This week on Hot Seat: Media Monday, Ron Klopfanstein reports from Fort Stanwix in Rome, where community members gathered for an International Women’s Day rally organized by Indivisible Mohawk Valley, Rome Concerned Citizens, and the Sex & Gender Advocacy Network. The event highlighted personal stories, activism, and the continuing fight for gender equality, reproductive rights, and freedom from violence.
Ron is also joined in studio by Dave Roberts, author, adjunct professor of psychology at Utica University, and host of The Teaching Journeys Podcast. Roberts shares the powerful personal story that shaped his life’s work after losing his 18-year-old daughter to cancer in 2003. In a moving conversation about grief, resilience, and spirituality, Roberts reminds listeners that “we get through grief by remembering, not forgetting,” and that even the deepest pain can carry lessons about love, connection, and meaning.
Plus, Ron and Photojournalist and AI Content Producer Jim Hale visit the newly installed Sebilj fountain along Utica’s Parkway, a traditional Ottoman-style fountain inspired by the famous Sarajevo landmark and built by the Bosnian American community as a symbol of heritage, gratitude, and belonging in the Mohawk Valley.
YouTube: https://youtu.be/3v_2jwYeH5E
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