https://hoosierstoelectnatestout.com/
Welcome to the HoosLeft Podcast, a show about Indiana politics, history, and culture from an unapologetically leftist perspective. My name is Scott Aaron Rogers and I’m recording from Bloomington.
Tonight’s guest is Nate Stout, candidate for Indiana House District 38. We start with some “Easy W’s” to establish who Nate is and why he’s running, then move through the three core issue areas shaping his campaign: education, healthcare, and smart economic development. Within healthcare especially, the conversation branches into mental health, consolidation, and policy incentives before returning to broader questions of access and outcomes. Throughout, we focus on how Indiana’s policy choices land in real communities and what it looks like to run a campaign built on credibility and long-term engagement.
But real quick, before we get to the interview, a big ask. This is an independent media project; we don’t paywall content; we don’t sell out to advertisers; we don’t have billionaire benefactors. Only individuals like you keep this thing going. It is a foundational principal of HoosLeft and the Progressive Indiana Network that we refuse to hide valuable information behind paywalls in the middle of a political crisis, even if that’s not in our financial best interest. So please, if you find value in this work, go to ProgressiveIndiana.net and subscribe at the paid level - it’s only $5 a month, or $50 a year, to help us build the infrastructure that will pop the right-wing media bubble in this state. You can make a one-time contribution to HoosLeft on Cash App or Venmo. Links are in the show notes.
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0:20 Intro & District Setup
Show introduction and framing
Nate Stout introduced as the Democratic candidate for Indiana House District 38
Discussion of the geographic and political makeup of House District 38
Brief aside on campaign branding and visibility
4:25 Easy W’s / Baseline Background
“Easy W’s / Easy Dubs” section covering the basics: who Nate is and why he’s running
How to talk to voters across polarization and distrust
Rejection of consultant-driven messaging in favor of credibility and presence
10:15 Education
Education named as the first core issue of the campaign
Public education funding and Indiana’s business-style approach to schools
Critique of incentives, metrics, and outcome-free policymaking
Schools framed as community anchors with spillover effects into other policy areas
21:10 Healthcare: Access, Outcomes, and Policy Choices
Explicit pivot to healthcare as the second core issue
Healthcare framed broadly as access, affordability, and outcomes
Discussion of how Indiana’s policy framework shapes who gets care and who doesn’t
28:05 Mental Health as Healthcare
Mental health discussed explicitly as part of healthcare, not a side issue
Access gaps and downstream consequences when care is unavailable
Connection between mental health, community stability, and public systems
34:40 Healthcare Consolidation & Large Systems
Discussion of large healthcare systems and consolidation
Critique of how scale, profit incentives, and centralization affect care
Exploration of how “efficiency” rhetoric often conflicts with patient outcomes
41:15 Back to Healthcare as a Voter Issue
Return to healthcare as a core campaign and persuasion issue
Why healthcare consistently resonates even with disengaged or skeptical voters
Framing healthcare failures as policy choices, not inevitabilities
46:30 Economic Development
“Smart economic development” named as the third core issue
Emphasis on small businesses and locally rooted growth
Critique of elite-driven incentive deals and mega-projects
Side discussion on data centers, utilities, water use, and rising electric bills
Broader critique of consolidation and profit extraction from communities
56:35 Closing & Where to Find Nate
Nate shares where people can follow his campaign
Final reflections on campaigning, trust, and long-term engagement
Wrap-up and sign-off
That’s all for now. Be sure to tune in Sunday morning for HoosLeft This Week, streaming live on YouTube, Facebook, and of course at the new ProgressiveIndiana.NET. Indiana’s most thorough weekend news and politics talk show, it’s a lot of fun — if you can call following the news in this timeline fun. My panel and I go “around the corn” to cover all the week’s top Indiana news stories and look at US and international happenings through a Hoosier lens. I hope to see you there in the comments, but if you can’t make it live, the program will be available for download later Sunday afternoon.
Thanks once again to Nate for this interview and for putting himself out there in these difficult times. One last reminder to please consider supporting HoosLeft and the wider Progressive Indiana Network with a paid subscription if you’re able. This independent media project relies solely on the generosity of kind patrons like you to make this information available for free to everybody. Again, that’s at ProgressiveIndiana.Net. We could also really use a follow on social media at progressiveindiananetwork on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. Please subscribe to our YouTube channel at the same handle. Over on Bluesky and TikTok, the handle is @PINIndiana.
You can find me on @HoosLeft.US on Bluesky, Instagram and Threads; @HoosLeft on all the rest. Direct message me at any of those sites with feedback, tips, ideas, and concerns or email me at scott@hoosleft.us. Finally, please forward the show to a friend and have them pass it on, too. Let’s keep building this project - and a truly democratic state — one conversation at a time. Until the next one, this has been the HoosLeft podcast. I’m Scott Aaron Rogers. Love each other, Indiana.
