Our Town With Host Andy Ockershausen - Homegrown History

Jack Nichols on HEROES, Inc.® - who it benefits and how ~ ". . .we support the widows and children of police officers and firefighters who have been killed in the line of duty here in the greater Washington area. And HEROES actually stands for Honor Every Responsible Officer's Eternal Sacrifice. . . Whatever they want and they need, we're gonna make sure they get taken care of right away." Jack Nichols, President, HEROES, Inc. ® and Andy Ockershausen in studio Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen and this is Our Town. And we have a very important president of my most important, I believe, the most important charity in the city of Washington, of HEROES, Inc. Jack Nichols, welcome to Our Town. Jack Nichols: Thank you, Andy, it's great to be here, great to be here. Andy Ockershausen: But you are a native of Our Town. I mean ... Jack Nichols: I am, I was born and raised. Andy Ockershausen: We consider everything part of Our Town. Even Annapolis is Our Town. Vienna, Virginia is Our Town. We go all the w

Brian Kelly on Bill Regardie’s thoughts about publishing controversial stories in his magazine~ “I said, ‘Bill, you've got to decide whether you want to be liked or respected.’ It took him about two seconds and he said, ‘Yeah, I want to be respected. Go ahead and run the story.’ That was always Bill's feeling. Even though he is a Washington boy, grew up here, he knew that as an editor, as a publisher, he had to do the right thing for his readers, which was tell the story.” Brian Kelly, Editor and Chief Content Officer, U.S. News & World Report Andy Ockershausen: I'm delighted that we have a star, a journalism star, to be our guest today, and he's been a friend for years. He's so well-known and well-liked by everybody, particularly the people he works for. And, by the way here’s what our friend Bill Regardie had to say about our special guest today. Hiring Brian was the smartest move I ever made. I selected about a quarter of them, and another quarter came over the transom. But hiring Brian away from t

Carol Schwartz reading from the back cover summary of her new book "Quite A Life!, From Defeat to Defeat and Back"~ "Carol Schwartz tells it like it was. Warts and all. . . if you want an outspoken, personal autobiography with pictures galore, that also talks about the history of DC since Home Rule, takes you behind the scenes of chaotic campaigns, as well as shows you the inner workings of government, all rolled together, come on this ride with me. . . It's a journey of wins and defeats and coming back with hope." Former DC Councilwoman and Author, Carol Schwartz and Our Town host Andy Ockershausen in studio Andy Ockershausen: This is Our Town. This is Andy Ockershausen, and I'm so delighted, more ways than you'll ever realize, and I hope sometime during this broadcast you know how much I appreciate this woman, what she's meant to Our Town for over 40 years. What she has done for Washington. That's Carol Schwartz. I always call her Mayor Tootsie. I think she should have been Mayor of Our Town many times.

Joe Hadeed on how he kept his employees working during the slow months his first year as owner ~ ". . .the first January that came up, he kept telling me . . . we don't have any business at that time. We usually lay everybody off and I said I'm not gonna do that. So . . .I put on a suit and tie and went to Cameron Mills Road, one of the exclusive areas in Alexandria . . .and I started knocking on doors. I went door to door for the next three months. . . We stayed busy ever since. Everybody who opened the door gave me rugs and took me in their house and gave me coffee and showed me around." Joe Hadeed - Entrepreneur - Hadeed Carpet and Rug Andy Ockershausen: This Andy Ockershausen and this is, Our Town, the third season. We're so delighted. We tried to get this man in the first and second season - and didn't - to be a guest on our podcast, but he's a friend, an entrepreneur, a smart guy, who I admire for his involvement in the community, and his business sense. You've seen and heard him on countless radi

Chief Peter Newsham, Chief of Police Metropolitan Police Department when asked about his predecessor former Chief of Police Cathy Lanier ~ ". . .whenever one of our officers comes up and they tell me a story similar to some of the things that Chief Lanier had to go through when she was an officer, I immediately think of Chief Lanier. You know what I mean? I take it very, very seriously. Nobody should have to go through some of the things that she had to go through in her career." Andy Ockershausen: This is Our Town. We are so delighted and we think it's an honor to welcome the Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, Peter Newsham. Chief welcome to Our Town. Chief Peter Newsham: Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Andy Ockershausen: You know you have such a storied career. You haven't been in Washington that long but you love Our Town obviously. You could have gone many places but you're from the Massachusetts area. On Growing Up in Massachusetts - Once a Red Sox and Patriots Fan, always a . . .

