In a sea of red, Oklahoma City stands out as the lone purple spot in the state.
Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt is a republican, but has what is likely the most diverse constituency in the state.
On this edition of Listen Frontier, Holt sits down with me to talk about, among other things: Oklahoma City’s voter base, how he labels himself politically, how long he wants to be mayor, his American Indian heritage, and his thought process behind which topics he chooses to weigh in on.
But I also want to talk to you about two stories we published this week at The Frontier.
On Wednesday, we published a story by Kayla Branch about “patient dumping,” where hospitals discharge to the streets people experiencing homelessness. Kayla spent months reporting that story, spending countless hours meeting and talking with people at shelters across Oklahoma City, helping them track down their medical records, and then asking hospitals about the process.
This morning, we published a story by Kassie McClung and Brianna Bailey about Oklahoma mothers who are increasingly being charged with crimes when prosecutors believe alleged drug use led to a miscarriage – even if the state’s own experts don’t agree on that cause and effect.
That story has been in the works for months as well. Stories like these aren’t produced easily – they take time, effort, passion, and especially in these cases – care and empathy. I’d ask you to go to our website and read both stories, and if you’d like to support more journalism like that – consider becoming a Frontier supporter. Your donation to The Frontier directly funds our newsroom as we near our seventh anniversary. To donate, go to www.readfrontier.org/donate.
This is Listen Frontier, a podcast exploring the investigative journalism of the Frontier and featuring conversations with those on the frontlines of Oklahoma’s most important stories. Listen to us Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.
To donate to The Frontier and help support our efforts to grow investigative journalism in Oklahoma, click here.
