The Community's Conversation

It’s a fact, there is an end of life for all of us.

And, of course, we all want to ensure that we, and our loved ones, die in the most dignified, humane, and comfortable circumstances. For most people in developed countries, palliative care and hospice ensure that these goals are achieved.

But, when you strip away these desires, concerns can be raised. The incredible expense. The lingering, sometimes protracted, decline. The emotional and psychological strain on the dying and their family members.

And then there are the sensitive questions of "how long should you keep someone going?" and "what about euthanasia?"

To discuss the myriad options and indeed challenges surrounding death, we welcome Ryan Nash, MD, MA (Director of The Ohio State University Center for Bioethics and Director of Division of Bioethics, Department of Biomedical Education and Anatomy), Robert Rivas (General Counsel for the Final Exit Network), and host Jo Ingles (Reporter at The Statehouse News Bureau).

Recorded on May 29, 2019 at the Boat House at Confluence Park in Columbus, Ohio.

Prison populations are exploding. Overcrowded prisons lead to concerns about safety and human rights, not to mention the tremendous financial burden. Alongside this, we see an increase in drug-related incarcerations, especially those fueled by the opioid epidemic, which raises the perpetual discussion of the values of incarceration versus treatment. And of course, there is the age-old question about rehabilitation, post-prison life, and reintegration into society. We dive into the deep end of this discussion by inviting three people who have made it a professional priority to reform criminal sentencing.

We are splitting this important topic into two separate forums. On May 22, we will explore criminal sentence reform from the legal perspective. On June 5, the view will be from the community angle.

We dive into the deep end of this discussion by inviting three people who have made it a professional priority to reform criminal sentencing: Larry Obhof (State Senator for District 22 and President of the Senate), Ron O'Brien (Franklin County Prosecutor), Zach Klein (Columbus City Attorney), and host Karen Kasler (Bureau Chief of the Statehouse News Bureau).

Recorded on May 22, 2019 at the Boat House at Confluence Park in Columbus, Ohio.

The Ohio State University has significant impact on the region and the state – from economic and workforce development to business partnerships and community engagement to driving breakthrough research solutions.

Approaching its 150th anniversary, Ohio State continues to look ahead and move forward. The students, jobs, industry, and technology of today are not the students, jobs, industry, and technology of tomorrow.

Ohio State President Michael V. Drake, M.D. will discuss what the university is doing now to define the future. Stacia Naquin (Co-Anchor at WSYX ABC 6) will interview.

Recorded on May 15, 2019 at the Boat House at Confluence Park in Columbus, Ohio.

It is an accepted fact that school funding in the State of Ohio is as debated as it is confounding. Questions surrounding its equity, not to mention is constitutionality, have been plaguing the state for almost two decades.

Up until last week, it seemed that a new bipartisan approach was going to be implemented, but has now been held up for further refinement.

To understand the murky waters of educational funding, we welcome Howard Fleeter (Owner of Fleeter & Associates), Melissa Cropper (President of the Ohio Federation Of Teachers), Tracy Nájera (Executive Director of the Children’s Defense Fund), and host Jim Seigel (Ohio Statehouse reporter at The Columbus Dispatch).

Recorded on May 8, 2019 at the Boat House at Confluence Park in Columbus, Ohio.

The future of mobility in Ohio is at an interesting point with the state government considering increased funding for public transportation and the recently passed gas tax to maintain infrastructure.

We welcomed Jack Marchbanks, Ph.D., the new Director of the Ohio Department of Transportation. Marchbanks discussed the most pressing transportation needs and opportunities facing the state, including first and last mile mobility, infrastructure issues, and on-going funding. Colleen Marshall (Co-Anchor of WCMH NBC4) interviewed.

Recorded on May 1, 2019 at the Boat House at Confluence Park in Columbus, Ohio.

The gender wealth gap goes far beyond wage inequality and is a much more comprehensive framework for understanding a women's financial security over her lifetime. Wealth, the value of assets minus debts, enables women to be economically empowered. While building wealth can be a lifelong process, women, especially women of color, generally have fewer opportunities than men to accumulate wealth.

