Nourish your brain with our new podcasts 🎧

Just a quick note to let you know that if you ever listen to podcasts, you might consider putting our new Charlotte Ledger Podcast in your rotation.

Since the end of August, we’ve recorded and released seven episodes. We talk with Charlotte leaders about important and interesting issues, with an eye toward making you smarter, telling you things you don’t know, and introducing you to people with insights about trends in Charlotte.

Don’t worry: We’ll continue producing great, original newsletters. We see podcasting as an extension of our mission to deliver smart and essential information to people in the Charlotte area. Some topics are best explored through conversations, and frankly, we’re already talking with a lot of these folks in the course of gathering information for our newsletters. We’ll usually provide the highlights of these conversations in the newsletter, but if you want to go deeper, give it a listen.

How to listen: The Charlotte Ledger Podcast is available on our website, as well as on podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast and Google Podcasts. Most are under 25 minutes. We’ll release new episodes as they are ready, typically every week or two.

I tend to listen to podcasts while driving. Others listen while jogging or walking the dog. It’s also possible to play podcasts through Amazon Alexa devices and other voice assistants (though it might require some tech know-how).

If you like it, feel free to subscribe, write a review or tell a friend. And if not … well, that’s OK, too.

Some people like podcasts. Others don’t. Some people like email newsletters. Others don’t. We think modern media companies meet people where they are, not where we’d like them to be. We’re offering different options to serve different audiences.

The episodes we have released so far:

Geraldine Gardner and Ledger editor Tony Mecia discuss the vision for integrated transit in the Charlotte region — and how to make it happen. (25 minutes)

Marjorie Molina, one of two new City Council members who took office in September, talks with Ledger editor Tony Mecia about her journey from mom and student to the Charlotte City Council — and what’s ahead for Charlotte’s eastside. (26 minutes)

The Ledger’s Lindsey Banks talks with Brandon Jones of the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation about protecting the Charlotte region’s source of water: the Catawba River. (20 minutes)

The Ledger last month announced a partnership to improve local coverage of health care: The Ledger’s Tony Mecia talks with Rose Hoban of North Carolina Health News and award-winning writer Michelle Crouch about the plans. (22 minutes)

The Ledger’s Carroll Walton talks with Charlotte FC radio color broadcaster Jessica Charman, who grew up playing soccer in a male-dominated sport in England — and they explore the top moments of the team’s first season and the challenges of broadcasting. (28 minutes)

Tobe Holmes of University City Partners and Darlene Heater of Panorama Holdings discuss the effect of insurance giant Centene abandoning plans for a huge East Coast headquarters — and why University City seems primed for more growth. (18 minutes)

Brett Gray of real estate giant Cushman & Wakefield talks with The Ledger’s Tony Mecia about the future of work: remote work, hybrid work, office layouts and companies’ office needs — and what the future might look like for this vital part of Charlotte’s real estate market. (16 minutes)

Enjoy!

The new podcast is a team effort. Thanks especially to Lindsey Banks, who joined The Ledger in June and who is skillfully producing the episodes.

As always, feel free to let me know what you think.

Thanks.

—Tony Mecia, The Charlotte Ledger