Who Gets What?

Distribution of goodies in our society is determined by families, firms, and governments. Attempts to change how rewards and punishments, benefits and costs, are spread through the population cause conflict. The hosts are an economist, Morton Marcus, and a financial advisor, John Guy. Expect whimsy.

Evictions in Indiana 11/18/2025

Evictions in Indiana Rabbi Dr. Aaron Spiegel directs GIMA, The Greater Indianapolis Multifaith Alliance, an ecumenical organization advocating for a legal envornment more friendly to tenants, starting with the premise that Indiana is in the top five of the most unfriendly states. In Indiana, a tenant can be one-day late, prosecuted the next day, out within the month, with a total debit rising 200 % due to legal fees and related costs. If unpaid, with 8 % interest, the tenant might not qualify for a future apartment or even for a mortgage. /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/39075215

Minority Deposit Institution, (or, Mission Driven Institution) 11/14/2025

Minority Deposit Institution, (or, Mission Driven Institution) Rafael Sanchez, "Chief Impact Officer" of Old National Bank in Indianapolis, is working to open a "Minority Deposit Institution" in Indianapolis, at two locations, by the first quarter of 2026. This work is from a man who has served on more than 35 boards, profit and non profit, including groups assisting minorities. MDIs are explained, and we learn about his background having been born in Puerto Rico. /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/39040915

The Fonseca Theater in Haughville 10/22/2025

The Fonseca Theater in Haughville With seven years under its belt, The Fonseca Theater has become an important part of The Haughville Community located west of down town Indianapolis. Its wide variety of programs and neighborhood services are the highlights of this conservatiion with Jordan Schwartz, its leader. /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/38747285

The Nature of Poetry with Amanda Bradley 10/14/2025

The Nature of Poetry with Amanda Bradley Forgive this please: Want to learn about poetry from a poet? This podcast will do it. Amanda J. Bradley is an accomplished poet. She has three published collections plus scores of individually published poems while also serving as a writer and as a teacher, including at Butler University. /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/38581035

Recycling Both People and Materials 10/09/2025

Recycling Both People and Materials Speaking to us from an office having two million COVID tests--with lithium batteries--stored just outside, Gregg Keesling tells us about recycling, fire hazards, land fills, vapes, and more. What to do? One idea is the new Indianapolis curbside recycling program. Equally important, education, especially for people who bring peanut butter containers, with residue of peanut butter, expecting it to be recycled. Nope. Food does not work. (Gregg is founder and president of Recyle Force.) /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/38525830

Artificial Intelligence Meets Natural Talent 10/02/2025

Artificial Intelligence Meets Natural Talent That is the corner from which June Rochelle expands her work, joys, and opportunities to teach. While a good share of her life is singing, such as a periodic vocalist at The Cole Porter Room of The Indiana Historical Society, and as a back up singer for Diana Ross and Celine Dion, she also teaches in library and schools. The subject? Use of artificial intelligence in many contexts, such as teaching non-reading five year olds how to play Scrabble. /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/38434305

Proposals to Improve Education 09/20/2025

Proposals to Improve Education Keep teachers happy, expel disruptive kids or place them together in one classroom, establish a choice of education tracks such as the college track and the vocational track, and end grade inflation,* are discussed in this conversation with Indianapolis author Richard W. Garrett. His book is "U.S. Education is in Trouble, Let's Fix It!: 22 Reform Proposals." *47 % of high school graduates get A grades, giving parents a false sense of satisfaction. Meanwhile, only 35 % or less pass standard examinations. /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/38291410

Grants Awarded; Grants Withdrawn, with grant writer Anne Laker 09/04/2025

Grants Awarded; Grants Withdrawn, with grant writer Anne Laker United States withdrawal of programed funds is a challenge for grant-writer Anne Laker. In this conversation, she lists specifics, while also stating that future applications must not contain certain words that guarantee rejection. Yet we must not forget: "funders are people too." /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/38088260

Roads, The Electronics That Guide You 08/26/2025

Roads, The Electronics That Guide You Improvement in traffic control/flow, and advances in methods to recognize whether a vehicle, bicycle, or human, is in the intersection, will improve safety and comfort of trips. Our guest, Darcy Bullock, is Lyles Family Professor of Civil Engineering and Director of the Joint Transportation Research Program with Courtesy Appointments in Mechanical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering. /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/37972280

