The City Club of Cleveland Podcast

Cleveland Browns\' teammates Andrew Hawkins and Joe Thomas are co-hosts of the popular The ThomaHawk Show podcast in addition to their current roles with NFL Media.\r\n\r\nAn undrafted wide receiver out of Toledo, Hawkins started his professional football career with the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes before joining the NFL in 2011, playing first for the Cincinnati Bengals before signing on with the Cleveland Browns in 2014. Hawkins also serves as the Director of Business Development for The SpringHill Company, a video-production and entertainment organization led by LeBron James and Maverick Carter.\r\n\r\nThomas was a 10-time Pro Bowl selection and played every offensive snap at left tackle (NFL-record 10,363 consecutive) during his 11-year career with the Browns. He is a two-time Browns Walter Payton Man of the Year honoree (2010 and 2016), which recognizes a player's excellence in the community and on-field performance.\r\n\r\nJoin us as Hawkins and Thomas discuss their NFL careers and how they continue to use their platform as professional athletes and on-air media personalities to raise awareness for important social justice topics, including creating equality and opportunities in sports, education, and throughout the entire community.

In America and other Western democracies, older industrial communities are in a painful process of economic transition. These geographic regions were once economic powerhouses, but have experienced a decline in manufacturing, and a subsequent decline in local economies, property taxes, education, and other community assets. Research has shown that when election season rolls around, residents of these geographic regions are also increasingly likely to latch onto populist candidates like Donald Trump or Marine le Pen.\r\n\r\nNeopopulism thrives in rust belt communities across the globe - communities where residents are responsive to the messages of nationalism, nativism, retreat from the international community, and nostalgia for days gone by offered up by right-wing populists. Yet, evidence also suggests that when these communities have economic hope, the appeal of populism wanes. Economic condition and the appeal of populism are inseparable, and if the United States and Europe do not address the feelings of alienation and desperation produced in these communities, they will continue to face the rise of angry electorates willing to give voice to chaos-causing, antidemocratic candidates.\r\n\r\nJoin us as national experts discuss the transatlantic effort to diminish the appeal of populism, revitalize rust belt economies, and restore democracy.

For the first time in more than a decade, the Democrats control the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. Their majorities in congress are exceptionally slim, requiring them to govern and legislate with unity-which they don't always have. United in their effort to deny President Trump a second term, they rebuilt the \"blue wall\" in the Midwest, expanded their base in the popular Sun Belt cities of Atlanta, Houston, and Phoenix, and turned Georgia blue for the first time since 1992. This was accomplished, in large part, due to the efforts of Black voters and communities.\r\n\r\nDespite success at the ballot box, deep divisions remain between the party\'s moderate and progressive wings. Progressives are pushing proposals such as Medicare for All, a $15 minimum wage, the cancellation of student loan debt, and a Green New Deal-and are willing to abolish the filibuster to ensure these policies are enacted. The moderates appear more concerned with job creation, lowering taxes, and, in many cases, support maintaining the filibuster and working across party lines to pass legislation, despite the difficulty of doing so. These divisions are reflected in their voter base which is arguably the most diverse in history and is likely become more diverse if demographic trends continue.\r\n\r\nGiven all these factors, what is the future for the Democratic Party? What should their priorities be? Who should make those decisions? And how should the Biden administration navigate the deeply rooted beliefs in different wings of the party? Join us for a conversation with two political strategists about the future of the country's oldest political party.

This March, many Ohio students will return to the classroom for the first time in a year, after schools first shut down because of COVID-19 last spring. Teachers, administrators and parents have worked tirelessly to educate these students, but most agree that remote instruction simply cannot replace the learning done in-person with a teacher and student face-to-face. Some educators and policy makers, fear that, for some students, the educational and social losses that have occurred as a result of remote learning are steep and will be hard to surmount.\r\n\r\nOhio Governor Mike DeWine recently asked all Ohio public school districts to formulate and submit a plan to address the educational losses of the past year by April 1st. Some suggestions have included extended school-day hours, more tutoring, adding days to the beginning or end of the school year, or the creation of robust summer learning programs. This request comes just a few weeks after the Ohio Department of Education published a solemn report on literacy statistics in the state: Almost half of literacy tests administered to kindergarteners revealed that these students scored "not on track," and third grade reading proficiency rates dropped by eight percentage points.\r\n\r\nJoin us as national and regional educators discuss what learning loss is, how severe its effects really are, and what school districts are doing to mitigate it. We'll also discuss what teachers, parents and students may have gained educationally during the pandemic.

