Forward Radio podcasts

This week, we bring you highlights from the third hour of our live broadcast from the Louisville VegFest on Saturday, September 6th, 2025, noon-6pm, at the Mellwood Art Center! Again this year, Forward Radio was a proud media sponsor of Louisville VegFest —Kentucky’s premier celebration of all things vegan! Admission is FREE to over 19,000 sq ft of indoor space, with additional food trucks and select vendors bringing the fun outside, too! Formerly known as Bluegrass VegFest, this all-vegan, community-focused event highlights the joy of plant-based eating and conscious, sustainable living. Visitors enjoyed delicious food from regional restaurants and food trucks, craft beer and cocktails, inspiring speaker talks, a live cooking demo, an amazing lineup of vendors, kids’ activities, educational exhibits, and so much more. Learn more at https://vegkentucky.org/vegfest

Our third speaker of the day was Becki Streif, Founder of TRIBE ANIMAL SANCTUARY (https://tribeanimalsanctuary.org/). Becki is the co-founder and managing director of Tribe Sanctuary, a 10-acre haven just outside Louisville that provides lifelong homes to rescued cows, pigs, horses, goats, and other farmed animals - many with special needs. After watching Forks Over Knives in 2013, Becki and her husband, Greg, went vegan and began what would become a life-changing journey into animal rescue. Today, Tribe is home to dozens of incredible animals, each with their own inspiring story of resilience and hope. Becki’s talk, “Creating Sanctuary: Saving Lives and Building Hope,” will take you behind the scenes of what it takes to turn compassion into a mission, build a sanctuary from the ground up, and give animals the second chance they deserve.

On Truth to Power each week, we bring you community conversations like you won't hear anywhere else! Truth to Power airs every Friday at 9pm, Saturday at 11am, and Sunday at 4pm on Louisville's grassroots, community radio station, Forward Radio 106.5fm WFMP and live streams at https://www.forwardradio.org. If you like what you hear, share it with someone, donate to keep us on-air, and get involved as a volunteer!

Patty and Brian team up with Justin Mog (host of Sustainability Now!) for a live broadcast from the Forward Radio studio at 5pm on September 18th in the middle of Give For Good Louisville to help you think about your giving, while you're giving, to improve your giving!! Thanks for all your support of Forward Radio throughout the years and for donating on this special day to help keep us on air and to keep our community strong by supporting the over 500 non-profits that participated! https://www.giveforgoodlouisville.org/organization/wfmp-low-power-radio-inc

Forward Radio volunteer programmers, Justin Mog (Sustainability Now!), Tory Strange (RetroForward), and Goliath & Yanielle (Goliath's Rants, Reviews & Revivals) encourage you to donate whatever you can throughout the day today during Give For Good Louisville, when your contributions will be boosted by the Community Foundation of Louisville! Please donate any amount by midnight to help us reach our goal of $4000! Donate now at https://www.giveforgoodlouisville.org/organization/wfmp-low-power-radio-inc

This week, we bring you highlights from the second hour of our live broadcast from the Louisville VegFest on Saturday, September 6th, 2025, noon-6pm, at the Mellwood Art Center! Again this year, Forward Radio was a proud media sponsor of Louisville VegFest — Kentucky’s premier celebration of all things vegan! Admission was FREE to over 19,000 sq ft of indoor space, with additional food trucks and select vendors bringing the fun outside, too! Formerly known as Bluegrass VegFest, this all-vegan, community-focused event highlights the joy of plant-based eating and conscious, sustainable living. Visitors enjoyed delicious food from regional restaurants and food trucks, craft beer and cocktails, inspiring speaker talks, a live cooking demo, an amazing lineup of vendors, kids’ activities, educational exhibits, and so much more. Learn more at https://vegkentucky.org/vegfest

Our second speaker of the day was Dominick Thompson, a powerhouse voice in the vegan movement! Dom is an Ironman triathlete, social entrepreneur, and animal rights activist who has inspired hundreds of thousands through his story and his work. After making the life-changing decision to go vegetarian while incarcerated 24 years ago, he’s gone on to become a leader in the No-Meat Athlete movement, launch his wellness brand Eat What Elephants Eat, and publish a cookbook with the same title. He’s also the real-life inspiration behind the upcoming film Land of Wolves. Dom’s talk, “Redefining Masculinity and the Human Experience Through Veganism,” is one you won’t want to miss! Learn more at https://kitchen.eatwhatelephantseat.com/

