Riverside Chats

Ballot initiatives can be a pain to read and to put in context, so today's show is an in-depth look at two of the initiatives on this year's ballot, 433 and 432: their scope, the reasons why they made the ballot, and what it means for Nebraska if they pass or fail. 

In the first part of today's show, Maria Corpuz talks with Senator Terrell McKinney about Initiative 433, which would incrementally increase the state's minimum wage from $9 to $15 by 2026.

Then, Tom Knoblauch talks with Heather Engdahl, director of voting rights at Civic Nebraska, about Initiative 432, which would amend Article I of the Nebraska Constitution to require voters to present valid photo identification in order to vote.  

Last year, a petition circulated which would replace the Nebraska State Board of Education, Education Commissioner, and Nebraska Department of Education with a new, ambiguous Office of Education, which would be accountable directly to the Governor. It didn’t pass, but it’s not the first time this idea has been floated here, and such proposals have passed in states like Oregon. But what is the Nebraska State Board of Education? Who is on it? What do they do? Today, Deborah Neary is here in conversation with Tom Knoblauch to tell her story and explain what the function of the Board is–as well as her vision for its future if she is reelected to her seat this November.

Later in the show, Jared Charles reviews David Gordon Green's new 'Halloween' trilogy. Check out his writing here: theburrowreviews.com.

If you’ve ever voted before, you probably were really excited or scared about a couple of candidates at the top of the ballot. We talk all the time on this show about how a healthy democracy requires some investment in the less splashy stuff lower on the ballot too–like the county attorney or municipal board director–but another element of the ballot that can cause headaches for the average, not particularly nerdy voter is the section with initiatives. Ballot initiatives are often written in dense, complex syntax that make it difficult to decipher what exactly you’re voting for. 

Even if you understand the basic argument, it’s not always clear what their implications are or how voting either way will affect you. So we thought it’d be worth taking a show to dissect to talk about that annoying, boring section of the ballot that you’ll see this November. Matthew Wurstner is back on the show, talking with Tom Knoblauch about the concept of ballot initiatives, Nebraska’s history with them, and what made the cut this year.

Chip Davis has been making music for over five decades, scoring his first chart-topper in 1976 with "Convoy," the song he co-wrote with Bill Fries. He was named Country Music Writer of the Year in 1976 and of course you’ve probably heard of the group he founded, Mannheim Steamroller, and the label he created to release its music, American Gramaphone, both of which have captivated listeners and audiences since 1974. Today he tells his story to Tom Knoblauch of succeeding against the odds, making Omaha his, and the importance of creating space for art. 

The culture war these days is heavily focused on schools, with many prominent elected officials in Nebraska calling for defunding public education in favor of vouchers for charter schools. Today Rachel Gibson and Sarah Smolen talk to Tom Knoblauch about the education climate, how to navigate a culture war that often is intentionally vague and operating in bad faith and possible solutions they are offering through their work on the Education Policy Action Team for the League of Women Voters of Nebraska, which has just launched Schools 101: an awareness initiative for parents, neighbors, community groups, advocacy groups, and anyone impacted by public education here in Nebraska. 

Learn more about Schools 101 here.

Wes Dodge is on the boards for Rank the Vote Nebraska, Common Cause Nebraska, Represent Us Omaha, and Non-Partisan Nebraska. He sees the possibility of meaningful reforms to our political chaos through adopting ranked choice elections and moving toward a nonpartisan vision of governance instead of our highly polarized current climate. Today he and Tom Knoblauch talk about what ranked choice voting would look like compared to what we are used to as well as how polarization is largely rooted in monied interests obscuring what voters want and keeping the focus on culture war noise.

Dr. Lisa Knopp teaches creative nonfiction at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and has written several books, including Bread, What the River Carries, and Field of Vision. Her latest book is From Your Friend, Carey Dean: Letters from Nebraska’s Death Row, which chronicles her friendship with Carey Dean Moore, who spent 38 years on death row before his execution in 2018. 

On today's show, Knopp talks to Tom Knoblauch about how her earlier writing, which was largely focused on place, has come to encompass the broader political questions of why and how a place becomes what it is, as well as how she came to be a death penalty abolitionist in a state where many in the largely Christian culture support capital punishment instead of the possibility of redemption.

Check out her book here. 

Cindy Maxwell-Ostdiek is an independent candidate running to represent District 4 on Nebraska's State Legislature. She is the president of Rank the Vote Nebraska and serves on the advisory board for Nonpartisan Nebraska. Today she talks to Tom Knoblauch about her vision for a nonpartisan approach to governing as both a way to address hyperpolarization and to better ensure that constituent concerns get represented without the middle man of national party operations. 

You can learn more about her campaign here. 

A common concern expressed on this show is about not just the climate crisis but the seeming inability that we have to talk about existential risks like global warming because so much of our bandwidth is taken up by the noise of culture wars. In previous conversations regarding updating our grids to accommodate renewable energy, a concept has come up that didn’t get much time but is gaining traction as a model for what can help undo the damage of the past: regeneration. Commonly this is employed through farming and grazing practices that restore degraded soil biodiversity – sequestering carbon and improving the water cycle. 

Today Graham Christensen, founder and president of GC Resolve, GC Revolt, and member of Regenerate Nebraska, talks with Tom Knoblauch about his work to increase mobilization of the general public in order to build regenerative, resilient communities and equip them with the tools they need to effectively make a difference within the climate crisis, ensuring a stabler, healthier future for not just humans but our ecosystems in general.

Reach out to Congressman Bacon with your thoughts on what was discussed in today's episode here. 

Sarah Slattery is running to represent district 2 in the Nebraska State Legislature, a seat currently held by Senator Robert Clements. She tells her story to Tom Knoblauch along with her vision for a legislature that looks like the populace. Her campaign is centered around small businesses, education, school nutrition, healthcare accessibility, and workers' rights. You can learn more here.