Renoites- The Podcast about Reno Nevada

It's the last episode of Season 4 of Renoites! Thank you so much for listening, I've been thrilled with the guests we've been able to feature and really appreciate all the support from listeners and the community. Renoites will be back with new episodes in January, but in the mean time we'll still be doing bonus live tapings at Black Rabbit Mead so stay tuned (follow on Instagram @Renoites!) This week on the show Conor is joined by Mark Robison, the local government reporter for the Reno Gazette-Journal. Mark has a long history with the local newspaper, spending most of his career reporting here in Reno, and has recently returned to the work after a few years away. In his new role as local government reporter, he has been tasked with covering the government and politics issues that matter most to our area. On this episode, Conor and Mark talk about the differences between this new position and a normal staff reporter role, the impact of national news on local attitudes, the effect of Twitter on political discourse, the strategy of intentionaly treating all sides fairly and with respect in reporting, local races to watch in the upcoming election, and much more! Thank you for listening! If you have suggestions for guests on the next season of Renoites, please reach out! Email conor@renoites.com to get in touch and help us make sure we continue to feature the best possible guests on the show. Please also consider joining Renoites on Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/renoites) to support the show financially! Your recurring donation of as little as $3/month can make all the difference as to whether this show can continue to exist in the long run. Financial viability matters and I would love for this to be a sustainable and community-funded project. Also, you get stickers! This season of Renoites was produced by Conor McQuivey and Lynn Lazaro. Special thanks to Lynn and the Reynolds School of Journalism at UNR for this partnership, which has been profoundly helpful and I hope to continue for future seasons of the show!

This episode was recorded live at Black Rabbit Mead on Wednesday October 26. There were so many great performances during Spoken Views Poetry Collective's spooky themed poetry slam that we decided to post a recording of the entire slam here for you. If you enjoyed the highlights from our October 28 episode (which also featured a great interview with Iain Watson and Elisa Garcia), please have a listen to this recording of all the participating poets from the event that night! This was a free event to attend, but if you'd like to support the work that Renoites and Spoken Views did to bring this event to you here on the podcast, please feel free to donate via Venmo to @Renoites. All Venmo donations mentioning Spoken Views will be split evenly between Renoites and Spoken Views. Thank you to those who attended and thank you for listening!

This bonus LIVE episode of Renoites was recorded at Black Rabbit Meads as part of the 4th Street Art Project. Each month, we are doing a live taping of the show, and this time we were grateful to partner with Spoken Views Poetry Collective to be a part of their Halloween themed poetry slam. On this episode, Conor spoke with Spoken Views founder Iain Watson and the host of this event, Elisa Garcia, about Reno's poetry scene, how Spoken Views got started, the importance of open mic nights, spoken vs written poetry, the competitive nature of poetry slams, poetry as a way to help process feelings, and much more! This episode also contains highlights from the poetry slam itself including poems from the winner of the event, Pan Pantoja, and some of our other favorites of the evening. Thank you so much for listening! Please send guest suggestions and feedback to conor@renoites.com Renoites is a LISTENER-FUNDED program. Please consider supporting the podcast on Patreon for as little as $3/month. http://www.patreon.com/renoites This season of Renoites is produced by Conor McQuivey and Lynn Lazaro

Abortion rights and abortion access have been issues at the forefront of the political world for decades, and especially so this year with the overturning of Roe v. Wade. One of the ways that abortion rights advocates work to maintain access is to help fund abortion services for people in need of assistance. These abortion funds have appeared and grown all over the country. This week on Renoites we're joined by Jakki Durón, the current Vice President of the Wild West Access Fund, a Nevada abortion fund that has grown from a small mutual aid group into a non-profit that has distributed over $100,000. Conor and Jakki discuss the Wild West Action Fund and abortion funds in general, the history of abortion stigmatization, financial restrictions like the Hyde Amendment, the intersection of abortion rights advocacy and liberation movements, modern and inclusive language around gender identity, and much more! It was a very informative conversation and one that is very important for this moment. Thanks for listening. This season of Renoites is produced by Conor McQuivey and Lynn Lazaro Send guest suggestions to conor@renoites.com Follow me on Instagram @Renoites and join the Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/renoites  

