In this episode, we interview Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows on election processes, election security, the importance of local municipal elections, and semi-open primaries. This episode explores the extensive systems Maine employs to protect the democratic process. Secretary Bellows provides an in-depth look at how the state ensures every …

This episode is part 2 of a two-part series on the status of broadband in Maine, with today’s topic focusing on digital equity, attitudes, and access. As we discussed in part one, Maine is uniquely situated for addressing the challenge of getting broadband access to every person, from urban to rural towns, both having their own distinct set of obst…

In this episode, we discuss broadband's history and infrastructure in Maine with Heather Johnson, Nick Battista, Clara McCool, and Andrew Butcher. Heather Johnson is the Commissioner of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, which works with statewide and local partners, private industry, and small businesses to enhance and sus…

On this episode, Bill Zoellick, Monique Coombs, and Jeremy Garielson join us for a panel discussion on Maine’s working waterfront. The panelists discuss the waterfront’s economic and cultural significance, on-foot access, preservation, community involvement, and much more. Scuttlebutt: Harpswell Brunswick Gouldsboro Working Waterfront Inventory Tem…

On this episode, Samaa Abdurraqib and Mollie Cashwell join us for a panel discussion on the importance of the humanities in Maine. The panelists discuss community care, technology's impacts on the humanities, and much more. Our Website: https://mcspolicycenter.umaine.edu/maine-policy-matters/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/umainepolicycenter/ T…

This episode features a one-on-one interview with Charlene Virgilio, executive director of Four Directions. Then, you’ll hear a panel discussion with Tracy Michaud, Steve Lyons, and Rauni Kew on Maine’s tourism trends and hospitality. Tracy Michaud's coauthored Maine Policy Review article: "The Role of Aquatourism in Sustaining Maine’s Working Wate…

On this episode, we interview David Vail, Caroline Paras, and Stuart Kestenbaum on Maine’s Tourism Sectors. Article on Maine's outdoor recreation economy: https://www.pressherald.com/2023/11/20/commerce-report-says-maines-outdoor-recreation-economy-grew-16-5-in-2022/ Caroline Paras's coauthored Maine Policy Review article "The Role of Aquatourism i…

This episode is part 2 of a two-part series on Maine’s offshore wind efforts. In this episode, we’ll be following up on our interview with Dr. Habib Dagher, Executive Director of the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center, by interviewing Celina Cunningham, Nicholas Lund, and Jack Shapiro on the environmental and policy imp…

On this episode, the first of a two-part series, we interview Habib Dagher, the founding Executive Director of the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center. In two weeks, we’ll be featuring a discussion with Celina Cunningham, Nicholas Lund, and Jack Shapiro on the environmental and policy implications of Maine’s offshore win…

In this episode, we interview Lee Kantar and Griffin Dill on the impacts of ticks on Maine wildlife and communities. Lee Kantar is a moose biologist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. He was awarded the Distinguished Moose Biologist Award by his peers at the 53rd North American Moose Conference. Griffin Dill manages the Tic…

On this episode, we interview Mikayla Reynolds, Tamra Benson, Santiago Tijerina, and Caroline Paras, winners of UMaine’s 2023 Student Symposium. The mission of the UMaine Student Symposium is to give graduate and undergraduate student researchers the opportunity to showcase their work, research, and creative activities to the greater community, fos…

On this episode, we discuss the Maine League of Women Voters, and this organization’s ties to the Margaret Chase Smith Library and most notably, Margaret Chase Smith herself. First is an introduction by Dr. David Richards, the director of the Margaret Chase Smith Library on Margaret Chase Smith’s lifelong connection to the League of Women Voters, h…

In this episode, we talk with Edgelynn Venuti and Victoria Leavitt about their winning essays in the Margaret Chase Smith Library Essay Contest on the government’s role in combating climate change. You can find Edgelynn's essay here: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mpr/vol32/iss1/10/ You can find Victoria's essay here: https://digitalcomm…

On this episode, we talk with Caroline Noblet, Jean MacRae, Dianne Kopec, and Caleb Goossen about PFAS (Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances) and their effects on the environment, Maine’s efforts to combat it, the public’s understanding of the issue, and how PFAS affects agricultural systems and interstate commerce. Caroline Noblet's MPR article: “F…

On this episode, we talk with Rebecca Schaffner, Chris O. Yoder, Brian Kavanah, and David L. Courtemanch about the Clean Water Act, in celebration of Maine Policy Review’s special section titled “50 Years of the Clean Water Act.” This significant milestone of half a century since the passage of the Clean Water Act, we are bringing in a panel of exp…

On this episode of Maine Policy Matters, we talk with Ali Abedi, Salimeh Sekeh, and Peter Schilling about navigating AI in research and education. More from Ali Abedi: https://cugr.umaine.edu/people/director-ali-abedi/ More from Salimeh Sekeh: https://umaine.edu/scis/people/salimeh-yasaei-sekeh/ More from Peter Schilling: https://umaine.edu/citl/pe…

On this episode of Maine Policy Matters, we’ll be talking with Peggy McKee, director of the Maine Government Summer Internship Program, to hear about the history and impact on students and government agencies. We’ll also be hearing from a few interns and their supervisors throughout the episode to get an inside look at what it’s like to participate…

Today’s episode has two parts. Part one is a synopsis of Amanda Rector’s article, “Maine’s Changing Demographics: Implications for Workforce, Economy, and Policy”. Part two features an interview with Everett Beals and Michael Delorge, winners of Margaret Chase Smith Library’s 2020 essay contest. Beals’s article is titled, “Making Maine More Attract…

