Show-Me Institute Podcast

Susan Pendergrass speaks with Chad Aldeman, education policy researcher and founder of Read Not Guess, about Missouri's early literacy crisis and why the legislature has struggled to address it. They discuss what it means for a fourth grader to be below basic in reading, why three-cueing may be harmful to early readers, the science of reading and what it actually prescribes, the case for third-gra...

Show-Me Institute Audio Briefs features audio versions of select articles, commentary, and publications from the Show-Me Institute. Read the FAQs Here: https://showmeinstitute.org/article/state-and-local-government/amendment-5-faqs/ Produced by Show-Me Opportunity This content was produced using AI-generated narration.

Susan Pendergrass speaks with Joseph Haslag, Donald R. Street Endowed Professor and Department Head of Economics at Auburn University, about his new Show-Me Institute report, "Looking for Growth: A Productivity Story." They discuss why Missouri ranks 44th in GDP growth and labor productivity, the case for eliminating the state income tax, why industrial policy tends to fail, the role of higher edu...

Susan Pendergrass speaks with Andy Smarick, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, about Missouri's education leadership shake-up and what comes next. They discuss how to find the right commissioner of education, why outside reformers tend to succeed where insiders struggle, what the dismantling of the US Department of Education means for state accountability systems, why public complacency abo...

Show-Me Institute Audio Briefs features audio versions of select articles, commentary, and publications from the Show-Me Institute. Learn more at showmeinstitute.org: https://showmeinstitute.org/article/corporate-welfare/more-noise-than-signal-from-latest-chiefs-release/ Produced by Show-Me Opportunity This episode was produced using AI-generated narration.

J.C. Bradbury, professor of economics at Kennesaw State University, joined Patrick Tuohey, guest hosting Mundo in the Morning on KCMO Talk Radio, to discuss his forthcoming book This One Will Be Different and why publicly funded stadiums almost never deliver on their promised economic benefits. Listen to the full show: https://www.kcmotalkradio.com/

Susan Pendergrass speaks with Andrew G. Biggs, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, about the Social Security trustees' latest report and what it means for the program's future. They discuss the projected 2032 insolvency of the retirement trust fund, why the trustees' birth rate assumptions may be too optimistic, the proposed Moreno-Warren plan to eliminate the payroll tax ceiling,...

Show-Me Institute Audio Briefs features audio versions of select articles, commentary, and publications from the Show-Me Institute. Learn more at showmeinstitute.org: https://showmeinstitute.org/article/education/missouri-missed-an-opportunity-reading-reform/ Produced by Show-Me Opportunity This episode was produced using AI-generated narration.

Show-Me Institute Audio Briefs features audio versions of select articles, commentary, and publications from the Show-Me Institute. Learn more at showmeinstitute.org: https://showmeinstitute.org/article/economy/what-if-you-eliminated-personal-property-taxes-and-nobody-noticed/ Produced by Show-Me Opportunity This episode was produced using AI-generated narration.

Show-Me Institute Audio Briefs features audio versions of select articles, commentary, and publications from the Show-Me Institute. Learn more at showmeinstitute.org: https://showmeinstitute.org/article/state-and-local-government/if-gun-laws-explain-kansas-citys-violence-what-explains-kansas/ Produced by Show-Me Opportunity This episode was produced using AI-generated narration.

Show-Me Institute Audio Briefs features audio versions of select articles, commentary, and publications from the Show-Me Institute. Learn more at showmeinstitute.org: https://showmeinstitute.org/article/education/this-is-why-missouri-families-need-choice/ Produced by Show-Me Opportunity This episode was produced using AI-generated narration.

Susan Pendergrass speaks with Doug Burris, retired Justice Services Director and Chief United States Probation Officer, about criminal justice reform in Missouri and St. Louis. They discuss Missouri's risk-based approach to sentencing and supervision; why building more prisons may not reduce crime; low violent-crime clearance rates in St. Louis; the case for bail reform and expanded electronic mon...

Susan Pendergrass speaks with Cory Koedel, director of education policy at the Show-Me Institute, about Missouri education policy following the 2026 legislative session. They discuss the governor's A to F letter grade executive order, why literacy legislation failed to pass, leadership turmoil at DESE, new research on the effects of open enrollment, the case for expanding charter schools in Missou...

