August 28, 2020
State Think Tanks Expand Reach with Powerful Podcasts
Updated November 2023
As audiences look for new ways to learn about the issues affecting their states, the Network of state-based think tanks is expanding to new mediums to reach them. These are some of the podcasts that Network think tanks created to offer their states’ residents insight into the policies affecting them—and to share the personal side of the think tanks and their staff.
If your organization has a podcast you would like SPN to add to this list, please share it with us.
Badger Institute
On Free Exchange, the team from Wisconsin’s Badger Institute come together to demystify, explore, and discover ways to make communities in our state freer and more prosperous, one episode at a time. Subscribe on Spotify or listen on Badger’s website or Facebook page.
Beacon Center of Tennessee
On Decaf, the Beacon Center’s weekly podcast, Mark and Taylor (and occasionally some special guests) talk about everything from politics and sports, to pop culture and their own embarrassing confessions. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or watch on Beacon’s Facebook page.
Cardinal Institute of West Virginia
In Forgotten America, the Cardinal Institute diagnoses the unique challenges faced by rural America and unpacks the solutions to those challenges. This is a podcast about the many places that get flown over, driven past, and completely forgotten by all but the people who call these places home. Subscribe on Listen Notes, Spotify, RadioPublic, or Apple Podcasts.
Cascade Policy Institute
In Cascade Policy Institute’s podcast Coffee with Cascade, listeners are invited to grab an Oregon-roasted cup o’ joe, sit back, and listen to Cascade Policy Institute explain the latest research on Oregon issues from increasing homelessness to never-ending traffic. Subscribe on Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Pocket Casts.
Commonwealth Foundation
On School Choice Report, Commonwealth Foundation’s Distinguished Sr. Fellow Dave Hardy takes an in-depth look at the past, present, and future of the movement to empower parents to choose the best education for their child. Subscribe on Spotify.
Empire Center
Messages of Necessity, Empire Center’s biweekly podcast, introduces New Yorkers—and the wider listening audience—to the people working to make the Empire State a better place to live, work, and raise a family. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or YouTube.
Georgia Center for Opportunity
In their Breakthrough Podcast, Georgia Center for Opportunity shares conversations with community leaders, local nonprofits, and area businesses that are meeting the needs of those living in poverty. Each episode highlights the power of civil society to meet the growing needs of the most vulnerable communities. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or watch on GCO’s website.
Idaho Freedom Foundation
In the Hoff Time Report, Idaho Freedom Foundation’s president Wayne Hoffman delivers his take on how to maintain a free and prosperous Idaho. Subscribe on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Anchor, or Spotify. In addition, IFF’s Fiscal Fridays series offers a critical look at where Idaho taxpayers’ money is being spent. Watch and listen on YouTube.
Iowans for Tax Relief
The ITR Live podcast brings you news, opinion, and an occasional laugh as the Iowans for Tax Relief team works to advance a conservative vision for Iowa. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube.
John Locke Foundation
The John Locke Foundation takes a brief, occasionally lighthearted look at big issues in North Carolina and around the world in their HeadLocke podcast, with a focus on individual freedom, personal responsibility, and a constitutionally limited government. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts.
John Locke Foundation also doubles down with their Carolina Journal Radio station, which offers a weekly news magazine take on major issues and events affecting North Carolina. It features interviews with experts, policymakers, and pundits, as well as highlights from important events in the Tar Heel State. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts.
Josiah Bartlett Center
In partnership with the New Hampshire Journal, the Josiah Bartlett Center launched New Hampshire Journal Podcast. The podcast provides daily insights and analysis on the issues affecting the New Hampshire region. Each episode features a free-market perspective on the top issues plus a guest to provide additional insight and context. Subscribe on Spotify.
Libertas Institute
Libertas’ The Way the World Works is geared towards helping parents talk to their kids about economic and civic ideas in a way they can understand, under the label of Libertas’ nationally renowned Tuttle Twins book series.
Mackinac Center for Public Policy
Have you noticed that politicians struggle to enact the things they run on? They find themselves bound by what is popular, or at least their sense of it. The narrow range of policies that they can enact is called the Overton Window. Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s The Overton Window bi-weekly podcast looks at issues around the country and the people changing what is politically possible. Subscribe on Apple Podcast or Spotify.
Mississippi Center for Public Policy
Mississippi Center for Public Policy’s We Love Mississippi podcast series discusses pertinent Mississippi issues of the day and offers a well-reasoned defense of the liberties and freedoms they hold dear. Listen on Podbean or Spotify.
