Cleveland, OH — Production for Living For We, Season 2: Keep Ya Head Up wrapped but the impact lives on! The video podcast, produced by Ideastream Public Media (Ideastream) in collaboration with Evergreen Podcasts (Evergreen) focused on gun violence prevention and solutions. While the season concludes with its final episode dropping today, its impact continues to ripple across communities in Northeast Ohio through social media engagement, community watch parties, digital resources, television broadcasts, and even a new community activist.
Gun violence is the leading cause of death for teens in the U.S. and to reach that demographic, marketing for Living For We, Season 2 was centered around social media. The podcast’s dedicated Instagram and TikTok shared curated clips from each episode and garnered nearly 1.4 million views. Through those accounts, the team received dozens of inquiries from people eager to share their stories. Due to high demand, the co-hosts launched weekly Instagram Live events to give more individuals the chance to be heard.
Living For We, Season 2: Keep Ya Head Up featured individuals from local organizations like Ghetto Therapy, speaking with founder Walter Patton about why he launched his organization and his take on addressing the mental health crisis. They also connected with Michael Ferrer and Jessicka Castro, founder and assistant director respectively of the ACES Program in Lorain, Ohio; and Faith-based mentors Stanley Frankart, co-founder of Young Christian Professionals in Canton, Ohio, Pastor Bobby “Bobbo” Johnson, and DeShawn Johnson, owner of The Experience barbershop in Akron, Ohio, all men who have found success after incarceration.
Episodes also included conversations with Chairman Fahiem, founder and leader of New Era Cleveland; Judge Brendan Sheehan, who launched the Violence Intervention Program for the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas; and Sonya Prior-Jones, Chief of Youth and Family Success for the City of Cleveland. In addition, mental health and medical professionals like New York-based therapist Jor-El Caraballo, Cleveland Public School District’s former principal Dr. Terrance Menefee, and Chief Surgical Officer Chicagoland Children’s Health Alliance pediatric surgeon Dr. Edward Barksdale joined the podcast.
Alongside these voices were many students and parents who have been directly affected by gun violence in their communities. In Episode 1, Both Sides of the Gun, student Amir shared his journey from life behind the gun to becoming a community advocate; within weeks of that podcast interview, Amir joined the Cleveland Peacemakers Alliance team to help further its mission of reaching teens and young adults in Cleveland. The podcast truly spoke with and celebrated Black men from all walks of life.
The final episode titled Hope in Akron, sheds some light on Akron’s southern neighborhood. Community advocates Courtney Brown founder of the Winners and Leaders program, and Minister Stephen Muhammad, and Marcel McDaniel share their efforts to launch Akron’s Street Teams initiative, and Taylin Ray, a high school freshman, reflects on the loss of his good friend, Jazmir Tucker, who was shot and killed by an Akron police officer.
Co-Hosts Marlene Harris-Taylor, Director of Engaged Journalism for Ideastream and Executive Producer of the podcast, and Myesha Watkins, Executive Director of The Cleveland Peacemakers, are passionate about continuing the mission. Their next step? Partnering with local organizations to take the conversations beyond the green room and bring solutions to the forefront.
“We are so excited for the next phase of the podcast project. We will use clips from each episode and discussion questions to create a digital toolkit. The toolkit will also include a discussion guide and it will be free and available to individuals and organizations to host gun violence solutions community conversations. We hope this toolkit will be available to download from the Ideastream Public Media website by the end of this year,” Harris-Taylor said.
Harris-Taylor and Watkins partnered with local organizations to host four watch parties located across Northeast Ohio. Next, the co-hosts plan to compile and publish all the content created throughout the season into accessible digital toolkits to serve as resources to keep the work going long after the final episode. In January 2026, the full podcast series will air on WVIZ TV. Though season 2 has concluded, the mission is far from over.
Want to get involved? Contact Anna Garvin, Marketing and Communications Manager for Ideastream Public Media, or Samantha Morganti, Marketing Director for Evergreen Podcasts.
Living For We, Season 2: Keep Ya Head Up is part of the Connecting the Dots between Race and Health initiative and made possible by generous support from the Dr. Donald J. Goodman and Ruth Weber Goodman Philanthropic Fund of the Cleveland Foundation. You can find Living for We on major platforms including Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and watch for free on YouTube. For more insights into the series, visit Ideastream Public Media’s website. For local and national resources, please visit the podcast’s Community Resource Page.
About Ideastream Public Media
Ideastream Public Media offers comprehensive access to a diverse array of content—news without noise, inspiring arts, thrilling entertainment, timeless classical music, all-day jazz and enriching educational resources. We proudly operate five public television stations: WVIZ, WVIZ OHIO, WVIZ WORLD, WVIZ CREATE, and WVIZ KIDS. In addition, we manage WKSU, Northeast Ohio’s NPR news and public affairs radio station; WCLV, the region’s classical music radio station; and JazzNEO, a 24/7 jazz service. Ideastream also oversees The Ohio Channel, The Ohio Newsroom, and the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. All content is readily accessible online at ideastream.org, the Ideastream Public Media App and on major social media and digital content platforms.
About Evergreen Podcasts
The Evergreen Brand is a powerhouse of premium audio and video content including Evergreen Podcasts, Rhapsody Voices Podcasts, Converge Podcast Network, and the newly launched EvergreenNOW!™ OTT channel. As a full-service production, marketing, and sales organization, Evergreen delivers high-impact storytelling across true crime, pop culture, comedy, and more—engaging, entertaining, and inspiring listeners. Dive into the collections at EvergreenPodcasts.com, RhapsodyVoices.com, and Evergreennow.tv.