The Access Hour airs on Forward Radio, 106.5fm, WFMP-LP Louisville, every Wednesday at 2pm and repeats Thursdays at 11am and Fridays at 1pm. Find us and please donate to support this work at https://orwardradio.org

If you’ve got something you’d like to share on community radio through the Access Hour, whether it’s a recording you made or a show you’d like to do on a particular topic, community, artistic creation, or program that is under-represented in Louisville’s media landscape, just go to https://forwardradio.org, click on Participate and pitch us your idea. The Access Hour is your opportunity to take over the air waves to share your passion with the world!

This week on Sustainability Now!, your host, Justin Mog, catches up with the evolving story about the future of the Nia Center at 2900 W. Broadway with Shaun Spencer, Nia Center tenant (owner of My Hub Print Center) and co-founder of the West Louisville Dream Team, and Timothy Cox, current president of the West Louisville Dream Team (https://www.facebook.com/share/15QUpdZjic/).

On August 26, 2025, Louisville’s Transit Authority of River City (TARC) voted unanimously to enter a 14-day exclusive negotiation period with the West Louisville Dream Team (WLDT) on the potential sale of the Nia Center for $2.1 million—an important step toward keeping this West Broadway landmark in community hands.

The Nia Center has long been a small-business hub and gathering place for West Louisville. After earlier redevelopment ideas fell through this summer, TARC is now negotiating directly with WLDT, which plans to preserve the building, restore its community space, and raise the capital needed to complete the purchase. WLDT’s plan targets a healthy, 90% occupancy within three years and seeks partnership with Metro Council for community-space support—aligning economic activity with civic life in the neighborhood.

The West Louisville Dream team is made up of residents, business owners, and those that are concerned about the positive image of west Louisville. It was started in 2012 with four members to attract more businesses and promote the image of west Louisville. Their mission is to work in collaboration with neighborhood associations to positively affect west Louisville. WLDT is a non-for-profit community organization with about 90 residents, non-profit, and businesses on its mailing list.

In 1998 date, the Nia Center was opened as a promise by the city to west Louisville. In the 2000s, the Nia Center served as a hub of resources for entrepreneurs and job seekers; however, around 2016-17 after Metro Louisville took over its management, gradually, as tents moved out, they weren’t replaced and its role as an economic resource hub diminished.

The Nia Center also served as a gathering space for the community and an internet hub for west Louisville residents without internet access. The building was open seven days a week, with non-traditional evening hours during the week and on weekends. Eventually, the building’s operating hours were reduced, and the community room was removed from public access. Likewise, the internet connection was not as fast as promised, and it couldn’t be accessed outside of the building’s hours.

How can the community support West Louisville Dream Team’s effort to acquire the Nia Center?

Donate. Invest. Sign the petition. Help us raise: $50,000 by October 12th! $1 million by December 31st to buy the Nia Center!

Get in touch with them at [email protected] and find the petition to Save Nia Center at https://www.change.org/p/save-the-nia-center

Contact Carla Dearing, Head of Community Investment, at [email protected] to be connected with ways you can help.

SEE: https://centerforneighborhoods.org/neighbors-at-the-helm-cfns-role-in-the-nia-center-path-to-community-ownership/

https://www.lpm.org/news/2025-08-27/tarc-west-louisville-dream-team-to-negotiate-on-sale-of-nia-center

As always, our feature is followed by your community action calendar for the week, so get your calendars out and get ready to take action for sustainability NOW!

Sustainability Now! is hosted by Dr. Justin Mog and airs on Forward Radio, 106.5fm, WFMP-LP Louisville, every Monday at 6pm and repeats Tuesdays at 12am and 10am. Find us at https://forwardradio.org

The music in this podcast is courtesy of the local band Appalatin and is used by permission. Explore their delightful music at https://appalatin.com

In 1972 Kyle Ellison became a Kentucky Department of Corrections probation and parole officer in Louisville. He worked for the Department of Corrections for 16 years. Seven of those years were as a training officer for prison and jail staff all over the state, giving him the chance to research the prison history of Kentucky. Kyle Ellison is now a strong advocate for prison reform. The presentation he delivered to the congregation at the Louisville 1st Unitarian Clifton Church, September 7th, 2025 concerns the fact that immigrants arrested by Immigration Customs and Enforcement officers are now being housed in rural county jails in Kentucky as well as county jails in other states across the country.

