Beacon Podcast

This week on the podcast, Cate connects with Charlotte Jacobs — a parent and  childcare provider at Seedlings to Sunflowers Nonprofit Childcare and Family Center in Gorham — and Hazel Willow, a Maine parent who has utilized Head Start and now advocates for protecting childcare services and workers. “My child’s last day living in the…

The post Podcast: ‘A Day Without Childcare’ and the real cost of care gaps first appeared on Maine Beacon.

This week on the podcast, Ben interviews award-winning author Ron Currie on his latest novel “The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne”. Currie’s new book takes place in his hometown of Waterville, ME, and explores Franco-American cultural and economic struggles. Even through fiction writing, Currie draws from personal experiences and dives into intimate themes of…

The post Podcast: Ron Currie explores Franco-American culture through fiction writing first appeared on Maine Beacon.

This week on the podcast, we are bringing back an episode from May 2024 with Luc Kuanzambi, who immigrated to Maine from the Congo. Although this episode was recorded a year ago, Kuanzambi’s message could not be more important: Americans need to be listening to immigrants’ stories firsthand. “The American public is not familiar with…

The post Podcast: What the media gets wrong about the Maine immigrant experience first appeared on Maine Beacon.

This week on the podcast, Cate brings listeners to the State House, where she momentarily steps out of a public hearing regarding Maine’s paid family and medical leave (PFML). She is joined by Maine People Alliance members’ Cassie Nedwell and Amy Jane Larkin, who share their personal stories that highlight the need for PFML. “With…

The post Podcast: Protecting paid family and medical leave for Mainers first appeared on Maine Beacon.

Esther, Cate and Ben are back together to discuss why tax fairness is a crucial part of building a more equitable future for Maine. They touch on how Mainers are putting the pressure on Sen. Susan Collins, delivering a letter signed by 1,300+ Mainers urging her to oppose new tax cuts for the ultra wealthy…

The post Podcast: Why Trump’s tax plan would leave everyday Mainers ‘paying more, getting less’ first appeared on Maine Beacon.

This week on the podcast, Esther is joined by Jan Collins, the assistant director of Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition (MPAC). After Jan’s son was incarcerated in 2012, she became intimately aware of the horrors happening within Maine’s prison system and began fighting to break down harmful stereotypes and inhumane practices. Esther and Jan discuss the…

The post Podcast: Building a more humane justice system in Maine with Jan Collins first appeared on Maine Beacon.

This week on the podcast, Cate and Ben dive into the real-life impact of national immigration policies right here in Maine. They break down some recent high-profile ICE arrests, including a viral TikTok video out of Waldo County and the troubling case of a truck driver detained in Lewiston. They also take a hard look…

The post Podcast: Trump administration targets immigration (again) first appeared on Maine Beacon.

This week on the podcast, Ben sits down with artists Natasha Mayers and Anita Clearfield to discuss the intersection between art and activism. They share the role art has in shaping political movements, and how they’ve seen their work make an impact in the past. In 2012, Natasha founded the Artist Rapid Response Team (ARRT!),…

The post Podcast: How art fuels activism with Natasha Mayers and Anita Clearfield first appeared on Maine Beacon.

This week on the podcast, Cate and Esther do a deep dive on what is happening with health care at the state and federal level. They break down three bills that would help reform Maine’s health care system by: preventing medical debt from affecting consumer reports, preventing AI from denying health insurance claims, and addressing…

The post Podcast: How you can fight for fairer health care at the State House first appeared on Maine Beacon.

On this episode of the podcast, Ben, Cate and Esther provide an overview on what’s happened at the federal level this past week — from Pres. Donald Trump’s unconstitutional threat to deport a Palestinian activist with a green card, to how the potential Canadian boycott of Maine would impact the state’s local businesses and overall…

The post Podcast: What Trump’s trade war means for Maine and more budget threats first appeared on Maine Beacon.