Forward Radio podcasts

On this week's show, we bring you a national conversation with Marc Dunkelman, author of the book "Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress—And How to Bring It Back," that was hosted by the High Speed Rail Alliance on April 4, 2025. Marc J. Dunkelman is a fellow at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs and a former fellow at NYU’s Marron Institute of Urban Management. During more than a decade working in politics, he worked for Democratic members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives and as a senior fellow at the Clinton Foundation. The author of The Vanishing Neighbor, Dunkelman’s work has also appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Atlantic, and Politico. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

America built the world’s greatest rail network, along with a vast electrical grid, interstate highways, abundant housing, the Social Security system, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and more. But today, even while facing pressing challenges that include dilapidated infrastructure and a climate crisis, progress is difficult. In this talk, you’ll hear from Marc Dunkelman, author of the new book Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress—And How to Bring It Back. He argues that both conservatives and progressives have played a role in creating gridlock that stifles progress, and that we can get past it.

Learn more about Why Nothing Works at https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/marc-j-dunkelman/why-nothing-works/9781541700215/

Learn about upcoming webinars hosted by the Alliance: https://www.hsrail.org/events/

Become a member of the High Speed Rail Alliance: https://www.hsrail.org/join-us/

The High Speed Rail Alliance is a 501(C)(3) non-profit, supported by individual members who want fast, frequent, and affordable trains throughout North America.

Truth to Power airs every Friday at 9pm, Saturday at 11am, and Sunday at 7pm on Louisville's grassroots, community radio station, Forward Radio 106.5fm WFMP and live streams at https://www.forwardradio.org

Patty and Brian try to think about some reported thinking we learned about through recent survey data about Climate Change knowledge. Please enjoy!

JP Lyninger is a proud JCPS graduate of Dupont Manual High School, as well as the University of Louisville.

J.P. Lyninger has spent much of his time Fighting for a better Louisville at protests against police violence, anti-war rallies, direct actions, and standing in solidarity with workers on picket lines. JP is a long-time activist and organizer. In 2022, he served as campaign manager for Shelby Park resident Robert LeVertis Bell’s campaign for State Representative. Later that year, JP managed Access For All KY’s “No On 2” campaign, working in coalition with other campaigns to successfully defeat Amendment 2’s permanent ban on abortion access in Kentucky.

JP Lyninger is an active and engaged member of the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. While currently a rank-and-file member of the chapter, he has previously held various leadership offices, including three terms as chapter Co-Chair.

JP Lyninger is currently a member of the Louisville Metro Council representing District 6. JP ran for Metro Council because he knows a better world is possible. Louisville needs big changes to reverse economic and racial inequality. Louisville needs leaders ready to fight for the working class against budgets that prioritize tax deals for wealthy real estate developers over public transportation and basic infrastructure. JP is ready to fight with you for District 6, and for the needs of the working class across our city.

In 2025, he serves as a member of the Ad Hoc Committee on Efficiencies of Boards & Commissions, Budget, Government Oversight/Audit & Appointments, and Parks & Sustainability Committees.

On our show this week, a story about the ancient relationship between abrupt climate change and forest fires. Then, a story about how sugar intake in the first 1000 days of life (pregnancy and the first two year) can influence that person’s health 65 years later. And we end with a story about how social media might be influencing American’s attitudes about physicians and scientists.

Here are links to the research papers featured this week. Wildfires: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08363-3. Sugar consumption: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adn5421. Trust in physicians: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2821693.

‘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/pg/BenchTalkRadio/posts/?ref=page_internal

Tyler Allen, co-founder of the urban planning group 8664, discusses the impact of freeways on our cities, the benefits of freeway removal in urban cores, and plans for the future development of Louisville and cities around the US.

Election Connection airs on Forward Radio, 106.5 FM, WFMP-LP in Louisville, and streams on forwardradio.org every Tuesday at 6:00 PM and again on Thursday at midnight.

Background music for this episode is provided royalty-free by Audio Coffee:

Title: Chillout by AudioCoffee

URL: https://www.chosic.com/download-audio/58227/

Credits: Chillout by AudioCoffee | https://www.audiocoffee.net/

Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

On this week’s show, your host, Justin Mog, plants some trees of hope with Dan Lambe, CEO of the Arbor Day Foundation (https://www.arborday.org/)! We are celebrating our national Arbor Day, coming up on Friday, April 25, 2025 by being in conversation with one of our nation’s biggest tree-huggers! But Dan doesn’t just love trees, he fights every day to protect, expand, and diversify the tree canopy all over the globe.