Nevada Policy Research Institute
Discussing important ideas requires a willingness to risk both offending and being offended. Free to Offend is a Nevada Policy podcast dedicated to radically defending free speech… by regularly practicing it. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Amazon.
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
OCPA’s Thinkin’ on Lincoln offers a political podcast that won’t make you hate your neighbor. OCPA hosts Curtis and Ryan unpack cultural and political issues facing Oklahoma and the nation with a light-hearted air. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify.
Pacific Research Institute
Next Round is a weekly podcast exploring California politics from the free-market perspective of the Pacific Research Institute. Episodes feature elected officials, media commentators, and policy leaders to break down the Golden State’s top policy debates and discuss how market-based reforms can improve quality of life. Subscribe on iHeartRadio or Spotify.
Pegasus Institute
Pegasus Institute offers listeners a chance to learn about the biggest policy issues and stories in Kentucky and the nation in their weekly Pegasus Podcast. Guests include elected officials, academics, and advocates. Each episode features a log form interview with a guest and then an array of segments discussed among a group of Pegasus Institute’s staff. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or iHeartRadio.
Pioneer Institute
Hubwonk is a new weekly podcast from Pioneer Institute. In each episode, Joe Selvaggi and the scholars at Pioneer Institute connect listeners directly to the Boston region’s leaders in healthcare, education, transportation, and industry. Together they explore policy solutions that promote liberty, free-market dynamism, and human flourishing for everyone. Subscribe on Google Play, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.
Pioneer Institute also hosts a podcast, The Learning Curve, where listeners can find straight talk about the nation’s hottest education stories—news and opinion from the schoolyard to the 2020 campaign trail. Co-hosts Gerard Robinson and Cara Candal serve up provocative commentary as they interview school leaders, innovators, bestselling authors, policymakers, and others. Subscribe on Google Play, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.
Rio Grande Foundation
On Tipping Point New Mexico the Rio Grande Foundation gives listeners a two-for-one. Alternating episode formats, every other week they offer either a discussion of some of the important issues facing New Mexico from the past week. On alternate weeks they interview New Mexicans who are involved in public policy or business, and nationally renowned policy experts and authors. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Show-Me Institute
In the Show-Me Institute Podcast, listeners can hear free flowing conversations focused on free-market solutions to issues that impact Missouri. The Show-Me Institute covers issues from expanding educational freedom and increasing government transparency, to uncovering the hidden taxes that line the pockets of private developers. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts.
Texas Public Policy Foundation
The Texas Public Policy Foundation offers a weekly look at the people, policy, and politics that drive Texas through The Right Idea podcast. Listen on Apple Podcasts or YouTube.
On TPPF’s The Hard Country, Joshua Treviño and Melissa Ford of the Texas Public Policy Foundation discuss U.S.-Mexico relations, border security, and some Texas history. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or YouTube.
The James Madison Institute
Hosted by The James Madison Institute’s President and CEO, Dr. Bob McClure and Vice President of Policy, Sal Nuzzo, Spill the Tea is a bi-weekly download of liberty, life, and latest news from Florida. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Washington Policy Center
WPC on the Go serves as a go-to source for news on what’s happening in Washington state in all different areas of policy. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
American Enterprise Institute
American Enterprise Institute (AEI) President Robert Doar and Phoebe Keller come to you with insights from the country’s foremost leaders, thinkers, and commentators on “Banter,” the official podcast of AEI. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
AEI also hosts a number of other popular podcasts, including “What the Hell Is Going On?” with Dany Pletka and Marc Thiessen, “The Remnant” with Jonah Goldberg, “Political Economy” with James Pethokoukis, and “The Report Card with Nat Malkus” with host Nat Malkus. Find all these and more at aei.org/podcasts.
Atlas Network
Atlas Network helps to share the passion for liberty that flows through the Americas. In hablemos libertad con antonella marty influential people from the liberty movement from across Latin America discuss topics of libertarianism (not only economic freedom or political freedom, but also individual liberties). Topics include feminism, drug legalizations, populism, and myths about the education and health systems in Cuba.
Atlas Network also promotes the global perspective on liberty in their podcast AtlasNexus. Listeners get a global perspective on the liberty movement from discussions with incredible people who are changing lives by strengthening their communities, empowering individuals, and championing the cause of freedom. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts.
Ballotpedia
Ballotpedia’s On the Ballot connects people to politics. Each Thursday, Ballotpedia’s election experts will unpack the week’s top political stories with their host, Victoria Rose. Ballotpedia’s here to give you the facts, so you can form your own opinion. Stream on Spotify.
National Review
National Review’s Radio Free California podcast takes a look at state of the Golden State — and what that means for you, wherever you live. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts.
