Beacon Podcast

As Lewiston voters prepare to decide Question 1 — a ballot measure that would restrict syringe service programs — public health experts and community advocates are urging residents to consider the potentially devastating consequences for people struggling with substance use disorder. This week on the podcast, retired emergency and addiction medicine physician Dr. Paul Vinsel,…

The post Podcast: Why voting ‘No’ on Question 1 in Lewiston will save lives first appeared on Maine Beacon.

With Election Day approaching, Democrat Matt Dunlap is making his case for a different direction for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District as he takes on former Republican Gov. Paul LePage. This week on the podcast, Dunlap shares his plans to make healthcare and housing more affordable, protect Medicaid, strengthen unions and challenge Pres. Donald Trump’s agenda.…

The post Podcast: Matt Dunlap on taking on LePage and standing up to Trump first appeared on Maine Beacon.

Paul LePage is running for office in Maine again. So we’re revisiting our 2022 podcast series examining his record as governor — and the impacts his policies still have today. For our fourth and final episode: how LePage stood in the way of climate action, fought renewable energy and sided with the fossil fuel industry…

The post Podcast Special: Burning it Down — LePage and the Climate first appeared on Maine Beacon.

Paul LePage is running for office in Maine again. So we’re revisiting our 2022 podcast series examining his record as governor — and the impacts his policies still have today. Third in the series: how LePage’s racist rhetoric and policies harmed immigrants and people of color while dividing Mainers along racial lines. _______________________________ Editor’s note: This…

The post Podcast Special: Divide and Conquer — LePage and Race first appeared on Maine Beacon.

Paul LePage is running for office in Maine again. So we’re revisiting our 2022 podcast series examining his record as governor — and the impacts his policies still have today. Second in the series: how LePage’s business-first approach reshaped Maine’s economy and hurt workers. _______________________________ “I think like a business person. […] You know the…

The post Podcast Special: Run it Like a Business — LePage and the Economy first appeared on Maine Beacon.

Paul LePage is running for office in Maine again. So we’re revisiting our 2022 podcast series examining his record as governor — and the impacts his policies still have today. First up: how LePage’s cuts targeted Maine’s social safety net and the people who relied on it. _______________________________ “About 47% of able-bodied people in the…

The post Podcast Special: Slash and Burn — LePage and the Social Safety Net first appeared on Maine Beacon.

What’s it actually like to knock on strangers’ doors and ask them to talk about politics — and maybe donate money? In this special audio story, the canvassers of Maine People’s Alliance take us behind the scenes of organizing door to door. They share the awkward encounters, tough rejections and unexpected moments of connection that…

The post The other side of the knock: Stories from Maine’s progressive canvassers first appeared on Maine Beacon.

The Money on the Left Collective joins the Beacon podcast to rethink how we talk about money and public spending. Will Beaman, Tyler Suksawat and Rob Hawkes of the collective join MPA legislative strategist Gus Dunn-Hindle to dig into public banking, why money doesn’t have to be treated as a scarce resource, and how states…

The post What if we rethought money through public banking? first appeared on Maine Beacon.

This week on the podcast, Nora sits down with Maine Center for Economic Policy President and CEO Garrett Martin to talk about why tax fairness has become one of the biggest economic issues in Maine and across the country. Nora and Garrett talk about major tax fairness victories in the last legislative session, look at…

The post How taxing the rich helps everyone, and how we can do it more first appeared on Maine Beacon.

This week on the podcast, we’re bringing you a special broadcast. Beacon host Cate Blackford sat down with author and advocate Heather McGhee as part of the Authors Guild Foundation’s Pascal Hall Author Series for a conversation about McGhee’s book The Sum of Us and what it can teach us about building solidarity in a…

The post What Heather McGhee says we lose when communities are divided first appeared on Maine Beacon.