The 812
The 812 is a daily show about the basic workings of city government in Bloomington, Indiana. Hosted by Steve Volan, a recently-retired five-term member of Bloomington's City Council, The 812's primary feature is a half-hour interview with elected and appointed officials in city government, as well as with members of boards, commissions and not-for-profits providing services to the city. Produced by Plateia Media.
Episodes
155 episodes
154 [S3E01]: Carrie Albright, Chair, Bloomington Environmental Commission
Our first guest of the new year and the third season of The 812 is Carrie Albright, chair of the Bloomington Environmental Commission, one of the city's oldest. She talks about the work they do advocating for the city to balance urban growth wi...
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Season 3
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Episode 154
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38:22
Season 3 starts Monday, January 20!
The 812 is back with a new season of interviews with the people that make your community go 'round! New episodes drop beginning Monday, January 20. We're looking forward to an interesting crop of new episodes, and other innovations to be announ...
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Season 3
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0:41
153 [S2E56]: State Senator Shelli Yoder (D.40) Previews the 2025 Legislative Session
Shelli Yoder is the dynamic state senator from District 40, representing Bloomington. She explains the statehouse for us, then talks about 2025 and what treats the statehouse might have in store: the $1 billion budget miscalculation; birth cont...
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Season 2
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Episode 153
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37:03
152 [S2E55]: Lilliana Young pf the City/County Human Rights Commission, on the Municipal Equality Index
It's our penultimate show of our season 2, which began in August, and of the year 2024. Today we meet Lilliana Young, a member of the Bloomington/Monroe County Human Rights Commission, to talk about Bloomington's performance on the Municipal Eq...
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Season 2
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Episode 152
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34:25
151 [S2E54]: Animal Care in Bloomington with Virgil Sauder, Director of the City Animal Shelter
Director of Animal Care and Control for the City of Bloomington, Virgil Sauder tells us all about how the city, Monroe County and town of Ellettsville collaborate to manage domesticated pets in the area. He clears up some myths about how th...
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Season 2
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Episode 151
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36:34
150 [S2E53]: Paying Tribute to Cheryl Munson, a Pillar of the Community
Today we're remembering Monroe County Councilmember Cheryl Munson. A professor emerita in the IU Dept of Anthropology, she volunteered throughout the community, and also served in local politics, first on the township level, then as an at large...
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Season 2
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Episode 150
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33:37
149 [S2E52]: Marsha Lovejoy of I Support the Girls
Our guest today is the director of the Bloomington affiliate of I Support the Girls. It's a nonprofit organization that started in the District of Columbia to get donations of old bras and unused feminine hygiene products to women in the local ...
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Season 2
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Episode 149
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36:55
148 [S2E51]: David Henry, Incoming County Councilmember (At Large)
David Henry was first on in February, in his role as chair of the Monroe County Democratic Party, to explain the complicated caucus process that elevated Courtney Daily to the District 5 Bloomington City Council seat. Now he appears as an elect...
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Season 2
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Episode 148
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37:16
147 [S2E50]: Sculptor Adam Nahas on the Rise and Fall of Artisan Alley
Adam Nahas of Cyclops Studios, a sculptor, was also the founder and executive director of the former Artisan Alley, an artist's cooperative and nonprofit incubator from its founding in 2011 until 2023. It folded earlier this year. During ...
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Season 2
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Episode 147
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39:54
146 [S2E49]: MCCSC Trustees on How to Run a School District -- Part II
Today, Part II of our interview with April Hennessey and Erin Cooperman, the president and vice president respectively of the Board of Trustees of the Monroe County Community School Corporation. We talk about the challenges school boards have m...
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Season 2
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Episode 146
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38:00
145 [S2E48]: MCCSC Trustees on How to Run a School District -- Part I
Our next two episodes are devoted to a new topic for this show about local government: the school board. There are two school districts in Monroe County: by far the larger of the two is the Monroe County Community School Corporation, which serv...
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Season 2
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Episode 145
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37:37
144 [S2E47] The Future of Equity through the Eyes of One Campus Student Organization
People on campuses across the country are wondering what the fate of equity efforts will be in these charged political times, and IU's is no exception. One organization asking existential questions is Students for Equity in Public Affairs (SEPA...
