The Rural Impact

In this extra episode of Rural Impact, Michelle Rathman begins the episode with Anthony Flaccavento. Anthony is a farmer and rural development consultant from Abingdon, Virginia, in the heart of the Appalachian Coalfields. The Founder of Appalachian Sustainable Development, he has focused most of his work over the past four decades on building healthier food systems and more diverse, locally roote...

Guests: President of the Association of State Democratic Committees Jane Kleeb DNC People's Cabinet Member and Co-chair of Dirt Road Dems Chris Jones DNC People's Cabinet Member and rural policy expert Will Westmoreland DNC Midwestern Regional Chair and Chair of the Missouri Democratic Party Russ Carnahan In this Rural Impact special, "Candid Conversations" episode, host Michelle Rathman delves in...

In this special “What’s Your Impact?” episode of Rural Impact, Michelle Rathman starts by speaking with Mindy Cook, National Senior Director for Rural Healthcare Quality Outcomes Research and Analytics at the American Heart Association National Center. The American Heart Association has been a partner of The Rural Impact, and this episode focuses on the impact of the American Heart Association’s R...

In this extra episode, once again focusing on fast-moving developments related to health policy, Michelle welcomes back Joan Alker, Executive Director of the Center for Children and Families (CCF) and Research Professor at the Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy, to discuss "Medicaid and Its Impact on Maternal and Infant Health." Joan is a nationally recognized expert on the Children's Heal...

In part one of this extra episode, Disconnected: A Conversation about Health Care, Broadband, Access and Economics, Michelle is joined by award-winning journalists Caresse Jackman and Sarah Jane Tribble. Sarah Jane Tribble is the lead reporter on the rural health desk of KFF Health News. She created the organization’s first narrative podcast, “Where It Hurts,” about the closure of a rural Kansas h...

In this extra episode of The Rural Impact, James M. Decker joins Michelle Rathman to discuss issues impacting rural areas, including revitalization, agriculture, community engagement, economy, and education. James is serving his fourth term as Mayor of his hometown of Stamford, Texas, where he also practices law in his office in the downtown square. In his Westof98 blog and podcast, which is found...

In this extra episode of The Rural Impact, Michelle Rathman is joined by Julie Rovner, KFF Health News Chief Washington Correspondent. Julie hosts the KFF Health News weekly health policy news podcast, "What the Health?" Previously, she spent 16 years as a health policy correspondent for NPR, where she helped lead the network's coverage of the passage and implementation of the Affordable Care Act....

In this extra episode of The Rural Impact, Michelle Rathman interviews Ben Spoer, PhD, about the Congressional District Health Dashboard, a crucial tool designed to provide health data at the congressional district level. Dr. Spoer is the Program Director for City Health Dashboard and the Congressional District Health Dashboard at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, where he works to make public...

Just after returning to the studio after two back-to-back episodes where Michelle spent time at the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) Policy Institute and the National Association of Community Health Centers' Policy and Issues Conference in D.C., Michelle continues the conversation with NRHA's Government Affairs and Policy Director, Alexa McKinley Abel for an update about the impact of the...

A Programming Note: This episode was recorded in February of 2025. As it drops on March 13, 2025, it's important to note that topics and issues raised about Medicaid funding, Congressional Appropriations, a potential Government shutdown, regulatory matters, and funding for key rural health programs have likely changed. In the second of our two-part health policy "Rural Impact on the Road" episode,...

Guests: Joan Alker, Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Center for Children and Families, Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy Gina Capra, Chief Education Officer, National Association of Community Health Centers Wade Erickson, CEO, Horizon Health Julie K. Wood, MD, MPH, FAAFP, Senior Vice President, Science and Clinic Strategy, American Academy of Family Physicians Roger Wel...

In this extra episode, Michelle sat down with Dr. Seth D. Kaplan,   a leading expert on fragile states, societies, and communities, and the author of Fragile Neighborhoods: Repairing American Society, One Zip Code at a Time. He is a Professorial Lecturer in the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University, Senior Adviser for the Institute for Integrated...