Despite the attention paid to tech and gig jobs and workers, the manufacturing industry continues to occupy a central place in the American economy. For many, a manufacturing job provides the most promising path to job stability and upward mobility. However, over the last decade, the implementation of technological advances in manufacturing - digitalization, automation, robots, artificial intelligence, and the internet of things (IoT) - led to heightened fears of job loss, especially for workers without a college degree. The COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated these fears, creating deep divisions between workers able to engage in remote work and those unable to do so.\r\n\r\nNow, as vaccine efforts ramp up, the United States is about to enter a \"new normal\" and recover from the economic downturn, while also re-engaging previous efforts to revitalize and develop its manufacturing industries, in both traditional and emerging sectors. What does the \"factory of the future\" look like post-COVID? Will the reliance on emerging technologies deepen - and, if so, what effect does that have on workers? Is it possible for the manufacturing industry actually gain resilience through the adoption of technology?

It has been one year since the COVID-19 pandemic entered Ohio. Now, hioans are hopeful that we\'re at the beginning of the end of the pandemic. Vaccine distribution is accelerating, confirmed cases and positivity rates are declining, schools are returning to in-person classes, and certain restrictions are being lifted. Governor Mike DeWine discusses what\'s next for the state of Ohio.\r\n\r\nThis forum is the The Annual Bolton Memorial Forum on National Politics. Support for City Club Virtual Forums is provided by Bank of America, KeyBank, PNC and the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District. Production and distribution of City Club forums in partnership with ideastream is generously provided by PNC and the United Black Fund.

Dwindling enrollment. Another look at the digital divide. Hybrid and totally remote learning. The pandemic has sent ripples through the education system in the United States, in many ways permanently changing how our nation's children learn. Amongst these change, how students are tested has been altered as well.\r\n\r\nAfter schools were shut down a year ago, several college and universities made submitting SAT and ACT test scores optional. Prior to the pandemic, there were 1,070 schools that were test-optional - one of whom was test-blind. That figure has jumped to nearly 1,700 and counting, with more than 70 considering themselves test-blind for enrollment this coming fall semester. The College Board, the non-profit organization with a mission of making higher education accessible for all, recently announced they are no longer offering the SAT Subject Tests and the essay. With standardized testing under more scrutiny than ever before, educators, parents and student are taking a deeper look at the organization and the history and legacy of testing in the U.S. The College Board nearly operates as a monopoly with more than $1 billion in annual revenue. In recent years, studies and data have found that that testing in general puts our nation's most vulnerable children at a socioeconomic disadvantage, leading to the College Board creating its controversial Adversity Index. In that same vein, opponents of say testing can actually give some kids an extra advantage.\r\n\r\nNow, some colleges are phasing out the test altogether or, in some cases, creating their own entrance exam as is the case with the University of California school system.\r\n\r\nThe effects of the pandemic aren't limited to college testing-high school and elementary school systems around the country are also taking another look at the benefits and shortcomings of standardized testing as well.\r\n\r\nIs standardized testing in the U.S. in jeopardy? How can doing away with testing altogether help or harm students? Join us for a City Club Youth forum to discuss standardized testing.\r\n\r\nThe livestream will be available beginning at 12:30 p.m. Have questions? Tweet them at @cityclubyouth or send a text to 330.541.5794.

For more than 30 years, The City Club of Cleveland has hosted the annual High School Debate Championship in which the top two area high school debaters square off in a classic \"Lincoln-Douglas\" style debate. Despite the pandemic, we are moving forward with this tradition and presenting the championship virtually.\r\nThe two finalists, Sophia Avery, a junior at Chagrin Falls High School, and Soren Palencik, a senior at Hawken School, will be debating Resolved: The United States ought to guarantee universal child care.

In 2021, Cleveland faces a mayoral election. Leading up to the primary, the City Club will be speaking with candidates seeking the city\'s highest office.\r\n\r\nRoss DiBello grew up in Chesterland and graduated from both The Ohio State University and the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. An attorney, he spent most of his career working for Judge Cassandra Collier-Williams, most recently as her staff attorney at the Court of Common Pleas.\r\n\r\nDiBello formally announced his candidacy for Mayor of Cleveland on October 28, 2020. As mayor, he plans to institute more democratic procedures on Cleveland City Council and increase transparency, prioritize public transportation, close Burke Lakefront Airport and create a vibrant lakefront, and increase innovation in education.

A recent poll from the Associated Press and the National Opinion Research Center found that 91 percent of Americans favor some sort of criminal justice system and police reform. But that\'s not the only aspect of our legal system hampered by decades of discrimination, racism, and classism. There is also a persistent civil justice gap in America - and it\'s widening.\r\n\r\nThe civil justice gap is described as the difference between the civil legal needs of low-income Americans and the resources available to meet those needs. According to one recent study, poor and low-income Americans received adequate legal attention for only 14 percent of the civil problems they reported. The vast majority, unable to afford representation, too often navigate the courts and other bureaucracies on their own as they face eviction, debt collection lawsuits, issues with immigration, disability, and domestic violence. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated this problem. What is it about the way our courts work that make it so hard for ordinary people to navigate them and get the resolutions they need?\r\n\r\nJoin us as national and local experts discuss the scope and scale of the problems that people encounter in the civil legal system, and explore some potential solutions.