Susan Pendergrass speaks with Tim Carney, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and senior columnist at the Washington Examiner, about why American culture may be making it harder to have and raise children. They discuss the long-term consequences of the declining U.S. birth rate, how intensive parenting culture may be driving childhood anxiety, the "travel team trap" and the arms rac...

Show-Me Institute Audio Briefs features audio versions of select articles, commentary, and publications from the Show-Me Institute. Learn more at showmeinstitute.org: https://showmeinstitute.org/article/state-and-local-government/the-border-war-truces-predictable-and-predicted-problem/ Produced by Show-Me Opportunity This episode was produced using AI-generated narration.

While guest hosting Mundo in the Morning on KCMO Talk Radio, Patrick Tuohey is joined by Dimitrios Mastoras, co-founder and executive vice president of Safe Night LLC, a global consulting firm specializing in public safety and policing strategies. With Kansas City set to host World Cup matches, they discuss how cities can prepare for large international crowds, why prevention beats enforcement, an...

On June 5, Patrick Tuohey, senior fellow at the Show-Me Institute, guest-hosted Mundo in the Morning on KCMO Talk Radio, where Terrence Wise of the Missouri Workers Center announced the organization had collected over 4,500 signatures, more than double the roughly 2,000 required, to force a public vote on any taxpayer subsidy of the proposed downtown Royals ballpark. The city clerk has 10 days to...

While guest hosting Mundo in the Morning on KCMO Talk Radio, Patrick Tuohey is joined by Elias Tsapelas, Director of State Budget and Fiscal Policy at the Show-Me Institute, to discuss the Missouri legislature's effort to begin the process of eliminating the income tax. They break down why Missouri's tax climate is holding back economic and population growth, how a gradual phase-out could work, an...

Show-Me Institute Audio Briefs features audio versions of select articles, commentary, and publications from the Show-Me Institute. Learn more at showmeinstitute.org: https://showmeinstitute.org/article/education/missouri-students-continue-to-fall-behind/ Produced by Show-Me Opportunity This episode was produced using AI-generated narration.

Show-Me Institute Audio Briefs features audio versions of select articles, commentary, and publications from the Show-Me Institute. Learn more at showmeinstitute.org: https://showmeinstitute.org/article/corporate-welfare/data-centers-can-bring-their-own-tax-cuts/ Produced by Show-Me Opportunity This episode was produced using AI-generated narration.

Susan Pendergrass speaks with Judge Glock, director of research and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and contributing editor at City Journal, about the growing debate over data centers in Missouri and across the country. They discuss why some communities are banning data centers while others are welcoming them, how Loudoun County, Virginia became the global epicenter of data center develop...

Susan Pendergrass speaks with Jacob Light, Hoover Fellow at the Hoover Institution, about his research on how artificial intelligence is reshaping higher education. They explore which college majors are most exposed to AI capabilities, why professors are largely not changing their syllabi or assessment methods despite widespread awareness of AI, and what students are doing in response to the uncer...

Show-Me Institute Audio Briefs features audio versions of select articles, commentary, and publications from the Show-Me Institute. Learn more at showmeinstitute.org: https://showmeinstitute.org/article/corporate-welfare/ferguson-denies-incentives-for-data-center-project/ Produced by Show-Me Opportunity This episode was produced using AI-generated narration.

Avery Frank, Elias Tsapelas, and David Stokes join Zach Lawhorn to break down the final week of the 2026 Missouri legislative session. They discuss the constitutional amendment heading to voters that would begin the process of eliminating Missouri's state income tax, where property tax reform efforts stand heading into the final days, the early literacy bill's uncertain path through the Senate, th...

Show-Me Institute Audio Briefs features audio versions of select articles, commentary, and publications from the Show-Me Institute. Learn more at showmeinstitute.org: https://showmeinstitute.org/article/state-and-local-government/missouris-opportunity-to-attract-talent-latest-irs-data-on-voting-with-their-feet/ Produced by Show-Me Opportunity This episode was produced using AI-generated narration.