Trees are vital to our communities. They clean our air by absorbing over 48 pounds of carbon dioxide annually while releasing oxygen. Trees filter our water, provide shade, slow storm surge and flooding, and provide habitats for wildlife. Each year, we lose 36 million trees due to age, disease, pests and severe weather. To tackle this issue, the Arbor Day Foundation has partnered with Subaru for the Subaru Loves the Earth initiative. Participating Subaru retailers across the country will give away 100,000 mature and regionally appropriate trees to communities nationwide. This is the largest corporate tree distribution in its history. This initiative supports the Arbor Day Foundation’s mission to plant trees in the communities that need them most, helping to protect the planet for generations to come.

Dan Lambe has committed nearly two decades of work to helping solve some of the biggest issues facing people and the planet through trees. Dan was named Arbor Day Foundation CEO in 2022 after 19 years in leadership roles at the organization. He has launched an initiative to accelerate the nonprofit’s impact by planting 500 million trees with a focus in forests and neighborhoods of greatest need. The ambitious goal, set to replicate the number of trees planted in the Foundation’s first 50 years in only five years, has helped spur remarkable growth within the organization and expanded the Foundation’s global reach. Lambe is a trusted thought leader in the sustainable forestry space and he regularly speaks at conferences hosted by the United Nations, Sustainable Brands, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other high-profile industry events where trees and climate intersect.

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 http://forwardradio.org

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

K.A. Owens interviews activist, playwright, actor, radio host, Michael T. Topics- The Free World has no leader, and, Is President Trump A White Folks problem? Recorded Saturday April 19, 2025, 5PM.

A discourse on horse racing's current state, its competition, and how gambling is currently doing nationally and locally. Comparisons are made between what is happening in Kentucky and Indiana on the gambling scene.

A talk on competing views of economists on whether the slave trade made a difference in Britain's Industrial Revolution of the 18th Century. Some of my own research on this topic is introduced.

On this week's program, we are thrilled to bring you a Student Panel on The Pursuit of Equity in Higher Education that concluded the University of Louisville's 2nd annual Gender, Equity & Climate Justice Conference on Tuesday, April 8th, 2025, 10am-5pm, online. This panel features a number of activists from the Student Coalition for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at the University of Louisville (https://linktr.ee/UofLCoalition4DEI), which started with a small group of concerned students in 2024. UofL Students had seen Kentucky’s House Bill 9 and Senate Bill 6—both anti-DEI bills—fail that same year, but they also saw just how invested Kentucky and the nation was in stripping higher education of resources, programs, and support services from marginalized students and university campus workers. They got together in informal settings at first, created a structure and constitution, and then got to work building out the Coalition. Now, the Student Coalition for DEI is composed of sixteen-member student organizations and countless individual students who have engaged in various meetings, events, and direct actions.

The Student Coalition for DEI at UofL then expanded to other public universities in Kentucky and started the Kentucky Student Coalition for DEI. Student organizers on each campus collaborated to host a statewide “Day of DEI” on Friday, February 28th, which gathered over 1,000 participants across the Commonwealth. While Kentucky’s House Bill 4 is set to become the law of the land by June 30th of this year, the Student Coalition is still committed to preserving equity in higher education, building power at the campus level, and pushing back against measures of overcompliance. Please join us for a riveting panel discussion on how the Student Coalition for DEI has fought for equity in higher education and the future of this struggle under new laws and executive orders.

You can read and sign the UofL Coalition Open Letter for DEI at https://actionnetwork.org/forms/uofl-coalition-open-letter-for-dei/

This panel is moderated by Savannah Dowell, and features panelists: Bradley Price, Alexandria Underwood, Jaydon Michalczyk, Alexandria Groves, and Olivia Shams. The Student Coalition for DEI at UofL is a collective of student organizers and registered student organizations at the University of Louisville. We work to uphold, protect, and expand existing diversity, equity & inclusion initiatives at our university and stop proposed legislation and policies that harm our marginalized students and campus workers.

UofL's second annual Gender, Equity, & Climate Justice Conference took place virtually on April 8, 2025. At this day-long virtual event, attendees learned from campus and community leaders who are committed to challenging and working to dismantle patriarchy, and other systems of oppression. Highlighted throughout were inclusive leadership approaches and key takeaways to advance social justice and climate justice efforts. This Conference provided a space to come together to learn, discuss, challenge, and unite for a more equitable future for all. The conference was organized by UofL's Women's Center, in partnership with UofL's Sustainability Council and many other organizations. Learn more and keep an eye out for posted recordings of all the day's events at https://louisville.edu/womenscenter/signature-programs/gender-equity-climate-justice-conference

Truth to Power airs every Friday at 9pm, Saturday at 11am, and Sunday at 7pm on Louisville's grassroots, community radio station, Forward Radio 106.5fm WFMP and live streams at https://forwardradio.org