CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The headlines out of Washington have become overwhelming. But how are new federal policies actually affecting the day-to-day lives of people across America?  

States Newsroom, the nation’s largest nonprofit state-focused news organization, announces the launch Friday, Nov. 7, of Stories From The States, a weekly podcast that will explore, through personal stories, how people and communities across America are living after the drastic and rapid changes at the federal level. 

Each Friday, host and States Newsroom publisher Chris Fitzsimon, with producer Mallory Cheng, will take one issue in the news and examine it from a personal level. Over 25 minutes, Fitzsimon will introduce listeners to local journalists, experts and community members who are experiencing the fallout of sweeping changes happening across the country – all with the goal of figuring out what it means for listeners, their families and their communities. 

“The news lately can feel overwhelming, and it’s getting hard to keep track of what it’ll mean for each of us – and our neighbors and our country,” Fitzsimon said. “We want this podcast to be a breather, a chance to focus more deeply on one story or issue so that listeners can understand what’s happening more clearly.”

In two of the first episodes of Stories From The States, you’ll meet:

• A young woman in Wisconsin who has a debilitating chronic illness and relies on Medicaid for care; she worries about how Medicaid cuts will upend her life.
• A tradesman in Rhode Island whose work is in limbo after the Trump administration abruptly canceled – then resumed – an offshore wind energy project that had been 80% completed. 

LISTEN NOW: 

• PREVIEW TRAILER: A 7-minute trailer of Stories From The States is available here. 
• TEASER: A 1-minute overview of Stories From The States is here. 

Each Stories From The States episode will tap into the work of more than 200 States Newsroom reporters and editors who are based in every state capital covering government politics and the local response. Issue experts, local officials and the people experiencing the fallout of the latest news will round out each episode. A final few minutes will feature a quick roundup of stories to watch for in the coming week from Danielle Gaines, author of the daily Evening Wrap newsletter. 

“Our reporters publish about 150 unique stories a day,” Cheng said. “That gives us an incredible view into what’s happening across the country and an opportunity for the podcast to feature the personal stories that get to the heart of why our reporting matters.” 

Stories From The States is the first national podcast from States Newsroom, but the organization is not new to podcasting. The weekly Kansas Reflector Podcast launched in 2020 and has produced more than 250 episodes. And the Louisiana Illuminator launched a weekly news and politics show called The Light Switch in early 2025. Separately, Illuminator reporter Piper Hutchinson was part of a team that produced the investigative podcast and print series, Fueling Knowledge, about Louisiana State University’s relationship with the fossil fuel industry in March. Earlier this year, the Idaho Capital Sun and Boise State Public Radio teamed up on a captivating five-part series called Howl about the reintroduction of wolves in the American West. 

Stories From The States episodes will be posted at noon ET each Friday on Apple Podcasts, YouTube podcasts and Spotify. Episodes also are available at the Stories From The States website. 

MEDIA AVAILABILITY: Chris Fitzsimon and Mallory Cheng are available for interviews. To arrange, contact Lara Weber, States Newsroom communications director, [email protected] or 312-952-0788. 

ABOUT CHRIS FITZSIMON

As Publisher and CEO of the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, Chris leads the organization’s strategic direction and mission. From 2004 to 2017, Fitzsimon was the founder and original director of NC Policy Watch, North Carolina’s leading online news and commentary outlet, where he led a team of seven journalists, hosted a weekly radio show and wrote a syndicated column on North Carolina politics and government. Earlier in his career, Fitzsimon was an award-winning television news reporter covering politics and government.

ABOUT MALLORY CHENG

Mallory is the national podcast producer for States Newsroom. She most recently was a host and podcast producer at Wisconsin Public Radio, where she helped launch WPR’s daily news podcast. Mallory fell in love with audio storytelling while interning at StoryCorps Chicago and as a college radio host at Denison University. Originally from Chicago, she got her start in journalism as a documenter at City Bureau learning how to report through hours-long city government meetings.

ABOUT STATES NEWSROOM

States Newsroom is the nation’s largest nonprofit state-focused news organization. We shine a light on policy and politics in state capitals around the nation and we provide that coverage for free, no pop-ups, paywalls or ads. In an era of rampant disinformation and news deserts, we provide nonpartisan coverage of the state issues that most affect people’s daily lives.

Leading studies cite States Newsroom as key to filling the void in coverage left by staffing cuts at legacy media outlets. According to one study, the overall percentage of reporters working for nonprofit newsrooms in the statehouse press corps has more than tripled since 2014 and now makes up the largest portion of statehouse reporters in 10 states and the second largest in 17 states.

States Newsroom runs — or partners with — news outlets in all 50 state capitals.

We fully fund newsrooms in 39 states, each with its own website. They are:

Alabama Reflector – alabamareflector.com

Alaska Beacon – alaskabeacon.com

Arizona Mirror – azmirror.com

Arkansas Advocate – arkansasadvocate.com

Colorado Newsline – coloradonewsline.com

Florida Phoenix – floridaphoenix.com

Georgia Recorder – georgiarecorder.com

Idaho Capital Sun – idahocapitalsun.com

Indiana Capital Chronicle – indianacapitalchronicle.com

Iowa Capital Dispatch – iowacapitaldispatch.com

Kansas Reflector – kansasreflector.com

Kentucky Lantern – kentuckylantern.com

Louisiana Illuminator – lailluminator.com

Maine Morning Star – mainemorningstar.com

Maryland Matters – marylandmatters.org

Michigan Advance – michiganadvance.com

Minnesota Reformer – minnesotareformer.com

Missouri Independent – missouriindependent.com

Daily Montanan – dailymontanan.com

Nebraska Examiner – nebraskaexaminer.com

Nevada Current – nevadacurrent.com

New Hampshire Bulletin – newhampshirebulletin.com

New Jersey Monitor – newjerseymonitor.com

Source New Mexico – sourcenm.com

NC Newsline – ncnewsline.com

North Dakota Monitor – northdakotamonitor.com

Ohio Capital Journal – ohiocapitaljournal.com

Oklahoma Voice – oklahomavoice.com

Oregon Capital Chronicle – oregoncapitalchronicle.com

Pennsylvania Capital-Star – penncapital-star.com

Rhode Island Current – rhodeislandcurrent.com

South Carolina Daily Gazette – scdailygazette.com

South Dakota Searchlight – southdakotasearchlight.com

Stateline – stateline.org

Tennessee Lookout – tennesseelookout.com

Utah News Dispatch – utahnewsdispatch.com

Virginia Mercury – virginiamercury.com

Washington State Standard – washingtonstatestandard.com

West Virginia Watch – westvirginiawatch.com

Wisconsin Examiner – wisconsinexaminer.com

States Newsroom also has content-sharing agreements with 11 leading nonprofit newsrooms: CalMatters (California), Connecticut Mirror, Spotlight Delaware, Honolulu Civil Beat, Capitol News Illinois, CommonWealth Beacon (Massachusetts), Mississippi Today, New York Focus, The Texas Tribune, VTDigger (Vermont), and WyoFile (Wyoming).