Beacon Podcast

This week on the Beacon podcast, Ben Chin and Mike Tipping discuss Sen. Susan Collins’ wobbly middle ground on President Trump’s upcoming Supreme Court nomination and how our current politics illustrate that real change is the work of a lifetime.

Plus: Gov. Paul LePage issues a raft of vetoes, but he still can’t stop Medicaid expansion.

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 Beacon Podcast, Professor Hans Hassell shares some of his research on primary elections, his thoughts on Maine’s first ranked-choice contests and his take on the improbable victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York.

One of his most interesting findings: Party donors and organizations often back moderate candidates, even when doing so isn’t the most electorally strategic choice.

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 Beacon podcast, Ben Chin and Mike Tipping discuss the Trump administration’s immigration policies, Sen. Susan Collins’ reaction to those policies and her constituents’ reaction to her reaction. They also provide some domestic and foreign policy background to how the United States came to begin incarcerating children whose families are seeking asylum.

Plus: the results of the Democratic gubernatorial primary and the first test of ranked-choice voting and a preview of this fall’s campaign.

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 via Flickr/Fortune

This week on the Beacon podcast, Ben, Taryn and Mike analyze the results of the primary contests, including how many voters from each party turned out (and, crucially, where they turned out), why Shawn Moody will be a strong general election candidate, and the contrast Rep. Jared Golden will offer with Rep. Bruce Poliquin.

Plus: Some local election results you might not have heard about.

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 Beacon podcast, Taryn, Ben and Mike discuss the rapidly approaching election, including MPA’s endorsement of Jared Golden in CD2 (sign up to volunteer here), the “Final Forum” held in Lewiston on Wednesday and the results of the Beacon straw poll in the race for governor. They try to avoid making predictions.

Also: Leslie Dach of Protect Our Care joins to discuss Maine’s health insurance rate hikes and the fight to protect the Affordable Care Act and Cara DeRose, one of Beacon’s two new reporters, joins to discuss her article on the Kittery Schools coming under fire from the Christian Civic League.

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 via Jeff Kirlin/The Thing of the Moment.

This week on the Beacon Podcast, Taryn, Ben and Mike interview Doug Rooks, author of Rise, Decline and Renewal: The Democratic Party in Maine.

From its rise in the 1950s to what he marks as its decline in the 1990s, Rooks charts the fortunes of the Maine Democratic Party and predicts that Democrats can only reattain their primacy among Maine voters through a focus on issue-based populism, including fair taxation and investment in the future.

“Democrats continue to say they support government as a means to provide economic and educational opportunity, but their actions in office often do not support their words. The decline in the party’s electoral fortunes may owe more to this inconsistency than to any other single cause,” writes Rooks.

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 Beacon podcast, Taryn, Ben and Mike break down the convention speeches of the Democratic candidates for governor, sharing clips, themes and thoughts about the race as it barrels towards the ballot on June 12th.

Be sure to express your own preferences in the Beacon straw poll.

Also: Ben Chin interviews Julia Brown of the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project about the rights of immigrants when dealing with law enforcement and what allies and bystanders can do when they witness an interaction with ICE.

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 via Jeff Kirlin.

This week on the Beacon Podcast, Anna Kellar of Maine Citizens for Clean Elections and the League of Women Voters explains how a minor typo in Maine’s budget, combined with House Republicans’ refusal to allow the legislature to perform its most basic functions, may create a funding crisis for the state’s system of public campaign financing. She urges listeners to call their legislators and the governor to demand a quick fix and to make a five dollar qualifying contribution to their local Clean Elections candidates right now.

Also on the podcast: Maine House Assistant Majority Leader and candidate for Congress Jared Golden joins Taryn, Ben and Mike to discuss his work in the legislature, his campaign against Rep. Bruce Poliquin and how our nation can begin to repair a damaged democracy.

Plus: Poliquin tries to cut funds from the Children’s Health Insurance Program and Taryn almost electrocutes herself.

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 Beacon Podcast, Second Congressional District candidate Lucas St. Clair joins Taryn, Mike and Ben to discuss why he’s challenging Rep. Bruce Poliquin. But first, he’ll have to find him. The Portland Phoenix has declared that Poliquin beat out bigfoot this year for the title of Maine’s most elusive creature.

Also: Updates on the governor’s race, women running for office in Maine, and how taxing the wealthy can help make America great again.

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.

As Republicans shut down the legislature in an attempt to cut health care and the minimum wage, a lawsuit goes forward to force Governor Paul LePage to comply with the Medicaid expansion law and campaigning for the homecare for all referendum heats up.

This week on the Beacon podcast, Taryn, Ben and Mike put these developments in some philosophical context, provide updates on the anniversary of the federal health care repeal attempt and Maine’s races for governor and the Second Congressional District.

Plus: podcast and book recommendations and some fun facts about fungi.

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 via Flickr/Todd Lappin.