Riverside Chats

Eduardo Gardea is a self-taught painter who works out of his studio at Hot Shops Art Center in the North Downtown neighborhood. He recently decided to quit his day job and pursue art full-time. His work is influenced by stories of the disenfranchised, often encouraging the viewer to think more deeply about the immigrant experience. Gardea has also created a number of murals around Omaha. One of his more recent works can be found on the exterior of Ooh De Lally in Dundee. 

In this conversation, Gardea and Michael Griffin talk about Gardea's artistic process, the administrative hurdles to being a full-time artist, and steps Omaha can take to invest in the creative community.

Episode 198

Attorney Matthew Wurstner returns to the show for a conversation with Tom Knoblauch about the legality of the United States' attempts to ban TikTok if it isn't sold by its Chinese parent company ByteDance.

Originally aired 6-24-24

Cyrus Jaffery is the founder and CEO of Jaffery Insurance. His new memoir is “Triumph After Trauma: How a Scrappy Battle-Scarred Refugee Insured His Own Success and Can Inspire Yours,” which he co-wrote with Leo Adam Biga. The book outlines Jaffery’s journey of migrating to the United States as an Afghan refugee, and applying the principles he learned in his journey to the business world. 

Jaffery is in conversation with Michael Griffin about his transition from war-torn Afghanistan to suburban Omaha. He also gives a crash course in the intricacies of insurance. Remember that big storm in August? You’ll want to hear what he has to say about policies for homeowners.

Episode 203

Leah Whitney Chavez is the founder and executive director of World Speaks Omaha, a nonprofit that works to expand language access in Omaha. World Speaks offers low-cost tutoring and language classes, and translation services in more than two dozen languages to businesses and other organizations.

World Speaks is also launching the Open Doors Initiative later this year. The program is meant to provide community members whose first language isn’t English with free interpreting services to access affordable housing.

Michael Griffin is in conversation about Whitney Chavez how her multicultural childhood impacted her career trajectory, the nuts and bolts of translation services, and ways that community members can keep culture at the forefront of language education.

Originally aired 8-5-24

Episode 202

Diana Rogel is the diversity outreach and engagement coordinator at Live On Nebraska, one of 56 organ procurement organizations in the country. Live On is responsible for recovering organs and tissue from deceased donors for transplantation, and maintaining the state's donor registry.

According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, more than 100,000 people in the United States are awaiting transplants. One donor can save up to eight lives.

Part of Live On Nebraska’s mission is to educate the public about the donation and transplant processes through outreach and events.

In this conversation, Rogel and Michael Griffin talk about how a family illness and her background in community engagement led to her current role with Live On. Rogel also dispels common myths about organ donation, and explains how to register as a donor and why everyone should.

Originally aired 7-29-24

Episode 201

Martin Sneider, former co-CEO of Edison Brothers Stores, is author of the new book “Amy Unbound,” the second installment in his Feldman Family Saga. The series follows a powerful family in the fashion industry, and the rise and fall of their business empire. Some of the story based on Sneider’s own experience as a fourth generation fashion retailer. “Amy Unbound” is out now and available wherever you get books.

Sneider was raised in Omaha and attended Central High. Today, he divides his time between New York and St. Louis, where his family moved when he was a teenager.

In this episode, Sneider traces his career from getting yelled at by Rose Blumkin as a teenage Furniture Mart employee, to running a fashion conglomerate, to spending his retirement years writing novels.

Originally aired 7-22-24

Episode 200

Marcos Eduardo Mora Barrientos is the executive director of Casa de la Cultura, the organization behind Omaha’s annual Cinco de Mayo celebration.

Mora was born in Los Angeles and raised in Omaha, where his family has lived for nearly a century after his grandfather, Vidal Barrientos, migrated from Mexico in the 1920s. La familia Barrientos has been known for its musicianship in South Omaha ever since, and Mora is no exception. He plays guitar in three bands.

As executive director of Casa de la Cultura, Mora will oversee Omaha’s 105th Cinco de Mayo next year. The annual celebration attracts more than 200,000 visitors for three days of food and music honoring Omaha’s Mexican heritage.

Mora is also founder and executive director for the Barrientos Scholarship Foundation and part of the Nebraska Realty group. In this conversation, he's in conversation with Michael Griffin about balancing his many responsibilities, how to achieve equity in local art and music, and his vision for next year’s Cinco de Mayo.

Originally aired 7-15-24

Episode 199

Doris Lassiter is a public health advocate for North Omaha. Lassiter’s career began with a corporate job, which she left after becoming pregnant unexpectedly and prematurely giving birth to her daughter. The experience led her to work with the Omaha Housing Authority on reducing infant mortality rates among Omaha's Black community. With OHA, Lassiter helped launch the Omaha Healthy Start program at Charles Drew, which provides education and healthcare services to new parents and their children. 

Years later in 2022, the University of Nebraska Medical Center honored her with the Community Service to Research Award. Today, Lassiter is health ministry director at Mt. Moriah's Baptist Church and runs her own consulting company through the Nebraska Center for Healthy Families. 

In this episode, Lassiter is in conversation with Michael Griffin about her transition from corner office to health advocacy, and her vision for the Moriah Intergenerational Center in North Omaha.

Originally aired 7-1-24.

Clarice Dombeck is a candidate for the Regional Metropolitan Transit Authority’s Board of Directors in District 2. The Transit Authority, also known as Metro, is responsible for running Omaha’s bus system, including ORBT and MOBY services.

The first elected board will have seven nonpartisan members, one for each district. Prior to this year, seats were appointed by the mayor rather than elected. The change is part of Metro’s increased budget and expanded regional services. Board responsibilities include determining transit policy, overseeing the budget and handling contracts

Dombeck was born and raised in North Omaha. In addition to her candidacy, she serves on ⁠Elevate Omaha’s⁠ Board of Directors and is the urban development manager at ⁠Spark⁠, an Omaha nonprofit that aims to transform and invest in underserved neighborhoods.

Dombeck is also an urban farmer and a founder of the ⁠Healing Roots African Diaspora Garden⁠ on North 24th Street, and she’s working on a Master of Science in Urban Studies at the University of Nebraska Omaha.

In this conversation, Dombeck is in conversation with Michael Griffin about her family’s history of community organizing, and how it informs her own varied approach to advocacy. They also discuss transit disparities in Omaha and Dombeck’s vision for Metro.

Correction: A previous version of this podcast incorrectly identified the Regional Metropolitan Transit Authority as being responsible for the forthcoming Omaha Streetcar. It is a City of Omaha project.

Shelley Mann is the founder and executive director of Nebraska Abortion Resources, also known as NEAR.

Mann started NEAR in 2020 with a mission of providing financial aid to people seeking abortions. That assistance can take different forms, such as paying for the procedure itself or covering travel costs. Mann says NEAR has helped 800 people access abortions in four years.

Mann has a long history of advocacy related to reproductive rights and other causes. She’s long been a fixture outside the Clinic for Abortion & Reproductive Excellence in Bellevue, escorting patients inside and shouting down anti-abortion protesters. Her TikToks documenting her experiences outside the building have amassed millions of views

Mann is in discussion with Maria Corpuz about her personal relationship with abortion and how it led to her current path. We’re also discussing the Nebraska petitions drives for three separate ballot measures related to reproductive rights.