Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home

Episode 140 Morgan Walker - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

This week we highlight one of the many reasons we are so lucky to live here. You can find my full discussion with Morgan Walker, Executive Director of the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, here.
 
Here are the questions I asked:
 
0:35 1. In the spring of last year you came to us from Paducah, Kentucky to take the reins as the Executive Director of the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra. Since 1948 Shreveport has been blessed to have a symphony. In fact, it’s the oldest continuously operating symphony in Louisiana.
 
We’re going to cover all kinds of aspects of the Shreveport Symphony today. But let’s start here. I know you do a lot of work with and in the schools. Tell me about some of this if you could.
 
2:55 2. Let’s talk some about your vision and initiatives. Tell me first about some of the things that will continue or stay the same with you at the helm?
 
3:41 3. And then let’s talk about some of the things that will be different or that are priorities for you to add or change.
 
5:37 4. What are the Symphony’s greatest challenges today and for those in our community listening, how can they best help you achieve your mission?
 
9:15 5. I once heard your great Music Director Michael Butterman say the following,
 
“We are all being rewired through our connectivity, through our devices and so on. We’re looking for the next ding, the next little stimulation. The idea of being multi-tasking and scattered is something that’s just kinda creeping into our very way of being. So that’s a challenge but it’s also an opportunity. What I mean by that is that more than ever I think people are looking for chances to kinda unplug. To transcend that kind of frantic pace. They might find it through prayer. They might find it through meditation. I suggest you can also find it through really losing yourself in great music like we play.”
 
You and I are a bit in a similar business. We are both selling quality of life enhancements to the community. How do you sell that to people when it’s not necessarily easy to quantify or demonstrate a ROI for?

Episode 139 Lindsi and Dany Martin - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

This week we are talking with one of our community's great couples who are filling gaps and doing hard things. You can find my full discussion with Lindsi and Dany Martin here.
 
Here are the questions I asked:
 
0:34 1. Neither of you is from here yet both of you have contributed greatly to making our community better. Lindsi, for close to ten years you brought us the much beloved Well + Fed Louisiana restaurant. And Dany you are a Partner and Wealth Advisor at WFA, formerly Williams Financial Advisors.
 
Today I’m going to lean heavily on your perspective, because it’s so unique, and focus on some of the incredible things you’ve done beyond your professions.
 
Let’s start here today. Tell me a little about where both of you are from and who taught you this sense of caring about and service to your community.
 
4:06 2. All right, Lindsi, this one is for you. I have to ask because I am the Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana. Shreveport recently was rated the 6th most obese city in the United States in WalletHub’s 2025 rankings. As someone who owned and ran a vegan restaurant for nearly ten years, is Shreveport-Bossier becoming more health conscious? And, what are some things that we can do to continue to get listed lower in these national overweight and obesity rankings?
 
9:12 3. This podcast was created in response to what I saw as a growing sense of community apathy and low self-esteem. Both of you represent the exact opposite of that. As a couple who have done and continue to do so much for our community, what do you see as ways to get more people, like you, to focus more on WE than ME?
 
17:42 4. Dany, I heard you say in an interview that Lindsi describes the two of you and your community work as “gap fillers”. Share some of the story about how your family became bigger through your involvement with Common Ground.
 
30:20 5. Will each of you share a story of a preconception you had or a gap in understanding or awareness that you had that has changed since you became foster parents?

Episode 138 Jay Johnson - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

This week we talk with one of our community's largest and most important employers about how to keep more of our young people in town. You can find my full discussion with Jay Johnson of General Dynamics Information Technology here.
 
Here are the questions I asked:
 
0:38 1. Jay, you are the Staff Vice President, Technology Shared Services, for General Dynamics Information Technology (or GDIT as many know it). GDIT is one of the largest and most important employers and companies that we have in our community.
 
Tell me about GDIT and some of the work that they do locally.
 
2:23 2. Tell me some about your position at GDIT and some of what it entails.
 
5:10 3. What can local parents do to ensure that their kids are properly prepared to have a career in STEM and/or cybersecurity?
 
15:45 4. Lastly, what do you see that we can do as a community to bolster your efforts at GDIT to recruit and retain the nation’s best and brightest?

