Heidi Shierholz, senior economist for the Economic Policy Institute and former chief economist for the U.S. Department of Labor, joins the podcast this week to talk about the rise of forced arbitration, the scourge of wage theft, and some proposed laws that could help protect Maine workers.

Ben and Mike are also joined by Alli Harper of OurShelves, who discusses the need for more children’s books featuring diverse characters and how to change the industry to make sure more diverse books are published.

You can ask a question or leave a comment for a future show at (207) 619-3182.

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This week on the podcast we have a special conversation hosted by Nicola Chin as part of her Brass Tacks series. She interviews Kimberly Simmons, affiliated scholar with the USM Women and Gender Studies Program, asking “What is feminism? What is misogyny? And what is the value to each of us of reclaiming a useful sense of these terms?”

Learn more about Nicola and her work here.

You can ask a question or leave a comment for a future show at (207) 619-3182.

Subscribe to the podcast feed right here using your favorite podcasting app or subscribe using iTunes.

 

On the podcast this week, Ben Chin and Mike Tipping discuss how, despite some recent headlines you may have seen, the real scandal of Maine’s indigent legal defense system isn’t over-billing, but under-investment and a lack of time and attention paid to the cases of Maine’s poorest residents.

As Dan Neumann reported for Beacon this week, following up on his initial reporting in April, the average time spent by hired lawyers on an indigent defendant’s case was just 9.25 hours statewide. It was just 2.99 hours in Somerset County and just 7.5 hours for juvenile cases.

“I literally almost cried when I saw that number,” State Rep. Victoria Morales (D-South Portland) told Beacon. “As a former attorney, I could never provide a quality defense to a client on that small amount of time. I could never talk to their parents, go and talk to their school guidance counselor, go do research in the community and find out what diversionary programs might be available.”

Maine is the only state in the nation without a public defender’s office.

Also this week: How Susan Collins could stop the separation and caging of immigrant children any time she wants, but chooses not to, and how her cash-soaked birthday party hosted by FedEx a few years ago is receiving new attention following that company’s windfall from the Trump corporate tax breaks.

Plus: The results of the presidential straw poll and an update on campus organizing.

You can ask a question or leave a comment for a future show at (207) 619-3182.

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Photo: Maine State Prison | ACLU

According to new polling, Maine’s Democratic voters overwhelmingly back Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, a 2% wealth tax and other progressive policies, so why don’t some of Maine’s Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate, including frontrunner Sarah Gideon and newcomer Ross LaJeunesse?

This week on the Beacon podcast, Ben Chin and Mike Tipping discuss this and other aspects of the race to replace Sen. Susan Collins, as well as Maine’s presidential primary.

See the poll results and vote in the straw poll here.

Also: an introduction to some UMaine campus activists who are organizing in a unique way and an update on the state’s Medicaid transportation program, where Mainers now have a chance to undo some of the damage done by privatization under former Governor Paul LePage.

Plus: Fun facts about vitamin B12.

You can ask a question or leave a comment for a future show at (207) 619-3182.

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Angela Okafor and Safiya Khalid join the Beacon podcast this week to discuss their trailblazing elections this week. Okafor will be the first person of color to serve on the Bangor City Council, a body that will now have a majority of women. Khalid is the first Somali immigrant to win election to the Lewiston City Council, where she won her Ward 1 race with 70% of the vote.

They join six other Maine immigrants who won municipal offices in Maine on Tuesday.

Khalid and Okafor discuss what made them choose to run for office, how they built their grassroots campaigns and what policies they plan to pursue while in office.

You can ask a question or leave a comment for a future show at (207) 619-3182.

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This week on the Beacon podcast, Maine AFL-CIO organizing director (and 4th generation UMaine alum) Sarah Bigney joins Ben and Mike to discuss Beacon‘s groundbreaking Campus Conservatism series (Parts 1, 2, 3), what has caused the university system to adopt an austerity mindset and what can be done to change their position.

Sarah also gives an update on the Chicago teachers’ strike and dominates a round of Maine historical trivia.

You can ask a question or leave a comment for a future show at (207) 619-3182.

Subscribe to the podcast feed right here using your favorite podcasting app or subscribe using iTunes.

This week on the podcast, Ben Chin interviews Ian Haney López about his new book Merge Left: Fusing Race and Class, Winning Elections, and Saving America.

Also, a Canadian election update and new research shows that paid family leave and other, similar policies won’t solve the gender wage gap.

You can ask a question or leave a comment for a future show at (207) 619-3182.

Subscribe to the podcast feed right here using your favorite podcasting app or subscribe using iTunes.

She may have dropped in recent polls, but Sen. Susan Collins is a long-term incumbent with significant political skills. Ben and Mike discuss her prospects on this week’s Beacon podcast.

Also: Cara DeRose and Dan Neumann join the show to discuss their articles on unregulated application fees and uncertain work schedules.

You can ask a question or leave a comment for a future show at (207) 619-3182.

Subscribe to the podcast feed right here using your favorite podcasting app or subscribe using iTunes.

(Getty Images photo by Mark Wilson)

 

Ana Maria Archila, co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy, joins the podcast this week to discuss the one year anniversary of the elevation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. One year ago, Archila and another protester confronted then-Senator Jeff Flake in a congressional elevator and helped to build a movement for justice that continues today.

Also: A review of the pivotal decisions Kavanaugh has influenced over the past year.

Plus: Ben and Mike discuss new feature reporting from the Bangor Daily News on the grassroots movement in Lewiston that has succeeded in holding some of the city’s worst slumlords to account.

You can ask a question or leave a comment for a future show at (207) 619-3182.

Subscribe to the podcast feed right here using your favorite podcasting app or subscribe using iTunes.

Photo: Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) is surrounded by reporters following a closed-door meeting of Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill following allegations of sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh by Christine Blasey Ford. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap and ACLU of Maine legal director Zach Heiden join the podcast this week to answer a listener question: is voter suppression a threat in Maine and what should those who are concerned about this issue be doing right now to prevent it.

You can ask a question or leave a comment for a future show at (207) 619-3182.

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(Top: A voter casts her ballot at a polling place at Highland Colony Baptist Church, November 27, 2018 in Ridgeland, Mississippi. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)