Show Notes
The focus of Maine Policy Matters is the exploration of policy matters at the local, regional, and national levels as well as to highlight how policy decisions in Maine matter at the local, regional, and national levels. The double play on the title reinforces the mission, vision, and values of the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center to inform public policy processes and promote civil discourse, integrity, and societal decision-making to solve the critical issues facing Maine and the nation. The podcast facilitates open and inclusive communication to advance relationships between policymakers, community leaders, students, faculty, and staff in the University of Maine System. In the first episode of the podcast, Dr. Linda Silka, the executive editor of Maine Policy Review and Senior Fellow at the Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions discusses the emerging and innovative policy research featured in the journal. She emphasizes MPR’s essential role in policymaking and policy education in Maine and discusses the scope and impact of the publication which has been downloaded over 260,000 times in over 203 different countries. This highlights that Maine policy matters to individuals across the globe. [00:00:00] Daniel Soucier: Hello and welcome to Maine Policy Matters, the official podcast of the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center at the University of Maine, where we discuss the policy matters that are most important to Maine's people and why Maine policy matters at the local, regional, and national levels. My name is Daniel Soucier, and I'll be your host. [00:00:26] There are so many interesting and innovative things going on in Maine politics and Maine policy today that deciding on a topic for our initial podcast was no small feat. Instead of choosing one in our first episode, we sat down with Executive Editor of Maine Policy Review, Dr. Linda Silka, to discover the emerging policy issues that researchers, students, and policymakers are writing about in the Journal. Since its inception in 1991, Maine Policy Review has published nearly 800 articles and has well over two thousands subscribers. Since augmenting its print edition with a Digital Commons website, Maine Policy Review's articles have been downloaded over 260,000 times from over 9,100 institutions from over 203 different countries. This excellent resource highlights the variety of Maine policy matters being researched and debated in the state, but also shows that Maine policy matters to individuals across the globe. Transcript [00:01:35] Hi Linda, and thanks for joining us today. Thanks for asking me. Linda, can you tell us the topical focus of Maine Policy Review? What's contained in the journal the pages of the journal, and what's the overall mission for Maine Policy Review? [00:01:50] Linda Silka: One of the things that is just so interesting about Maine Policy Review is what the title says, what the name of we are really focused on Maine and we're really focused on policy, and we're very much focused on, not the most immediate thing, but very much on review, on really thinking about what's gone on in the past, what's going to go on in the future, what's going on now, and how we can think about all of these things. [00:02:19] Daniel Soucier: So would you say, so it's sounds like Maine Policy Review is not your, say, your typical academic journal with these like theorists and specialists that are speaking to audiences of like their specialist peers. But Maine Policy Review is something that's a bit broader. So could you describe for us the writing style and maybe the accessibility of Maine Policy Review? Who's really writing these articles for publication and what do you think their intended takeaways or their intended audience is? [00:02:48] Linda Silka: Yeah. Really a good question. In a lot of states there's a big gap. There are great things being written by academics and there are great things being written by newspapers, but there isn't anything l
More from Maine Policy Matters
In this episode, we sit down with Jennifer Grant, Lisa Smith, and Katherine Freund to discuss the critical challenges and innovative, community-driven solutions shaping transportation resilience, volunteer driver programs, and the future of mobility in rural Maine.
Today, we’ll be interviewing Linda Silka, Sarah Kirn, and Jane Disney on citizen and community science in Maine. Dr. Linda Silka is a social and community psychologist by training, with much of her work focusing on building community-university research partnerships. She has several decades of experience in leading community-university research partnerships on environmental, economic development, and environmental health issues. Sarah Kirn is the Participatory Science Strategist at NASA at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Kirn leads the planning and production of a professional development series for people leading participatory research efforts, with particular focus on meeting the needs of scientists funded by NASA to conduct research using citizen science methods. Jane Disney is currently an Associate Professor of Environmental Health at MDI Biological Laboratory. She is also the Director of the Community Environmental Health Laboratory. She is a co-developer of the citizen science online data portal, Anecdata.org. Donate to Maine Policy Review: https://mcspolicycenter.umaine.edu/donate-to-maine-policy-review/ Our Website: https://mcspolicycenter.umaine.edu/maine-policy-matters/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/umainepolicycenter/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/umainepolicy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mcs.policy.center/?hl=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/umainepolicy Transcript: https://mcspolicycenter.umaine.edu/2026/02/12/s9e1-the-nuclear-frontier-when-maine-was-the-frontline-of-the-cold-war/
In this episode, we interview Rebecca Gibbons, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Southern Maine, who discusses why Maine would be a strategically and politically amenable place for nuclear weapons placement, as well as the current state of affairs regarding nuclear weapons. Donate to Maine Policy Review: https://mcspolicycenter.umaine.edu/donate-to-maine-policy-review/ Our Website: https://mcspolicycenter.umaine.edu/maine-policy-matters/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/umainepolicycenter/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/umainepolicy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mcs.policy.center/?hl=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/umainepolicy Transcript: Coming Soon
In this episode, we interview Chris O'Brien on Maine’s strategic role as a nuclear frontier during the Cold War, highlighting how bases like Loring became central to national defense. We examine the legacy of Senator Margaret Chase Smith, balancing her famous stand against McCarthyism with her firm support for nuclear military readiness. Donate to Maine Policy Review: https://mcspolicycenter.umaine.edu/donate-to-maine-policy-review/ Our Website: https://mcspolicycenter.umaine.edu/maine-policy-matters/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/umainepolicycenter/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/umainepolicy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mcs.policy.center/?hl=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/umainepolicy Transcript: https://mcspolicycenter.umaine.edu/2026/02/12/s9e1-the-nuclear-frontier-when-maine-was-the-frontline-of-the-cold-war/
In this episode, we discuss the high-stakes expiration of the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits (ePTCs)—a pandemic-era policy that is set to sunset at the end of 2025. While the Affordable Care Act (ACA) laid the groundwork for subsidized health insurance in 2010, the 2021 American Rescue Plan significantly boosted these savings, making coverage affordable for thousands who previously sat just outside the eligibility line. Donate to Maine Policy Review: https://mcspolicycenter.umaine.edu/donate-to-maine-policy-review/ Our Website: https://mcspolicycenter.umaine.edu/maine-policy-matters/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/umainepolicycenter/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/umainepolicy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mcs.policy.center/?hl=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/umainepolicy Transcript: Coming Soon