CivicCast is the official podcast of CivicCon, a nonprofit partnership between the Center for Civic Engagement and the Pensacola News Journal. We intend to make our communities better places to live, grow, work and invest through smart planning and civic conversations.
On this episode of CivicCast, I chat with Seth Kaplan, a leading expert on fragile states and the author of Fragile Neighborhoods. He is a lecturer at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and has spent years studying how societies succeed or fail, both globally and here in the United States. We explore how the breakdown of local relationships and institutions is shaping communities across America, how Seth's work on fragile states led him to focus on neighborhoods...
10 Feb 2026
Episode 12 - Henry Grabar: How Parking Explains the World
On this episode of CivicCast I am joined by Henry Grabar, journalist and author of Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World. We talk about the biggest misconceptions behind paid parking, Donald Shoup's influence and the self-fulfilling prophecy embedded in many zoning laws. Henry will be giving a free CivicCon talk on Monday, February 23 at 6 p.m. at the Wesley Abbey building of First United Methodist Church, located at 2 E Wright St in Pensacola, FL. Attendees can register at thi...
20 Mar 2025
Episode 11 - Coby Lefkowitz: Building Optimism
On this episode of CivicCast I chat with our upcoming CivicCon speaker, Coby Lefkowitz Coby is the author of Building Optimism, which explores why American communities look the way they do, and offers a series of concrete reforms to make them more beautiful, desirable and affordable through dozens of project vignettes. Trained as an Urban Planner at the University of Virginia, Coby's work explores the intersection of development and urban design to promote more walkable, dynamic and sustainab...
5 Feb 2025
Episode 10 - Rebekah Kik: Zoning for Opportunity
On this episode of CivicCast I chat with our upcoming CivicCon speaker, Rebekah Kik. Rebekah graduated from Andrews University (2003) with a Masters of Architecture and the University of Notre Dame with a Post Graduate degree in Architecture & Urban Design (2007). She began her professional career working in architecture in both the U.S. and the United Kingdom. Rebekah was working as an urban designer prior to joining the city of Kalamazoo in 2014 as the City Planner. She is now the Deput...
22 Jan 2025
Episode 9 - Scott Satterwhite & The 309 Punk Project
On this episode I am joined by Scott Satterwhite, local author, professor, punk historian, and co-executive director and curator of the 309 Punk Project.The 309 Punk Project recently won a CivicCon Award in the placemaking category, which recognizes the work of an individual or organization to create a great public space for anyone in the community to enjoy.Scott shares the history of the 309 Punk House, misconceptions about punk culture, the importance of having inclusive spaces in our commu...
6 Jan 2025
Episode 8 - Walter Arrington
On this episode of CivicCast, I speak with 2024 Equity Award winner Walter Arrington.We spoke about his background and reasons for getting into community advocacy, the biggest challenges he faces in his work, and how we can change the narrative to build more empathy for our most vulnerable populations. Walter serves as Director of Advocacy at Community Health Northwest Florida, an organization with which he has also held other pivotal roles including Homeless Health Navigator and CORE Na...
25 Nov 2024
Episode 7 - Anna Muessig
Anna Muessig, director of Gehl's Cities Team, shares insights on how strategic urban planning can benefit communities, balancing data with public input for thriving cities.
12 Sept 2024
Episode 6 - Tom Dahlborg: Stop Bullying Together
On this episode of CivicCast, we chat with our upcoming CivicCon speaker, Tom Dahlborg.Tom Dahlborg is an internationally recognized speaker and writer focusing on stopping bullying, amplifying positive childhood experiences, and bringing “love in action” to all we do.Tom’s multiple award-winning book, The Big Kid and Basketball … and the lessons he taught his Father and Coach, focusing on bullying and ACES and PCES, has led to significant youth sport and school system improvements and improv...
30 Aug 2024
Episode 5 - Caitlin Cerame and Pensacola Transportation
Our guest today is Caitlin Cerame, transportation planner for the city of Pensacola.She talks about the recent Pensacola Active Transportation Plan, the processes behind making traffic calming measures, updates to Palafox Street and more.Cerame has a master's degree in urban and regional planning and a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Florida, and she also holds the designation of American Institute of Certified Planners from the American Planning Association. She...
22 Mar 2024
Episode 4 - Dr. Angela Bush: Leading a School Out of Low Performance
Joining us for this episode is Dr. Angela Bush, Area Director for Jefferson County Schools in Alabama.
During her four years as Principal of Erwin Middle School, Dr. Bush made notable strides to move the school from a low-performing school to a model high-performing educational institution in the school district, city, and state. She addressed and improved issues such as low teacher morale, low test scores, low attendance and high disciplinary infractions.
She gives us a preview of how she achieved that.
She will be giving a presentation at the REX Theatre in downtown pensacola on Thursday, April 11 from 6 - 7:30 p.m.
Register for her free CivicCon presentation here: https://CivicCon-Angela-Bush.eventbrite.com
8 Mar 2024
Episode 3 - Richard Harwood "Enough. Time to Build."
Today we are joined by Rich Harwood, president and founder of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation (https://theharwoodinstitute.org/). Richard has devoted his career to revitalizing the nation’s hardest-hit communities, transforming the world’s largest organizations, and reconnecting institutions like newsrooms and schools to society.
Over the past 35 years, he has developed a philosophy and practice of how communities can tackle shared problems, create a culture of shared responsibility, and deepen our civic faith.
He has written six books, including the Amazon bestseller Stepping Forward and Unleashed: A Proven Way Communities Can Spread Change and Make Hope Real for All.
He’s on a nationwide civic campaign called “Enough. Time to Build.” Amid contentious 2024 political campaigns, Rich believes the country needs a civic path forward, not more divisive politics, and that the real change we need is going to start in our local communities. His campaign calls on community leaders and active citizens to reclaim the public square from the most divisive voices and unleash our capacity as builders and doers.
Richard will be speaking at the Wesley Abbey building of first united Methodist church, 2 wright street in downtown Pensacola on Wednesday, March 20 starting at 6 p.m.
Register for this free CivicCon event here. (https://CivicCon-Richard-Harwood.eventbrite.com)
21 Feb 2024
Episode 2 - Jarah Jacquay and The Bluffline
Our guest is Jarah Jacquay, founder of The Bluffline, a grassroots effort to reconnect Pensacola residents with their environment and each other by building a public greenway from UWF to West Pensacola.
You'll learn about Jarah's background in walkability, his inspiration to start The Bluffline and next steps for the project.
Get involved with the project at www.bluffline.org
To see any of CivicCon's past speakers on the topic of walkability, such as Jeff Speck or Dan Burden, visit our website at www.civiccon.org.
15 Jan 2024
Episode 1 - Quint Studer and the Founding of CivicCon
Welcome to CivicCast, the companion podcast to CivicCon, where we dive deeper into the topics that can move our communities forward, such as mental health, homelessness, walkability and education.
For our very first guest, we have the philanthropist, businessman and founder of the Studer Community Institute and CivicCon: Quint Studer. Join us as he discusses the events that led to the creation of CivicCon.
We are always happy to hear from our audience. If you have suggestions for future episodes or CivicCon events, please email me at elara@civicconversations.org.
If you are interested in watching footage from any of our speakers over the last six years, you can visit www.civiccon.org.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
7 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 23 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
22
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
60
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