Nora Miller, the president of the Mississippi University for Women, is pushing back on a recommendation from the state Board of Education to relocate the Mississippi School for Math and Science off the campus of MUW to another of the state universities. MSMS, a gifted program for high school juniors and seniors, has been located on the Mississippi University for Women’s campus since its inception. Miller tells Mississippi Today’s Taylor Vance and Candice Wilder why the program is crucial to the ...
Aug 18, 2025•26 min•Season 1Ep. 381
Mississippi Today's politics and government team breaks down the week's news, including the special legislative primaries held across the state and the Magnolia State's exposure to any slump in EV sales and production. Also, Ole Miss has a new study out about college students' online gambling habits as lawmakers consider making "mo-bile" sports betting legal.
Aug 11, 2025•26 min•Season 1Ep. 380
Mississippi Today’s politics team recaps the 2025 Neshoba County Fair. This year’s political speaking lacked some of the fire and brimstone of big election years, but state leaders laid out some major policy plans sure to dominate debate in the next legislative session.
Aug 04, 2025•24 min•Season 1Ep. 379
Mississippi Today editor-in-chief Adam Ganucheau sits down with Jake McGraw, a policy analyst and researcher who runs Working Together Mississippi's Rethink Mississippi initiative, to discuss the state's brain drain crisis. Together with the University of Mississippi Center for Population Studies, the organizations launched the state's first-ever scientific survey to better understand the brain drain problem and develop solutions. Ganucheau and McGraw discuss what the data shows about the proble...
Jul 28, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 378
Rep. Price Wallace, a Republican from Mendenhall, is co-chair of a House select committee Speaker Jason White created to tackle restoration of voting rights to former felons, reinstituting voters' right to put issues directly on a ballot and allowing early voting before Election Day. Wallace tells Mississippi Today's Geoff Pender and Taylor Vance that the work of several special committees over the summer and fall will provide more transparency for the public on legislative work and allows more ...
Jul 21, 2025•35 min•Season 1Ep. 377
Republican Andy Gipson, the first candidate to publicly announce a run for Mississippi governor in 2027, outlines his five-plank platform. No. 1 is fighting crime, which Gipson says is rising in what were once quiet rural areas, because "If people don't feel safe, nothing else matters." He also offers a brief sampling of his baritone crooning from his just-released two studio albums.
Jul 14, 2025•42 min•Season 1Ep. 376
Mississippi Today’s Geoff Pender, Taylor Vance and Michael Goldberg discuss political news of the week, including House Speaker Jason White announcing “school choice” issues as his top priority for 2026 and perennial U.S. Senate candidate Ty Pinkins departing the Democratic Party.
Jul 07, 2025•19 min•Season 1Ep. 375
John McKay, chairman and CEO of the Mississippi Manufacturers Association, talks with Mississippi Today's Geoff Pender and Bobby Harrison about MMA, the Mississippi Economic Council and the Business and Industry Political Education Committee merging into a single organization to represent business and industry across the state. The new Mississippi Business Alliance is expected to be a powerful voice at the state Capitol in policy and spending decisions and even in statewide elections. McKay, who...
Jun 30, 2025•34 min•Season 1Ep. 374
Robert Gibbs, chairman of newly elected Jackson Mayor John Horhn's transition team, discusses what issues the team has found with city administration and changes that may be forthcoming with Mississippi Today's Jackson coverage team.
Jun 23, 2025•50 min•Season 1Ep. 373
Stuart Stevens, a Jackson native who over many years helped numerous Republicans win the White House and seats in Congress, believes today's GOP is "an autocratic movement masquerading as a political party" as Marines deploy to Los Angeles and Trump has troops and tanks parade through D.C. Stevens tells Mississippi Today, "I think that the Republican Party has become compromised," and laments that Sen. Roger Wicker and other Republicans in Washington aren't speaking truth to power.
Jun 16, 2025•51 min•Season 1Ep. 372
Reena Evers-Everette talks with Mississippi Today about her father's Civil Rights legacy, and his humanity, in advance of Medgar Evers at 100 Weekend events June 26-29th at the Jackson Convention Complex. Events will kick off at 6 p.m. on June 26th with a conversation titled, "Daddy's Daughters," featuring Evers-Everette; Ambassador Attallah Shabazz, daughter of Malcolm X; and Bettie Dahmer, daughter of Vernon Dahmer. The daughters will reflect on the love that shaped their childhoods, the losse...
Jun 09, 2025•23 min•Season 1Ep. 371
State Rep. Omeria Scott of Laurel helps unpack the tumultuous two-day special session of the Mississippi Legislature last week and the $7.1 billion budget lawmakers passed. Scott, a longtime veteran lawmaker, is known for digging in deep on state budgets and spending, and for speaking her mind to leadership on both sides of the aisle.
Jun 02, 2025•38 min•Season 1Ep. 370
James Carville says Democrats lost in 2024 but, "We played our seventh-string quarterback and still only lost by a point-and-a-half." He said a serious Democratic challenger (and he has a particular one in mind) could provide an upset in Mississippi's U.S. Senate race. Carville, who has for years had a home on the Mississippi Coast, explains his long-running ties to the Magnolia State.
