NCSL Podcasts

NCSL

Learn about the people, policies and politics of America's state legislatures with NCSL's three podcasts: "Our American States," "Across the Aisle" and the special limited series "Building Democracy."

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22 episodes
fortnightly
Avg 40 min
English

Episodes 22

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#270
September 27 · 31 min
Cybersecurity Threats Facing Utilities | OAS Episode 270
Our focus on this podcast is cybersecurity at utilities. Electric, gas, and water utilities face billions of automated probes every year. While only a fraction of probes is successful, the cost of such attacks runs into the billions. We’re joined by two guests offering the perspectives from a small, municipal-owned utility and from a large, multistate investor-owned utility.
#269
August 23 · 32 min
Putting Data to Work in the Criminal Justice System | OAS Episode 269
On this episode, we focus on how to use criminal justice data to better understand how a range of programs affect people in the justice system. We sat down with Mike Mueller-Smith, an associate professor of economics at the University of Michigan, and Montana Sen. Barry Usher, chair of the Judiciary Committee.
#268
August 9 · 41 min
Focus on Energy Affordability: Part 2 | OAS Episode 268
In this second of two episodes focused on energy affordability, we spoke with Katherine Jereza, an assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Energy who directs the Office of Electricity, and Joseph Pereira, the director of Colorado's Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate.
#267
July 12 · 52 min
ROI and the Workforce | OAS Episode 267
The focus of the podcast is how states are working toward connecting education and training systems with the workforce. Three attendees at a recent NCSL meeting in Bozeman, Mont., joined the podcast to explain how states are working to understand the return on investment from state investment in education and training programs .
#266
June 21 · 41 min
Focus on Energy Affordability: Part 1 | OAS Episode 266
Our topic on this episode is energy affordability. The U.S. saw largely flat electricity demand from the late ’90s until just a couple of years ago but now increasing demand has strained the nation's ability to keep up. To offer some perspective, we sat down with Representative Craig Williams of Pennsylvania, and Janine Benner, the director of the Oregon Department of Energy.
#265
June 7 · 45 min
Assessing Mid-Decade Redistricting | OAS Episode 265
The last year has seen an unusual spate of mid-decade redistricting and state legislatures are at the center of these efforts in blue and red states. To offer some perspective, we sat down with Erin Covey, who leads coverage of the U.S. House for the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, and Helen Brewer, who tracks redistricting legislation and developments for NCSL.
#264
May 17 · 48 min
Mental Health and the Workplace | OAS Episode 264 | May 17, 2026
This episode will explore mental health and behavioral health in the workplace. Our guests include Julie Hocker, assistant secretary for Disability Employment Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor, and Michigan Representative Curtis VanderWall.
#263
May 3 · 50 min
As July 4 Anniversary Approaches, We Remember Some State History | OAS Episode 263
As the nation prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, NCSL gathered a trio of experts to discuss the origin stories of their states. We discussed the status of each state at the time of the American Revolution, how the state's constitutions were written, and some other unusual historic notes.
#262
April 26 · 56 min
Using Wage Records to Help Workers | OAS Episode 262
Dr. Erica Groshen, former commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Paul Famolari with the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce join the podcast to discuss enhanced wage records and the role they can play in helping states better understand their workforce and evaluate job training and bachelor's degree programs.
#261
April 12 · 36 min
The Lifesaving Potential of Prehospital Blood | OAS Episode 261
Jonathan Morrison, the administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, joins the podcast to discuss the importance of prehospital blood programs that allow emergency responders to administer blood at the scene to trauma victims. He’s joined by a former military trauma nurse with deep experience in the field and a policy expert from NCSL.
#260
March 29 · 1 hr 2 min
The Evolution of Alzheimer’s Diagnosis and Treatment | OAS Episode 260
On this episode we dive into the remarkable progress in the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and get perspective from a neurologist, two legislators and a policy expert from the Alzheimer’s Association.
#259
March 8 · 30 min
Understanding the Cost of Health Care | March 8, 2026
The U.S. health care system is massive. It's a $5 trillion behemoth, nearly 20% of the U.S. economy or more than $15,000 per person per year. The cost of health care for consumers, including the cost of health insurance continues to increase. On this episode, we sat down with two people who pay close attention to the health care market and to how state legislatures are responding to rising costs.
#258
February 22 · 48 min
The Legislature’s Oversight Role | OAS Episode 258
In one fashion or another, all state legislatures exercise oversight of state agencies and programs. They do this in a variety of ways using standing committees, rules review, auditing offices, sunset provisions, and more. On this episode of the podcast, we dive into the topic of oversight with three guests who all have different vantage points to observe the process.
#257
February 1 · 41 min
Big Changes for Medicaid | OAS Episode 257
Two policy experts on Medicaid--Kathryn Costanza from NCSL and Neda Jasemi from the National Association of Medicaid Directors—joined the podcast to talk about the significant changes in Medicaid that were included in the 2025 Budget Reconciliation Act.
#256
January 18 · 30 min
Growing Focus on Data Centers | OAS Episode 256
Two guests join the podcast to discuss the increasing focus by state lawmakers on data centers, and concerns about how their massive consumption of electricity may affect the rates paid by consumers.
#255
January 4 · 33 min
Getting Ready for the 2026 Legislative Session | OAS Episode 255
As a new year and a new state legislative session gets underway, we sat down with Tim Storey, the CEO of NCSL, to discuss the coming legislative session and where he expects legislators to focus their efforts when it comes to budgets, education, Medicaid and more.
#254
Dec 15, 2025 · 23 min
The Power of Mentoring | OAS Episode 254
On this episode, our two guests discussed how they used a mentor-mentee relationship to prepare for a job transition. Bernadette “Bernie” McNulty is the retired chief assistant secretary in the California Senate Heshani Wijemanne is the current chief assistant secretary in the Senate.
#253
Dec 7, 2025 · 22 min
Legislative Leadership and the Infinite Game | OAS Episode 253
On this episode we sat down with Curt Stedron, director of NCSL’s Legislative Training Institute, to discuss a presentation he made at this year’s Legislative Summit in Boston on how game theory can help legislative leaders better understand the notion of leading in an infinite game.
#252
Nov 23, 2025 · 46 min
Power and the People: Distributed Energy Resources and Virtual Power Plants | OAS Episode 252
Two experts in the field of distributed energy resources and virtual power plants join the podcast to discuss how utility operators can use things such as smart thermostats, batteries in homes and small business, electric vehicles and other resources to help manage peak energy demand.
#251
Nov 9, 2025 · 27 min
Unretirement and the Over-50 Worker | OAS Episode 251
On this episode, we talk with Carly Roszkowski, vice president of financial resilience programming at AARP, who discussed why the over-50 crowd is such a critical piece of today’s workforce.

Showing 1–20 of 22 episodes