We are so pleased to bring you State of the Re:Union’s 2011 Fall Season with the following episodes:

The Bronx, NY: Still Rising from the Ashes
The Bronx has long been seen as a symbol of America’s failings.  For many people here, ‘making it’ means escaping the crime and poverty of their borough.  But some have refused to flee. This episode shines a light on the hold-outs and the dreamers, people who’ve committed their lives to keeping chaos at bay in the Bronx.

………….

Mississippi Gulf Coast: Defending the Gulf
After Hurricane Katrina ravaged the area, Mississippi Gulf Coast residents were forced to come together to deal with the aftermath. Then, just as they were starting to get back on their feet, the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster dumped millions of barrels of oil into the water just off their shores. Cumulatively, these events have made environmentalists out of a whole lot of Gulf Coast residents who may not have considered themselves as such. We tell an hour of stories about the fight for the natural world bringing Gulf Coast residents together … both with one another and with unlikely partners. And how, in some instances, that fight is turning out to be exactly what a community needed to survive.

…………….

Wyoming: The New Old West
People are few and far between in Wyoming.  Those that do live here prize tradition, self-reliance, and their connection to the land.  So when change comes to the high plains—an oil boom, a minister with new ideas—communities here are tested.   And neighbors have to strike a balance between preserving their independent way of life and learning to rely on one another. We trek to the small towns and remote ranches of Wyoming, meeting people as they adapt to the New Old West.

…………….

Cleveland, OH: Entrepreneurs at Work
Cleveland, Ohio, is a city that was made by entrepreneurs. But for decades, it’s been known as a city that’s a shell of its former manufacturing-era glorious self. However, Cleveland is being embraced by a new generation of entrepreneurs as a place to put their dreams in motion. This is a now a city of entrepreneurship in a range of incarnations … in their kids’ education, in the environment, even in beer. This is an hour of entrepreneurial stories, taking a look at that go-get-em-seize-your-dreams energy in a variety of forms.

……
……………
Sacramento, CA: All Hands on Deck
There’s been a lot of bad news coming out of Sacramento lately: homelessness, the foreclosure rate, unemployment, and political gridlock in a state crippled by the recession.  Add to that a stubborn case of political fatigue, and you’ve got a lot of reasons to write this cityoff.  But we trekked to California’s beleaguered state capital to take a peek behind the national headlines and find out who keeps this city running—day in, day out—despite all that’s going wrong.  And we left with the realization that people in Sacramento are remaking the American city, in surprising and deeply moving ways.

We are perpetually moved by the incredible stories, people and communities we encounter in making each SOTRU episode. This season is no exception and we are sure that you will be as surprised as we were to learn the things happening in our communities.  You can visit the above pages to listen and download full episodes. There will also be some additional goodies (pictures, articles, and in some cases, a video documentary) you can peruse, adding even more insight into each episode.

Please listen for State of the Re:Union on your local public radio station. In the event your local station isn’t carrying us, you could always give them a call and request it! We’re sure they would love to hear from their listeners anyway. Thanks again for supporting SOTRU. We hope you enjoy the new episodes, documentaries and other bonus features from our travels.

*Listeners in Northeast Florida, you can celebrate the launch of the fall season with us at our annual fundraising event.  Together, Jacksonville’s Museum of Modern Art (MOCA) with SOTRU’s very own, Al Letson, will be hosting and entertaining with a live performance. ‘State of the Re:Union Live’ on Saturday, Oct 22, 2011, will have two shows: the first begins at 7:00 p.m. and the second is at 8:30 p.m. The seats are VERY  limited, so to make sure you don’t miss out, you can purchase tickets in advance for $15 here, or $20 at the door (provided there are seats still available).  See you there!

Entrepreneurs at Work

Cleveland, Ohio, is a city that was made by entrepreneurs. John D. Rockefeller started Standard Oil there. The General Electric Company built one of the nation’s first industrial parks in Cleveland. But for a few decades, that is not what it has been known for.

Instead, thanks to the polluted Cuyahoga River catching on fire back in 1969, it has been known as “the mistake on the lake,” a reminder that it had been a city that had become a shell of its former manufacturing-era glorious self. However, thanks in large part to its dirt-cheap rents, Cleveland is being embraced by a new generation of entrepreneurs as a place to put their dreams into motion.   ………………………………………………………………….

