What happened (or didn't) in the rancorous 2025 Mississippi legislative session?
The Other Side: Mississippi Today’s Political Podcast
Release Date: 04/07/2025
School choice’ chances in 2026 and another Democratic defection
The Other Side: Mississippi Today’s Political Podcast
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.
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Mega merger: Business, industry groups join forces as Mississippi Business Alliance
The Other Side: Mississippi Today’s Political Podcast
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 will lead the new organization, says it expects to be up and running by the beginning of 2026.
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Horhn transition chairman discusses what challenges new Jackson administration faces
The Other Side: Mississippi Today’s Political Podcast
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.
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Author, former GOP strategist Stuart Stevens says Republican Party has 'declared war on the future'
The Other Side: Mississippi Today’s Political Podcast
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.
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Podcast: Medgar Evers at 100: He was a giant in fight for justice, but to Reena Evers-Everette, he was just 'Dad'
The Other Side: Mississippi Today’s Political Podcast
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 losses that redefined their lives -- and the world -- and the legacies they now carry forward. For...
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Rep. Omeria Scott on state budget, lack of transparency, unmet needs statewide
The Other Side: Mississippi Today’s Political Podcast
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.
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Famed political consultant James Carville, the "Ragin' Cajun," handicaps national, Mississippi politics in the Trump era
The Other Side: Mississippi Today’s Political Podcast
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.
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Sen. Sparks on special session, PERS and project spending
The Other Side: Mississippi Today’s Political Podcast
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.
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Mississippi Today welcomes longtime veteran Mississippi journalist Emily Wagster Pettus as its new senior editor.
The Other Side: Mississippi Today’s Political Podcast
Pettus shares a few war stories with Bobby Harrison and Geoff Pender, including her dealings with the irascible former Gov. Kirk Fordice.
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Economist discusses Mississippi economy's vulnerability
The Other Side: Mississippi Today’s Political Podcast
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.
info_outlineMississippi 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.