Episode 137 Archer Frierson - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

This week we talk all about what it means to be a good steward of the land, and as an extension, of your community. You can find my fascinating discussion with Archer Frierson here.
 
Here are the questions I asked:
 
0:42 1. Let’s start here today.
 
Your family came to Louisiana from South Carolina. Can you tell me about this?
 
7:19 2. Your family and you, for lack of a better phrase, had a front row seat for the Haynesville Shale. Talk to me some about this experience if you could.
 
14:48 3. You were an integral part of Centenary deciding to bring football back to the university. Take me behind the scenes of some of this process and decision.
 
21:44 4. The Independence Bowl has a special place for you and your family. Talk to me some about that.
 
24:45 5. First Presbyterian Church and Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary also have special places for you and your family. Would you mind talking some about that?

Episode 136 Sylvia Goodman - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

Ever wonder how huge additions to our community, like the Sci-Port Discovery Center and the Robinson Film Center, happen?  You can find my full discussion with Sylvia Goodman here.
 
1:34 1. Sci-Port Discovery Center
 
37:28 2. Robinson Film Center

Episode 135 Janet Miller - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

This week's episode is all about communication and collaboration. We look at one of our community's best examples of how to tackle some of our most complex issues - the way that CADA and numerous others are working together to reform the local crisis response system. You can find my full discussion with Janet Miller here.
 
Here are the questions I asked:
 
0:36 1. In March of 2024, you were named the new executive director of the Council on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse (or CADA as most people know it).
 
Prior to CADA you worked for 25 years at the Louisiana Association on Compulsive Gambling, 10 of those as the director.
 
CADA has been serving our community since 1958. In a little while, I want to talk about the CADA Mobile Response Team and the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that you signed in November with the Shreveport Police Department as you work to reform the local crisis response system.
 
But let’s start just with some foundational knowledge. I know from preparing for today’s discussion and taking in all the information on your website that CADA offers a number of different programs. Talk to me about 2-3 of your key substance abuse services and programs.
 
3:38 2. Louisiana is one of the top ten states in the nation for opioid-related deaths. One in ten high school students admits to regularly using prescription opioids for non-medical purposes. More than 225,000 Louisiana residents admit to regular heavy drinking and around 6% of the Louisiana population abuses alcohol.
 
One of the major new initiatives CADA has implemented since your arrival has been its new Mobile Response Team. Tell me what this is and why it is such an important new addition to the services that CADA provides.
 
12:10 3. According to LSU Health Shreveport, in 2023 there were 299,939 emergency 911 calls in Caddo Parish. Each of these calls required a law enforcement or emergency medical services response. Many of these calls, however, did not involve criminal behavior or medical needs, placing a disproportionate burden on first responders.
 
Talk to me about this MOU that you signed with the Shreveport Police Department and how it will significantly improve our ability as a community to provide crisis response.
 
20:00 4. People in our community generally understand that we have a shortage of police officers and that jails are overcrowded. What a lot of people don’t know is that our emergency rooms are overcrowded too. As far as you know, is that accurate and talk to me about how the reforms CADA is part of making to our crisis response system will help relieve some of the burden our emergency rooms are facing?
 
29:33 5. What are CADA’s greatest challenges today and for those in our community listening, how can they best help you achieve your mission?

Episode 134 Maria Sermons - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

I love talking about the Hispanic community which has grown and contributed so much over the last few decades to our city. You can find my full discussion with Maria Sermons, Vice President of Total Yard Care and President of the Hispanic Heritage Association, here.
 
Here are the questions I asked:
 
0:32 1. Your father started Total Yard Care with only his children as employees and now it’s a successful company with more than 30 employees. Tell me about how the business got started and some of the services you offer today.
 
10:06 2. You have been an integral and active part of our local Hispanic community. Your family are a bit of Mexican pioneers in this area. Talk to me about how you have seen the local Hispanic community evolve and change over the years?
 
15:32 3. What are some steps you feel could be taken to further integrate the Hispanic community into the greater Shreveport-Bossier community?
 
22:00 4. As you look out at our community in general, what are some of the things that concern you the most?
 
26:03 5. What gives you hope that our community as a whole is headed in a positive direction?