Thanksgiving 2017 With gratitude Janice and Andy Ockershausen Andy and Janice Ockershausen, Our TownAndy Ockershausen: Our Town, Thanksgiving 2017. Janice Ockershausen and I want to take this time to thank all of those who have made this podcast so special. To name names, like Bill Brower from GEICO, who is our underwriter. Thank you to Ken Hunter, technical director par excellence, and image director JJ Surma. To the staff at WMLA Radio. To our Best Bark communications producer Stephanie Colli, and especially to Rose Caplan, our operations manager. It seems like it does take a village, Janice Ockershausen. Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Yes it does, as quoted by Hillary Clinton. Andy Ockershausen: Our first anniversary with September, and with over 125 interviews under our belt, and 50 more to come at least, we have thousands and thousands of people listening. It's been unbelievable to me how this listenership has taken off. It's been a great experience for us to catch up with old friends, and to make new re

Tony Zeiss on the upcoming dedication and opening of the Museum of the Bible scheduled this November ~ Visitors will "want to have a pilgrimage back and forth. We have over 1,500 groups already have signed up. These are bus loads of ... Some of them up to 400 in a group down to 20 in a group that are coming. November, we open November the 17th, we dedicate it. We open November 18th of this year." Tony Zeiss, Executive Director, Museum of the Bible A Ockershausen: This is Our Town. This is Andy Ockershausen and delighted to have the executive director of the Museum of the Bible, Tony Zeiss. Now, I will guarantee you, Tony, that that is gonna be the first time that 80% of these people ever heard the word, "the Museum of the Bible." I am absolutely a native. I've been in here all my life. I did not know what it was 'til Janice showed it to me one day. So welcome to Our Town. We want to hear all about your museum. Tony Zeiss: Good. I'm pleased to be here, and I can't wait to tell you about the museum. A Ockers

Podcast host Andy Ockershausen, Our Town DC, on losing Legendary Our Town News Anchor Jim Vance ~ "We were in the unique position of interviewing Jim before the news broke of his terminal cancer. We shared a glorious hour with Jim Vance, with lots of laughs and a new awareness of his impact on Our Town. We went to his memorial service at the National Cathedral with thousands of others who loved Jim. There will never be another Jim Vance." Janice and Andy Ockershausen,, in studio Our Town DC Podcast Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen, and this is Our Town. It's hard to believe that Season 2 is complete. We've had some great guests over the last 20 weeks. Our Town started with a bang at a launch party at Tony and Joe's on May 23rd. Our guests included Jim Vance. We were in the unique position of interviewing Jim before the news broke of his terminal cancer. We shared a glorious hour with Jim Vance, with lots of laughs and a new awareness of his impact on Our Town. We went to his memorial service

Tony Cibel on Phyllis Richmond's review of Tony & Joe's ~ "Phyllis Richmond said, 'Tony & Joe's, a contender on the waterfront.' And ever since that, boom we took off like crazy and 30 years later we're still going." Tony Cibel - Tony & Joe's Seafood Place 30th Year Celebration A Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen and this is a special edition of Our Town. And I have a wonderful, wonderful friend and acquaintance by the name of Tony Cibel, who is the man who started some of the most successful restaurants in Our Town. And Tony, I can't believe it's 30 years sinceyou opened Tony & Joe’s in October of 1987. Tony Cibel: That's absolutely true and I can't believe it either, 30 years has flown by. But of course we have the best seafood restaurant in town, Tony & Joe’s, with a magnificent view of the Kennedy Center. A Ockershausen: Well I'll never forget, after the restaurant had been open like two months you had a review in the Washington Post that was a knockout. Tony Cibel: Spectacular. A Ockershausen:

Susan Davis - Founder and President, Susan Davis InternationalSusan Davis on her recent position as Chair of the Board of Vital Voices Global Partnership~ "We work with emerging women leaders throughout the world. We've trained over 15,000 young women leaders and some not so young in countries that are in conflict and transition. And I loved, loved, loved that work. . ." A Ockershausen: All right, welcome to Our Town. This is Andy Ockershausen, and we're so delighted with ... I know, see, I say it all the time but it's true. A guest is so special to us, and this lady is a trailblazer for women in formerly male-dominated industry of public relations. I grew up in Our Town and over the past almost 3.5 decades, she has grown her agency into a global public affairs and communications power house. She is known internationally for her expertise and strategic positioning, reputation management, government relations, and crisis communications. Not only has she provided counsel to government and industry heads in

