Donate to WERU Today!Host/Producer: Amy Browne
Information from the ACLU of Maine
Know Your Rights: Immigration Enforcement and Warrants
Know Your Rights: Electronic Device Searches During Travel
Know Your Rights: Protesting
KYR: Filming and Photographing the Police
Know Your Rights: Customs and Border Patrol and the 100-Mile Border Zone
LD 1383, An Act to Require State Divestment from Perpetrators of International Human Rights Violation
Committee On State and Local Government – contact info and schedule
About the host:
Amy Browne started out at WERU as a volunteer news & public affairs producer in 2000, co-hosting/co-producing RadioActive with Meredith DeFrancesco. She joined the team of Voices producers a few years later, and has been WERU’s News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices, Maine Currents and Maine: The Way Life Could Be, Amy also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and Maine Association of Broadcasters awards for her work in 2017 and 2021.
Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-
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RadioActive 1/22/26: ICE in Maine: Know Your Rights, Resources and Stop ICE Terror Rally
Producer/Host: Meredith DeFrancesco
A grassroots environmental and social justice news journal, collaboration of WERU and Sunlight Media Collective. Learn more at sunlightmediacollective.org.
As immigrant rights and community action networks activate a response to the surge of ICE activity in Maine communities, we share reactions, information on peoples rights, resources and a Hotline to report and receive information on ICE activity.
We also hear from some of the speakers at the Stop ICE Terror rally in Bangor on January 10th.
Guests:
Zachary Heidan, head legal counsel at ACLU of Maine.
Mufalo Chitam, executive director of Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition.
Lokotah Sanborn, community organizer.
Speakers at January 10 Stop ICE Terror rally.
FMI:
Maine Immigrant Rights Hotline and Resource Hub:
maineimmigrantrights.org/mirc-resource-hub/
MIRC ICE hotline : 207 544-9989
Maine ACLU resources, know your rights and how to report ICE conduct:
www.aclumaine.org/preparingforice/
www.aclumaine.org/app/uploads/2026/01/Preparing-for-and-Responding-to-ICE-in-Maine-2.pdf
forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=6XZWc5QkD0q_MUveoekZhjUggYzdj_xAi_tyvPFHO99UMlhUWlpBQThRQThPOVBDRU1YNFlTUExGTS4u&route=shorturl
www.aclumaine.org/know-your-rights-training-ice-privacy-protests/
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Around Town 1/22/26: Local News, Culture and Events
Host/Producer: Amy Browne
Courtney and John from Counter Current Collective are here with details of their latest (roving!) production: A Number by Caryl Churchill
About the host:
Amy Browne started out at WERU as a volunteer news & public affairs producer in 2000, co-hosting/co-producing RadioActive with Meredith DeFrancesco. She joined the team of Voices producers a few years later, and has been WERU’s News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices, Maine Currents and Maine: The Way Life Could Be, Amy also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and Maine Association of Broadcasters awards for her work in 2017 and 2021.
Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-
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Around Town 1/21/26: Local News, Culture and Events
Host/Producer: Amy Browne
LD 1383, An Act to Require State Divestment from Perpetrators of International Human Rights Violations Public hearing today at 11 (more info and live stream)- Joint Standing Committee on State and Local Government
About the host:
Amy Browne started out at WERU as a volunteer news & public affairs producer in 2000, co-hosting/co-producing RadioActive with Meredith DeFrancesco. She joined the team of Voices producers a few years later, and has been WERU’s News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices, Maine Currents and Maine: The Way Life Could Be, Amy also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and Maine Association of Broadcasters awards for her work in 2017 and 2021.
Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-
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Outside the Box 1/20/26: “Poverty and Power”
Producer/Host: Larry Dansinger
About the host:
Larry Dansinger (no pronouns) of Bangor came to Maine in 1974 and has been here ever since. Some of Larry’s activities since then: Done community organizing on numerous issues through INVERT and then Resources for Organizing and Social Change (ROSC), committed civil disobedience several times, grown a garden yearly since 1977, joined various food cooperatives and two men’s groups, refused to pay federal income taxes for war, lived on a community land trust for 23 years, and met a wonderful partner whom Larry has loved for over 40 years. Larry has produced Outside the Box features on WERU since 2007 and continues to look for unique ways of seeing almost any problem or situation.
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Around Town 1/20/26: Local News, Culture and Events
Host/Producer: Amy Browne
About the host:
Amy Browne started out at WERU as a volunteer news & public affairs producer in 2000, co-hosting/co-producing RadioActive with Meredith DeFrancesco. She joined the team of Voices producers a few years later, and has been WERU’s News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices, Maine Currents and Maine: The Way Life Could Be, Amy also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and Maine Association of Broadcasters awards for her work in 2017 and 2021.
Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-
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Democracy Forum 1/16/26: Constitutional Crisis: Can Democracy Survive Billionaire Economics?
Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine
Production Assistance: Linda Washburn, Joel Mann
Democracy Forum: Participatory Democracy, encouraging citizens to take an active role in government and politics.
This month:
We’ll talk about how wealth and income inequality undermine democracy. Does extreme income inequality lead to right wing authoritarianism? How does that work? Is that playing out in the U.S. right now? In Maine?
Guest/s:
Garrett Martin, President & CEO, Maine Center for Economic Policy
Susan Stokes, the Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Chicago. She is the author of the new book, The Backsliders: Why Leaders Undermine Their Own Democracies | Princeton University Press, September 2025
To learn more about this topic:
Visit LWVME.org
About the host:
Ann Luther currently serves as Treasurer of the League of Women Voters of Maine and leads the LWVME Advocacy Team. She served as President of LWVME from 2003 to 2007 and as co-president from 2007-2009.
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Around Town 1/16/26: Local News, Culture and Events
Host/Producer: Amy Browne
Suzanne Kelly joins us with news about Faith Linking in Action’s 4th annual MLK celebration, coming up on Sunday, January 18th at 3pm at the First United Methodist Church, 703 Essex Street, Bangor Reggie Harris will perform, tell stories and lead sing-a-longs, and Robert Shetterly will be there with some of the portraits from his Americans Who Tell the Truth series.
Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition Resource Hub Their hotline is 207-544-9989 Photos and videos can be sent to them at [email protected]
About the host:
Amy Browne started out at WERU as a volunteer news & public affairs producer in 2000, co-hosting/co-producing RadioActive with Meredith DeFrancesco. She joined the team of Voices producers a few years later, and has been WERU’s News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices, Maine Currents and Maine: The Way Life Could Be, Amy also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and Maine Association of Broadcasters awards for her work in 2017 and 2021.
Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
