We often hear that Houston is a global city – but what does that mean? The term might be used to describe our area’s much-touted cultural diversity. But it could also be used to describe the region’s role as an international economic engine. To see just where Houston stacked up on the latter front, researchers from the Greater Houston Partnership recently dug into numerous indicators of Houston’s place in the world economically.

They’re presenting those findings at the organization’s third-annual State of Houston’s Global Economy event today (May 22, 2017), and Michael Hagerty talked with Patrick Jankowski, the Partnership’s senior vice president of research, to get a preview – and to find out how Houston stacks up in the global economy.

Also this hour…

Nursing Demand & Shortage update

Three years ago, we talked about the state of nursing in Greater Houston. In particular, we talked about how the industry is addressing the gap between supply and demand, especially as Baby Boomers age and the need for healthcare grows. Are we any closer to closing that gap? What’s being done within our medical schools and hospitals to recruit and retain nurses in Houston? We talk with Dr. Cathy Rozmus from the UTHealth School of Nursing and Michael Garcia from Houston Methodist.

A Personal History of the Zapruder Film

The idea of citizen journalism is fairly familiar these days. We’re used to seeing video footage on the news shot by someone with a smartphone. But one of the first, prominent such instances is the Zapruder film — 26 seconds of footage a bystander named Abraham Zapruder took of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.

Now, more than 50 years later, the film is possibly the most iconic video in American history, and Zapruder’s granddaughter, Alexandra Zapruder, has written a book about her family’s connection to this infamous moment. And she uses the film to discuss issues such as privacy, public representations of violence, ethics and the media’s role in disseminating information.

It’s called Twenty-Six Seconds: A Personal History of the Zapruder Film. Alexandra Zapruder recently (May 10, 2017) spoke at a Houston Public Library event at the Houston Chronicle. While she was in town, she told Houston Matters producer Joshua Zinn about her grandfather and the impact his legendary film had on her family — and the nation.

Sports Monday

The defending American League champion Cleveland Indians were in town over the weekend to face the Astros. And James Harden was named to the All-NBA First Team, but will his performance against the Spurs in the playoffs affect his shot at being named league MVP? We discuss those and other developments in Houston sports with Jeff Balke, who writes for Houston Press and Houstonia Magazine.

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