From mother of two children, to first Deputy Majority Leader of Rhode Island State Senate, to adopting a Korean dog, long time Warwick resident Gloria Kennedy is now the host of a podcast on Warwick Radio, presented by the Warwick Public Library.

Kennedy grew up in Warwick and still lives here.

She served as Deputy Majority Leader of Rhode Island State Senate from 1976 to 1983. Kennedy became “fascinated by politics,” because of her mom, dad, and grandmother's strong interest in politics. When serving as the Deputy Majority Leader of Rhode Island State Senate “I upheld the values of equality and justice for everyone,” said Kennedy.

Kennedy remains politically active on Twitter and Facebook. Following her tenure as an elected official, Kennedy hosted Help Line, a talk show live on WHJJ Radio Sundays that featured all types of different guests about consumer issues.

In 1994 she was a host on the T.V show called, Kennedy and Company, that featured political leaders as the guests. The show only ran for a year or two on channel 23, Kennedy said.

Now she’s back on the airwaves, or more accurately, the digital waves.

Her podcast, Gloria Kennedy Remembers 1950s Warwick, debuts Sept. 7 at 5 a.m. on the Warwick Public Library website at warwicklibrary.org and will be available free of charge at any point thereafter. The first podcast introduces Kennedy speaking about her experiences about growing up in Warwick.

Kennedy’s pursuit to host her own podcasts came from her interest of “talking to people who can add to the community.” A good way of talking to people who can add to the community would be to interview politicians, said Kennedy.

Kennedy said she wants to base the podcast off of Warwick because she grew up in Warwick and simply because she loves it here. Kennedy loves the idea of sharing time with the community. She thinks the podcast will help people get involved in the community.

“I can’t get over how fabulous of an idea this is,” said Kennedy.

All Kennedy’s podcasts will be produced and hosted in the Warwick Public Library, “the library has Wil and the best equipment, ‘ said Kennedy.

Warwick Public Library Librarian Wil Gregerson is the technical man in this new journey. Kennedy said, “He’s a perfectionist, I couldn’t do all this without Wil.” Gregerson “is the tech guy for everything,” said Kennedy.

Gregerson said, “Currently I'm handling all the technical aspects for the podcasts, but I’m training others to help me.”

Kennedy said podcasts would run around 20 minutes and be posted biweekly on the Library website. She aims to have the

podcasts run weekly once there is enough content to post. There is also an opportunity of bonus episodes on Fridays once there is more content.

Kennedy’s second podcast will feature John Howell or the “king of Warwick” as Kennedy calls him. When asked why to bring Howell on the podcast she said, “he’s fantastic, and everyone knows John Howell, but nobody really knows him.” This episode, (John Howell Reports on Himself: A Conversation with the Man Behind the Warwick Beacon) will be available

on the Warwick Public Library website on September 14th.

Howell is the owner, publisher, and editor of the Warwick Beacon. The theme of this podcast was getting to know Howell as a person and letting the community know more about Howell’s life outside the paper. Kennedy said she plans on having Howell back soon to talk about the state of journalism.

After running the episodes with Howell, Kennedy wants the podcast to revolve around politics. Kennedy said, “My expertise is on interviewing politicians.”

Kennedy aims to invite former Warwick Mayor Joseph Walsh, and Rhode Island State Senator Kendra Anderson to the show. She would also like to talk with Rhode Island House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi because “I know I can bust his cajones.”

Wil mentioned, “We're also working on an episode with Warwick City Council President Stephen P. McAllister for September 21”.

Kennedy said asked those who would like to be guests on her podcast contact her at mssenator@icloud.com.