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Season 2
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Episode 144
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36:15
143 [S2E46]: Midwestern-Adobe-Style Housing, 3-D Printed by AI-Powered Robots? Yeah. Just Ask Danny Weddle
Until not too long ago, Danny Weddle was a builder of bespoke tiny homes. That got him interested in building affordable homes more cost-effectively. Now the co-founder and chief design officer of Terran Robotics, his company is building walls ...
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Season 2
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Episode 143
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37:41
142 [S2E45]: Carrie Stillions, on Middle Way House and the Headwinds It Faces
Middle Way House is the nonprofit that supports survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault through shelter, protection, counseling, permanent housing, and more. It is still a big agency to be sure, and addressing a distressingly great ne...
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Season 2
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Episode 142
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37:45
141 [S2E44]: Where should ballots be cast? Inside the Vote Center Study Committee
Monroe County still has precinct voting. On Election Day, you go to a particular polling place based on what precinct you live in. But there's a new idea out there: voting centers, which allow you to vote at any polling place regardless of wher...
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Season 2
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Episode 141
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34:36
140 [S2E43]: How the Janeway Collective Built a Public Art Project
On the B-Line Trail downtown, there's a bust of Kathryn Janeway, captain of the USS Voyager, from the Star Trek series of the same name. How it got there is our subject today. Our guests are Peter Kaczmarczyk and Lee Lawmaster, f...
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Season 2
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Episode 140
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35:42
139 [S2E42]: Pat East and John Fernandez on Bloomington's Trades District
The city's efforts to cultivate entrepreneurship is embodied in the buildings that were auxiliary to the Showers Brothers Furniture Factory, a third of which famously became Bloomington's city hall in the mid-90s, and another third of which was...
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Season 2
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Episode 139
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37:47
138 [S2E41]: Catching Up on Issues with Courtney Daily (Councilmember, D.5)
The last time Courtney Daily was on the show, in February, she was a candidate for city council. She won the District 5 seat in a Democratic party caucus; after 9 months, we're asking the most junior member of council what it's been like. We ta...
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Season 2
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Episode 138
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34:15
137 [S2E40]: Mark Figg — The Developer's Tale
We're going into the belly of the development beast on today's show, with someone who's been involved in every aspect of the life cycle of a building: Mark Figg, a developer who's also done property management and appraisal. A local resident bo...
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Season 2
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Episode 137
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39:54
136 [S2E39]: Hank Duncan Brings an Update on Bicycle/Pedestrian Infrastructure Improvements
It's a downtown transportation infrastructure update with Hank Duncan, the city's bicycle and pedestrian coordinator. We get the skinny on all the bumpouts being installed on downtown street corners, the future of Indiana Avenue, where the city...
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Season 2
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Episode 136
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36:43
135 [S2E38]: Erika Oliphant, Monroe County Prosecutor, on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Local Justice
The county's elected prosecuting attorney now in her second term, Erika Oliphant explains to The 812 the role of her office and the different programs it manages. We talk about the multiyear study her office is conducting into racial and ethnic...
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Season 2
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Episode 135
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33:01
134 [S2E37]: Abigail Knipstine of the IUMAA (and former City Council legal researcher)
We don't usually delve into arts and culture on this show unless it has a direct relationship to local elected government, but today's guest offers us an unusual opportunity. Abigail Knipstine tells us about the brand-new yet newly-renovated mu...
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Season 2
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Episode 134
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37:20
133 [S3E36]: Steven Miller, County Veteran Service Officer, on Serving Those Who Served
To the thousands of residents of Monroe County who were ever active-duty, Steven Miller is likely to be a familiar name. He's the Veteran Service Officer, who runs Monroe County's Veterans Affairs Department. He tells us about the service...
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Season 2
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Episode 133
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36:36
132 [S2E35]: The 812 Work Session with Marissa Meador and Jacob Spudich of the Indiana Daily Student
A new installment in our occasional series, The 812 Work Session, in which we meet members of the local media and compare notes about local news. Today's guests are Marissa Meador and Jacob Spudich, the co-editors-in-chief of the Indiana Daily ...
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Season 2
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Episode 132
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34:26
131 [S2E34]: In Extra Innings: A Sampler of Bonus Interviews with Guests of The 812
Today we're releasing portions of never-before-aired overtime interviews with recent guests. Anything we've recorded after the main interview for that episode we've been setting aside as "Extra Innings" segments, which can run anywhere from 7 m...
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Season 2
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Episode 131
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39:58