October 22 is the first day of early voting here in Nevada, and today we have a special BONUS episode of Renoites with one of the candidates for Secretary of State, Cisco Aguilar. On this episode, Conor and Cisco talk about the major responsibilities of the office of Secretary of State, the role the office plays in regulating our elections (which are run by each county), the differing campaign strategies of turnout and persuasion, the politicization of non-partisan offices, the open primary and ranked choice ballot initiative, and more! Thanks for listening and please make a plan to vote! If you have feedback or guest suggestions, email conor@renoites.com Please consider supporting this project financially: http://www.patreon.com/renoites  

This week on Renoites, we are joined by Kristoffer Polaha, an actor originally from Reno who has appeared in recurring roles on many TV shows including Mad Men, Castle, Get Shorty, Backstrom, as well as starring in a number of movies for the Hallmark channel and appearing in major films like Wonder Woman 1984. We talked about growing up in Reno and moving away and into a career in film, the differences between working in film and television, how religious faith informs the way we approach our work, the writing process for his new series of books, and the upcoming event this weekend in Reno for the Down Syndrome Network of Northern Nevada.  Follow Kris on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/polahaha Check out his new book "Where the Sun Rises" on Amazon  Learn more about the event for Down syndrome Network of Northern Nevada at this link: https://www.dsnnn.org/general-8-1 Next week, Renoites will be doing a LIVE EPISODE RECORDING in partnership with Black Rabbit Mead and Spoken Views Poetry Collective. That's Wednesday, October 26. The Renoites interview portion will start at 7:00 followed by the spooky themed poetry slam competition at 7:30. It is a free event, please join us! Details can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/450182300541261 Have suggestions for guests or topics? Email Conor at conor@renoites.com This season of Renoites is produced by Conor McQuivey and Lynn Lazaro. Thanks for listening!

Renoites host Conor grew up here in Reno, and has a lot of memories of the Shoppers Square Mall (and it’s gradual decline), as well as of the vacant lot where Park Lane Mall once stood. But things have changed in recent years and the southern end of Midtown is seeing a lot of new development, first with the Reno Experience District on the Park Lane site, and coming soon, the Reno Public Market in the former Shopper’s Square building. The Market will be a food hall, artist creation and performance space, and local retail market for independent makers, among other things. Today’s guest on the show is Nettie Oliverio, one of the people behind that project, with a focus on the arts and culture elements. Nettie previously served on Reno’s arts and culture commission, and is the outgoing president of the board of the Pioneer Theater. On this episode, Conor and Nettie talk about the development of the Reno Public Market, the importance of arts and culture in retail spaces, the goal of creating spontaneous or surprising connections, the growth of local theater in Northern Nevada, and much more! Learn more about Reno Public Market and keep up to date about their opening on their Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/renopublicmarket/ Renoites is a listener-funded project! Please feel free to Venmo a tip to @Renoites or sign up as a recurring donor at http://www.patreon.com/renoites Send you guest suggestions and feedback to Conor at conor@renoites.com This episode was produced by Conor McQuivey and Lynn Lazaro (I'm sorry I forgot to say so on the actual episode recording! Lynn did a lot of work on this one!)

It’s no secret that schools in Northern Nevada are facing a lot of challenges. Washoe County is one of the most underfunded school districts in the country in terms of per-pupil spending, teachers are leaving the profession for more lucrative jobs, resulting in major staff shortages, and funding strategies like cannabis taxes have not been the cure-all some have hoped. Joining Conor on the podcast today to talk about the issues facing our Northern Nevada schools is Calen Evans, founder of the grassroots teacher advocacy group Empower Nevada Teachers, and elected this year as President of the Washoe Education Association, the union representing Washoe County educators. We had a great conversation about what has caused these issues over the years and decades, how to affect political change when politicians don’t follow through on their promises to support schools, the reason cannabis taxes often don’t actually go to schools, and much more. Thank you for listening and doing your part to advocate for quality education in Nevada. Also be sure to check out Vibrant Voices on Instagram, it's our co-producer Lynn Lazaro's student-run newsroom at UNR and also features local podcasts and stories. Click here and give them a follow! If you have any feedback or guest suggestions, email Conor at conor@renoites.com  And be sure to check out http://www.patreon.com/renoites to help us make Renoites a financially sustainable project (and maybe get yourself some perks like merch or shout-outs on the show!)