Doug Duncan on depression and his message to others who also suffer from it ~ "To me, it was just telling the truth, that I had this illness. Part of it was from my family history and knowing that. If I had cancer, if I had something else, you just tell people what you have and you've got to deal with it and take care of it. . . . I got treatment and I got better. That's my message to people around the region." Doug Duncan - CEO, Leadership Greater Washington in-studio interview A Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town. I'm so delighted because when I see our guest around town I always call him the governor, because he ran for governor and in my estimation ... I didn't live in the county but I'd have voted for him. I thought he'd have been a great governor. He thinks I'm teasing him but really, Doug Duncan, you would have been a great governor. I'm sure of that because you were a great county executive in Montgomery County until 2006. You've been in public service for much of your adult

Cathy Merrill Williams on lessons learned from The Chocolate Chip Cookie Test ~ ". . . it is really important that we get things, like cookies, right. We better know a good cookie from a bad cookie, a good restaurant from a bad restaurant. Because if you don't trust us on cookies and restaurants, you're never gonna trust us on doctors and lawyers and things that are hard to measure." Cathy Merrill Williams, President and Publisher Washingtonian Magazine (right) and Andy Ockershasuen, host of Our Town podcast (left) in studio interview A Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen and this is Our Town. And a very special guest, a woman who's quite an accomplished business woman. She graduated from Cornell, holds a Masters Degree, Master of Science Degree from the London School of Economics. Now, that one I didn't ... That must've been your dad's idea. Catherine Merrill Williams. She chairs the board of Visitors at the University of Maryland School of Journalism, a member and Former Chapter Chair of YPO. I know

Donald Graham on his mother, Katharine Graham ~ ". . . my mother was one of the highest ranking women in American business. To say that she was unsure of herself is a gross understatement, she went through life telling people she was not up to the job, she was scared, and all the while she was doing just an incredible job." Donald Graham, Former Publisher and Chairman The Washington Post (right) and Andy Ockershausen, Our Town host (left) A Ockershausen: Our guest today has been described by his colleagues as an incredibly nice person. Always willing to give advice, especially to young business people, I'm included in that. An amazing human being, a lovely lovely man. The Dudley Do-Right of the newspaper business. The rare mogul who puts principles and people ahead of profits. I've personally known Donald Graham for almost 50 years, throughout my career at WMAL, WMAL TV Channel 7, The Washington Star Group, which don't exist anymore, but WMAL Radio's still here thank God. I knew Donald when he was in sch

Kathleen Matthews on being a Democrat in Our Town~ "I'm a Democrat, and the Democrats in this area really care about our country, and they’re trying to figure out how they make a difference in the current political environment. And I’m all about being part of that process, and helping give voice to the values that I think are so important." Kathleen Matthews, DNC-MD Chairwoman, (right) and Andy Ockershausen, Our Town host (left) A Ockershausen: I met our very special guest probably 40 years ago or close to it, in the lobby at WMAL, she was waiting for an interview. I want her to tell that story. To me she was Kathy Cunningham, but over the 40 years that she has been in Our Town, she's accomplished so much. You know, far less being the anchor at WMAL-TV, but WJLA. I still call it WMAL-TV. She had a top level position at the Marriott Corporation. She ran for Congress, and she's going to be named Head of the Democratic Party for the state of Maryland. But my friend and very dear friend, Kathleen Matthews. Wel

Pat Collins Snow Stick ~ "My career sort of morphed into two things, okay? I cover murders, and I measure snow. I have the official Pat Collins Snow Stick. It’s the only way to officially measure snow in Washington. I’m more accurate than National Airport, you just ask people." Pat Collins - Award Winning Reporter - NBC4 A Ockershausen: This is a special day for me for a lot of reasons, which I'll get into, but News 4 viewers know this man as the guy with the yardstick. I know them as the consummate professional, the go to guy to get the real story behind the story. The reporter that you lean into to really listen to what he has to say. He's an official member of Our Town, a native Washingtonian, a good Catholic. There's no such thing as a bad Catholic. He graduated from Notre Dame. He's a Vietnam vet. Not to mention that he's a Silver Circle winner. He has ten Emmy's, two Clarion awards, and he's the winner of the Chesapeake AP Award for the best featured reporter. I'd love to welcome my very good friend