May 26, 2025•24 min•Season 1Ep. 369
Sen. Daniel Sparks, a Republican from Belmont, says the Legislature in the 1990s wrote a blank check for the state public employee retirement system and the bill is coming due now.
May 19, 2025•31 min•Season 1Ep. 368
Pettus shares a few war stories with Bobby Harrison and Geoff Pender, including her dealings with the irascible former Gov. Kirk Fordice.
May 12, 2025•18 min•Season 1Ep. 367
State Economist Corey Miller talks with Mississippi Today's Geoff Pender and Bobby Harrison about the state of the state economy, chances of recession amid trade war, federal spending cuts and state tax overhaul. He declines to answer questions about MSU baseball.
May 05, 2025•28 min•Season 1Ep. 366
With Mississippi's lack of laws and transparency, citizens are often in the dark about special-interest spending to influence politicians. Mississippi Today's politics team discusses its recent article shedding light on efforts by DraftKings and others lobbying for legalized online sports betting, including the speaker of the House and his staff being treated to the Super Bowl game this year.
Apr 28, 2025•21 min•Season 1Ep. 365
Mississippi House Minority Leader Robert Johnson discusses the 2025 legislative session that was derailed by Republican infighting with Mississippi Today's Geoff Pender and Bobby Harrison, and outlines issues he'd like to see addressed in a pending special session.
Apr 21, 2025•41 min•Season 1Ep. 364
Cecil Brown, who previously served as a key member of the state House, talks with Mississippi Today’s Bobby Harrison, Taylor Vance and Michael Goldberg about budget battles, past and present, and about the importance of the state budget. He also gives his thoughts on the tax bill passed during the 2025 session.
Apr 14, 2025•31 min•Season 1Ep. 363
Mississippi Today's political team unpacks the just ended -- for now -- legislative session, that crashed at the end with GOP lawmakers unable to pass a budget after much infighting among Republican leaders. The crowning achievement of the session, a tax overhaul bill, was passed by accident and full of major errors and omissions.
Apr 07, 2025•28 min•Season 1Ep. 362
Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Andy Gipson gives Mississippi Today's Geoff Pender and Michael Goldberg an update on the challenges facing Mississippi farmers, including the burgeoning trade war with countries that buy our chicken, soybeans, cotton and other products as well as rising costs and immigration/labor issues. Gipson, a man of many hats besides his trademark cowboy one, also discusses his recording an album! "I'll sing at the drop of a hat, even if I drop it myself...
Mar 31, 2025•40 min•Season 1Ep. 361
Rep. Dana McLean, R-Columbus, joins Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison and Sophia Paffenroth to explain the importance of passing her legislation during the 2025 session to ensure local emergency rooms use rape kits in a timely manner.
Mar 24, 2025•20 min•Season 1Ep. 360
Senate Finance Chairman Josh Harkins gives an update on where negotiations stand on tax overhaul proposals in the Mississippi Legislature, and his thoughts on the differing Senate and House proposals that would include cutting or eliminating the personal income tax and raising taxes on gasoline.
Mar 17, 2025•31 min•Season 1Ep. 359
Mississippi Today's politics team outlines some challenges lawmakers face in the final month of their session, from uncertainty of the effects the Trump administration moves will have on the state level. They also discuss what lived and died with last week's deadline for committee passage.
Mar 10, 2025•28 min•Season 1Ep. 358
Dr. Randy McCoy, a retired longtime public school superintendent and member of the state employee retirement system board, says a plan passed by the Senate aimed at financially stabilizing PERS would cause long-term problems in hiring and retaining teachers and other state employees. He says the system can be shored up with less drastic reductions in benefits for future employees.
Mar 03, 2025•42 min•Season 1Ep. 357
Senate Elections Chairman Jeremy England defends his early voting bill, for which his fellow Republican Gov. Tate Reeves slammed him on social media. England said it's time Mississippi join 47 other states in allowing the convenience of early voting, and the issue should not be partisan.
Feb 24, 2025•29 min•Season 1Ep. 356
Rep. Kevin Felsher of Biloxi discusses the bill he authored, and the House passed unanimously, to provide eight weeks of paid maternity or adoption leave, two weeks for fathers/secondary caregivers for state employees.
Feb 17, 2025•25 min•Season 1Ep. 355
Mississippi Today’s health team outlines the major health care issues the Mississippi Legislature is dealing with in the 2025 session.
Feb 10, 2025•18 min•Season 1Ep. 354
State Rep. Zakiya Summers discusses with Mississippi Today's Anna Wolfe, Maya Miller and Geoff Pender some of the issues the Capitol city of Jackson and the Metro Area face, and legislative priorities to deal with them.
Feb 03, 2025•38 min•Season 1Ep. 353
House Education Chairman Rob Roberson, a Republican from Starkville, outlines for Mississippi Today's Geoff Pender and Michael Goldberg some of the top issues his committee will tackle this legislative session.
Jan 27, 2025•31 min•Season 1Ep. 352