On this episode, we cover an article by Angela Daley, Prianka Sarker, Liam Siguad, Marcella Sorg, and Jamie Wren titled, “Drug-related Morbidity and Mortality in Maine: Lost Productivity from 2015-2020.” Daley is an assistant professor of economics at the University of Maine, Sarker and Wren are both research associates at the Margaret Chase Smith …

In this episode, we cover an article by Richard Barringer, Lee Schepps, Tomas Urquhart, and Martin Wilk titled “Maine’s Public Reserved Lands: A Tale of Loss and Recovery”. The authors tell us a story of Maine’s public reserved lots and its history to show how efforts to maintain these lots have preserved Maine’s natural heritage. This article was …

Today, we will be following up on a 2018 Maine Policy Review article titled, “Our Path: Empower Maine Women Network and Leadership” by interviewing the authors Parivash Rohani, Oyinloluwa Fasehun, Ghomri Rostampour, Bethany Smart, and Laura de Does along with a conversation with Cathy Lee, co-founder of the Empower Network. Their article was publis…

On each episode of Maine Policy Matters, we discuss public policy issues relevant to the state of Maine. This episode covers an article by Lloyd C. Irland, author of five books, fellow of the Society of American Foresters, and participant in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and National Assessment on Climate Change. Irland gives us an inside per…

Trying to understand the history of race and public policy in Maine? Today we will be covering James Myall’s arguments on active antiracism to improve the lives of people of color and correct historic wrongs. You can find Myall's article here: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mpr/vol29/iss2/4/ Transcript Trying to understand the history of…

Today, we will be covering a report by Jonathan Rubin, Shaleen Jain, Ali Shirazi, et al. titled, “Road Salt in Maine: An Assessment of Practices, Impacts and Safety”. In their report, they present the results from a research project by a team from the University of Maine, in cooperation with the Maine Department of Transportation that examines the …

Today, we will be covering James and Ann Acheson’s article entitled “What Does the Future Hold for Maine’s Lobster Industry?”, which covers problems the industry faces that threaten its future, including shell disease, climate change, increased regulations to protect right whales, and economic uncertainty. You can find their article here: https://d…

On our first episode of season three, we cover an article by Mary Morrissey, who gives us an inside perspective on Maine’s offshore wind development and proposes short- and long-term actions to guide Maine’s development of the offshore wind industry in federal waters in her article “Maine and Offshore Wind Development: Using the Coastal Zone Manage…

Today, we will be covering an article by Frank O’Hara titled, “The Great London Plague of 1665 and the US COVID-19 Pandemic Experience Compared.” This article was published in volume 30, number 2, of Maine Policy Review, a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Policy Center. For all citations for data provided in this episode, please refe…

On this episode, we will be offering data and strategies from Rob Brown, the director of Business Ownership Solutions at the Cooperative Development Institute based in Northampton, Massachusetts. Business Ownership Solutions works throughout the Northeast states with business owners to think through whether conversion to a cooperative could meet th…

On this episode of Maine Policy Matters we are joined by scholars Jonathan Malacarne and Jason Lilley to discuss how the pandemic shocked the Maine Food System and how it recovered. You can find their article here: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mpr/vol30/iss2/5/ Transcript Eric Miller: The early days of the Covid-19 pandemic quite liter…

Today, we have with us Liam Riordan, Adelaide and Alan Bird Professor of History at the University of Maine and serves as Chair on the City of Bangor’s Historic Preservation Commission. Riordan was the past Director of the University of Maine McGillicudy Humanities Center, is a past board member of the Maine Humanities Council, and has been a facul…

In preparation for election day on November 1st, today we are hosting William D. Adams—the tenth chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities—for a reading of his essay “The Urgency of Democracy.” Link to essay: https://mcspolicycenter.umaine.edu/mpr/2021/06/16/the-urgency-of-democracy/ William D. Adams served as the chair of the National …

In commemoration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day on October 10th, we will be hosting Gail Dana-Sacco on today’s episode with her reading of her article entitled “Indigenous Voices Charting a Course Beyond the Bicentennial: Eba gwedji jik-sow-dul-din-e wedji gizi nan-ul-dool-tehigw (Let’s try to listen to each other so that we can get to know each other)…

In this second episode of Maine Policy Matters Season 2, Eric Miller interviews Amanda Rector, the Maine state economist since 2011. Rector describes what it was like to be the state economist during the pandemic, how things turned out compared to how she originally thought they would turn out, the effects from the federal response to the pandemic,…

Maine Policy Matters—Season 2, Episode 1 Link to Essay: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mpr/vol30/iss2/1/ What’s a state economist to do in the middle of an unprecedented global pandemic? When everyone is asking for answers, but they are hard to find? In this episode of Maine Policy Matters, Amanda Rector, the Maine state economist since …

In this episode of Maine Policy Matters, Daniel Soucier sits down with Dr. Michael Howard to discuss the confluence of Universal Basic Income and the novel coronavirus pandemic. [00:00:00] Daniel Soucier: Hello and welcome back to Maine Policy Matters, the official podcast of the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center at the University of Maine, where …

The focus of Maine Policy Matters is the exploration of policy matters at the local, regional, and national levels as well as to highlight how policy decisions in Maine matter at the local, regional, and national levels. The double play on the title reinforces the mission, vision, and values of the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center to inform publi…