This is a now a city of entrepreneurship in a range of incarnations … in the classic business sense, yes. But Cleveland’s also a city of people turning their entrepreneurial sense on the place around them– in their childrens’ education, in the environment, even in beer. This is an hour of entrepreneurial stories, taking a look at that go-get-’em-and-seize-your-dreams energy in a variety of forms.

To hear the full rundown of the many different ways the community that “rocks” is rocking even more, click on Cleveland, OH: Entrepreneurs at Work.

One of State of the Re:Union’s very own producers, Tina Antolini, gives a peek of behind the scenes action you’ll hear about in our newest installment of the fall season episodes, just click to listen: Cleveland, OH: Entrepreneurs at Work.

I have an exercise for you. If you were trying to describe what Cleveland, Ohio, tastes like, what would you say? Have any idea where to start? Maybe those of you familiar with the Polish or Italian heritage in the city might inch towards pierogi or salami territory. But, after a week of reporting there for SOTRU’s episode, I have a whole other idea of what Cleveland tastes like, and I can say with 100 % certainty, it is nothing like I’d imagined. Try this: buttered. popcorn. pots. de. crème.

This was the capstone to the kind of meal everyone should have when they go to a new city, a meal of abundant revelations … One that showcases the bounty of the region, but in a way that’s never show-offy. Such is the meal SOTRU host, Al Letson, and I had at Greenhouse Tavern in downtown Cleveland. Greenhouse Tavern is the baby of chef Jonathon Sawyer, a Cleveland native who spent years in the NYC kitchens of famous chefs, only to come back home when his kids were born and open Ohio’s first certified green restaurant. At the Tavern, that doesn’t just mean highly efficient low flow toilets and a compost pile out back (though they have those), it means efficiency in how animals are used, and sustainability in how ingredients are sourced. It was no accident that nearly every dish we tried featured pork in some form or another; when you’ve got a whole local pig to butcher on a regular basis, you better get creative in how to use it (one staff member told me you end up with 20 to 30 pounds of pure fat each time. And that can only mean… lots and lots of sausage.).

The ingenuity with which those pigs are used is what impressed me: pig tongue dolmas, for example. Greenhouse Tavern has a whole roasted pig’s head on the menu, but they have to remove the tongue, because it cooks more quicky than the rest of it. Hence the dolmas, which are not recognizable as anything even slightly resembling a tongue. Instead, they just taste like very moist minced pork, mixed with raisins and spices, and wrapped in romaine leaves that have been lightly pickled. Another example: the appetizer that I might champion as one of the best bar snacks ever: pork cracklins tossed with crisp fried hominy, pickled red onions, lime juice and cilantro. Porky, crunchy, and pickley, all at once.

The Tavern even has a daily changing menu item called “the fifth quarter,” which is a play on the butchering technique that divides an animal into four quarters, and whatever extra falls out—the intestines, the brain, what have you—well, that’s the fifth quarter. The night we were there it was rabbit spanikopita, and, let me tell you, if that’s produced from leftovers, we should all be so lucky to scraps lying around.

But back to the dish that has indelibly stamped itself into my memory of Cleveland. The story behind the buttered popcorn pots de crème is that they emerged out a of a quasi-joke one night. Greenhouse Tavern’s pastry chef, Matt Danko, saw a bag of stale popcorn in the restaurant, and said offhand that they should make a caramel corn flavored custard. The chef told him to go for it, and then he turned out not to be kidding. Matt makes the pots de crème by whipping up a batch of popcorn and then infusing cream with it, turning that into custard, and adding a topping of caramel and sprinkle of sea salt. What you get is what caramel popcorn would be if it had been transported into some sort of ethereal realm. Light, evoking the best buttery popcorn you’ve ever had, but with the dark “roastiness” of caramel and spike of salt. If this is what Cleveland tastes like, it tastes damn good.

Cleveland, Ohio is a city that was made by entrepreneurs, but for decades, it’s been known as a city that’s a shell of its former manufacturing-era glorious self. However, Cleveland is being embraced by a new generation of entrepreneurs as a place to put their dreams in motion. This is a now a city of entrepreneurship in a range of incarnations… in their kids’ education, in the environment, even in beer. This is an hour of entrepreneurial stories, taking a look at that go-get-em-seize-your-dreams energy in a variety of forms.

State of the Re:Union wants to hear from you! Use the comment section below to let us know what you think about our latest episode, Entrepreneurs at Work.

  [podcast]http://sotrupodcasts.creativeempirell.netdna-cdn.com/Cleveland_Podcast.mp3[/podcast][/podcast]