Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and special guest Heather Mills (Tilson) to talk about the FCC giving out participation trophies to the monopoly providers, how state offices are responding to the BEAD guidance changes, disaster response and resilient Internet networks, and more. The full list of topics includes:

• Charter Spectrum calling deliberate fiber cuts "domestic terrorism"
• FCC Chair Brendan Carr further abdicating the commission's responsibility to the American people
• How states are responding to the Benefit of the Bargain BEAD changes
• FEMA's role in rebuilding our Internet networks
• California's affordable broadband bill getting pulled
• Whether T-Mobile has enough fiber to support its plan for the future

Join us live on July 24th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts.

Email us at broadband@communitynets.org with feedback and ideas for the show.

Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and special guest Heather Mills (Tilson) to talk about the FCC giving out participation trophies to the monopoly providers, how state offices are responding to the BEAD guidance changes, disaster response and resilient Internet networks, and more. The full list of topics includes:

• Charter Spectrum calling deliberate fiber cuts "domestic terrorism"
• FCC Chair Brendan Carr further abdicating the commission's responsibility to the American people
• How states are responding to the Benefit of the Bargain BEAD changes
• FEMA's role in rebuilding our Internet networks
• California's affordable broadband bill getting pulled
• Whether T-Mobile has enough fiber to support its plan for the future

Join us live on July 24th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts.

Email us at broadband@communitynets.org with feedback and ideas for the show.

Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and special guest Heather Mills (Tilson) to talk about the FCC giving out participation trophies to the monopoly providers, how state offices are responding to the BEAD guidance changes, disaster response and resilient Internet networks, and more. The full list of topics includes:

• Charter Spectrum calling deliberate fiber cuts "domestic terrorism"
• FCC Chair Brendan Carr further abdicating the commission's responsibility to the American people
• How states are responding to the Benefit of the Bargain BEAD changes
• FEMA's role in rebuilding our Internet networks
• California's affordable broadband bill getting pulled
• Whether T-Mobile has enough fiber to support its plan for the future

Join us live on July 24th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts.

Email us at broadband@communitynets.org with feedback and ideas for the show.

Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and special guest Heather Mills (Tilson) to talk about the FCC giving out participation trophies to the monopoly providers, how state offices are responding to the BEAD guidance changes, disaster response and resilient Internet networks, and more. The full list of topics includes:

• Charter Spectrum calling deliberate fiber cuts "domestic terrorism"
• FCC Chair Brendan Carr further abdicating the commission's responsibility to the American people
• How states are responding to the Benefit of the Bargain BEAD changes
• FEMA's role in rebuilding our Internet networks
• California's affordable broadband bill getting pulled
• Whether T-Mobile has enough fiber to support its plan for the future

Join us live on July 24th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts.

Email us at broadband@communitynets.org with feedback and ideas for the show.

Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and special guest Heather Mills (Tilson) to talk about the FCC giving out participation trophies to the monopoly providers, how state offices are responding to the BEAD guidance changes, disaster response and resilient Internet networks, and more. The full list of topics includes:

• Charter Spectrum calling deliberate fiber cuts "domestic terrorism"
• FCC Chair Brendan Carr further abdicating the commission's responsibility to the American people
• How states are responding to the Benefit of the Bargain BEAD changes
• FEMA's role in rebuilding our Internet networks
• California's affordable broadband bill getting pulled
• Whether T-Mobile has enough fiber to support its plan for the future

Join us live on July 24th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts.

Email us at broadband@communitynets.org with feedback and ideas for the show.

Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and special guest Heather Mills (Tilson) to talk about the FCC giving out participation trophies to the monopoly providers, how state offices are responding to the BEAD guidance changes, disaster response and resilient Internet networks, and more. The full list of topics includes:

• Charter Spectrum calling deliberate fiber cuts "domestic terrorism"
• FCC Chair Brendan Carr further abdicating the commission's responsibility to the American people
• How states are responding to the Benefit of the Bargain BEAD changes
• FEMA's role in rebuilding our Internet networks
• California's affordable broadband bill getting pulled
• Whether T-Mobile has enough fiber to support its plan for the future

Join us live on July 24th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts.

Email us at broadband@communitynets.org with feedback and ideas for the show.

Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and special guest Heather Mills (Tilson) to talk about the FCC giving out participation trophies to the monopoly providers, how state offices are responding to the BEAD guidance changes, disaster response and resilient Internet networks, and more. The full list of topics includes:

• Charter Spectrum calling deliberate fiber cuts "domestic terrorism"
• FCC Chair Brendan Carr further abdicating the commission's responsibility to the American people
• How states are responding to the Benefit of the Bargain BEAD changes
• FEMA's role in rebuilding our Internet networks
• California's affordable broadband bill getting pulled
• Whether T-Mobile has enough fiber to support its plan for the future

Join us live on July 24th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts.

Email us at broadband@communitynets.org with feedback and ideas for the show.

Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and special guest Heather Mills (Tilson) to talk about the FCC giving out participation trophies to the monopoly providers, how state offices are responding to the BEAD guidance changes, disaster response and resilient Internet networks, and more. The full list of topics includes:

• Charter Spectrum calling deliberate fiber cuts "domestic terrorism"
• FCC Chair Brendan Carr further abdicating the commission's responsibility to the American people
• How states are responding to the Benefit of the Bargain BEAD changes
• FEMA's role in rebuilding our Internet networks
• California's affordable broadband bill getting pulled
• Whether T-Mobile has enough fiber to support its plan for the future

Join us live on July 24th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts.

Email us at broadband@communitynets.org with feedback and ideas for the show.

Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and special guest Heather Mills (Tilson) to talk about the FCC giving out participation trophies to the monopoly providers, how state offices are responding to the BEAD guidance changes, disaster response and resilient Internet networks, and more. The full list of topics includes:

• Charter Spectrum calling deliberate fiber cuts "domestic terrorism"
• FCC Chair Brendan Carr further abdicating the commission's responsibility to the American people
• How states are responding to the Benefit of the Bargain BEAD changes
• FEMA's role in rebuilding our Internet networks
• California's affordable broadband bill getting pulled
• Whether T-Mobile has enough fiber to support its plan for the future

Join us live on July 24th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts.

Email us at broadband@communitynets.org with feedback and ideas for the show.

Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

In this Monday edition of the podcast, Chris sits down again with Evan Feinman, former BEAD Director at NTIA, to unpack the fallout from the Trump administration’s sweeping changes to the BEAD program.

Feinman calls out the decision to prioritize short-term cost savings over long-term infrastructure, arguing that these policy shifts will slow progress, drive up monthly bills, and ultimately leave rural communities behind.

From satellite subsidies to the sidelining of fiber, they explore why the new guidance undermines state-level planning, threatens broadband quality, and may betray the very voters it claims to help.

This show is 40 minutes long and can be played on this page or via Apple Podcasts or the tool of your choice using this feed.

Transcript below.

We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.

Listen to other episodes or view all episodes in our index. See other podcasts from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.

Thanks to Arne Huseby for the music. The song is Warm Duck Shuffle and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license