Riverside Chats

Maggie Wood is executive director of the nonprofit, arthouse cinema Film Streams. This year, Film Streams is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its Dundee Theater with the Dundee Hundee series. The yearlong program includes 10 films, one for each decade of the theater’s history. The next screening is at 7 p.m. this Saturday, May 24, featuring the 1948 Technicolor film “The Red Shoes.”

Maggie Wood was born and raised in Bloomington–Normal, Illinois. Since moving to Nebraska in 1997, her nonprofit experience includes work with Opera Omaha, Planned Parenthood and Inclusive Communities, where she was co-executive director for eight years.

In this episode, Wood is talking about film as a cultural connector, Wood’s history with Film Streams and how Dundee Hundee came together.

For Mother’s Day, today's episode features pediatrician Arlana Phillips, mother of host Michael Griffin. She attended medical school at the University of Kansas and completed her residency at University of Nebraska Medical Center. She has been practicing at Charles Drew Health Center for over 20 years. Charles Drew Health Center is a Federally Qualified Health Center, meaning they serve at-risk community members that are frequently uninsured.

In our conversation, Phillips and Griffin discuss her motivations for pursuing a career as a physician, as well as the responsibility that physicians have to provide high quality healthcare to community members of all types.

Hana Baba is creator of the new audio series “Folktales From Sudan.” The series is a passion project inspired by the stories Baba grew up hearing when visiting relatives in Sudan. Each episode is a single story narrated by Baba with music and sound effects. Baba says the series marks the first time the tales have been recorded in English. “Folktales From Sudan” premiered in March and is now available wherever you get your podcasts.

Baba is an award-winning journalist with KALW in San Francisco, where she hosts the long-running news magazine “Crosscurrents.” She reports on immigrants and communities of color, health, education, race, identity, culture, religion and arts. Baba was born in Sudan and migrated to the United States with her family as a child.

Michael Griffin talks with Baba about storytelling’s role in culture, and the virtue of sharing African stories on a global scale.

Mayor Jean Stothert is running for reelection against John Ewing. The election is Tuesday, May 13.  We spoke to Ewing on last week’s show, and you can find that episode wherever you get your podcasts. 

This is Stothert’s fourth campaign for mayor. Before she entered politics, Stothert was head nurse at St. Louis University Hospital. She moved to Omaha with her family in 1993 and has served on the Millard Board of Education and the Omaha City Council before she began her first mayoral term in 2013.

Michael Griffin is talking with Stothert about her life before politics and how her background in critical care nursing prepared her for city government. She shares her priorities for a fourth term, including increased public safety and developing the urban core.

It’s election season in Omaha, and today's guest is John Ewing, who’s running for mayor against incumbent Jean Stothert. We’ll hear from Stothert in next week’s episode. Ewing spent 25 years as a police officer before assuming office in 2007 as Douglas County Treasurer. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and criminal justice and a master's degree in urban studies from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Ewing and Michael Griffin are talking about Ewing’s decision to seek mayoral office after decades of public service and his priorities if he wins the election on May 13.

Phillip McClain is founder of the real estate company the Mensch Group. Through the Mensch Group, McClain spearheads affordable housing developments in North Omaha. The company broke ground on its first project last year: nine single-family homes at 49th and Curtis Streets, an area known as Curtis Corner. McClain sold the houses to families for below market value thanks to assistance from local organizations like Spark Capital and Habitat for Humanity. Tax-increment financing helped cover development costs.

North Omaha has seen a surge in development in recent years, with projects like the Highlander complex on 30th Street, the North 24th Street Business Improvement District and the Levi Carter Park sports facility, which just began construction near Eppley Airfield.

McClain and Michael Griffin are talking about the need for affordable housing and the Black developers working to make the landscape more equitable. They also get into TIF and its role in development.

Kaleb Michaud is a professor of rheumatology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the director of Spielbound Board Game Cafe.

Michaud grew up in Kansas, where he developed a passion for music and astrophysics. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Rochester and a PhD from Stanford University. 

When he was 3 years old, Michaud was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease causing painful swelling and stiffness in joints and connective tissues. A doctor told Michaud’s parents that he may not survive past his early 20s. 

Living with the chronic illness inspired Michaud’s career change in 2001, when he returned to Kansas to work at the National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases. He joined the staff of UNMC in 2007 and is now a professor in the Division of Rheumatology and Director of the Rheumatology Fellowship Research Program

Michaud is also a board game enthusiast with a personal collection of more than 6,000 games. He serves as the director of Spielbound, a nonprofit board game cafe he founded in 2014 at 33rd and Harney Streets.

In this episode, Michaud and Michael Griffin are talking about Michaud's love of board games, how living with chronic pain inspired his rheumatology research and how he balances his diverse interests. 

Karen Russell's “The Antidote” follows five characters whose fates become entangled after a storm ravages their fictional small town of Uz, Nebraska. Together, the group of outcasts join forces to reveal the town’s secrets and show the importance of remembering and acknowledging injustices to create a better future.

Russell has received MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowships and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for her debut novel “Swamplandia.” She has taught literature and creative writing at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, the University of California-Irvine, Williams College, Columbia University, and Bryn Mawr College, and was the Endowed Chair of Texas State's MFA program. She serves on the board of Street Books, a mobile-library for people living outdoors. Born and raised in Miami, Florida, she now lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband, son and daughter.

“The Antidote” is Russell's second novel. She will be at The Bookworm at 6 p.m. on April 3 in conversation with Broc Anderson of the Nebraska State Historical Society.

Russell and Michael Griffin discuss the role of intellect and imagination in writing, the natural world’s influence on the artistic process and the symbiotic relationship between the author and reader.

Joel Damon is an artist, curator and co-founder of the Project Project gallery space in South Omaha. Damon was previously on the show in 2022, in conversation with Tom Knoblauch.

Damon is a painter and designer who gained recognition for organizing independent visual art exhibitions for local artists. He was the curator of the Bemis Underground, the Bemis Center’s former space dedicated to regional artist exhibitions, before its closure in 2014. The experience pushed him to open Project Project in 2014 with Josh Powell.

Located at 18th and Vinton Streets in South Omaha, Project Project is entirely volunteer-run and hosts new visual art exhibitions each month as well as concerts and other public events, all of which are free. This summer, Damon is relocating to Berlin, Germany to work at a gallery and publishing company and pursue life as a missionary,  

Damon will also present the Hixson-Lied Visiting Artist Lecture at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 31 via Zoom. His lecture is presented by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s School of Art, Art History & Design.

Damon is in conversation with Michael Griffin about Damon’s entry into curation and art exhibition and how he makes space for other artists in Omaha.

Christopher German founded the Omaha-based fragrance company Evodia in 2020. With the tagline, “where memories make scents,” Evodia comes from German’s lifelong fascination with fragrance. The company sells bottles of unisex perfume and offers clients the opportunity to create custom scents with German’s help. It’s been recognized by the Omaha’s Choice Awards four years in a row, winning first place in the Beauty & Wellness category in 2021 and 2022. Last December, Evodia opened its first storefront at Modern Work Suites, located at 8970 F St.

German and Michael Griffin are talking about German's childhood experiments with his parents’ perfume and cologne, his background in forensic science and biochemistry, and how a nice fragrance can improve everyday life.