Mid-Decade Redistricting 08/18/2025

Mid-Decade Redistricting To increase the number of Republican seats in The House of Representatives, certain states have been asked to re-district, or, perhaps better expressed, to "gerrymander" in favor of the Republican administration. Julia Vaughn, Executive Director of Common Cause Indiana, which long has campaigned that districts should be drawn impartially, with no original bias. If successful, parties in the future could re-district at will instead of just after the decennial census. /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/37869160

Reducing Gun Violence 08/15/2025

Reducing Gun Violence As co-president of Hoosiers Concerned About Gun Violence, Jerry King thinks daily about use of guns in violent situations. Generally, gun violence has been declining in The Untied States except among young men for whom his organization conducts camps and seminars. /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/37842975

Mobile Integrated Health in Pike Township 08/07/2025

Mobile Integrated Health in Pike Township After a brief discussion of DNR orders (Do Not Resuscitate), we learn about the Mobile Integrated Health Service of The Pike Township fire department. Out guest is Wendy Utzig who is an Emergency Medical Technician, Registered Nurse, with advanced training in hospice and palliative care, who serves as Community Resource Paramedic. Services include fall prevention education, home safety evaluations, medication reconciliation and chronic disease support. /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/37716170

Indiana Towns, More Than Two Hundred, with Jeff Rasley 07/31/2025

Indiana Towns, More Than Two Hundred, with Jeff Rasley As part of a retired/covid activity, Jeff Rasley and his wife Alicia visited, photographed, and wrote about more than 200 Indiana towns. Their reports are on his Facebook page, as well as at JeffreyRasley,com. (Kokomo, Marion, Converse, Winona Lake, Clay City, Linton, Lawerenceburg, Tell City, West Baden and Princeton are mentioned.) /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/37626795

How Environmental Groups Collaborate 07/18/2025

How Environmental Groups Collaborate Sam Carpenter, Executive Director of The Hoosier Environmental Council, visits us again to discuss working with other groups to achieve common goals. /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/37454410

Our Economist: Morton Marcus 07/11/2025

Our Economist: Morton Marcus What is an economist? Who was the first? What is a "just price?" Is the Finance Department different and separate from The Economics Department? Should economists provide moral leadership? Do/should economists predict? Consulting? Effects of consulting? Will people do "the right thing?" /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/37372430

Mirrorindy.org, A Young, Comprehensive, Free Source of Local News 06/25/2025

Mirrorindy.org, A Young, Comprehensive, Free Source of Local News Ariana Beedie is Community Journalism Director of Mirror Indy, a non profit news gathering organization, readily available at Mirrorindy.org, and in easy-to-read emails every week. In this conversation we cover its history as well as philosophical issues about journalism itself. /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/37153560

Environmental Protection Today, with Sam Carpenter 06/21/2025

Environmental Protection Today, with Sam Carpenter Sam Carpenter, Executive Director of The Hoosier Environmental Council, starts by describing obvious, direct, intentional withdrawal of environmental protections both nationwide and in our state. Indiana is listed in one magazine as the state with the least environmental protections. That is right. Number 50. /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/37097390

Our Government Today 05/09/2025

Our Government Today This conversation starts with fictional candidate Willy Stark, a favorite subject of our guest, Steve Ealy. Steve has written on how to read the Qur'an, the Federalist Papers and constitutional interpretation, the philosophers Jurgen Habermas, Michael Oakeshott, and Eric Voegelin, and the writers C. S. Lewis, Ralph Ellison, Fyodor Deostoevsky, James Fenimore Cooper, John Steinbeck, and Robert Penn Warren. He is currently working on a book-length study of Robert Penn Warren. In other words, he is qualified to dicsuss Donald Trump in the perspective of history. /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/36514445

Assessing Property Values in Monroe County, Indiana 05/02/2025

Assessing Property Values in Monroe County, Indiana From responding to new legislative requirements, some contained in bills over 800 pages long, to visiting homes and handling aggressive property owners, Judy Sharp has been doing it all for almost four decades. /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/36413025

Auditing Public Accounts in Indiana 04/23/2025

Auditing Public Accounts in Indiana Michael Claytor has served as an auditor of public activities since 1974, including being a candidate for the position of Indiana State Auditor in 2014. /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/36279310

TRIMEDX Foundation: Maintaining Medical Equipment Throughout the World 04/16/2025