In the third episode of the new series, 2025 & The Impact of Policy Shifts, Michelle sat down with Dreama Gentry, President and CEO of Partners for Rural Impact, a national intermediary that mobilizes rural leaders, strengthens the capacity of rural organizations, and activates policymakers and philanthropic partners to ensure the 14 million children and youth living in rural America are on a...

In part one of the second episode of the new series, 2025 & The Impact of Policy Shifts, Michelle sat down with Mark Lieberman reporter for Education Week covering K-12 school finance nationwide. He previously covered technology for EdWeek, digital learning and online education in the postsecondary world for Inside Higher Ed, and local news and culture in the D.C. area for a variety of outlets...

In part one of the first episode of the new series 2025 & The Impact of Policy Shifts, Michelle sat down with Larry Levitt, Vice President for Health Policy at KFF. Levitt oversees policy work on Medicare, Medicaid, the health care marketplace, the Affordable Care Act, racial equity, women’s health, and global health. He previously was editor-in-chief of kaisernetwork.org, which was KFF’s onli...

In our first episode of 2025, Michelle offers a recap of several of our 2024 series and special episodes, including conversations with authors Elizabeth Carpenter-Song and Sarah Smarsh, researchers from New American, Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, as well as conversations with leaders from several federal agencies,...

In this special What's Your Impact? Episode, Michelle begins with a review of the multi-episode series "Pathways and Policies to Ensure Rural Learners Succeed in Place and Why it's Essential for America's Future" and "The Impact of Postsecondary Education on Jobs and Rural Economic Vitality" made possible by Ascendium. Michelle shares the key takeaways from each episode, including the contribution...

Today's show focuses on disinformation and its connection to public health and policy. With the recent news that President-elect Trump has tapped Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., known not only for his family ties but primarily for his strong opposition to vaccinations and commitment to debunked conspiracy theories, and controversial views on supplements and food preparation practices, to take the lead at...

The Rural Impact Podcast went on the road again!  This time, we headed out west – the Pacific Northwest, to be exact, where we sought to amplify the Power of Rural and the importance of federal partnerships to address social drivers of health.   Welcome to our "Impact on the Road OREGON - The Power of Rural and Investments in Health" special National Rural Health Day episode.   During th...

Michelle begins part one of the extra episode with Dr. Bill Hathaway of Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC). Dr. Hathaway and the MAHEC staff of more than 1,000 are committed to transforming rural health and wellness through education, the delivery of patient care, and a focus on community and public health. Before joining MAHEC in early 2022, Dr. Hathaway spent more than two decades wor...

In part one of the final episode of this series, Michelle met with Dakota Pawlicki, Director of Talent Hubs with CivicLab. In this role, he serves exemplary cross-sector partnerships focused on postsecondary attainment that have met rigorous standards for partnership health, equity, and systems change. He brings his expertise in postsecondary education, collective impact, stakeholder engagement, a...

In part one of the second episode of this series, Michelle met with Senior Policy Analyst Ivy Love and Senior Program Associate Tiffany Thai from the Center on Education & Labor at New America. Ivy Love's work focuses on community colleges, their students, and federal and state policies that support them. Before New America, Love worked as a policy analyst for the Association of Community Coll...

In the first episode of this new series, Michelle had a compelling conversation with Jeff Strohl, Ph. D., who serves as Research Professor and Director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW). Dr. Strohl was one of the Center's founding staff and served as CEW's Director of Research since 2008. In this position, he led the Center's research agenda. In particular, t...

In this Rural Impact Extra episode, which we're releasing as our second special in our seventh series, "Courageous Conversations About the 2024 Elections," Michelle has what she has described as "a conversation of a lifetime" with the author of the newly released book Bone of the Bone: Essays on America , Sarah Smarsh. Hailing from Kansas, Sarah is a journalist who has reported for The New York Ti...

In the extra episode in our seventh series, "Courageous Conversations About the 2024 Elections," Michelle talks with Bryanta (Bre) Booker-Maxwell, Democratic National Committee (DNC) Rural Coalitions Director. During this episode, Bre shares the impact of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act on rural communities, including addressing issues such as clean water, clean a...