Our panel discussed the gender and racial wealth gap and community solutions to move towards economic empowerment for women, girls, and families. The conversation centered around findings from the recently commissioned report by The Institute for Women's Policy Research "Assets for Equity: Building Wealth for Women in Central Ohio", the first to look at the gender and racial wealth gap at a local level in Ohio.

We welcomed Christie Angel (President and CEO of YWCA Columbus), Suparna Bhaskaran, Ph.D. (Senior Researcher at The Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society), Darrick Hamilton (Executive Director of the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity), and host Kelley Griesmer (President and CEO of The Women's Fund of Central Ohio).

Recorded on April 24, 2019 at the Boat House at Confluence Park in Columbus, Ohio.

We need only imagine for a moment what Columbus would be like if not for CAPA. A downtown void of music plays and performance, lifeless streets in the evenings, ghosts of historic and palatial theater spaces long gone. Thankfully, the vision and passion of a few stubborn visionaries have both preserved and persevered to allow a flourishing arts community to thrive. The future is bright as our cultural heritage marks time while surging forward.

To discuss CAPA's 50 years in Columbus, we welcome Chad Whittington (President and CEO at CAPA), Michael Coleman (Former Mayor of Columbus), Larry Fisher (CAPA Co-Founder), and host Mary Yost (Editorial Page Editor at The Columbus Dispatch).

Recorded on April 17, 2019 at the Boat House at Confluence Park in Columbus, Ohio.

Since Appalachia was unlocked for shale production it's become one of the most productive areas in the nation. Meanwhile, solar and wind projects are popping up across the state, and there is a proposed bailout of the state’s existing nuclear plants.

Regardless of the energy source there are on-going complications. Building project hit roadblocks, stakeholders have different goals, and regulations can slow down the process. Not to mention maintaining consistent, transparent communication among the government, businesses, and community... collaboration is the word!

To tackle where Ohio energy is headed, we welcome Allen Fore (Vice President of Public Affairs at Kinder Morgan), Dale Arnold (Director of Energy, Utility and Local Government Policy at the Ohio Farm Bureau), David Wilhelm (Partner and Chief Strategy Officer at Hecate Energy LLC), and host Tristan Navera (Journalist at Columbus Business First).

Recorded on April 10, 2019 at the Boat House at Confluence Park in Columbus, Ohio.

The Health Policy Institute of Ohio (HPIO) will be releasing its 2019 Health Value Dashboard on April 4th, a tool to track Ohio’s progress toward health value.

A better health value ranking indicates good health outcomes and lower healthcare spending relative to other states. Both components are equally important: we cannot maintain population health improvements if the costs are unsustainable and we shouldn’t strive for lower current spending at the expense of poor long-term population health.

In 2017, Ohio ranked 46th in health value, meaning Ohioans are living less healthy lives and spending more on health care than people in most other states.

Amy Rohling McGee (President of HPIO) will lead a panel discussion about the findings of the 2019 Health Value Dashboard with Allison Russo (State Representative of District 24 and Policy Research Director at Kennell and Associates, Inc.), Angela Dawson (Executive Director at the Ohio Commission on Minority Health), and Joe Mazzola, MPA (Franklin County Public Health Commissioner).

Recorded on April 3, 2019 at the Boat House at Confluence Park in Columbus, Ohio.

The concept of cloud computing has been in our midst since the late 2000s and quickly became part of our day-to-day lives. Anyone with a Google or iCloud account, Office 365, or a smart phone is now familiar with it, whether they want to be or not.

IT professionals love what cloud computing brings to the table: large-scale data storage without direct management or physical hardware, easy access around the world from myriad devices, and so much more. But many end users hate the idea of their information being stored "out there in the cloud" and fear the associated lack of control and security risks.

Featuring John Hrusovsky (President of JJH Consulting, LLC), Susan Gueli (Senior Vice President of CIO Infrastructure and Operations at Nationwide), David L. White (CIO at Battelle), and Branndon Kelley (VP and CIO at American Municipal Power).

Recorded on March 27, 2019 at the Boat House at Confluence Park in Columbus, Ohio.