This week, we bring you highlights from the first hour of our live broadcast from the Louisville VegFest on Saturday, September 6th, 2025, noon-6pm, at the Mellwood Art Center! Again this year, Forward Radio was a proud media sponsor of Louisville VegFest —Kentucky’s premier celebration of all things vegan! Admission is FREE to over 19,000 sq ft of indoor space, with additional food trucks and select vendors bringing the fun outside, too! Formerly known as Bluegrass VegFest, this all-vegan, community-focused event highlights the joy of plant-based eating and conscious, sustainable living. Visitors enjoyed delicious food from regional restaurants and food trucks, craft beer and cocktails, inspiring speaker talks, a live cooking demo, an amazing lineup of vendors, kids’ activities, educational exhibits, and so much more. Learn more at https://vegkentucky.org/vegfest

Our first speaker of the day was Kennedy Little from the Food Empowerment Project. Kennedy Little from Lexington is a senior pursuing pre-Law and Agribusiness with a minor in Public Administration at Morehead State University. After going vegan in 2019, Kennedy began to use her background in agriculture organizing to help change the unethical norms many agriculture workers face. Kennedy works as a Youth Advocacy Team Member for the vegan and food justice nonprofit known as the Food Empowerment Project. Learn more at https://foodispower.org/author/klittle/

On Truth to Power each week, we bring you community conversations like you won't hear anywhere else! Truth to Power airs every Friday at 9pm, Saturday at 11am, and Sunday at 4pm on Louisville's grassroots, community radio station, Forward Radio 106.5fm WFMP and live streams at https://www.forwardradio.org. If you like what you hear, share it with someone, donate to keep us on-air, and get involved as a volunteer!

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This week on Sustainability Now!, your host, Justin Mog, brings you into the audience, last Tuesday evening, September 4th, when the Louisville Palace played host to a packed audience for Beyond the Bridge: Film Screening & Panel Discussion on Ending Homelessness.

“Beyond the Bridge: A Solution to Homelessness” sheds light on homelessness and the urgent need for permanent supportive housing, and provides a roadmap for cities to move toward solving unsheltered homelessness. This special event was sponsored by the Coalition for the Homeless, Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund, Louisville Downtown Partnership, Metro United Way, and Metropolitan Housing Coalition. The panelists included

Louisville Mayor, Craig Greenberg

Don Sawyer, Producer / Director of Beyond The Bridge

Jim Mathy, Milwaukee County Housing Division Administrator

Eric Collins-Dyke, Milwaukee County Supportive Housing and Homeless Services Assistant Administrator

Moderator: Natalie Harris, Executive Director, Coalition for the Homeless (https://louhomeless.org)

Thank you by: George Eklund, Director of Education and Advocacy, Coalition for the Homeless

Learn more at https://louhomeless.org/beyond

https://asolutiontohomelessness.com/

Home For Good: a shared vision to end street homelessness in Louisville at https://metrounitedway.org/home-for-good

As always, our feature is followed by your community action calendar for the week, so get your calendars out and get ready to take action for sustainability NOW!

Sustainability Now! is hosted by Dr. Justin Mog and airs on Forward Radio, 106.5fm, WFMP-LP Louisville, every Monday at 6pm and repeats Tuesdays at 12am and 10am. Find us at https://forwardradio.org

The music in this podcast is courtesy of the local band Appalatin and is used by permission. Explore their delightful music at https://appalatin.com

This week we summarize and supplement a July 31 article in 'The Atlantic' magazine called "Every Scientific Empire Comes To An End: America’s Run As The Premier Techno-Superpower May Be Over." (https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2025/07/science-empire-america-decline/683711/). We discuss repressive regimes that have stifled scientific achievement in the past, and compare that with what is happening in the US now. The show ends with a survey of the September night sky by Kentucky astronomer Scott Miller.

‘Bench Talk: The Week in Science’ is a weekly program that airs on WFMP Louisville FORward Radio 106.5 FM (forwardradio.org) every Monday at 7:30 pm, Tuesday at 11:30 am, and Wednesday at 7:30 am.

Visit our Facebook page for links to the articles discussed in this episode: https://www.facebook.com/BenchTalkRadio

Music is 'Magic in the Garden' by Rafael Krux (freepd.com).