In Conversation

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear was reelected to a second term last month. He sat down with Kentucky Public Radio’s Joe Sonka this week in the state reception room of the Capitol Building in Frankfort to discuss his electoral success, his relationship with Republican lawmakers ahead of the 2024 session and whether he will now comment more on national issues.

It's been 20 years since the governments of Louisville and Jefferson County merged, and residents continue to feel the impacts today. In this special, Roberto Roldan, City Politics and Government Reporter for LPM, talks to guests to take a look at the challenges the newly-merged government faced and how it managed them.

Some of you may have wondered what happened to the “In Conversation” talk show. And some of you, who read and hear our news on LPM or WFPL already know. In August, our host, colleague and friend Rick Howlett passed away from cancer. Senior producer Laura Ellis who worked with Rick for years, including on the “In Conversation” team, wrote a lovely tribute about him. Since Rick was co-creator of “In Conversation,” and its only host since it launched in January 2019, we are left with a Rick-sized hole. But he also leaves us inspired to carry on with programming that reflects his passion for examining the news, encouraging community engagement, and contributing to public discourse in a way that makes us better together. In the spirit of sharing the kind of work you value as an “In Conversation” listener, here is the documentary “Dirty Business,” from the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting. Our journalists uncover the true cost of cleaning up after the eastern Kentucky floods, including how unfinished work can set up more problems the next time there’s extreme weather.

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is all over the headlines these days. But it's not as new as you might think it is. Ever start to look something up and your phone autofills the rest of the word for you? Have you played one of those Facebook games that makes you look like your pet, or a Renaissance painting? Do you ask Siri or Alexa to add something to your grocery list so you won't forget it? Then you've been using artificial intelligence. This week on "In Conversation," we talked about how AI works, how it's already become part of many industries, and of course, the ethical implications that accompany its use.

Affirmative action is a loaded term with a weighty history. Now that the Supreme Court has eliminated race-conscious admissions decisions for higher education, what’s next? On this week’s “In Conversation,” we unpacked the impact of the Supreme Court’s ruling, what equity goals for higher education look like now, and whether eliminating affirmative action in higher education could foreshadow similar changes in the workplace.

When The New York Times recommended their top 52 destination spots for this year, Louisville landed smack between cities in Greece and Brazil and even outranked some places in Italy and Spain. Tourism is big business in Louisville, and this week on “In Conversation,” we’ll meet some of the folks working to make sure business keeps booming. We took a look at downtown tourism and measures to get more Louisvillians from outlying areas to venture back for museums, dinners and shows. And we checked on the outlook for the rest of 2023, as our hospitality industry still attempts to rebound from the early days of COVID-19.

In March, the Kentucky General Assembly voted to make use of medical marijuana legal, effective 2025. They also passed a law that will allow racetracks to become licensed sports betting facilities. Experts and journalists joined us to talk through how each of those laws could affect the commonwealth.

Juneteenth can be a complicated holiday. It’s an official holiday of celebration — rejoicing in enslaved people being freed as part of the Emancipation Proclamation. It’s also a reminder that many enslaved people were not informed about slavery’s end until years later. On “In Conversation” this week we talk about the origins of the holiday and what Juneteenth means in a modern context. We also let you know about upcoming Juneteenth events in Louisville and in Oldham County.

School's out, pools are open, and you might be wondering which novel or biography to grab on your way to the park. We've got you covered! This week on "In Conversation," guests from the Louisville Free Public Library and Carmichael’s Bookstore helped you make the perfect summer reading list. We got philosophical about what makes a book great for summer. And we asked some young readers what they're excited to page through before school's back in. This episode was made possible in part by the Jewish Heritage Fund.

It’s our fourth spring living with COVID-19, and pretty much everywhere you go, it looks like it’s over. Fewer people are masking, and you're less likely to be asked for proof of vaccination. But are we actually past the pandemic? With a downward trend in numbers, the World Health Organization has declared that COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency. And national emergency status in the U.S. ends this week thanks to a bipartisan resolution signed by President Joe Biden. That means, for example, your insurance company no longer has to cover diagnostic testing, including at-home testing kits. On this week’s “In Conversation,” we talked with doctors about where we are with a global pandemic that literally changed the world in March, 2020.

