Democracy and Z Democracy and Me

The return of Democracy & Z!





Democracy and Me intern, Yoshie, was joined by Clark Montessori Senior, Nevaeh in a discussion on Women's History Month, Black History Month, and women of color who made a difference. Be sure to catch the 2nd half of the conversation next week!

With Earth Day on the horizon (April 22), we go deep into our own connections with nature, health and the environment. We consider the past—Earth Day itself goes all the way back to 1970—and the present, with the Biden Administration’s once-ambitious ecology agenda currently on ice*, while scientists’ climate-change projections only heating up. For many of us in Gen Z, the future is scary: “It’s like a time limit on our lives,” says Walnut Hills High Schooler Nola Stowe. But by learning more about the hows and whys of the climate crisis, environmental injustice, endangered species, pollution, drought and other problems, local and global, we plant seeds of solutions. And that helps us stay hopeful.  



The podcasters:



Harnoor Mann (host), University of Cincinnati



Nola Stowe, Walnut Hills H.S.



A.J. Jones, recent graduate, University of Cincinnati



*The New York Times Daily podcast just had a good episode about this.



Click here for NPR’s climate coverage.



Click here for details on the Greater Cincinnati Earth Day Festival on April 23; we’ll share info on other local events on the D&Me blog.



Here’s a Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library link for the book Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer, referenced by Nola during this episode. And here’s California Governor Gavin Newsom’s executive order to phase out gas-powered cars, mentioned by A.J.



And click here to access a vintage D&Z episode from September 2020, talking about Gen Z’s environmental activism with two young brothers from the Navajo Nation. It’s still one of our favorites.



Conversation recorded on Zoom April 10, 2022



Seedling photo illustration by Freedomz/Shutterstock

The producers of the 94th Academy Awards—airing at 8 p.m. this Sunday on ABC—hope a new “Fan Favorite” award, celebrating popular hits like Cinderella and Spider-Man: No Way Home, will entice Gen Z to tune into the three-hour trophy show. Maybe? Can you give Encanto some love while you’re at it? But we really wish Hollywood took teens, especially Black and Brown teens, more seriously: we’re smart, we’re globally aware, we carry our entertainment with us wherever we go, and we’re not satisfied with most of what you’re marketing to us. Do better, and we might keep watching. Joining us for this special movie-themed episode is our good friend TT Stern-Enzi, film critic for Fox 19 and artistic director of the Over-the-Rhine Film Festival.  



The podcasters:





Robert Thikkurissy (host), University of Cincinnati, Transition & Access Program



Pawan Rai, Aiken New Tech H.S.



Joyeuse Muhorakeye, Aiken H.S.



Lael Ingram, Walnut Hills H.S.



with guest film critic TT Stern-Enzi



Conversation recorded on Zoom March 13, 2022



Oscars smartphone illustration by Jimmy Tudeschi/Shutterstock

One star, would not recommend this particular thrill ride—but pandemic extremes have been our daily reality for the last two years, which, we’d like to point out, is a huge chunk of your life when you’re a teenager. 



So what have we learned? What have we lost? And what the heck now: Are we safely back at the station, or is it time to brace ourselves for the next loop-de-loop? Buckle up, keep your hands and feet inside the car, and ride along with us as we talk all things COVID-19, now chugging into year three. First, though, you’ll hear some students from Diamond Oaks Career Campus in Cincinnati, sharing their own pandemic ups and downs. 



The podcasters:



Robert Thikkurissy (host), University of Cincinnati, Transition & Access ProgramAJ Jones, UC graduateNico Luginbill, Walnut Hills H.S.Pawan Rai, Aiken H.S.Syriene Djakata, Aiken H.S.Tasnim Saad, Aiken H.S.Antonia R. Willis, Taft IT H.S.Bryan Aguilera, Virtual H.S.



Conversation recorded on Zoom March 6, 2022



Episode edited by Sydnie Barrett, Walnut Hills H.S., with D&Z producer Julie Coppens 



Music composed by Noah Hawes, of Elementz



Roller-coaster illustration by vectorcorp/Shutterstock

The news started coming in overnight Wednesday: after weeks of military buildup on the Ukrainian border, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war on the former Soviet Republic, now an independent democracy and home to more than 40 million people. On Thursday, those citizens of Ukraine—and most of the rest of the world—were in shock and terror, many fleeing for safety and all wondering how far this unprovoked attack might go.



Regina Appatova is an ESL educator at Aiken New Tech High School in Cincinnati, who grew up in Ukraine and lived in Russia. We asked her to help us understand the conflict, the enduring bonds between the two countries, and what it’s been like this week for Americans like her with roots and loved ones in Eastern Europe. “It’s a nightmare,” she says—and no one knows how much worse the situation might get, before Putin gets what he wants. 





The podcasters:



Nico Luginbill, Walnut Hills H.S.Joyeuse Muhorakeye, Aiken New Tech H.S.Pawan Rai, Aiken H.S.Tasnim Saad, Aiken H.S.Syriene Djakata, Aiken H.S.Antonia R. Willis, Taft H.S.Bryan Aguilera, Virtual H.S.Lael Ingram, Walnut Hills H.S.



Conversation recorded on Zoom Feb. 24, 2022, with D&Z producer Julie Coppens



Map illustration by Kirill Makarov/Shutterstock



Here’s a link to NPR’s ongoing coverage of the Ukraine invasion: https://www.npr.org/live-updates/ukraine-russia-invasion-putin



Live updates from The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02/24/world/russia-ukraine-putin



And here’s a link to a story from WVXU reporter Becca Costello about how Cincinnati is responding to the crisis:



https://www.wvxu.org/local-news/2022-02-24/aftab-pureval-cincinnati-help-resettling-ukrainian-refugees

Major-league sports and premier events like the Olympics have long been an American obsession, but so far, Gen Z seems to be sitting out—unless, say, our hometown Cincinnati Bengals happen to make it to the Super Bowl, but even then we’ll probably be scrolling something else on the side, because football takes forever.



Other than turning their entire product into a video game—one youth-outreach strategy described in a recent New York Times article—what can the NFL, the NBA, and other legacy leagues do to win us over? For starters: try being less racist*, less sexist, less exploitative, and more diverse, inclusive, and sustainable.



More than a better game, we want a better world, and we think sports can help us get there. But the industry needs a new game plan.





The podcasters:



Alberto C. Jones (host)Nico Luginbill, Walnut Hills H.S.Joyeuse Muhorakeye, Aiken New Tech H.S.Pawan Rai, Aiken New Tech H.S.



Conversation recorded on Zoom Feb. 13, 2022 (Super Bowl Sunday)



* Recommended listening: Here’s an NPR interview with former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, who’s filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL, alleging racial discrimination in hiring.