Kentucky Tonight

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about childcare legislation. Guests include: State Senator Danny Carroll (R-Paducah), chair of the Senate Families and Children Committee; State Representative Samara Heavrin (R-Leitchfield), chair of the House Families and Children Committee; and Sarah Vanover, Ed. D., policy and advocacy director for Kentucky Youth Advocates.

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about the 2026 legislative session at its midpoint with State Senator Max Wise (R-Campbellsville), Senate Majority Floor Leader; State Senator Reginald Thomas (D-Lexington), Senate Minority Caucus Chair; State Representative David Meade (R-Stanford), House Speaker Pro Tempore; and State Representative Lindsey Burke (D-Lexington), House Minority Caucus Chair.

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about K-12 education policy. Guests include: Commissioner Robbie Fletcher, Ed. D., Kentucky Department of Education; Maddie Shepard, president of the Jefferson County Teachers Association; Mike Harmon, state outreach director for the Commonwealth Policy Center; and Rhonda Caldwell, Ed. D., chief executive officer at Kentucky Association of School Administrators.

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about public education legislation with State Sen. Stephen West (R-Paris) and State Sen. Reginald Thomas (D-Lexington), both who serve on the Senate Education Committee; and State Rep. Scott Lewis (R-Hartford) and State Rep. Tina Bojanowski (D-Louisville), both who serve on the House Primary and Secondary Education Committee.

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about the housing shortage in Kentucky with State Sen. Robby Mills (R-Henderson): State Rep. Joshua Watkins (D- Louisville); Wendy Smith from the Kentucky Housing Corporation; J.D. Chaney from the Kentucky League of Cities; State Rep. Susan Witten (R-Louisville); and George Eklund from the Coalition for the Homeless.

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about the Kentucky General Assembly 2026 session with State Senator Robert Stivers (R-Manchester), Senate President; State Representative David Osborne (R-Prospect), House Speaker; State Senator Cassie Chambers Armstrong (D-Louisville), Senate Minority Whip; and State Representative Lindsey Burke (D-Lexington), House Minority Caucus Chair.

Renee Shaw hosts a preview of the 2026 legislative session with State Rep. David Meade (R-Stanford), House Speaker Pro Tempore; State Sen. David Givens (R-Greensburg), President Pro Tempore; State Rep. Pamela Stevenson (D-Louisville), House Minority Floor Leader; and State Sen. Gerald Neal (D-Louisville), Senate Minority Floor Leader.

Renee Shaw leads a discussion about Eastern Kentucky tourism. Guests: Commissioner Mike Mangeot, Kentucky Department of Tourism; Kitty Dougoud, Kentucky Main Street program administrator; Seth Wheat, director of interpretation and engagement at Kentucky State Parks; and Jill Fraley Dotson, executive director of community relations, tourism and Main Street for the City of Pikeville.

Renee Shaw leads a discussion about food insecurity. Guests include: State Senator Jason Howell (R-Murray); State Representative Chad Aull (D-Lexington); Michael Halligan, president and CEO of God's Pantry Food Bank; Melissa McDonald, executive director of Feeding Kentucky; Alison Gustafson, Ph. D., executive director, Food as Health at the University of Kentucky Martin Gatton College.

Renee Shaw leads a discussion about SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). Guests include: State Rep. Adam Moore (D-Lexington), a member of the Kentucky General Assembly's Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Kentucky Task Force; Anne-Tyler Morgan, a Lexington healthcare attorney with McBrayer PLLC; and Heather LeMire, State Director of Americans for Prosperity - Kentucky.

Renee Shaw leads a discussion on the U.S. economy. Panelists include Charles Aull, Ph. D., vice president of policy at the Center for Policy and Research at the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce; Jason Bailey, executive director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy; and Thomas Lambert, Ph. D., professor in the College of Business at the University of Louisville.

Renee Shaw leads a discussion on vaccines and medications. Guests: Coy Flowers, M.D., obstetrician-gynecologist practicing at UK Healthcare; Molly Rutherford, M.D., primary care physician at Bluegrass Family Wellness in Crestwood, Ky.; Michael K. Kuduk, M.D., pediatrician at Kentucky Children's Hospital, UK Healthcare; and Kimberly Biss, M.D., obstetrician-gynecologist in Saint Petersburg, Fla.

