What’s Next?
Monday - Thursday 10am and 9pm, Sunday at 6pm
What’s Next? is a program that uncovers and discusses the issues and topics pertinent to marginalized and underrepresented populations of Western New York and Southern Ontario.
From inception, days after the racist May 14, 2022 shooting in Buffalo, the show has tasked itself to be a champion for social equity and justice. Moving forward we will continue to feature voices from all parts of our shared community to celebrate our individual differences as well as the commonalities.
The show is broadcast live on the air from 10am to 11am Monday through Thursday, and airs again at 9pm Monday through Thursday as well as Sundays at 6pm on WBFO. It is also available digitally through WBFO’s website, apps, and as a podcast.
Listeners can participate by using the "Talk to Us" feature in the WBFO mobile app, available on Apple and Android devices. Open the app and scroll to the bottom bar where the "Talk to Us" button allows listeners to send audio recordings straight to the newsroom.
You can also reach the production staff by e-mailing WhatsNext@wbfo.org.
What's Next? will be taking a short break in April and will return with new episodes in May. As we take this break, please continue to listen to WBFO Monday through Thursday at 10am and 9pm for "Producer's Picks" episodes of past conversations.
Latest Episodes
-
On today's episode, to conclude our special coverage we discuss Black Joy with Violinist Henri Muhammad. -
On today's episode, to conclude our special coverage we discuss Black Joy with David Jonathan & Inner City Bedlam.
-
On today's episode, we have an in-depth conversation about reform with the Erie County Commission of Statue Women: Living Trailblazing Women.
-
On today's episode, Thomas O'Neil-White discusses the resiliency of that has been shown in the two years since the tragedy with former Poet Laureate Jillian Hanesworth and Executive Director of Western New York Peace Center Deidra EmEl.
-
On today's episode, Jay Moran discusses challenges that are still faced on Buffalo's East Side with Dr. Henry Louis Taylor Jr. Then, Thomas O'Neil-White speaks with DEI consultant and Executive Vice President of the National Urban League Young Professionals Kendra Brim.
-
On today's episode, Thomas O'Neil-White discusses progress or lack thereof in two separate interviews with author and executive director of Agents of Advocacy Mark Talley and political activist India Walton.
-
Today, we take a trip to The Foundry on Buffalo’s East Side where Thomas O’Neil-White speaks with Megan McNally, Executive Director, and Tamara Zantell, Business Development Director. The three have an in-depth discussion about the organization’s start and impact on the community.
-
The Tool Library is a volunteer-powered nonprofit tool-lending library located in the center of Buffalo’s Main Street. Set up to lend tools out to the community to help them maintain and fix up their homes and gardens. On today’s show, we take a tour of the Tool Library with Jay Moran and Darren Cotton, the Executive Director of the library. Then, Thomas O’Neil-White speaks with returning guest Alex Burgos public health policy and public relations professional. The two discuss filling the gaps in youth and sports programs on Buffalo’s West Side.
-
Today, we welcome returning guest Ben Hilligas, Executive Director of Buffalo Educational Opportunity Center at the University at Buffalo. Ben sits down with Jay Moran to discuss what he and the EOC have done in his first year. His vision, strategies, and passion for educational empowerment alongside the activities and programs that will be taking place in the next year.
-
We revisit two stand-out conversations with Daniel Robertson, Director of the Boys and Men of Color Initiative at Say Yes, Buffalo, to discuss Daniel’s plans for his new role and the positive examples of leadership that helped him step up. And Kelly Dumas of Healing Hub of NY, Inc. and Amanda Paul of Say Yes Buffalo for a discussion about a new program that empowers mental-health clinicians of color.
-
On today’s What’s Next?, we welcome guests whose work in the health care field is concentrated in Chautauqua County. First, producer Patrick Hosken speaks with Lacey Keefer Wilson, the county’s newly appointed public health director, about the most pressing health issues in her communities and her plans to tackle them in 2024. Then, Jay Moran sits down with two leaders from the Evergreen Health system: Laurie Matson, the associate vice president of Southern Tier services, and Jessica Schanne, the associate vice president of facilities and emergency management. Both discuss the opening of a new Evergreen facility in Jamestown and the future of health care in the Southern Tier. -
Today on What’s Next?, two conversations about programs based around giving children the best chance at a promising future. First, Jay Moran talks to Holly Fogle, co-founder and president of The Bridge Project, which provides new mothers with consistent, unconditional cash during the beginning of their child’s life. The program began in New York City and comes to Buffalo this year, with the first payments beginning in February. Then, Thomas O’Neil-White sits down with Mia Ayers-Goss, the executive director of MVP, Most Valuable Parents, an advocacy group founded to combat crime and violence through diversion programs like a new basketball league.
