On this episode, we interview Indianapolis' former Mayor Greg Ballard. Mayor Ballard has written a new book, Less Oil or More Caskets: The National Security Argument for Moving Away From Oil. While that's a provocative title for a book, as a Marine who has served in Desert Storm, Mayor Ballard is passionate about our servicemen and also passionate about transportation technology. He discusses the intersection of the two in his newest book. While this may be viewed as a political view... it's actually not, Mayor Greg Ballard is a Republican.

Mayor Ballard also discusses the work that Indiana is doing on workforce development, women in technology, the state's robotic championship, and other work that he's doing on behalf of Hoosiers. We also had Michael Denny sit in as a guest and he discussed the innovative work that Butler University is doing to transform higher education.

Special Guests: Greg Ballard and Michael Denny.

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Links:

• Less Oil or More Caskets: The National Security Argument for Moving Away From Oil — Every day, millions of Americans get behind the wheels of their car, peacefully unaware of where the gas that powers their vehicle originates. Only transportation and industrial uses consume significant quantities of oil in the United States, with transportation by far the dominant user. Electric power generated by oil is virtually nonexistent, while residential and commercial heating uses for oil continue to fall.
• Paper Signals: A Voice Experiment — Paper Signals are build-it-yourself objects that you control with your voice.
• Indiana State Robotics Initiative — The objective of the State Robotics Initiative (SRI) is to provide a hands-on, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning opportunities to every Indiana student through an economical, entry level robotics platform.
• Indy Women in Tech — Indy Women in Tech's mission is to inspire women and girls of all ages to pursue STEM-related employment in Indiana by introducing them to experiences and career opportunities in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics as well as provide the necessary financial support, mentoring, training, and education for tech-related careers.
• Butler University — U.S. News & World Report named Butler among the top schools in the country when it comes to enriched undergraduate offerings that lead to student success. They concluded that Butler is committed to providing all undergrads with “the best possible educational experience.”