Podcasts about Idaho, United States

The argument running through the Idaho shows on this page is about land: who manages it, what burns on it, what it costs. On Idaho Reports, Dustin Miller of the Idaho Department of Lands explains an executive order Governor Little signed in Coeur d'Alene as a signal to the Trump administration that the state is serious about helping the Forest Service. On The Nature of Idaho, Murphy Woodhouse ties wildfire losses to insurance, housing and people building in "land that thirst for flame". On Idaho Matters, out of Boise, Virginia Avery describes firefighter families carrying military-style expectations without military housing, childcare or support groups. Filed under News & Politics more than anything else, the listening here leans toward officials explaining themselves.

What Idaho is

Idaho is a Mountain West state of roughly two million people, with Boise as its capital and largest city. The Snake River Plain crosses the south, where most of the farms and people are; the interior is mountain and wilderness; the Panhandle reaches north toward Canada. Much of the state is federal land, which is why forests, grazing, water and fire keep turning up in its politics.

Sagebrush, junipers and a van of dinosaurs

The Nature of Idaho, hosted by Zoo Idaho Superintendent Peter Pruett and Idaho Museum of Natural History Director Dr. Leif Tapanila, keeps returning to sagebrush country in titles like "The Nature Of Idaho: Sagebrush Sea Project", "The Nature Of Idaho: Sheep vs Cheatgrass" and "The Nature Of Idaho: Western Junipers". Its clips are closer to the ground: Pam Pascali on the Mobile Museum, "the museum condensed and on the road", whose 3D-printed Idaho dinosaurs held up through just over 6,400 visitors in three months, mostly in the north of the state; Tyler Scheibenflug on Pocatello needing "a network of people" to keep up its trail network. BYU-Idaho Radio reaches the same landscape from a campus-and-community angle: sage grouse return to the same spring leks, and the birds on roads are there because the road came later.

The statehouse, Medicaid and the schools

Idaho Reports, from Idaho Public Television, anchors the political listening in a steady, procedural register that asks for explanation rather than confrontation. Susan Buxton of Parks and Recreation describes a 35% spike in visitors against a $200 million deferred-maintenance backlog; House Speaker Mike Moyle warns that if the Senate will not share committee chairs, the House will meet separately. Here We Have Idaho, with Victor Miller and Tom Luna, works the same building through its guests: Representative John Vander Woude explains that Idaho Medicaid now requires 80 hours a month for three months and re-certification every six months. Senior Matters Podcast hears the other side, with Senator Melissa Wintrow linking a 4% Medicaid cut to hospital costs, county property taxes and closures in Idaho care facilities.

The school-policy shows split the work. Idaho Education: Unpacked, with Katie McGuire and Alexis Morgan, is two people translating policy into plain terms as they go: the legislature controls roughly half the state budget, per Idaho Education News, and four-day weeks are believed to help attendance and save money, though RAND found neither is true. The Kevin Richert Podcast is reporting-driven and district-level: with Derek Bub, West Ada is described as law-abiding and set to follow Attorney General Raul Labrador's interpretation of House Bill 41.

Counsel for the State, from the Attorney General's office, is the reference shelf: every government record starts public, including texts that transact public business. The Neal Larson Show is the commentary, from an east Idaho point of view; one clip argues that a bill expanding the attorney general's power has a constitutional problem and is too easily weaponized by the wrong person in the job. Its title run carries Prop 1, the LDS Church's position on it and Senator Jim Risch.

The Panhandle and the east

North Idaho Now is the Panhandle's civic ledger: 2022 tax bills going out from Kootenai County Treasurer Steve Matheson's office, only 74 affordable properties for families earning $65,500 in 2021, and non-native lake trout pushing Lake Pend Oreille's kokanee toward collapse. Its 2024 titles are candidate interviews for Kootenai County Commissioner Seat 1.

It's Worth Mentioning, Rett Nelson's history show, is eastern Idaho's memory: Cecil Andrus taking Jimmy Carter on a five-day Middle Fork float to show a president what public land is worth, Georgia Foster watching Loft 745 collapse with her children in the car. Its titles reach a century-old Iona farm supply company, the Teton Dam collapse and an Idaho Falls trailblazer. Boise has its own page on PlayNext; Prater & The Ballgame and Idaho Matters are Boise shows that also play here.

Vandals and Broncos

Tubs At The Club covers the University of Idaho Vandals at the speed of two informed fans piling context on each other. Its March 2026 clips are the women winning 18 straight and reaching the NCAA tournament for only the fourth time, Isaiah Brickner's 23 points ending a 36-year men's drought, and the tactical case against Oklahoma: rebound, shoot efficiently, keep Barbosa or Dos Santos on the floor. Jay's Sports Bar Podcast, on Boise State, is interview-led and familiar, long winding setups before a direct question, with Spencer Danielson described as the same person Monday through Saturday. Prater & The Ballgame, from Cumulus Media Boise, is sports radio's easy back-and-forth, whether John Canzano is projecting Oregon State at 5–7 or AC Boise is signing Blake Bonnelly, Idaho's most accomplished pro player.

Business, farms and a ballet company

Idaho Business Podcast keeps advice close to the ground, in talk that wants to be useful by the end of the sentence: Tony Moon on why saving $2,500 on taxes can cost $50,000 in business value. Idaho Harvest Heroes Podcast, from University of Idaho Extension and the Farmer Veteran Coalition's Idaho chapter, is risk-management education told by veteran producers in Fairfield, Bonners Ferry, Hammet, Nampa and Emmett; Connie May introduces it as peer-to-peer learning. Ballet Idaho Out Loud goes inside the Boise company, with Kate Maxted recalling the mountains on her descent into Boise and realizing she could find a home, not just a dance job.

Where to start

For the statehouse, Idaho Reports, then Here We Have Idaho. For the land, The Nature of Idaho, with BYU-Idaho Radio's sage grouse clip beside it. For sports, Tubs At The Club for the Vandals, Prater & The Ballgame or Jay's Sports Bar Podcast for the Broncos. For schools and household decisions, Idaho Education: Unpacked and Senior Matters Podcast. The Idaho feed on this page plays clips from these shows.