Democracy and Z

You know the drill: Active shooter on campus. Lockdown. Lights out. Huddle quietly on the floor in a corner with your classmates and wait… and wait… for someone, anyone, to do something about the epidemic of gun violence in the United States, which claims way too many young lives.

President Biden insists that the era of “thoughts and prayers” is over—but after all this time, and all this trauma, can we really expect action on gun control from our elected leaders? And are the steps they’re talking about really going to make our schools and neighborhoods safer?

For this episode, we welcome three student activists pushing for stricter gun laws here in Ohio, along with stronger efforts to address some of the root causes of armed violence. “This is an issue that affects all of us,” says Ethan Nichols, of Ohio Students for Gun Legislation, “and it is a public health crisis.”

The podcasters:

• Joyeuse Muhorakeye, Aiken H.S. (co-host)
• Enock Sadiki, Aiken H.S. (co-host)
• Brennan Jones, Finneytown H.S.
• Jordan Polk, University of Cincinnati
• Alex Bentley, University of Cincinnati/Transitions & Access Program
• Zach Maaieh, Ottawa Hills H.S., Toledo, Students Demand Action
• Cordelia Van der Veer, Toledo Technology Academy, Students Demand Action
• Ethan Nichols, Xavier University, Ohio Students for Gun Legislation

Podcast originally recorded Sunday, April 11, 2021, via Zoom.

Episode illustration photo: On February 19, 2018, high school students from across the Washington, D.C. area held a “lie-in” in front of the White House to protest for stricter gun control laws. Photo by Joseph Gruber/Shutterstock

Learn more:

NPR: Biden's Executive Actions On Gun Control: How Effective Might They Be?

New York Times: Can New Gun Violence Research Find a Path Around the Political Stalemate?

Everytown: The Impact of Gun Violence on Children and Teens

Education Week: School Shootings This Year: How Many and Where

1A: How Gun Violence Affects American Children

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.

With every new generation in America, it seems, there comes another generation gap: typically, idealistic young people push for social and political change, while more conservative elders push back.

We see this familiar struggle playing out with Generation Z on a wide range of issues, but in different ways than in the past, thanks to demographic shifts, the pervasiveness of social media, and other seismic changes of the new millennium: “This generation lined up with almost a breaking point in society with a lot of different things, whether it’s environmental justice and environmental protection, gun control, minority rights,” says Democracy & Me intern Jordan Polk. “We’re understanding and grasping as we’re growing older, that if we don’t do something now, it could be really terrible.” Sure, but… why can’t we all do a better job listening and learning across the generations, for everyone’s benefit?

How do we end these endless culture wars and start working on real peace and prosperity—for the young, the old, and the generations to come? Listen up.

The podcasters:

• Jean Pateman, Talawanda H.S. (host)
• Joyeuse Muhorakeye, Aiken H.S.
• Enock Sadiki, Aiken H.S.
• Brennan Jones, Finneytown H.S.
• Jordan Polk, University of Cincinnati
• Nico Luginbill, Walnut Hills H.S.

Less bugs, more microphones—this is how we like to commune with the elements here at D&Z. Cincinnati Public Radio’s first-ever PodCamp brought together students from across the region on a recent Sunday afternoon to brainstorm, develop, and record their own mini-podcasts, with inspiration and tech help from some creative pros. Here’s what the three teams came up with... and then some.

Introduction: Jordan Polk, of Elementz, recent alumnus of Democracy & Me and the University of Cincinnati

Part 1: Lost in Transition

Real talk about what these Covid school years have done to us, with Norah Zellen and Annabelle Freeman of Nagel Middle School; Emmalee Brammer of North Adams H.S., and Olivia Kelly of Winton Woods H.S.

Content advisory: This segment contains references to self-harm, suicide, vaping, and drug use.

Part 2: #Overrated

Pawan Rai of Aiken New Tech H.S. and Jonathan Moody of Walnut Hills H.S. explain why that movie (which they may or may not have seen) is not as good as you think it is. Also: geometry class. Too many numbers.

Part 3: Mind Your Business

The real problem is that too many people (and some entire countries) are paying attention to all the wrong things. With Sydnie Barrett of Walnut Hills H.S., and Syriene Djakata and Joyeuse Muhorakeye of Aiken H.S.

Part 4: Playback Circle Time

We came, we played, we podded: PodCampers and staff work the picket line and reflect on the day's lessons.

Incidental audio featuring the students with D&Z producer Julie Coppens, CET-TV education producer Mark Lammers, guest artists Candice Handy of Cincinnati Shakespeare Co., Jordan Polk of Elementz, and Harrison Hensley and Ellyn Broderick of ComedySportz OTR. Special thanks to Mark, Kristen Teter and all our friends at CET-TV for co-hosting, WVXU audio engineer Derrick Smith for working the board, “Start Hear” podcast producer Tripp Eldredge for giving us the lowdown, and to Myles Bess of KQED’s “Above the Noise” for an awesome pep talk.

Episode recorded at WVXU and CET-TV on May 1, 2022

When you hear the phrase “radicalized youth,” what image comes to mind? Kinda depends on your politics: wherever we stand on the left-to-right spectrum, we usually worry about violent extremism coming from somewhere else.

Sure, some of our own ideas might be a little out-there, but… hold on… maybe we’ve been radicalized, and we don’t even know it yet! Yikes. Things have definitely gotten more intense now that we’re all living on the Internet*.

In this episode, we talk about where, how and why youth radicalization happens, and how to fix the worst of it, while sharing some of our own experiences down those dark online rabbit holes.

• Joyeuse Muhorakeye (host), Aiken H.S.
• Brennan Jones, Finneytown H.S.
• Nandini Likki, The Seven Hills School
• Enock Sadiki, Aiken H.S.
• Alex Bentley, University of Cincinnati/Transitions & Access Program
• Jordan Shaw, Cincinnati School for Creative and Performing Arts

Podcast originally recorded Sunday, March 7, 2021, via Zoom.

*Nathan Taylor Pemberton wrote about Gen Z radicals and their online spaces in The New Yorker; organizations like the Council on Foreign Relations are sounding alarms too, as in this op-ed for Newsweek. And for a more hopeful outlook, here’s a great NPR profile by Hannah Allam of two “young radicals”—one on the left, one on the right—who turned out to be distant cousins, were able to have respectful conversations on tough issues, and became friends.