Now You Know Akron

In this edition of the Now You Know Akron podcast, it’s a podcast about a podcast as host Craig Webb interviews “Live Your Purpose” podcast host John Morgan Jr.

An Akron native, Morgan uses the inspiration of entrepreneurs to help others find their purpose in life.

“I really want to be able to highlight entrepreneurs,” Morgan said. “Being myself a new entrepreneur, I really have a firm appreciation for the mentality that it takes to have foundational skills to be an entrepreneur, which I consider to be taking risks, facing fear and really having a certain level of faith and belief in yourself to be able to pour into yourself and ultimately be able to provide value and do things for others.”

It’s also about highlighting opportunities and breaking cycles among minorities.

“A lot of my story has really happened so organically. It does come from a place of me feeling like I understand the big picture of the opportunities that are out there.”

In this edition of the Now You Know Akron podcast, host Craig Webb is joined by Beacon Journal reporter Phil Keren to recap and discuss the latest developments in the Hudson schools book controversy. Recently, Hudson mayor Craig Shubert asked all five school board members to resign or face possible criminal charges over high school course material that he said a judge called “child pornography.”

In this edition of the Now You Know Akron podcast, host Craig Webb and Beacon Journal reporter Amanda Garrett talk to Ohio's Long-Term Care Ombudsman Beverely Laubert about the state of nursing homes in Ohio.

Laubert said long-term care during a pandemic is a complex issue.

“It’s difficult enough, and then faced with COVID … it just is nothing that anyone ever expected,” she said.

In this edition of the Now You Know Akron podcast, host Craig Webb is joined by George Hessler, a 9/11 terrorist attack survivor and Silver Lake native who was in the north tower of the World Trade Center when it was struck by a hijacked airplane. He talks about his harrowing escape just minutes before the building fell and his life since that terrible attack.

In this edition of the Now You Know Akron podcast, host Craig Webb and Beacon Journal reporter Betty Lin-Fisher are joined by Dr. Robert McGregor, Chief Medical Officer of Akron Children’s Hospital, to talk about delta variant COVID concerns with school-aged children and its impact on hospitals as case numbers rise.

“We’re seeing an increased number of kids that are coming in symptomatic, and we’re seeing an increased positivity rate among kids who come in with respiratory symptoms,” McGregor said.

“The delta variant is much more contagious. It tends to make the kids sicker, faster.”

Akron and other major cities across the country are experiencing a wave of gun violence and an increase in homicides. In this edition of the podcast, host Craig Webb and Beacon Journal reporter Sean McDonnell are joined by Lt. Michael Miller, head of Akron’s community relations department for Akron police; Russ Neal, the councilman serving Akron’s Ward 4; and Tim Anderson, founder of the Fallen Father’s Foundation. The group has a roundtable discussion on the recent rise in gun violence in Akron and what can be done about it moving forward.

In this edition of the Now You Know Akron podcast, guest host B.J. Lisko is joined by Akron native and former Judas Priest singer Tim "Ripper" Owens. The accomplished heavy metal/hard rock vocalist talks about his new band with fellow Judas Priest alum, KK Downing, KK's Priest. "Ripper" also chats about getting the gig with Judas Priest, his connection to Akron and more. 

Song clips used in this podcast: "Brothers of the Road" - KK's Priest; "Hellfire Thunderbolt" - KK's Priest; "The Way" - A New Revenge. 

In this edition of the Now You Know Akron podcast, host Craig Webb and Beacon Journal reporter Sean McDonnell are joined by new Akron police chief, Steve Mylett. Mylett talked in the midst of his journey from Bellevue, Washington to Akron, where he started on Aug. 9. The new chief says he’s anxious and excited to being building relationships with the city.

On this edition of the Now You Know Akron podcast, host Craig Webb and Beacon Journal education reporter Jennifer Pignolet are joined by new Akron Public Schools Superintendent Christine Fowler Mack. Fowler Mack is starting her second month in the position, and she’s the first woman and first Black woman to hold the job. An Akron graduate herself from East High School, she comes to Akron from Cleveland schools, where she helped oversee the Cleveland Plan to transform high schools similarly to the way Akron has implemented College and Career Academies. 

On this edition of the Now You Know Akron podcast, host Craig Webb and Beacon Journal reporter Doug Livingston are joined by Shontel Brown and Nina Turner, frontrunners in the Democratic primary of the 11th Congressional District that includes Cleveland and parts of Akron. 

As reported by Livingston, fundraising totals and polling point to a two-woman race. Brown, a councilwoman and party chair in Cuyahoga County, has gobbled up endorsements from party establishment figures, including Hillary Clinton, while former state Sen. Nina Turner leads the left wing of the party with the backing of progressives, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.