Renee Shaw leads a discussion on K-12 education, including the charter school funding case before the Kentucky Supreme Court and $718 million new funding request from public education advocates.

Renee Shaw leads a discussion about state and national politics and the state of political discourse. Guests: Amy Wickliffe, Republican strategist with McCarthy Strategic Solutions; Jonathan Miller, a Democrat and attorney with Frost Brown Todd; Tres Watson, a Republican consultant and founder of Capitol Reins PR; and Sherman Brown, Democratic strategist with McCarthy Strategic Solutions.

Renee Shaw leads a discussion about housing in Kentucky. Guests include: State Rep. Susan Witten (R-Louisville), co-chair of the Kentucky Housing Task Force; State Rep. Joshua Watkins (D-Louisville), member of the Kentucky Housing Task Force; and Wendy Smith, deputy executive director of housing programs at the Kentucky Housing Corporation.

Host Renee Shaw leads this taped discussion on progress and opportunities in the South Central Kentucky region. Guests include: State Sen. Mike Wilson (R); State Rep. Michael Meredith (R); Bowling Green Mayor Todd Alcott; Ron Bunch, president and CEO of Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce; and Timothy Caboni, president of Western Kentucky University.

Guest host Ryland Barton leads a discussion about agriculture in Kentucky with State Senator Jason Howell (R-Murray), chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee; State Representative Chad Aull (D-Lexington), member of the House Agriculture Committee; Sandra Ballew Barnes, Community Farm Alliance; and Leandra Forman of FoodChain, a nonprofit working to increase access to locally-sourced fresh food.

Renee Shaw discusses progress and opportunity in the Lake Cumberland region in taped interviews with Somerset Mayor Alan Keck; Bobby Clue, Somerset-Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce; Lonnie Lawson, The Center for Rural Development; State Sen. Rick Girdler (R- Somerset); State Rep. Ken Upchurch (R- Monticello); Michelle Allen, Lake Cumberland Tourism, and Carey Castle, Somerset Community College.

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about changes in Medicaid. Guests: State Senator Julie Raque Adams (R-Louisville); Mark Birdwhistell, senior vice president for health and public policy, University of Kentucky; Nancy Galvagni, president of the Kentucky Hospital Association; Dustin Pugel, policy director at the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy; and Anne-Tyler Morgan, healthcare law attorney.

Chip Polston hosts a discussion about Kentucky history with Scott Alvey, executive director of the Kentucky Historical Society; Stephanie Lang, Ph. D., editor of the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society; Vanessa Holden, Ph. D., director of UK African American and Africana Studies; and Patrick Lewis, Ph. D., president and CEO of the Filson Historical Society. A 2025 KET production.

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about national politics with KC Crosbie, Republican National Committee Co-Chair; former Kentucky Congressman John Yarmuth, Democrat; Andy Westberry, communications director for the Republican Party of Kentucky; and former Kentucky State Treasurer Jonathan Miller, Democrat.

Continuing a recap of the 2025 Rx and Illicit Drug Summit, KET interviews Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman; Van Ingram, executive director of the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy; and Tom Vicini, president and CEO of Operation UNITE. Recovery, treatment and prevention groups featured on the program include Lifeline Recovery Center in Paducah and Scott County Detention Center.

Renee Shaw recaps the Rx and Illicit Drug Summit 2025 with one-on-one interviews, including U.S. Representative Hal Rogers (R-KY5); U.S. Representative James Comer (R-KY1); U.S. Representative Brett Guthrie (R-KY2); and Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about Kentucky's flood response with Eric Gibson, director of the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management; Nadine McCrindle, regional chief executive officer of the Kentucky Region of the American Red Cross; State Representative Josh Bray (R-Mount Vernon); State Representative Erika Hancock (D-Frankfort); and Michael Mueller, Franklin County Judge/Executive.

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion and review of the completed 2025 Kentucky General Assembly session with State Representative David Meade (R-Stanford), House Speaker Pro Tempore; State Representative Pamela Stevenson (D-Louisville), House Minority Floor Leader; State Senator Gerald Neal (D-Louisville), Senate Minority Floor Leader; and State Senator Amanda Mays Bledsoe (R-Lexington).