NCSL Podcasts

NCSL Podcasts is the podcast feed of the National Conference of State Legislatures, and its recent episodes belong to Our American States, a conversation series hosted by Ed Smith. Its territory is state policy as it looks from a legislator's desk. The episodes share a shape. Smith opens with a sharp line from one of his guests, introduces who is at the table, sums up in advance what each will contribute, and then turns to the full discussion. That opening map lays out the argument before anyone starts talking. Health policy comes up across the recent run. In one episode, Jonathan Morrison, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, cites an analysis finding that 43 percent of people killed on highways were still alive when first responders reached them. Another guest in that conversation describes taking battlefield experience with low titer O positive whole blood into civilian ambulances and helicopters in South Texas. The Alzheimer's episode pairs Dr. Ronald Peterson, a Mayo Clinic neurologist, and Jennifer Rosen of the Alzheimer's Association with two senators who sponsored related legislation: Laura Murphy, an Illinois Democrat, and T.J. Shope, an Arizona Republican. Katie Martin, who leads the Health Care Cost Institute, and Sarah Jerome, who tracks health care issues for NCSL, look at why coverage keeps getting more expensive, and Martin puts most of the increase down to prices. Medicaid runs underneath much of this. Katherine Costanza, an NCSL fellow who follows the program, and Netta Jessami of the National Association of Medicaid Directors examine the changes in the 2025 Budget Reconciliation Act, from provider taxes to who will still qualify. Costanza names uncertainty as the biggest challenge facing legislators. Not everything is health care. An episode on oversight brings together Utah auditor general Cade Minchey, Virginia registrar of regulations Holly Trice, and Will Clark of NCSL's Center for Legislative Strengthening to compare audits, rules review, standing committees and sunset provisions. Minchey describes his office's audits as a way to make agencies work better, not only to hold them to account. At the start of each year, Smith sits down with NCSL chief executive Tim Storey to preview the legislative sessions ahead. In the 2025 edition, Storey expects little sweeping change from Washington, calls most state budgets and rainy day funds stable, and flags K-12 education, social media and kids, AI and immigration as issues to watch. The register stays measured and explanatory, closer to a policy briefing than a talk show, and figures do much of the work. The feed also promotes Across the Aisle, stories of bipartisanship, and Building Democracy, a special series on the history of legislatures.