-
On today’s What’s Next?, we welcome four people involved with a landscape maintenance technician training program co-sponsored by three local organizations. Gina Burkhardt, the president and CEO of the Buffalo Center for Arts and Technology, and Jeff Lebsack, the director of The Riverline, speak about the origins of the program as well as its ideals. Two workers who have completed the training join to speak about their experiences: Patrick McIntyre, the golf superintendent for Cazenovia, Delaware and South Park Golf Courses; and Rickey Kearney Jr., a supervisor for operations at Delaware Park. All four speak with hosts Thomas O’Neil-White and Jay Moran about what those who complete the training can expect in the job market.
-
On this Producer's Pick episode of What's Next?, Jay Moran talks with Dean Seneca, public health expert and CEO of Seneca Scientific Solutions, who has spent years working with and supporting Tribal communities in their efforts to improve health and combat addiction through education and research. The two discuss how understanding history and intergenerational trauma is key to grappling with modern addiction issues within those communities.
-
Today’s on What’s Next?, we revisit past conversation for a Producer’s Pick episode. First up, Jay Moran speaks with La Shawn Davis and Deja Middlebrook, who founded the relatively new mental-health practice Walking Through Solutions, about their approach to care and the growing need to address mental health issues in the community. Then, Thomas O’Neil-White sits down with author, activist, and martial artist Dorian Withrow Jr. about his books “Conversations You Need” and “Wisdom 45 Advice” and navigating hardship with philosophy.
-
Today’s Producer’s Pick episode of What’s Next? features Jay Moran in conversation with the Near East and West Side Task Force executive director Francesca Mesiah and member Dior Lindsey. The three discuss the history and future of the task force, which began in 2006 to promote the well-being and self-sufficiency of racial and ethnic communities in Buffalo. And Angelea Preston joins Kissena Frazier to talk about the college access coaching company she founded, Akcess Granted, to help underrepresented and marginalized communities through the college enrollment process.
-
Today’s What’s Next? Producer’s Pick episode revisits two conversations from past episodes. First, Jay Moran is joined by the CEO of Better Living Interest LLC, Paul Perez, and the co-founder and local board president of the Erie Niagara Board of REALTIST, Andrew Scott, who is known within the Buffalo real estate world as the “House Plug.” Then, Thomas O’Neil-White sits down with Wil Green, the director of outreach and community engagement at the University at Buffalo’s Graduate School of Education.
-
Today on What’s Next?, our guest is Andre Stokes, the senior director of specialty substance use disorder services at Best Self Behavioral Health. Stokes has spent years working as a substance abuse and mental health counselor, and his efforts focus on the families of those in recovery because, as he says, the effects of one member’s addiction can ripple throughout the entire household, and beyond. Stokes joins Jay Moran to offer his perspective on doing that work for families and the importance of counselors who reflect those in the communities they serve.
-
Today on What’s Next?, Jay Moran has two conversations around one central topic: the Erie County Language Access Act. The bill passed by the county legislature in late 2023 aims to make vital government documents available in the top six languages used by community members in Erie County. The hope is to broaden interpretation and translation services especially as it pertains to emergency announcements. The local refugee and immigrant populations weighed in to help develop the bill. Our first guest, International Institute of Buffalo executive director, Jennifer Rizzo-Choi, speaks about why that matters. After, David Wantuck, who heads up People Inc’s Deaf Access Services program, gives his take on the importance of including American Sign Language in the new bill, and what lies ahead.
-
This episode of What’s Next? finds Jay Moran joined by Dr. Henry Louis Taylor, Jr., the director of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University at Buffalo. Dr. Taylor was the lead author of a new report released in late 2023 titled, “How We Change the Black East Side,” which acts as a neighborhood planning and development framework for Buffalo’s East Side communities. The report follows a similar one from 2021 called “The Harder We Run: The State of Buffalo in 1990 and the Present,” which Dr. Taylor also co-authored, which focused on the history of Black Buffalo. “How We Change the Black East Side,” meanwhile, looks ahead to a bold new future. Dr. Taylor joins Jay Moran to discuss what those changes could actually look like, and the community benefits of implementing them.
-
On today’s What’s Next?, we’re joined by Mark Talley, author and community advocate, whose book 5:14: The Day the Devil Came to Buffalo, recounts the racist shooting attack at a Tops store on May 14, 2022 in which his mother Geraldine Talley was a victim. Prosecutors told Talley and other families of victims last week that the United States Department of Justice will seek the death penalty if the Tops shooter is convicted of federal charges. Talley sits down with Jay Moran to discuss his reaction to the Department of Justice’s decision, as well as what’s next for his own advocacy work.
-
On today’s special episode of What’s Next?, Thomas O’Neil-White joins two community leaders ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on January 15. Faustenia Morrow is the founder of Monarch of Infinite Possibilities LLC consulting firm, and Reverend Michael D. Bell is the pastor at Durham Memorial AME Zion Church. Both discuss their efforts advancing this year’s day of service programs, where the goal is to have 500 volunteers at 25 sites cleaning, painting, gardening, and more. Plus, we feature audio from Dr. King’s talk at Kleinhans Music Hall on November 9, 1967.