On this episode, we look at who’s hot and who’s not in this year's Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby. Ed DeRosa, Vice President of Content at Horse Racing Nation, and Kellie Reilly, who writes for Churchill Downs, Inc. help us make sense of our racing programs and figure out where the smart money is this weekend. And we’ll talk with Louisville author and poet Hannah Drake about her poem “Home,” which was commissioned by the non-profit organization Kentucky to the World as a response to the controversial state song “My Old Kentucky Home.”

May is National Foster Care Month. So on this week’s “In Conversation” we'll learned about the state of foster care in Kentucky and what children here need. We also talked about the shortage of foster parents in Kentucky, how it affects kids in the system, and what could encourage more people to give it a try.

In Kentucky, suicide is the second leading cause of death for teenagers and young adults. This week on “In Conversation,” we aimed to understand why, and what we can all do to help bring the numbers down. Experts helped us untangle this complex health crisis about how to support the young people in your life. If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, you can reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by phone at 988, or online at 988lifeline.org. You can also contact the Trevor Project, which provides free, confidential counselors who specialize in helping LGBTQ youth.

This week on "In Conversation," we talk through the events surrounding a mass shooting in Louisville on Monday morning. Reporters who have been covering the shooting and its aftermath give us context about gun laws and gun violence in our city. And mental health professionals share practical advice on recovering from the trauma and secondary trauma of community violence.

It’s just a few weeks before Derby Day in Louisville, and you know what that means: almost time to start tending to your spring garden. This week on “In Conversation,” host Rick Howlett talked to gardening experts about what to plant in your soil. From first-timers trying to begin a begonia, to experts who want to make it rain with vegetables, plants, shrubs and trees, no question is too big or small for our troubleshooters.

Senate Bill 150, passed this month by Kentucky state legislators, has been dubbed the worst anti-trans bill in the country. Although Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear vetoed the bill, the majority-Republican legislature voted to override the veto. And Kentucky’s not the only state grappling with laws like this. Over 120 bills have been introduced across the country this year affecting LGBTQ people—many focused on the rights of transgender children and their parents. On this week’s “In Conversation,” we discussed legislative measures focused on transgender kids, here in the Commonwealth and across the country.

If it’s March in these parts, it means you’re going to hear about two things: getting back on your allergy medications and filling out brackets for the NCAA basketball tournaments. This week on “In Conversation,” we talked about who can win, who will wither in the first round, and the art of bracketology. If you’re still doing your research, here are the brackets for the men’s NCAA tournament and the women’s NCAA tournament.

Sleep: The final frontier. Or that’s what it feels like when you have trouble drifting off. And while sleep may do a body good, half of all adults have dealt with insomnia at one time or another, and one in 10 experience chronic insomnia. On this week’s “In Conversation,” in honor of Sleep Awareness Week starting on March 12, we discussed how to get better sleep, how sleep impacts our health, and how sleep-deprived bodies interact with the world—including children who have to get up at the crack of dawn to stand on a bus stop. We also unpacked the results of the Department of Justice’s investigation of the Louisville Metro Police Department.

The Great Resignation. Quiet quitting. Remote vs. in-person. Workplace trends we haven’t even heard of yet. COVID-19 and its aftermath changed how people view their jobs, and even their careers. On this week’s “In Conversation,” we talked about the workplace trends and conditions that impact everything from how someone leaves a job to whether your living room has become your permanent home office.

Love songs have a way of distilling all the exciting, confusing, thrilling feelings of falling for someone into a perfect three and a half minutes of clarity. They say things more artfully than you can express them yourself, and make such a strong impression that hearing the opening notes, even years later, can take you right back to when you fell in love. Of course that also means that if the relationship doesn't last, the song might be ruined forever by your lousy ex. Just in time for Valentines Day, "In Conversation" is exploring what makes a great love song... and a great breakup song. Do you and your sweetheart have a special song that always brings you back together? When you're unlucky in love, do you like to wallow with sad songs, or do you prefer to scream-sing along with angry rock?