The Extra Mile

MDOT Planning Division Director Evan Wright joined The Extra Mile Podcast with a live audience at the 2024 Mississippi Transportation Institute (MTI) in Biloxi to discuss the conference, his division, and much more.

MDOT Director of Preconstruction - Program Management Trudi Loflin joined The Extra Mile Podcast to talk about her long career at the agency and break down what her current role entails, among other topics.

• Show intro, introducing MDOT Director of Preconstruction - Program Management Trudi Loflin – 00:36
• Trudi's background and coming to MDOT – 01:26
• What is Right of Way? – 04:11
• Trudi's new role at MDOT – 05:25
• What's going on in Preconstruction? – 08:12
• Trudi's favorite things and lessons learned while working at MDOT – 09:35
• Come Work at MDOT! – 12:04
• Favorite place(s) to eat – 13:24
• Favorite music/concert(s) – 14:54
• Show Outro – 16:45

Secretary of State Michael Watson joined The Extra Mile Podcast to preview the November 5 election from his office's standpoint, provide updates on the Mississippi Secretary of State's Office initiatives, shoutout a certain Covington County-based eatery, and more.

• Show intro, introducing MS Secretary of State Michael Watson – 00:36
• Election Day Preparations / Relationships with Local Election Officials – 01:37
• Check out free resources like yallvote.ms and My Election Day – 04:10
• Mississippi's Election Security Plan – 05:50
• Secretary Watson wants you to vote! – 07:59
• Voter ID – 11:12
• Any changes coming to voting in Mississippi? – 12:39
• SOS Ambassadors Program – 16:26
• Tackle the Tape – 20:18
• Looking ahead to the 2025 Legislative Session – 24:46
• Favorite place(s) to eat – 30:03
• Favorite music/concert(s) – 32:04
• Show Outro – 33:50

Speaker of the House Jason White joined The Extra Mile Podcast to preview his Tax Reform Policy Summit on September 24, among other topics.

• Show intro, introducing MS Speaker of the House Jason White – 00:26
• First Legislative Session as the Speaker – 01:27
• Biggest Accomplishments of Session/Since Session Ended – 02:46
• The Speaker's Public Policy Summit on Tax Reform – 07:34
• House Select Committees – 10:07
• Trajectory of Mississippi's Economy & Tax Reform – 11:37
• Register for the Speaker's Tax Reform Policy Summit: https://www.jasonwhitems.com/ – 17:10
• Looking forward to 2025 Session – 22:32
• Favorite place(s) to eat – 27:55
• Favorite music/concert(s) – 29:13
• Show Outro – 33:31

Mississippi Book Festival Executive Director Ellen Daniels joined The Extra Mile Podcast to preview the September 14 event, talk panelists and provide her own personal book recommendations.

• Show intro – 00:29
• Meet Mississippi Book Festival Executive Director Ellen Daniels – 00:58
• Recording on location at Mississippi Author Eudora Welty's House in Belhaven – 01:16
• The 10th Anniversary of the Mississippi Book Festival – 01:45
• Ellen Daniels's background – 02:37
• The Mississippi Book Festival – 03:40
• Authors to check out – 05:28
• Moving the Mississippi Book Festival to September – 09:36
• Favorite book(s) of all-time/reading right now – 13:34
• Favorite place(s) to eat – 16:28
• Favorite music/concert(s) – 18:12
• Show Outro – 21:49

MDOT Assistant Chief Engineer - Field Operations Janie Bass joined The Extra Mile Podcast to talk about her role at the agency, the capacity project program, women in engineering and more.

• Show intro – 00:31
• Janie Bass' background at MDOT – 01:18
• The MDOT Internship – 05:50
• Under the Field Operations Umbrella – 06:38
• Women in Transportation – 10:00
• Why Engineering? – 11:40
• Favorite music/concert(s) – 12:53
• Favorite place(s) to eat – 14:39
• Show Outro – 16:52

MDOT Director of the Office of Intermodal Planning and Highway Operations Jim Willis joined The Extra Mile Podcast to talk about his role at the agency, multimodal funding, the benefits of working at MDOT and more.

• Show intro – 00:30
• Jim Willis background – 01:20
• Legacy of Charles Carr, former Multimodal Director at MDOT for 40+ years – 03:55
• Momentum of Multimodal – 04:49
• Working at MDOT – 07:05
• Favorite music/concert(s) – 10:28
• Favorite place(s) to eat – 13:03
• Show Outro – 14:16

State Representative Fred Shanks joined The Extra Mile Podcast to talk about how he got into politics, successful 2024 legislation, his thoughts on the future of the ballot initiative process and more.

·               Show intro – 00:26

·               Fred Shanks background/introduction into politics – 02:09

·               Rep. Shanks on the influence of his father, former Jackson city commissioner and baseball coach Doug Shanks – 03:19

·               2024 Legislative Session Recap – 07:55

·               Banning Squatted Trucks – 08:06

·               House Bill 691 – 11:03

·               Looking ahead to 2025 Legislative Session – 13:17

·               Restoring the ballot initiative – 13:34

·               Suffrage bills – 14:22

·               Favorite place(s) to eat – 15:35

·               Favorite music/concert(s) – 17:35

·               Show Outro – 19:57

MEMA Chief Communications Officer Malary White joined The Extra Mile Podcast to discuss a projected above-normal 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, talk about disaster anxiety, provide FAQs on MEMA and more.

·         Show intro/introducing MEMA Chief Communications Officer Malary White – 00:29

·         Projected above-normal 2024 hurricane season – 01:17

·         What has MEMA done to prepare for hurricane season? – 02:10

·         Resources to prepare for hurricane season – 04:01

·         The First 72 Hours Are On You! – 07:43

·         Don’t go outside to assess damage/Indirect fatalities – 09:40

·         Contraflow Protocol – 11:43

·         Keep your gas tanks at least half-full – 14:22

·         FAQs – 17:10

·         Social Vulnerability Index/FEMA – 18:46

·         Partnership with the Department of Human Services – 22:09

·         Disaster Anxiety – 22:54

·         Free Resources from MDOT and MEMA – 28:29

·         Favorite place(s) to eat – 30:55

·         Favorite music/concert(s) – 33:40

·         Show Outro – 35:00

The Extra Mile Podcast team took the show on the road to Biloxi to speak with MDOT State Maintenance Engineer Heath Patterson at the State Roadeo.

• Show intro/introducing MDOT State Maintenance Engineer Heath Patterson – 00:30
• History of the Roadeo – 02:14
• Different events of the Roadeo – 03:37
• Why MDOT does the Roadeo – 04:57
• Favorite events to watch – 06:24
• The Biggest Competitors – 07:56
• Workplace Safety – 08:52
• Slow Down in Work Zones! – 10:04
• Favorite place(s) to eat – 11:33
• Favorite music/concert(s) – 12:47
• Show Outro – 13:40