We spent an hour+ talking with entrepreneur John Zitzner about his passion for teaching urban kids in Cleveland how to break the cycle of poverty. Listen here.

An excellent roundtable discussion re:

The proponents of SB 117 say it is meant to increase competition among video providers, provide choice to and protect consumers. In fact, it would achieve none of these goals. Instead, it would enable discriminatory deployment, eliminate consumer protections, and strip Ohio municipalities of their important role in the local video franchise process…

Listen here then contact your state rep.

Adele is an inspiration. Since 2004 she’s made it her business to keep an eye on the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections (among other things). Tim, Gloria Ferris and I spent more than an hour talking with Adele about her experiences with the system and learning what we can/should be doing about it.

This MP3 should be required listening for everyone in Cuyahoga County.

Ah. Coffee, good food, good friends. What more could you ask for? We spent an hour sampling the new menu Niki and Chef Mike developed—and loved every minute of it! Listen and learn here.

Recently, Bruce Perens was in Cleveland, speaking at Defrag. He sat down with Meet.The.Bloggers* immediately after his luncheon panel discussion. Joined by open source economic development expert Ed Morrison, it’s an interesting conversation we were fortunate to be part of. Listen here.

A roundtable discussion featuring Jan Limpach, Leslie Carruthers, Stephan Brand, Steve Petti, and the organizing force behind the expo—the Assistant Director of the Key Entrepreneur Center at Corporate College—Brad Kleiman.

Listen here.

I’ve been a fan of “That Red Guy” for a long time… ever since I saw the orchestra do a performance with a theremin. Last week, I was with Thomas Mulready when he did a CoolCleveland.com video with Jonathan, so I was ready with a number of follow up questions—gay bloggers, composing for an orchestra versus film, and what it’s like to have dual citizenship in both Cleveland and NYC. The hour-long session starts off with him discussing politics/activism and his difficult decision between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Listen here.

Another interesting topic during the Webtego/i-Open event: progress on improvements to Euclid Avenue. Listen here.

The Cleveland Municipal School District is in the news a lot lately. Fortunately, we have a blogger here in Northeast Ohio who is also a teacher at Max Hayes—MaryBeth Matthews. She invited her students to have a conversation about what a school in Cleveland is really like. Listen to the conversation here.

Former Cleveland City Councilman John Zayac spends an hour talking about capital projects, growing up in Kamm’s Corners, attending Cleveland City Schools, but most importantly, his recent experience serving as grand jury foreman in the Cuyahoga County Court system.

Based on our poll results, I’ve posted this as one file: John Zayac.