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 Nor ..read more

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 ..read more

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 s ..read more

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 Cin ..read more

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 con ..read more

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 mor ..read more

It’s February, and you know what that means—bring on the Dr. King coloring sheets! But how did Black History Month even become a thing? Is there a right way or a wrong way to celebrate it? Who are some local African-American historical figures we should all know more about, and if Dr. David Childs could host a dinner party with some of his own heroes from the past, who’d be on the guest list? Our resident #BlackHistory expert answers these and other questions from listeners, and even lifts our spirits with song, in this special episode. You’ll find many more #BlackHistoryMonth resources on our ..read more

Back in December, a group of Democracy & Me students visited the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (www.freedomcenter.org), joined by members of the Cincinnati Public Radio staff. We toured the permanent exhibits From Slavery to Freedom, with stories and artifacts from Colonial times to Emancipation; the Slave Pen, a reconstructed cabin from pre-Abolition Kentucky; and Invisible: Slavery Today, which uncovers human trafficking around the world, in our own times. We also viewed a special exhibition called Designing Justice, featuring the striking posters of artist/activist Luba L ..read more

We’ve just launched Democracy & Me’s 2022 Student Voices Competition, an opportunity for young people from across the WVXU listening area and beyond to speak their truth—or write it, draw it, make it sing… and maybe win a thousand bucks. For contest details including this year’s theme, complete rules, and a submission link (note the deadline: March 4), please visit www.DemocracyandMe.org. And for inspiration, here’s an encore of our last Student Voices Competition showcase, featuring top-scoring entries by Djibril Dembele, Addison Thacker, Molly Moser, Tanvi Rakesh, Jessica Kang, Zoe Woote ..read more

Yeah, it’s a complicated holiday—part of a mythical American origin story masking ugly truths about who’s really had a place at our nation’s table over the last 400 years. (Our friends at Learning for Justice have some helpful resources on all that.) And this particular Thanksgiving brings a lot of the same health concerns as last year, with COVID-19 cases rising again in our own area, plus new anxieties over the long-term impact of the pandemic, crazy inflation, high-stakes court cases… Even our holiday shopping is threatened by supply chain issues and sustainability worries. It’s like a big ..read more