{"podcast":{"title":"EmpowerU America Podcast","slug":"empoweru-america-podcast-7044524","podcast_index_feed_id":7044524,"rss_url":"https://www.spreaker.com/show/6097761/episodes/feed","website_url":"https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/empoweru-america-podcast--6097761","image_url":"https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/e8eaab7af6fed5d1e3fea9f035034578.jpg","author":"EmpowerU America Podcast","episode_count":87,"summary":"EmpowerU America's motto is \"educate, enjoy, engage\", and we've been providing free educational lectures, interviews, and events to the public on a range of subjects for over 13 years. During our spring, 2024, semester we will expand our audience through this audio podcast. Join Michael Mercier and Jerry Thomas as they take turns behind EmpowerU's host microphone to interview experts on a variety of subjects, including film, politics, the media, architecture, history, and world affairs. Click \"play\" to EmpowerU!","last_synced_at":"2026-06-07T12:17:46.713983+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/empoweru-america-podcast-7044524"},"episode":{"title":"Ohio Needs a Reset --- Too Many Local Governments with Donovan O'Neil of AFP","slug":"ohio-needs-a-reset-too-many-local-governments-with-donovan-o-neil-of-afp","published_at":"2025-11-25T22:55:58+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/empoweru-america-podcast-7044524/ohio-needs-a-reset-too-many-local-governments-with-donovan-o-neil-of-afp","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/empoweru-america-podcast-7044524","url":"https://www.spreaker.com/episode/ohio-needs-a-reset-too-many-local-governments-with-donovan-o-neil-of-afp--68747704","audio_url":"https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/68747704/donovan_afp_audio_only.mp3","summary":"Ohio is drowning in local government. Thousands of townships, cities, boards, and commissions—each with their own offices, taxes, and lobbyists—are weighing us down. We’re told this makes government ‘closer to the people,’ but here’s the truth: too much local government just means more bureaucracy, more red tape, and less accountability.In this session, we’ll pull back the curtain on how Ohio’s tangled web of local government keeps us stuck in the middle of the Midwest—and how we can fix it.If we want to make Ohio the best state in the nation, we need to shrink the mess, cut the red tape, and put power back where it belongs—with the people, not the bureaucrats. Donovan O’Neil from Americans for Prosperity will join us for this fascinating discussion. ABOUT DONOVAN O'NEIL Donovan O’Neil is the State Director for Americans for Prosperity – Ohio, where he leads a team working to educate, activate, and mobilize individuals toward bold public policy reform. Prior to joining the Stand Together Community in 2016, he worked for Ohio Auditor of State Dave Yost, where he promoted local government innovation and advocated for cost saving initiatives in state and local government. He is a graduate of Youngstown State University.","meta_description":"Ohio is drowning in local government. Thousands of townships, cities, boards, and commissions—each with their own offices, taxes, and lobbyists—are weighi…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3955,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/empoweru-america-podcast-7044524/episodes/ohio-needs-a-reset-too-many-local-governments-with-donovan-o-neil-of-afp/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/empoweru-america-podcast-7044524/ohio-needs-a-reset-too-many-local-governments-with-donovan-o-neil-of-afp.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}