Father Mike Conway on ". . .our school can only be as successful as the corporate partnerships that we have in the community. That’s extremely important. So, as many jobs that we have, that’s as many kids as we can take. Unfortunately, we can’t take all our kids. . .For us, that’s the linchpin. That’s what makes us different from any other Catholic high school in this community and around the country." Father Mike Conway, President, Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School (right) and Andy Ockershausen (left) in studio interview A Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town. Our guest today is a new citizen of Our Town. He's a transplant from Boston. He had really big shoes to fill last year, to take over the job as president of the Don Bosco Cristo Rey School. We had a chance to watch him in action last month at the 10th Anniversary Gala for the school - "The school that works." And I can tell you he has what it takes for the job. Let me introduce you to Father Mike Conway, president of Don Bosco C

Ric Edelman, Founder Edelman Financial ServicesRic Edelman on visiting New York City after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks: "We got in a conversation with the waiter about it, and he was just describing what life was like in the city in the aftermath . . . the four of us decided we’re gonna leave him a $150 tip. . . We got up and we left. He came running after us. He thought we made a mistake. He said, “You left me me too much money.” He was trying to give it back. We looked at him and said, “No, no, no. That’s for you.” He started to cry, and so did we." A Ockershausen: This is Our Town, and this is Andy Ockershausen. I'm so delighted for many, many reasons I'll get into to talk to our guest. I've known him for many years. I would say it's close to three decades, if not more. I can still remember listening to Ric Edelman as a guest with Trumbull and Core talking about Disney stock and what a great Christmas gift that would be, or about the value of 12 days of Christmas, or his fabulous Thanksgivin

Carol Highsmith on the importance of her mission ~ "I am now using the highest digital camera made on Earth. . .That's what I come to the map with. The real important aspect of this is that it is not for now I'm doing this. It's for 1000 years from now, or 5000 years from now." Carol Highsmith, America's Photographer in studio interview A Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town, and it's a special treat for me to talk to somebody, we go way back. This young lady worked in the WMAL sales department in the 1980s. She even won the WMAL Employee of the Year award the first year we gave that award. And she was an incredible addition to the WMAL staff. Since she left there, she's been around doing extraordinary things with her life with her camera and with her husband, another WMAL legend, Ted Lanphair, who was a news director. Together, Ted and Carol Highsmith have roamed the country. She's the official photographer of the United States Library of Congress. She is single-handedly documenting A

Joseph diGenova on interviewing President George H.W. Bush during Clinton passport file investigation ~ ". . .at the end of the meeting he said "Come on, let's have a drink." So I went into his office and we started talking about our families and my daughter at that time was having very serious medical problems, and he said bring her down here, I'll get her into the Houston Center, we'll have her taken care of, it won't cost you a dime, let me know, give me the phone, I'll call her, I'll talk to her. I said, Mr. President that's very nice of you, but we've got everything taken care of." Joseph diGenova, Legal Analyst and Former US Attorney for the District of Columbia A Ockershausen: This is Our Town, this is Andy Ockershausen. And I'm so pleased to have a special guest who's really a WMAL personality, but he's part of what we are here and that is a major, major market radio station. And people listen to this man. We'll spend the next half hour or so talking to him about his life in Our Town, which we cons

Josh Carin on effective communication today ~ "I think that's the challenge with technology today is that we are so accustomed to communicating via email, via texting. I tell my team if you can't communicate what you need to say in three sentences, pick up the phone and call them." Josh Carin, owner Geppetto Catering in studio A Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen and this is Our Town. We're so delighted to have a special guest. Now, I say that to everybody because I mean it. I'm delighted to have you here, Josh Carin. A great tennis player, Arthur Ashe, said "From what we get, we can make a living. What we give, however, makes a life". If that's true, then our next guest has quite a life. He's a business owner. He's a finalist in Washington Business Journal Small Business Philanthropist. He's worked with The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. He fundraisers for WORC and the MDA. He's active in the Greater Washington Board of Trade. He's been a mentor for The Small Business Academy. He's involved with Good