The City Club of Cleveland Podcast

Across the country, communities are increasingly turning to cultural planning to support and grow their creative economies. Whether a city is actively drafting its first vision or beginning to activate it, the process requires constant adaptation, collaboration, and shared learning.\r\n\r\nThis forum explores the practical tradeoffs, constraints, and successes of shaping local culture at every stage of development. Featured arts leaders will share insights from peer communities on how these ongoing planning efforts play out amid civic and economic realities-offering an open space to learn from peer communities, ask questions, and deepen shared understanding about what cultural planning can look like in practice, while reflecting on Cleveland\'s evolving cultural landscape.

Democracy works best when citizens are more informed and better understand the institutions that govern them. And advocacy work and movement building become more effective - and successful - when citizens are empowered to become active participants in shaping their communities, and their future.\r\n\r\nYet, the halls of the Ohio Statehouse can seem like an overly complex, insiders network-hard to break through. So, what really happens in the Ohio Statehouse? And what does lobbying and advocacy work actually look like, in action?\r\n\r\nAs we mark the nation\'s 250th birthday, the City Club\'s 2026 Outdoor Summer Series WE THE PEOPLE will dive into topics centering our communities, organizations, and the very people who help our democracy thrive.\r\n\r\nJoin us at the City Club for a discussion with those who know the secrets of the Statehouse, learn how to enact change from within, and find out how things really get done at the Ohio Statehouse.

Nationally, 1 in 7 children is abused before their 18th birthday, and there are over 19,000 reports of child abuse and neglect annually in Cuyahoga County alone. To help address these issues, Canopy Child Advocacy Center (CAC) opened its doors in Cuyahoga County in 2018. It was the last urban county in the country to establish a CAC, a national model for helping children and families affected by abuse and neglect.\r\n\r\nBefore the CAC, and in communities without a CAC, an abused child would have to tell their story an average of nine times to receive the services and support necessary to begin the healing process. And some abused and neglected children do not receive services at all. The innovative CAC model reduces potential trauma for children and families impacted by child abuse by having clients come to one child-friendly, trauma-informed location when they receive services and resources to begin the healing process. Today, Canopy CAC serves nearly 5,000 children and families affected by abuse and neglect, and behind every one of those numbers is a child who was believed, supported, and given a chance to heal.\r\n\r\nJoin us at the City Club as we hear directly from Jennifer Johnson, Executive Director of Canopy Child Advocacy Center, on how they are advancing child safety, addressing abuse, and supporting healing of the region\'s youngest victims.

There was a time when the premise of nanny robots and artificial intelligence raising our children was merely the subject of Steven Spielberg\'s futuristic sci-fi films. The future, it seems, is now.\r\n\r\nAs AI enters nurseries, playrooms, and classrooms, parents are being sold a "smart" childhood at every turn. With mainstream use of artificial intelligence, the power of parent talk and human interaction in childhood development has become even clearer. In her latest book, Human Raised, author Dana Suskind, MD, reveals the possibilities and perils of using AI and related technologies for child-rearing. What do parents and caregivers need to know to assess individual technologies and foster the skills needed to thrive growing up in an AI-driven future?\r\n\r\nDr. Suskind has authored over 45 scientific publications and is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a Fellow for the Council on Early Childhood. She is also the founder and Co-Director of the TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health, Founding Director of the Pediatric Cochlear Implant Program, and Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at the University of Chicago. Her previous books include the New York Times bestsellers Parent Nation and Thirty Million Words.

As we mark the nation\'s 250th birthday, the City Club\'s 2026 Outdoor Summer Series WE THE PEOPLE will dive into topics centering our communities, organizations, and the very people who help our democracy thrive. As one of our nation's oldest democratic public spaces, libraries have become deeply integrated into our communities-meeting a wide variety of social and civic needs. Due to its wide breadth of services and role as an anchor in every Cleveland neighborhood, the Cleveland Public Library (CPL) has been dubbed \"The People\'s University.\"\r\n\r\nThis summer, CPL launched One Cleveland: A citywide civic pride campaign that celebrates the people, neighborhoods, stories, and institutions that connect us as Clevelanders. Intended to mark the city\'s 230th birthday, One Cleveland highlights the creativity, resilience, and shared experiences that shape our city. Included as part of the campaign is the Cleveland 230 List, a recognition of 230 individuals (past and present) whose work, leadership, and impact reflect the spirit and strength of our city.

