MPM S3

Margaret Chase Smith reading a document sitting on a couch. in her Skowhegan Maine home.

S3E9 Making Maine More Attractive for Young People

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 Attractive to Young People” and […]

Read more

S3E8 Drug Related Morbidity and Mortality in Maine: An Economic Perspective

This episode covers 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.” After briefly summarizing the article, we speak with Dr. Sorg and Prianka Sarker about the opioid epidemic and how we go about quantifying some of the costs […]

Read more

Image of Donnell Pond nestled in a wooded area, Hancock County to represent Maine Policy Matters podcast episode on Maine's public lots.

S3E7 The Tale of Maine’s Public Lots: Loss and Recovery

This episode of Maine Policy Matters focuses on 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 the story of Maine’s public reserved lots and their history to show how efforts to maintain these lots has preserved Maine’s […]

Read more

Empower women network logo with subtext: a diverse group of Maine women supporting, sharing and getting strong to represent Maine Policy Matters podcast episode on empowering Maine women through community leadership.

S3E6 Empowering Maine Women through Community Leadership

On this episode, we interview the authors of a 2018 MPR article entitled, “Our Path: Empower Maine Women Network and Leadership.” [00:00:00] Eric Miller: Welcome to Maine Policy Matters, a podcast from the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center at the University of Maine. I’m Eric Miller, research Associate at the Center. Today, we’ll be following up on a […]

Read more

Postcard depicting hydro electric power house next to Leanord Lake and Dam in Ellsworth, Maine circa 1930 to represent Maine Policy Matters podcast episode on Maine's forests.

S3E5 200 Years of Maine Forests: Navigating Vacationland

This episode of Maine Policy Matters explores an article by Lloyd C. Irland, “From Wilderness to Timberland to Vacationland to Ecosystem: Maine’s Forests, 1820–2020,” that examines the different ways people have viewed Maine forests over the last 200 years. [00:00:00] Eric Miller: For the first time in a hundred years or more, Maine’s total forest […]

Read more

A Lewiston Public Works truck lays down salt and sand as it makes its way up Pine Street in Lewiston during a past storm. (Sun Journal file photo)

S3E3 Winter Roads, Salt, and the Slippery Slope

This episode of Maine Policy Matters explores the findings of a report on the use of road salt in Maine, “Road Salt and Maine: An Assessment of Practices, Impacts, and Safety,” which was published by the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center. They report presents the results from a research project by a team from the […]

Read more

In this Maine Public, May 21, 2012 file photo, Scott Beede returns an undersized lobster while checking traps in Mount Desert, Maine. Ocean temperatures are warmer-than-usual again in the Gulf of Maine, creating worries among lobstermen that there could be a repeat of last summer's early harvest that created a glut on the market and havoc within the industry.

S3E2 Maine’s Lobster Industry: What Does the Future Hold?

This episode of Maine Policy Matters covers an article by James and Ann Acheson entitled “What Does the Future Hold for Maine’s Lobster Industry?” which explores problems the industry faces including shell disease, climate change, increased regulations to protect right whales, and economic uncertainty. The article also focuses on several approaches that could help protect the lobster […]

Read more