Rhode Island politics, pressed for answers.
Newsmakers tracks Rhode Island politics through direct studio interviews and reporter roundtables. It favors specific questions, fresh polling, campaign pressure points, and institutional disputes over personality-driven commentary.
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Newsmakers is a Rhode Island public-affairs program with a newsroom spine. It is built around interviews, roundtables, and pointed local questions. The show’s pace is brisk. A guest is introduced through the week’s live political problem, then asked to make a case before the conversation turns to consequences. Recent episodes have followed the early shape of Rhode Island’s 2026 races, including Sabina Mato’s reelection argument, Helena Folks’ polling position, Dan McKee’s vulnerabilities, and Ken Block’s attempt to run again under a new political label. The program does not treat those campaigns as abstract theater. It asks what the numbers mean, which voters are still movable, and whether a candidate has actually closed the argument. National issues appear when they touch Rhode Island officials, as in Gabe Amo’s response to military spending, conflict overseas, cost-of-living pressure, and congressional process. Legal and institutional questions are just as central. Greg Amore is pressed on voter records, privacy, and election trust. William Smith discusses the judiciary, constitutional strain, criminal sentencing, and the limits of court authority. Peter Nerona’s appearance moves from a church sex abuse report to hospitals, consumer protection, energy, and the environment. The show can be grave, especially when discussing abuse, public records, or threats to the courts. It can also loosen into local memory, as with the reporter roundtable on polling, snow, and the Blizzard of 78. The throughline is accountability. Newsmakers wants public figures to define their claims, defend their records, and explain what changes for Rhode Islanders. It is not a national politics recap with a local accent. It is a practical civic check-in for a small state where the names are familiar and the follow-ups matter.
Made for: For listeners who follow Rhode Island campaigns, state government, courts, and local accountability. It is especially useful for people who want the practical stakes behind polls, lawsuits, budgets, and public officials’ talking points.
What sets it apart: Newsmakers stands out by keeping statewide politics concrete and interview-driven. It puts recognizable Rhode Island figures under direct questioning, then connects campaign positioning to institutions, policy, and voter trust.
Tim White and Ted Nesi host in-depth interviews each week with top politicians and others in the news from Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts. Brought to you by WPRI 12, Fox Providence and myRITV.
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Rhode Island politics becomes concrete through disciplined interviews that connect official claims to budgets, institutions, court power and electoral consequences.
Newsmakers | WPRI 12 News turns Rhode Island public affairs into direct, closely questioned conversations. Tim White and Ted Nesi press candidates, officeholders and other civic figures on what their positions would mean in practice, from energy costs and hospital oversight to…
Rhode Island's power players meet the follow-up question you were already muttering at the screen.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A retired federal judge weighs pressure on the courts against the heavy responsibility of judicial power.
Judge William Smith brings his long federal-bench experience to a focused discussion of courts under pressure, presidential power, and the fragility of judicial independence.
A focused Rhode Island interview ties a church abuse report to institutional accountability and the political work ahead.
Peter Nerona's final year as Rhode Island attorney general is framed as a test of what public accountability can actually bring into view. The review starts with his office's sweeping report on the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence's handling of clergy sex abuse, including…
A Rhode Island governor's race roundtable closes with a warm turn toward memories of the Blizzard of '78.
The episode sets Rhode Island's 2026 governor's race against a remembered winter emergency, giving the hour a clear local-news shape. It moves from the arithmetic of Helena Fowkes's lead over Dan McKee in the UNH Survey Center poll to the question of whether the Blizzard of 26…
A Rhode Island local-news episode connects Newport's housing strain with infrastructure costs and accountability.
Newport's summer surge to roughly 100,000 people gives the episode a clear frame: housing pressure, short-term rentals, and how a coastal city thinks about its next 400 years.
John Laughlin argues that Rhode Island's lieutenant governor can offer a counterweight under one-party rule.
John Laughlin's Republican run for Rhode Island lieutenant governor is framed around a simple question: can an office he calls a "useless appendage" become a real counterweight in a state dominated by one party?
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Former State Representative John Laughlin discusses his Republican campaign for Lieutenant Governor, focusing on energy affordability and immigration enforcement.
Newport Mayor Zai Komsivorovong discusses the city's housing crisis, with one in four homes vacant most of the year and only one net housing unit added annually for two decades.
Attorney General Peter Norona discusses his decision not to run for governor in 2026 and reflects on his career and priorities.
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Democratic State Rep.
Lieutenant Governor Sabina Matos discusses her campaign for re-election and her focus on addressing food insecurity in Rhode Island.
Independent candidate Ken Block discusses his gubernatorial campaign and the political landscape in Rhode Island.
On Newsmakers, Tim White and Ted Nisi interview Rhode Island Congressman Gabe Amo about a proposed $1.5 trillion fiscal-year 2027 military budget, the Iran war, and health-care cuts.
Newsmakers interviews Democratic Rhode Island gubernatorial candidate Helena Folks about her 2026 challenge to incumbent Dan McKee.
Rhode Island Secretary of State Greg Amore discusses a lawsuit from the Trump administration over his refusal to release detailed voter records, citing federal privacy laws.
Judge William Smith tells Tim White that the federal judiciary has been tested by "the kind of pressure" from Trump administration cases, yet has "performed in a way that is really extraordinary." Smith says threats to judges at federal court in Providence are "chilling," citing a recorded call, pizza deliveries, and U.S.
Peter Neronha says his 250,000-document church-abuse report tells “the whole story” of the Diocese of Providence, including more than 300 victims and more than 70 credibly accused priests.
A UNH Survey Center poll shows Democratic primary challenger Helena Fowkes leading incumbent Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee 34 percent to 18 percent, with 40 percent of voters still undecided six months before the primary.
Republican candidate John Loughlin discusses his campaign for lieutenant governor of Rhode Island, focusing on breaking the Democratic streak and promoting affordable energy.
Rhode Island Community Food Bank CEO discusses record food assistance demand and SNAP program disruption ahead of Thanksgiving.
A news show examines the outsized role of New England federal courts in legal challenges to Trump administration policies, featuring an interview with Reuters reporter Nate Raymond.