Amy Sussman is a wife, mother, longtime Mainer, and aunt of Max Hathaway, a victim of the tragic October 2023 shooting in Lewiston. Max was 35 at the time, a father of two with another on the way, and that day received his business degree from the University of Southern Maine.
Amy has spent much of her free time tracking down how the money was spent that was raised for the Lewiston shooting victims, finding out that the way it was dispersed, while legal, was likely unethical or improper. Laurel sits down with Amy in-studio to discuss where the money went (or didn't), and how a situation so tragic for the survivors and victims' families was made even worse.

Laurel brings on Jason Snead to discuss the absurdities of Ranked-Choice Voting, how the national movement for RCV has stalled (thankfully!), and what Mainers can do to push back on this extreme form of election manipulation in our state. Maine is one of only two states (with Alaska) that use RCV for any statewide elections.Jason Snead is the Executive Director of the Honest Elections Project. He previously spent a decade at The Heritage Foundation as a senior policy analyst, where he managed the development of the Heritage Election Fraud Database and became a recognized expert on election integrity, criminal justice reform, and technology policy. He holds a master's in public policy from George Mason University.HonestElections.org | @HonestElections | @JasonWSnead | @StopRCV Network

Keywords: politics, elections, voting, ballots, maine, alaska, ranked choice voting, RCV, election integrity, transparency, voter ID, SAVE Act, honest elections project

Who spent all the money?? Dr. Vance Ginn joins Laurel for a discussion on the good, the bad, and the ugly of state budgets, what makes for real economic prosperity, and what Maine can learn from states that are cutting taxes and enabling people to flourish.

Vance Ginn is a free-market economist, founder of Ginn Economic Consulting, and host of the Let People Prosper Show podcast. He served as chief economist at the White House Office of Management and Budget during the first Trump administration and previously at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Dr. Ginn is a senior fellow at Americans for Tax Reform, and his economic commentary has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, and Washington Post.

Follow Dr. Ginn on X @VanceGinn and keep up with his work on VanceGinn.com

Laurel and special guest, Mary Katharine Ham, discuss the issues that hit close to home, and how the government that's closest to us affects us the most. From the cost of energy to the state of education, the answer to the question, "How can we CHANGE the future?" has a surprising answer... tune in for the inaugural episode and simultaneous Lead Maine launch!

Join Laurel and Nick, Lead Maine's new Policy & Comms Director, for a preview of what's around the corner with our upcoming launch and beyond!