Ohio has the eighth highest property tax rates in the nation, with some homeowners seeing increases of more than 30% in their property valuations in recent years. Reform efforts have proliferated, from caps on tax increases to reductions in approved levies, and a grassroots movement seeks to make Ohio the first state to abolish property taxes altogether. Yet with public schools and local governments relying on property taxes to fund large portions of their budgets, how can the system be overhauled without creating civic chaos? And how did we even get here in the first place?\r\n\r\nIn partnership with Ideastream Public Media and as a kickoff to the Ideastream Explores: Property Taxes series, Sound of Ideas host Stephanie Haney will lead a conversation with area experts on public services, tax policy, and public finance. They will outline how and why the debate around property taxes recently culminated with a push for statewide abolishment, and what we can expect on the road ahead.

The story of the Ursuline Sisters and the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine in Cleveland begins with the city's first bishop. Just three years into his ministry, the Most Rev. Amadeus Rappe recognized that serving Cleveland's rapidly growing community would require support. He reached out to both orders, who answered the call-five Ursuline Sisters arrived to educate the city's children, and a year later, the first public health nurses began caring for local families.\r\n\r\nFor 175 years, the Ursulines and the Sisters of Charity have served Northeast Ohio through education and healthcare, founding and stewarding institutions that have helped shape Greater Cleveland-Beaumont and Urban Community Schools, St. Vincent Charity Medical Center, and Joseph & Mary's Home, among others-and transforming countless lives along the way.\r\n\r\nJoin us for a conversation with leaders from both orders as we explore the enduring legacy of women religious in Greater Cleveland-their extraordinary lives, their service and sacrifice, and their vision for the future of the communities they continue to inspire.

Part of the City Club\'s 2026 Outdoor Summer Series + America 250 Ohio Series\r\nWomen are at the heart of many of America\'s largest movements. We cannot talk about abolition without Harriet Tubman; voting rights without Susan B. Anthony; or civil rights without Rosa Parks. The American promise of liberty and self-determination was strengthened by generations of women who shaped our communities, closed gaps, and redefined what civic engagement looked like.\r\n\r\nToday, women are succeeding and leading in roles in every sector of American life, bringing a unique perspective that continues to fuel innovation and growth. At the same time, work is underway to address persistent challenges like access to paid leave, gender-based violence, and pay and wealth gaps-both here in Cleveland and across the nation.\r\n\r\nAs we mark the nation\'s 250th birthday, the City Club\'s 2026 Outdoor Summer Series WE THE PEOPLE will dive into topics centering our communities, organizations, and the very people who help our democracy thrive.\r\n\r\nJoin us as we hear from leading women in organizations that are dedicated to serving, celebrating, and empowering women in our nation\'s past, present, and future!

In Cuyahoga County, more than 1,700 license plate cameras, or Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs), take photos of and store license plate data. Proponents have hailed it as the next generation of safety technology, and support installation as part of the effort to crack down on crime, bring justice to victims, and promote public safety. Opponents cite concerns about privacy, data security, and abuse of data-including the turnover of information to federal officials.\r\n\r\nAI-powered surveillance, including acoustic surveillance technology like \"Shotspotter\" has been around for decades. Yet, this next generation of AI technology has been met with skepticism and concern. Combined with growing political tensions, the conversation in many American communities has changed: It\'s not whether the technology works. Rather, whether the technology should even be allowed in its current state, or even at all. Nearly every state in the nation has some form of AI-powered surveillance, and grassroots groups and national organizations are putting pressure on municipalities across the country to cancel contracts that employ it-including here in Northeast Ohio.\r\n\r\nJoin us at the City Club as Signal Cleveland\'s Nick Castele leads a conversation on the evolution, ethics, and future of AI-powered surveillance across the nation with Joshua Thomas, Chief Communications Officer of Flock Safety, and Dr. Jen Golbeck, Computer Scientist, AI ethics and privacy expert at the University of Maryland.

Theatre is one of humankind\'s most ancient art forms. For thousands of years, it has helped tell stories, share history, and entertain. It has created spaces where people gather to celebrate, mourn, and better understand the world around them. Today, theatre remains an integral part of our communities. Providing multiple points of access, whether a viewer, actor, or part of the production process, theatre continues to strengthen community connection.\r\n\r\nAs we mark the nation\'s 250th birthday, the City Club\'s 2026 Outdoor Summer Series WE THE PEOPLE will dive into topics centering our communities, organizations, and the very people who help our democracy thrive.\r\n\r\nJoin us as we welcome speakers from a few of our region\'s most beloved theatres, each with its own history and deep roots in their communities. They will discuss the work of their stages and the importance of theatre in our nation as an essential backbone of discourse and engagement.