TRIMEDX Foundation: Maintaining Medical Equipment Throughout the World The Trimedx Foundation sends volunteers around the world to install and maintain sophisticated medical equipment. It is affiliated with Trimedx, an Indianapolis company with more than 3000 associates, which has relationships with most hospitals in Indiana. The foundation will conduct about 40 medical missions this year. Our guest, Audra Plopper, is director of the foundation. /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/36190010

How Government Affects Non Profit Activities and Philanthropy 04/10/2025

How Government Affects Non Profit Activities and Philanthropy Government is changing philanthropic activities by suspending federal economic support and taking direct charge of administering programs especially of arts organizations. Our guest Gene Tempel is Founding Dean Emeritus of the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and a Professor of Philanthropic Studies. /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/36082580

Indianapolis Society of the Classical Guitar 04/01/2025

Indianapolis Society of the Classical Guitar Indiana University Teaching Professor, and founding member of The Society, tells us all about the many genres suitable for guitar, and about this society, which has a special event the night of April 16. For readers and listeners. Please email us to tell us what you think about our efforts. MMJGPodcast@gmail.com /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/35964735

Bonhoffer, John Dos Passos, Growth of Theatre in Indianapolis . . . 03/27/2025

Bonhoffer, John Dos Passos, Growth of Theatre in Indianapolis . . . are just three of the many subjects in this wide-ranging discussion of performing arts, with D. Paul Thomas, an actor, producer, director and more. For two years, Mr. Thomas taught acting at the historic Lamb’s Theatre in New York City, serving as its first Artistic Director while premiering Noel Paul Stookey’s, Puff the Magic Dragon. This was followed by seven years as President of Victory Films, directing over twenty productions including the video series, Celebration of Discipline; One Is A Whole Number (Religion in Media Award); the docudramas They Cry in the Night, filmed in Swaziland, Africa, and The Calling, filmed in the Amazon jungles of Peru; the dramatic musicals, The Fanny Crosby Story, Man of the Morning and Love Divine. Feature films include Kiki, starring Emmy Award winner, Michael Moriarty, and Years of the Beast. He has written, directed or performed in seven “one-person” shows, including A Heart Strangely Warmed and Who Stands Fast? /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/35731215

Local News and Shared Reality with Sheila Kennedy 03/19/2025

Local News and Shared Reality with Sheila Kennedy How do we know what we need to know? In the mythical "old days" local newspaper editors selected stories for us to read, and, in Indianapolis, people read only three sources, The Indianapolis Star, The Indianapolis News, and The Indianapolis Times. Therefore, everyone shared common information. Not so today. No one tells us what is important. We must seek it out ourselves, usually without a foundation from which to seek. Meanwhile, the magnitude, the quantity of news sources, the diversity, has increased exponentially which means that a person seeking information must work hard, must check multiple sources, to find and evaluate. /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/35722465

All About Indiana Property Taxes 03/13/2025

All About Indiana Property Taxes Larry Deboer, Professor and Extension Specialist in Agricultural Economics at Purdue University, who has consulted about taxation of property for decades, describes Indiana's property tax and various issues about it. /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/35604195

The State of Podcasting 03/06/2025

The State of Podcasting Rob Walch describes the podcasting business nation wide. We also learn how to start a podcast, the different types of programs, the three basic formats, plus a number of specifically recommended listening experiences. Rob is Vice President of Podcaster Relations for LIBSYN (Liberated Syndication), which provides the technical services for podcast publication. (Libsyn.com) /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/35558840

Semi Conductor Busines in Indiana 02/21/2025

Semi Conductor Busines in Indiana Larry Wallman, a manufacturers' representative and leader in The International Micro Electronics Assembly and Packaging Society, tells us about Indiana's declining position in his industry. Morton calls attention to recent announcements that electronics companies are coming to Indiana. /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/35376130

The Mezzo Soprano from Lafayette, Indiana 02/13/2025

The Mezzo Soprano from Lafayette, Indiana Audrey Johnson not only sings. She teaches. John encountered Audrey in this context. She provided both a wonderful musical experience and a history of Jewish American composers, this with the collaboration of pianist Clare Longendyke. More information about Audrey's programs can be found at OFTHEEISING.COM. (Yes: two letter e). In the next year and a half, she will help celebrate the Semiquincentennial of The United States with public and private performances. /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/35273075

Safety In The Air Today, with Local Private Pilot Hunter Heath 01/31/2025

Safety In The Air Today, with Local Private Pilot Hunter Heath A discussion of systems and procedures that make air travel safe. /episode/index/show/mortonjohn/id/35103605

Who Gets What?

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