New Hampshire civics below the headline line.
$100 Plus Mileage follows New Hampshire's citizen legislature where small-sounding proposals can carry practical consequences. Anna Brown and Mike Dunbar connect bill text, committee hearings, public input, and local context without turning the discussion into campaign theater.
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$100 Plus Mileage is a guide to New Hampshire's citizen legislature. It starts from the premise that many consequential bills never become headline politics. The show pays attention anyway. Anna Brown and Mike Dunbar from Citizens Count work through proposals, public testimony, amendments, committee votes, and the points where residents can still participate. The result is local civics with a paper trail. The episodes range from AI limits in mental health practice to municipal agreements around homelessness services, from online testimony data to campaign spending in state representative races. There is also room for the less obvious machinery of state policy. Timber grades matter. Data center energy rules matter. Landfill permit fights, handwritten campaign finance reports, and testimony portals matter too. The show is strongest when it turns bureaucratic details into a readable map of interests, constraints, and possible consequences. It does not need national drama to make the stakes clear. A bill number can lead to questions about access to substance misuse treatment, privacy, professional licensing, public input, off-grid energy, or who has the resources to influence a race. The register is clear, civic, and lightly conversational. The jokes are local and quick. A discussion of data centers can veer into ski hills, zombie shelters, and fugitive parrots, then return to how someone can contact a representative or follow a hearing. That looseness gives the policy work some oxygen. It also marks the show as distinctly New Hampshire: practical, slightly odd, and attentive to government by proximity. The named institutions are part of the texture, including Citizens Count, Franklin Pierce University, and the Granite State News Collaborative. The show is not general political punditry. It is closer to a guided walk through statehouse paperwork, with enough context to make the paperwork matter. It suits listeners who want to know what their government is doing before a bill becomes a fight everyone recognizes.
Made for: Suits a listener who wants practical, nonpartisan context on New Hampshire legislation, public hearings, and election-season advocacy. It also fits anyone who likes policy explained through concrete local examples instead of national talking points.
What sets it apart: The show concentrates on under-the-radar state proposals and the mechanics of citizen input, then keeps the conversation grounded with testimony, bill numbers, and local oddities. Similar politics shows chase conflict; this one follows how the process actually works.
Each week Anna Brown and Mike Dunbar of Citizens Count break down a New Hampshire policy issue that has an upcoming hearing, vote, or other opportunity for public input. Citizens Count focuses on lesser-known, somewhat entertaining policy proposals and avoids duplicating news coverage of well-known issues. The featured policy proposals come equally from both sides of the aisle.The podcast is produced by Citizens Count in partnership with The Granite State News Collaborative and Franklin Pierce University's Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
New Hampshire's online testimony portal reveals a sharp divide between public input, party sponsorship, and committee votes.
New Hampshire's online testimony portal was built to make civic participation easier, and this episode asks the harder follow-up: whether that participation changes what lawmakers do.
A practical guide to New Hampshire's data-center bills, public input, and the open question of whether developers arrive.
New Hampshire's attempt to put guardrails around data centers gets a clear, civic-minded run-through, as Anna Brown and Mike Dunbar trace four bills connected to the facilities' heavy energy use and their role in the growth of artificial intelligence.
Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson debate Canadian politics, from Alberta separatism to Ottawa's bureaucracy.
Robert Evans, Katie Stoll, and Cody Johnston build fake conspiracies and mock right-wing media.
Jonah Goldberg's literate, dry-witted arguments about politics and ideas.
This episode discusses a New Hampshire bill requiring agreements between towns before transferring homeless individuals, balancing city protection against potential care delays.
This episode discusses New Hampshire Senate Bill 640, which aims to regulate the use of artificial intelligence in mental health practice, debating whether chatbots can serve as professional providers.
This episode examines how online testimony submitted to the New Hampshire House of Representatives has little influence on legislative decisions, based on data analysis by Citizens Count.
This episode discusses three New Hampshire bills aimed at redefining how local timber is graded and sold to compete with Canadian lumber.
This episode discusses four New Hampshire bills that aim to regulate data centers, balancing their economic benefits with energy and environmental concerns.
This episode provides nonpartisan advice on how to advocate for a cause during election season, including steps to identify policy issues and engage with candidates.
New Hampshire replaced Fast Day in 1991, but the old holiday involved public humiliation, prayer, and fasting.
This episode debates whether New Hampshire should license massage establishments, exploring the arguments for and against a new bill that would require business licenses for multi-therapist massage locations.
This bonus episode of $100 Plus Mileage provides guidance on researching candidates for the upcoming midterm elections, focusing on state and local offices in New Hampshire.
Citizens Count staff discuss top issues for New Hampshire voters heading into the 2022 elections based on a public survey.
This episode discusses a New Hampshire bill that would allow teens to work more hours during the school week, exploring the pros and cons of changing current labor restrictions.