Walter Dods, Jr. is a local boy who made good. Retired now as CEO of First Hawaiian and BancWest, Dods remains a business and political insider and an active community leader. In this first of a two-part conversation, Dods begins at the beginning.

Leslie Wilcox talks story with Hawaiian Renaissance man Solomon Enos. The muralist, painter, book illustrator, comic strip creator, educator, and futuristic storyteller is also the groundskeeper for the forest preserve in the back of Kalihi Valley - the site of Kokua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services. Enos draws inspiration from the land and considers it a "sentient" that must nurtured the way one nurtures a family member. Enos also talks about developing his Honolulu Advertiser comic strip Polyfantastica into a graphic novel.

Leslie Wilcox talks with Warren Nishimoto, director of the UH Manoa Center for Oral History. As an oral historian, Warren has recorded other peoples' stories for over three decades. Now he shares his own stories about the indirect path to becoming an oral historian, including working at his family's store, the historic Iida's. He also explains how he documents the lives of everyday people to preserve Hawaii's history.

He's entertained English royalty, Presidents of the United States and countless local residents. But this son of a City and County refuse worker and a cocktail waitress always goes back to his roots with everything he does and everyone he meets. "Aloha ke kahi I ke kahi," he always says. "Love is everywhere, love is where you find it, love comes from the heart." Find out how Danny Kaleikini went from Papakolea to Kahala, when Leslie Wilcox talks story with Hawaii's Ambassador of Aloha.

A year out of high school, Marvin Nogelmeier arrived in Hawaii on his way to Japan and stayed on a whim. Whether by happenstance or destiny, over thirty years later he has become Puakea Nogelmeier, Hoku-award winning songwriter, Kumu Hula, and Associate Professor of Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawaii. He tells Leslie about some of the choices he made, how they led to a career advocating and promoting the Hawaiian language, and how he got his name.

In this episode of Long Story Short with Leslie Wilcox, Leslie sits down with Kealiʻi Reichel - composer, performer, teacher and an icon in the Hawaiian music and culture scene.

James Scott is a Waimanalo-born Native Hawaiian who has been president of Punahou School since 1994. Scott is the first Punahou graduate to serve as its president. While Punahou has often been stereotyped as the school for Hawaii's privileged class, Scott came from modest beginnings with parents who scraped and sacrificed so that he could attend. He also augmented his tuition by working in the school cafeteria. In Part One of the conversation, Scott talks with Leslie Wilcox about his memories of Punahou as a student, his vision of the school as its president, his management style, and his thoughts on the changing face of education.

Legendary Hawaii News Anchor Bob Sevey, fondly remembered as the Walter Cronkite of Hawaii, sits down with Leslie Wilcox to talk about Hawaii television then and now.

Pono Shim is CEO of Oahu's economic development board, Enterprise Honolulu. The son of political visionaries Alvin and Marion Heen Shim, Pono was exposed to many conversations with high-profile figures at a young age. In Through a Child's Eyes, Leslie Wilcox sits down with Pono as he shares some of those conversations that helped shape who he is today.

Mihana Souza grew up in the great old tradition of Hawaiian music-making. Whether it’s a dressy evening party or a lazy afternoon in the backyard, she always knows there’s going to be music and her family will be singing, strumming, dancing, laughing. Mihana was born into a family of gifted musicians. Her mother, Aunty Irmgard Farden Aluli, was a Hawaiian treasure who composed hundreds of songs, and recorded and performed with her family quartet: Puamana.