Episode 133 Ronald Collins Jr. - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

This week I get to share a small piece of the great legacy of The Shreveport Sun, which turns 105 later this year. You can find my full discussion with Ronald Collins Jr., the Editor, here.
 
Here are the questions I asked:
 
0:48 1. On November 6, 1920, The Shreveport Sun was founded by Melvin Lee Collins, Senior. It is the oldest weekly newspaper for African Americans in Louisiana.
 
Fast forward to 2025. You are the fourth generation, I believe, running the paper, and the great-grandson of Melvin Collins, the founder. How long have you been with The Sun and can you share some of your earliest memories of being around this incredible family business?
 
5:40 2. Tell me about The Sun in 2025. How often do you publish? Do you still publish a print edition? And tell me about some of your social media activity.
 
10:15 3. On February 12th of this year, The Shreveport Times published an article that according to the US Census Bureau, 56.1 percent of Shreveport is Black, 36.5 percent is white, 3.9 percent Hispanic, 1.5 percent is Asian and 0.2 percent is American Indian and Alaska Native.
 
The Sun continues to be and has always been an important resource in our community providing information on black people’s progress, noting times of black social events, and acting as a sounding board for black opinion. How do you see the role of The Sun in 2025 versus perhaps what it was in the time of the first, second, and third generation Collins editors and owners?
 
17:42 4. Newspapers.com is a tremendous online resource providing daily archives of many papers from around the country. Is it possible that The Sun would ever become part of the newspapers.com database?
 
21:06 5. As you look at our community, what are some of the things that concern you the most?
 
26:00 6. What makes you feel that our community is making progress or perhaps headed in a positive direction?

Episode 132 Councilwoman Tabatha Taylor - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

This week I sit down with one of our community's most important leaders, Tabatha Taylor, the Chair of the Shreveport City Council. You can find our full discussion here.
 
Here are the questions I asked:
 
0:42 1. For more than 25 years, you have been advocating for autism awareness. Your adult son, Dominique, is non-verbal and was diagnosed with autism at age 2.
 
Your advocacy efforts have led to so much great change. Talk to me about where autism resources and awareness were when you first started this work 25 plus years ago and some of where they are today.
 
6:26 2. You grew up in the Cooper Road area and now represent that district, District A, as its city councilwoman. I’ve heard you talk about why your memories of going to pay the water bill with your grandmother was important. Can you share of that story?
 
9:55 3. You are one of the most positive, forward-looking leaders we have in our community. And I have always been struck by how much pride the people I have met from Cooper Road seem to have.
 
Talk a little about the Cooper Road/MLK area. How is it similar to the way it was when you were growing up there and how it is different?
 
14:50 4. As you look out at our community as a whole, what are some of the things that concern you the most?
 
19:41 5. And what are some of the things that you make you feel that we are headed in the right direction?

Episode 131 Deidra Lewis-Robertson - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

I love sitting down with people who have taken their faith and made it their work and action. You can find my full discussion with Deidra Lewis-Robertson, Director of Friendship House for Community Renewal International, here.
 
Here are the questions I asked:
 
0:37 1. You are an integral part of Community Renewal International as the Director of Friendship House and Director of Operation H.O.P.E., Helping Our Pupils Excel.
 
Let’s start here today.
 
I believe there are currently 10 Friendship Houses in Shreveport-Bossier. What are these friendship houses and what types of programs do they offer?
 
4:02 2. How does Community Renewal determine where to place its friendship houses?
 
5:51 3. You once said, “The call had to go beyond just going to church every Sunday.”
 
Your husband Eric and you made a significant sacrifice by relocating your family to a less safe area of Highland so that you could run the Friendship House in Highland. Talk to me about that relocation process and some of what your husband, children and you went through (or still go through) as a result of making that significant transition?
 
10:37 4. As I mentioned earlier, you are the Director of Operation H.O.P.E. Tell me about this program and some of the important work it does.
 
13:53 5. Sometimes people think it is the sole responsibility of our school system to be our village and to ensure that our kids get all that they need to become responsible, productive adults. How do you see the role of schools, what can they do and what should they do, and what are the gaps that programs like yours need to fill?