All Sides

09/02/2025

We had a special post-Labor Day Tuesday edition of the Reporter Roundtable.
We talked about how the new higher education law is impacting college students, redistricting, a bill to pay student teachers, and more. Listen at the link below to hear from:

Jo Ingles, senior reporter, Ohio Statehouse News Bureau
Laura Hancock, politics and policy reporter, cleveland.com
Megan Henry, reporter, Ohio Capital Journal

https://www.wosu.org/show/all-sides/2025-09-02/weekly-reporter-roundtable

09/02/2025

After 16-year-old Sammy Chapman was found dead from fentanyl poisoning he received through a drug dealer on Snapchat, his parents began lobbying for laws to help parents monitor their children's online activity. Sammy’s Law is now receiving bipartisan support as it makes it’s way through the legislature.

Sammy’s Law is named after 16-year-old Sammy Chapman, who died from fentanyl poisoning. He obtained the drugs from a dealer through social media.

09/02/2025

As Ohio lawmakers return from summer break, what’s on their agenda? Back to school time in Ohio this year brings state-mandated changes. K-12 schools will be required to adopt AI policies making Ohio the first state to require it.

Redistricting and new congressional maps will be a top priority for Ohio lawmakers as they get back to work following their summer break.

09/02/2025

For All Sides Weekend: Arts and Culture, host Christopher Purdy from WOSU Public Media and Classical 101 talked with:

Heather Garner, founder/executive director, New Albany Symphony Orchestra
Orlay Alonso, Music at St Mary pianist/impresario
Karen Peeler, Older Wiser Lifelong Scholars (OWLS) program, Westminster-Thurber Community

Listen here:

https://www.wosu.org/show/all-sides/2025-08-29/all-sides-weekend-arts-culture

08/29/2025

For Fascinating Ohio this week we talked to:

Leslie D. Poole, executive director, Pet FBI Ohio
Maresa Fanelli, founder and executive director emeritus, PetFBI
Grace Bachmann, forester, Wildlife Conservation Society
Tod F. Stuessy, author of Isolated Wonder/professor emeritus, The Ohio State University

Listen here:

https://www.wosu.org/show/all-sides/2025-08-28/fascinating-ohio-petfbi-leaders-an-international-forester-and-a-robinson-crusoe-explorer

08/29/2025

The central Ohio arts scene is always buzzing with activity. This time of year as we approach the end of the summer is no exception. All Sides Weekend Host Christopher Purdy and his guests discuss upcoming arts and cultural events happening in the central Ohio community.

Host Christopher Purdy and his guests discuss upcoming arts and cultural events happening in the central Ohio community.

08/29/2025

Generations of Americans have a love/hate memory of high school gym class, especially when it came to taking the president’s physical fitness test. President Barack Obama ended the test in 2012. President Trump recently announced he’s reviving the test.

We’re talking about the test and the fitness of America’s children on this hour of All Sides.

08/29/2025

We talked about the causes of chronic absenteeism and possible solutions with:

Arya Ansari, faculty associate, Ohio State's Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy The Ohio State University College of Education and Human Ecology
Adero Robinson, CEO, Communities In Schools of Ohio
Judge Shelly Harsha, probate and juvenile judge, Pickaway County

Listen here: https://www.wosu.org/show/all-sides/2025-08-28/whats-causing-chronic-absenteeism-for-some-ohio-students

08/28/2025

The heartache and worry over a missing pet prompted a woman who lives in Columbus to create a lost-and-found network that is now a national resource.
It's called PetFBI and it started right here in central Ohio. A Denison University alumnus has now begun her journey bringing life back into places where it was lost. For 40 years, an Ohio State professor and a team of international colleagues have carried out 12 expeditions to the “Robinson Crusoe islands.”

This is Fascinating Ohio, a show from All Sides and WOSU where we talk to people from Ohio with an interesting story to tell.

08/28/2025

As children head back to school, we're looking at why so many students are no-shows during the school year, from Columbus City Schools, where the absenteeism rate is over 50%, to the rest of the state, where almost a quarter of students miss 10 days or more. Those figures actually reflect slight improvements over the last couple of years.

We're talking about strategies and solutions for tackling the underlying issues that lead to students missing school.

08/27/2025

We talked about the growing interest in skilled trade careers as AI threatens office work and fewer young people want to worry about college debt.
The Franklin County Trades Academy recently graduated its first class of people trained in the trades.

Guests included:

Stacie Haller, chief career advisor, ResumeBuilder.com
Stephanie Hightower, president & CEO, The Columbus Urban League
Carmen Barnes, assistant director, Franklin County Department of Job and Family Services
Jamir Coleman, graduate, Franklin County Trade Academy

Listen at the link below:

https://www.wosu.org/show/all-sides/2025-08-27/interest-in-trade-careers-grows-as-office-work-is-threatened-by-ai

08/27/2025

Planning for death. A final farewell to a loved one looks much different today that it used to. More people are planning ahead and opting for cremation over burial, choosing green or eco-friendly funerals and finding novel ways to remember those who are gone.

What are your plans for final arrangements at the end of your life?