Dan and Ellen talk with Erica Heilman, who produces a podcast called Rumble Strip. Heilman's shows air monthly on Vermont Public and other NPR stations, as well as the BBC. Rumble Strip can also be found on all the usual podcast platforms.

Her episodes range in length from a few minutes to, well, as long as they need to be! As Chelsea Edgar wrote in a profile in Seven Days Vermont, "She wants to make meandering, kaleidoscopic stories about the stuff of ordinary Vermont life."

In 2020, Heilman produced a memorable pandemic miniseries, "Our Show." It featured listener-submitted recordings of life in lockdown, and it was the Atlantic's No. 1 podcast of the year. In November 2021 she produced "Finn and the Bell," the textured story of a Walden teenager who died by suicide. It won a Peabody, the highest award in broadcasting.

Dan has a Quick Take about tools for local news organizations dealing with various forms of harassment. The Institute for Nonprofit News, a leading organization for hyperlocal journalism, has put together some resources. Ellen has an update on Suki Dardarian, the retiring editor and senior vice president of the Minnesota Star Tribune. She has been named the Benjamin C. Bradlee Editor of the Year by the National Press Club.

Dan and Ellen talk with Matt DeRienzo, the new director of SciLine. SciLine was founded seven years ago to make it easier for reporters to get in touch with scientists on deadline and to dig into research. And facts. The program is part of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a 150-year-old organization that publishes the widely respected journal Science.

Most recently, Matt has been serving as temporary executive editor of Lookout Santa Cruz, the digital daily that won a Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News in 2024.

He joins SciLine at an important time. The Trump Administration has suspended communications by government agencies that oversee science. Yet many newsrooms aren't equipped to cover this because they have cut back on science coverage, if they do any at all. SciLine helps reporters find expert sources and gives them the tools to interpret cutting-edge research. Matt has a staff of 14 and the organization seems poised for growth.

Dab has a Quick Take that hits close to home. By the time this podcast is up, a brand-new digital-only for-profit news outlet called Gotta Know Medford should be publishing. It’s the first time the city of 60,000 has had a dedicated local news outlet in three years, after it was abandoned by Gannett.

Ellen's Quick Take involves big changes in Maine. In Bangor, the Daily News, a family-owned paper, is cutting back on staff-written editorials and opening the pages up to new voices. Separately, at the National Trust for Local News, which acquired a slew of Maine papers in 2023, the CEO, Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro, is stepping down.

Today we're talking with Alison Bethel, chief content officer and editor-in-chief for State Affairs. State Affairs is a digital-first media company that is focused on covering state governments throughout the country.

She was vice president of corps excellence at Report for America. She was also executive director of the Society of Professional Journalists, where she was only the second woman and the first person of color to serve in that capacity in 110 years.

Dan has a Quick Take on a harrowing situation in Grand Junction, Colorado. A young Colorado television reporter was reportedly chased by a taxi driver who then attempted to choke him. The driver also reportedly yelled “This is Trump’s America now!”

Ellen has a Quick Take on an app called WatchDuty that is providing lifesaving information to people in Los Angeles who are threatened by wildfires.