Today's Segments
Older Voters, Political Division and the 2026 Midterms
AARP Senior Vice President of Campaigns John Hishta draws on more than three decades in politics to examine how campaigns have changed and what voters 50 and older are concerned about heading into the 2026 midterms. He discusses affordability, Social Security, Medicare, family caregiving, political advertising, media echo chambers and the emerging challenges posed by artificial intelligence. AARP describes itself as nonpartisan and says its 2026 voter-engagement work is focused on informing voters and raising issues affecting Americans 50 and older.
A Tale of a Tadpole: Shane Mendez on Becoming Whole
Shane Mendez grew up in Crookston, Minnesota, surrounded by addiction, violence and instability. He dropped out of high school, struggled with substance abuse and eventually set his sights on becoming a Navy SEAL, believing extraordinary achievement might put his past behind him. He made it to Hell Week — and quit. What followed was not the redemption story he had imagined, but a much longer journey through Navy service, college, 15 years as a Crookston police officer and, eventually, the classroom at UND Aerospace. Now a teaching assistant professor of aviation, Mendez tells that story in his memoir, A Tale of a Tadpole: Trying to Prove You're Not Broken Is Not the Same as Becoming Whole. He joins Main Street to talk about childhood trauma, addiction and recovery, failure, the toll of police work and why he came to believe that achievement alone cannot make a person whole.