What it takes to be an Alabama basketball super fan, according to people who dedicate their lives year-round to supporting a historically successful program living in the shadow of football. Plus, a look back at the life and legacy of Alabama basketball super fan Luke Ratliff.
Guests:
Hunter Johnson, Die-hard Alabama fan you know from Twitter as BurnerLJohnson
Reagan Starner, owner R&R Cigars and friend of Luke Ratliff
Remembering the great Tuscaloosa News sports columnist Cecil Hurt, who passed away at 62. Featuring our 2018 conversation with him on a range of topics related to Alabama football, including his relationship with the Crimson Tide fan pass and his background and connection to the program.
Rob explores the spiritual genius of the late rapper DMX. He observes X’s power of prayer, recounts the rapper’s destructive childhood, and tells the tale of how the breakout hit “Ruff Ryder’s Anthem” came to be.
This episode was originally produced as a Music and Talk show available exclusively on Spotify. Find the full song on Spotify or wherever you get your music.
Does one lose the love for Alabama football? Despite the success and tradition, can the passion for it really just fade away? And what if you never cared about football at all?
-Guests:
Josh Bean, former AL.com sports writer/editor
Francesca Scalici, Birmingham resident who does not care about football
Cities throughout the U.S. (and around the world) are struggling with the many issues that come with neighborhood growth and displacement. But what if, instead of being negatively impacted by development, residents benefited from it instead?
In this episode — part two of our two-part series on new models for wealth-building — we explore “neighborhood REITS,” a model that helps community members invest in local development projects. This innovative approach can help folks participate in their own communities’ growth, and as we see through the work of Albina Vision, it can also potentially begin to redress some of the racial inequities that have been baked into our housing system for decades.
In this episode:
[00:00 - 05:30] Local Portland artist Cleo Davis shares the struggles of gentrification that destroyed the legacy of his community in the historically Black neighborhood of Albina.
[06:16 - 13:07] Marc Norman, associate professor in affordable housing, breaks down a new wealth-building model called a neighborhood REIT.
[13:08 - 23:09] Rukaiyah Adams, Board Chair of the Albina Vision Trust, discusses the history of Lower Albina and her hopes that a neighborhood REIT could be one way to help people access the multi-generational wealth that they were denied.
[23:10 - 25:37] Cleo Davis wraps up with the hope that Albina Vision will be the greatest monument to Black creativity and prosperity that the neighborhood could have.
City of the Future is hosted by Eric Jaffe and Vanessa Quirk, and produced by Guglielmo Mattioli. Story editing by Rough Cut Collective and Benjamin Walker. Mix is by Andrew Callaway. Art is by Tim Kau. Our music is composed by Adaam James Levin-Areddy of Lost Amsterdam. Special thanks to Cleo Davis, Marc Norman, Rukaiyah Adams, Winta Yohannes. Annie Koo, Alison Novak, Jesse Shapins, and Chrystal Dean.
Bennington and New York City. Autumn, 1985-spring, 1986. Less Than Zero is published and Bret becomes a cultural phenomenon. Bret also becomes a college senior. The most famous artist of the 20th century crashes his graduation party.
Rob explores the obsessive and eerily constructed hit “Creep,” which arrived on Radiohead’s debut album, ‘Pablo Honey.’ He discusses the origins of the track, the exhaustion caused by the song’s commercial success, and the power of ’90s rock.
This episode was originally produced as a Music and Talk show available exclusively on Spotify. Find the full song on Spotify or wherever you get your music.
All on-field marching band performances were banned by the SEC in 2020, so an abbreviated Million Dollar Band played from the Bryant-Denny Stadium seats. We talk to the MDB director and a senior color guard member about the band's experience during the 2020 season, plus what makes the band such a vital part of the gameday experience. Also, a band alumnus on why the MDB had such a major impact on his life.
Cities across the U.S. are suffering from dire housing crises. Housing supply is low, and prices are high — in some cities, sky high. And wages and income aren't keeping up. Many struggle to make rent, let alone save for a home.
So it’s no wonder that affordable housing programs often focus on getting people into homes — people need help now. But we also need long-term solutions that could help renters generate wealth they could pass on to their families and children. In other words, as essential as affordable housing is, it isn't enough on its own to close the wealth gap, which in the U.S. is particularly stark between Black and White Americans.
In the first episode of our new season of City of the Future, we talk to the founders of Esusu and Portland’s Community Investment Trust and explore new economic models that could help renters, particularly immigrants and new arrivals, become home or partial building owners — and have the opportunity to access multi-generational wealth as a result.
In this episode:
[00:00 - 04:24] Marc Norman, associate professor in affordable housing, talks about the racial wealth gap and new economic models that could help non-homeowners generate wealth to pass on their families and children.
[04:55 - 15:02] We speak with Abbey Wemimo and Samir Goel, the co-founders of Esusu, which helps renters achieve and improve credit scores by paying their rent on time.
[15:03 - 26:34] Vanessa flies to Portland, Oregon to meet John W. Haines, organizer of Plaza 122, the country’s first Community Investment Trust. We also meet with Yonas Kassie, Hawi Muleta, and Sonya Damtew of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Cultural and Resource Center.
City of the Future is hosted by Eric Jaffe and Vanessa Quirk, and produced by Guglielmo Mattioli. Story editing by Rough Cut Collective and Benjamin Walker. Mix is by Andrew Callaway. Art is by Tim Kau. Our music is composed by Adaam James Levin-Areddy of Lost Amsterdam. Special thanks to Marc Norman, Abbey Wemimo, Samir Goel, John W. Haines, Yonas Kassie, Hawi Muleta, Sonya Damtew, Annie Koo, Alison Novak, Jesse Shapins, and Chrystal Dean.