The Weekly

The Weekly

By WOBC News Presents: The WeeklyNews
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The Weekly episodes

  • #009: Gibson's

    Editor's Note: Due to technical issues with WOBC's radio transmitter, the recording of this show has significantly decreased audio quality. We have done as much as possible to repair the damage, and we apologize for the issues.


    On November 9, 2016, an Oberlin student walked into Gibson's Bakery, an Oberlin institution over a century old. While accounts differ, eventually, the student and store owner Allyn Gibson ended up across the street in a fight, along with two other students. The students—all of them Black—were arrested and charged by the police; Gibson, who is white, didn't get charged.

    Protests erupted. Students massed outside the store chanting "no justice, no peace!" and encouraging a total boycott of the store that many students still follow today. Pro-Gibson's counter protesters, many of them from motorcycle gangs, came to town to support the store and, often, intimidate students. Oberlin made national news headlines in The New York Times and other publications.

    Eventually, the students plead guilty to a set of reduced misdemeanor charges and accepted fines, and everything seemed to be in the past. But almost a year after the initial incident, the Gibson family sued the College and one of its dean's, Meredith Raimondo.

    How did we get here? We'll talk to Luke Fortney and Jake Berstein, editors-in-chief of The Grape, to hear about their investigation into the story.



    58 min
  • #008: A Look at the Books

    Editor's Note: Due to technical issues with WOBC's radio transmitter, the recording of this show has significantly decreased audio quality. We have done as much as possible to repair the damage, and we apologize for the issues.


    In March of 2018, President Ambar opened up the books. Well, sort of. In presentations, she detailed Oberlin's financial issues, tuition dependence, and the many decisions by her predecessors that left the College in the significantly compromised financial position it now finds itself in. 


    Or... did she? While Ambar's presentation was long and students peppered her with questions, how much did we actually learn? Johan and Daniel spoke with Sam Schuman, staff writer at The Grape, and student senator Josh Koller to find out.

    58 min
  • #007: Better Call Bob
    In our final episode of the season, Johan and Daniel talk to actor Bob Odenkirk about how he rose from a late night sketch show on his college radio station to fame on Better Call Saul and The Post, what it takes for an Obie to succeed in sketch comedy, the state of comedy and sensitivity and more.
    37 min
  • #006: State of the Union
    6. Donald Trump is up at 3 a.m. tweeting, and out golfing on the weekends. Republican voters seem to be showing strong support for Roy Moore, who was recently accused of multiple sexual misconduct violations with minors. Numerous diplomatic posts at the State Department remain vacant. Voters are angry. 

The list goes on, and it’s clear the state of our democracy isn’t exactly great. Enter David Orr, Emeritus Professor of Environmental Studies at Oberlin. He and others organized “The State of American Democracy, A National Conversation,” a multi-day conference on the subject, and we were lucky enough to talk to one of the keynote speakers.

On this episode, hosts Johan Cavert and Daniel Markus are joined by Professor Stephen Kinzer, a distinguished journalist, author, foreign policy expert, and Senior Fellow in International Affairs at Brown University’s Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs. They discuss the country’s cu
    1 hr
  • #005: (No) Seat at the Table
    After years of deliberations, student protests, and closed-door meetings, the Board of Trustees Rejected a proposal by Student Senate to add any student representation to the body, with Chair Chris Canavan, OC ’84, saying “A healthy board is one on which every trustee feels absolutely comfortable thinking out loud. Trustees are no less human than students: when we think out loud, we take note of who’s in the room, consciously or subconsciously. Most trustees, including those who might otherwise support the resolution, worry that some of us would think out loud less candidly if students were in the room. As chair, that’s unacceptable to me.” 

Student Senator Josh Koller and Oberlin Review News Editor Sydney Allen join The Weekly to discuss the future of student advocacy efforts in the wake of the setback and where students go from here. In the second half of our show, we tackle staffing issues in the Office of Disability Resources — the underlyin
    54 min
  • #004: North/South
    Did you know that many students refer to non-athletes as “Obies”? The divide between athletes and non-athletes has been getting a lot of attention lately, after Professor of English Yago Colás began hosting monthly discussion sessions on the issue. Captain of the Track and Field Team and nationally accomplished athlete, Lilah Drafts-Johnson, along with Student Senators Melvin Briggs and Kopano join The Weekly to examine the divide’s origins, its impact on student life, and what solutions students can use to break it down and think more critically about the role of athletics and activism at Oberlin.
    50 min
  • #003: Let’s Talk About Sex
    The Weekly is joined by India Wood, a senior trainer with Oberlin’s Preventing and Responding to Sexual Misconduct (PRSM) program as we talk with New York Times bestselling author Peggy Orenstein (OC '83) about her research and her most recent book "Girls and Sex.” We discuss intimate justice, hookup culture, consent, alcohol, and sex on college campuses. Plus, great reflections on how Oberlin's culture has changed since your parents went here.
    1 hr
  • #002: Hiring Freezes Over
    For academic departments looking to hire new faculty, each year normally begins with submissions of requests to a subcommittee of the General Faculty Council — except that didn’t happen in 2017, as in the wake of financial pressures, the College implemented a hiring freeze. Oberlin Review News Editor Sydney Allen joins Managing Editor Daniel Markus and host Johan Cavert to discuss the freeze’s rationale, how long it’s likely to last, and effects on students and other faculty as the college navigates uncertain financial waters.
    1 hr
  • #001: Board Have Mercy
    What does it take to be heard at the highest levels of college governance? Do students have a right to be members of their Board of Trustees, the body that makes all of Oberlin’s financial decisions? In our inaugural show, host Johan Cavert and Oberlin Review Managing Editor Daniel Markus discuss efforts to get a student representative on the board of trustees with Student Senators Kameron Dunbar, Thobeka Mnisi, and Josh Koller.
    1 hr

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WOBC News is proud to present The Weekly. Our team leads a diverse array of campus journalists and other guests through illuminating discussions of campus issues and a broad range of other topics relevant to the Oberlin community.