 2001, and currently serves as Chairman of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.  During his administration, Mike Bloomberg, Governor George Pataki, and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation co-created an international competition for a memorial to remember and honor those lost on September 11th and in the attack on the World Trade Center on February 26, 1993.

This episode features Anita Contini, from the Bloomberg Philanthropies Arts team, who developed the process and implementation plan for selecting the winning design for the future 9/11 Memorial, including the jury process for choosing its architect. She sits down with Michael Arad, the architect selected to design the memorial. Anita and Michael discuss the process of designing the 9/11 Memorial, what influences his work on memorials, the role public spaces play in bringing people together, and some of his most recent projects.

A year and a half into the pandemic, people have new questions they’re looking to experts to answer: booster shots, variants, and how to manage long-haul COVID.

This week’s podcast episode was previously a Bloomberg Philanthropies virtual conversation about the COVID-19 pandemic featuring WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries Mike Bloomberg along with Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health, and Dr. Kelly Henning, who leads Bloomberg Philanthropies’ public health program.

They discuss when a COVID vaccine for children could be approved, how often we may need to get booster shots, which variants they’re keeping their eyes on, and more.

Imagine sheltering in place during the start of the coronavirus pandemic without having a home to shelter in. Sadly, more than 580,000 individuals in the United States experienced homelessness in 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the fourth consecutive annual increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness. In an effort to help those experiencing homelessness during the pandemic, city officials acted quickly to help people find temporary shelter. Now, without lockdown restrictions in place, cities are facing new challenges as they move people from temporary shelters like hotels to group shelters and as eviction moratoriums lift.

The pandemic has changed the way cities tackle almost every issue, and Bloomberg Associates, the pro-bono consulting arm of Bloomberg Philanthropies, works side-by-side with cities around the world to address homelessness.

Earlier this summer, Tamiru Mammo and Linda Gibbs, who work on Bloomberg Associates' social services team, co-authored a book entitled How Ten Global Cities Take on Homelessness: Innovations That Workalongside Jay Bainbridge and Muzzy Rosenblatt, their colleagues from the City of New York during the Bloomberg administration.

The book provides a deep-dive into how ten cities – Bogotá, Mexico City, Los Angeles, Houston, Nashville, New York City, Baltimore, Edmonton, Paris, and Athens - have addressed street homelessness.

On this episode, Tamiru Mammo and Jay Bainbridge join the podcast to discuss what stands out about how these cities are tackling homelessness, what successful solutions look like, and what the new normal looks like in terms of tackling this issue going forward.