Sarah Jane Tribble is a journalist with Kaiser Health News who grew up an hour away from Fort Scott, Kan. Not even 20 years after the opening of a gleaming new hospital there, it closed. People in Fort Scott lost healthcare, workers lost jobs and Tribble saw a story. In this episode of TLDL, we talk with Tribble about her reporting for the podcast “Where it Hurts,” produced in a partnership between Kaiser Health News and St. Louis Public Radio. Anyone affected by or concerned with rural healthcare will find a lot of relevance in this seven-part series.

Asians make up just 3½ percent of the population in Fargo, N.D., and people of Chinese descent are a smaller slice of that. Annie Prafcke is a native of China adopted as an infant by a single white woman in Fargo. From an early age, Prafcke was aware of her otherhood, but only in the past couple years did she hit upon the idea of exploring her experiences through a podcast. She produced a three-part series in partnership with Prairie Public in North Dakota called “Chinese Adoptees: Not Abandoned or Alone.” In this conversation, she talks about the impetus, process and impact of her work on this series.

Here's a stunning and sobering statistic: In 2021, there were 249 school shootings in the U.S. That’s more than twice the highest total in any previous year going back to the first tracking of school shootings in 1970. All of these incidents make headlines. But what about shootings that never happen, that only reach the point of a serious threat? A team from Vermont Public Radio dug deep into one such episode that reverberated throughout the state. My guests today are Nina Keck and Liam Elder-Connors, the hosts and reporters of the podcast “Jolted.”

The popular narrative about the Civil War is white men in the North freed enslaved people in the South. But a podcast from Virginia Public Media tells a deeper story. “Seizing Freedom,” which has just launched its second season, spotlights Black Americans who fought for, designed and defined their own freedom. Our guests are Kelly Jones, a freelance member of the podcast development team with Virginia Public Media, and Ronald Young Jr., an independent audio producer responsible for casting and directing the voice actors in the series. “Seizing Freedom” has just launched its second season.

In 2012, Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Since then, 16 more states have legalized it. But Ann Marie Awad, a producer with Colorado Public Radio and our guest today, noticed that legalization opens up all kinds of concerns around equity, ethics, economics and health.  Awad is the founding producer of “On Something,” a Colorado Public Radio podcast exploring the political, legal and cultural effects of marijuana legalization. 

Think about the U.S.-Mexico border. What comes to mind? Your thoughts are likely different than those from the people who produce the “Port of Entry” podcast from KPBS in San Diego. They think about the personal stories that connect both sides—of love, hope, struggle and survival—of people's lives shaped around the border fence. Today's guests today three-quarters of the creative team with  “Port of Entry”—writer and producer Kinsee Morlan, host Alan Lilienthal and new co-host Natalie Gonzalez.