The Rural Impact

In part one of this episode, The Inescapable Impact of Immigration Policies on Small Towns and Rural Communities, Michelle sits down with Emmy and Murrow Award–winning video storyteller, content strategist, and co-founder of 515 Productions, Lynn Melling, to examine how immigration policies and ICE operations are shaping life in small rural communities like Melrose, Minnesota. Lynn shares insights into the cultural, ...

In part one of the episode, Tracking Transformation: Great Healthcare Plan & Threats to Food Security, Larry Levitt, Executive Vice President for Health Policy at KFF, joins host Michelle Rathman. Larry oversees KFF's policy work on Medicare, Medicaid, the health care marketplace, the Affordable Care Act, racial equity, women's health, and global health.   

In part one of the episode, Tracking Transformation: Funding Awarded. Now What? Michelle Rathman invites Grace Creek Advisors' Bob Atlas to discuss his analysis of the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP). Bob is an executive consultant in health policy and strategy, serving public - and private - sector clients nationwide on health care delivery and financing. The health care safety net is a special focus of his wor...

Every year, National Rural Health Day is a chance to recognize and celebrate the dedicated efforts of rural health advocates and partners working to improve rural life. On November 20, 2025, The Rural Impact celebrated with something special, a live, story-driven event that lifted the voices behind The Rural Effect.   

Over the past two y...

In part one of the last episode of 2025, 'Uncertain Times for Community Health Centers,' Michelle invites Feygele Jacobs, DrPH, MS, MPH to The Rural Impact. Dr. Jacobs is the Director of the Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health and Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University. Previously, she was President and CEO of the RCHN Community Health F...

In this episode, 'A Conversation About the Intersections of Policy and Philanthropy,' Cara V. James, PhD, President and CEO of Grantmakers in Health (GIH), joins Michelle to explore key topics like rural health funding challenges and the critical conversations shaping health policy.   

Before joining GIH in 2020, James served as Director of the Office of Minority Health at the...

In this episode, "A Conversation About the State of America's Family Farms," Hannah Tremblay and Caitlin Arnold Stephano, both from Farm Aid, discuss issues impacting America's small and family farms.  

Hannah Tremblay is Policy and Advocacy Manager, where they manage Farm Aid's advocacy program and engage a broad coalition in support of policies that strengthen family farmers and ...

In this episode, "Finding Common Ground in Community Engagement," Michelle welcomes Meredith Dean, the National Director of the Rural Urban Bridge Initiative's Community Works program, to discuss how rural communities are finding common ground and bringing people together, regardless of political differences, to address local needs.

Meredith brings 40 years of experience in community organizing, Democratic politics, non-pr...

In this episode, "Ready. Set. No. The State of Medicaid Work Reporting Requirements Readiness," Michelle welcomes Research Professors Tricia Brooks and Leonardo Cuello, as well as State Health Policy Analyst Hannah Green, all joining us from Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy Center for Children and Families, to discuss their report published on September 4, 2025 titled "A...

In this episode, "A Conversation About What Undermines Local Government and Public Service," Michelle welcomes Brooks Williams to discuss how anger and rage are impacting local governments. Brooks is a city manager whose two decades span public and private leadership. He is known for turning strategy into results, such as stronger finances, healthier cultures, and clear metrics that track real performance. He serves the QT...

In this episode, "HRSA's Dwindling Rural Health Commitments," we kick off with a conversation between Michelle and Alexa McKinley Abel, Director of Government Affairs at the National Rural Health Association. They delve into recent developments from the House Appropriations Committee related to the FY2026 Labor-HHS appropriations bill, which proposes significant investments and increases in rural health funding. The two al...

In this episode, Education, Workforce & Tariffs: Rough Roads for Rural Ahead, the episode begins with Alexa McKinley Abel, Director of Government Affairs at the National Rural Health Association, who provides a rundown of the Senate Appropriations Committee's markup of the 2026 Labor Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Bill. Alexa detailed what the markup means for rural health; many of the progr...

In this Rural Impact Extra Episode: A Conversation about Rural Prosperity and its Connection to Policies, Past, Present & Future, Michelle leads the episode with a discussion with two esteemed experts in the field. Tony Pipa, a Senior Fellow in the Center for Sustainable Development at the Brookings Institution, and Brent Orrell, a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute(AEI), bring their wealth of knowledge...

In this extra episode of the Rural Impact Michelle welcomes Cynthia Wallace, Executive Director of the non-profit, New Rural Project, which she co-founded in April 2021 to discuss the impacts of H.R.1, as well as the how Cynthia and The New Rural Project are amplifying the voices of rural young people and marginalized residents in North Carolina so that they are heard and seen, and they get electorally and civically engage...

Michelle kicks off this episode with Edwin Park, Research Professor at the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, within the McCourt School of Public Policy. His work primarily focuses on Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Affordable Care Act. Previously, he worked for 17 years at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, most recently as Vice President for Health Policy. He was a...

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 rooted economies in Appalachia ...

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 into the real-wor...

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 Rural Health Care Outcomes ...

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 Health Insurance Program (CHIP...