Kentucky Tonight

Chip Polston hosts a discussion about how Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) is changing college sports in Kentucky. Guests: J Batt, CEO of Champions Blue and director of athletics at the University of Kentucky; Josh Heird, director of athletics at the University of Louisville; Kyle Tucker, director of college basketball content at 247Sports; and Brooklyn DeLeye, UK volleyball player.

Host Christie Dutton and her guests discuss screen time in schools. Guests: Marty Park, chief digital officer, Kentucky Department of Education; Chase Colvin, senior advisor and former research lead, Kentucky Student Voice Team; William Ferguson, principal at Boyd Co. Middle School; State Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong (D-Louisville); and State Sen. Senator Lindsey Tichenor (R-Smithfield).

Host Renee Shaw and her guests discuss national and state politics. Guests: Robert Benvenuti, chairman of the Republican Party of Kentucky; Morgan Eaves, executive director of the Kentucky Democratic Party; Tres Watson, founder of Capitol Reins PR; and Abby Piper and Jared Smith, partners in Piper | Smith, a government affairs and public relations firm.

Renee Shaw and her guests discuss data centers. Guests: State Rep. Josh Bray (R-Mount Vernon); State Rep. Adam Moore (D-Lexington); John Bevington, vice president of customer services, LG&E and KU Energy; Ted Smith, environmental health researcher, University of Louisville; Byron Gary, attorney, Kentucky Resources Council; and Eric King, Kentucky Energy Planning and Inventory Commission.

Renee Shaw and guests discuss civic engagement and service in America. Guests: Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams; Benjamin Gies, chairman of Louisville America 250; Gary Gregg, McConnell Center director at the University of Louisville; Richard Young, executive director of CivicLex; Jerry Abramson, former Louisville mayor; and Maggie Harlow, executive director of the Jack Harlow Foundation.

Renee Shaw and guests discuss a report card on Kentucky's kids. Guests: Terry Brooks, Ed.D., outgoing executive director of the Kentucky Youth Advocates; Kristi Putnam, senior policy advisor of the Kentucky House Speaker's Office; State Rep. Samara Heavrin (R-Leitchfield); and State Rep. Tina Bojanowski (D-Louisville.

Renee Shaw hosts a conversation about Kentucky's community and technical colleges with Ryan Quarles, Ed. D., president of Kentucky Community and Technical College System; Jennifer Lindon, Ph. D., president of Hazard Community and Technical College; Scott Williams, Ph.D., president of Owensboro Community and Technical College; Anton Reece, Ph.D., president of West KY Community and Technical...

Chip Polston leads a conversation as Kentucky celebrates America250 with John Kleber, Ph.D., history professor emeritus at Morehead State University; Simon Meiners, public relations writer at the Frazier Kentucky History Museum; Stuart Sanders, director of research and publications at the Kentucky Historical Society; and Gerald Smith, Ph.D., history professor at the University of Kentucky.

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about the 2026 Primary Election with Robert Benvenuti, chairman of the Republican Party of Kentucky; Morgan Eaves, executive director of the Kentucky Democratic Party; Tres Watson, Republican strategist and consultant and founder of Capitol Reins PR; and Sara Osborne, principal at MML&K Government Solutions.

Renee Shaw hosts conversations with candidates for the 2nd and 5th Congressional Districts in the 2026 Primary. In the first segment, she talks with Shay Perry-Adelmann, Republican candidate in the 2nd Congressional District. In the second segment, she talks with Kevin Smith, Republican candidate in the 5th Congressional District.

Renee Shaw hosts a conversation with U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, Republican candidate in the 4th Congressional District.

Renee Shaw hosts candidate conversations for the 6th Congressional District in the 2026 Primary. In the first segment, she talks with Republican candidates Ryan Dotson and Greg Plucinski. In the second segment, she talks with Democratic candidates Zach Dembo, David Kloiber, Erin Petrey and Cherlynn Stevenson.

Renee Shaw hosts candidate conversations for the U.S. Senate in the 2026 Primary. In the first segment, she talks with Republican candidate Daniel Cameron. In the second segment, she talks with Democratic candidates Charles Booker, Amy McGrath and Dale Romans.

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about the 2026 Kentucky General Assembly session with State Senator Robert Stivers (R-Manchester), Kentucky Senate President; State Representative David Osborne (R- Prospect), Kentucky House Speaker; State Senator Gerald Neal (D-Louisville), Kentucky Senate Minority Floor Leader; and State Representative Joshua Watkins (D-Louisville), Kentucky House Minority Whip.

Renee Shaw hosts a conversation about the state budget with State Sen. Chris McDaniel (R-Ryland Heights), Chair of the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee; State Rep. Lindsey Burke (D-Lexington), House Minority Caucus Chair; Anne-Tyler Morgan, attorney and member of the law firm McBrayer PLLC; and State Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong (D-Louisville), Senate Minority Whip.

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about the state budget with State Sen. Amanda Mays Bledsoe (R-Lexington); State Sen. Reginald Thomas (D-Lexington); Kate Shanks from the Kentucky Chamber; Jason Bailey from the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy; Andrew McNeill from the Forum for Rights, Economics & Education (KYFREE); and State Rep. Tina Bojanowski (D-Louisville).

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about Medicaid reform with State Representative Ken Fleming (R-Louisville; State Senator Stephen Meredith (R-Leitchfield); Emily Beauregard, executive director for Kentucky Voices for Health; and State Senator Karen Berg (D-Louisville).

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about childcare legislation. Guests include: State Senator Danny Carroll (R-Paducah), chair of the Senate Families and Children Committee; State Representative Samara Heavrin (R-Leitchfield), chair of the House Families and Children Committee; and Sarah Vanover, Ed.D., policy and advocacy director for Kentucky Youth Advocates.

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about the 2026 legislative session at its midpoint with State Senator Max Wise (R-Campbellsville), Senate Majority Floor Leader; State Senator Reginald Thomas (D-Lexington), Senate Minority Caucus Chair; State Representative David Meade (R-Stanford), House Speaker Pro Tempore; and State Representative Lindsey Burke (D-Lexington), House Minority Caucus Chair.

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about K-12 education policy. Guests include: Commissioner Robbie Fletcher, Ed.D., Kentucky Department of Education; Maddie Shepard, president of the Jefferson County Teachers Association; Mike Harmon, state outreach director for the Commonwealth Policy Center; and Rhonda Caldwell, Ed.D., chief executive officer at Kentucky Association of School Administrators.

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about public education legislation with State Sen. Stephen West (R-Paris) and State Sen. Reginald Thomas (D-Lexington), both who serve on the Senate Education Committee; and State Rep. Scott Lewis (R-Hartford) and State Rep. Tina Bojanowski (D-Louisville), both who serve on the House Primary and Secondary Education Committee.

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about the housing shortage in Kentucky with State Sen. Robby Mills (R-Henderson): State Rep. Joshua Watkins (D- Louisville); Wendy Smith from the Kentucky Housing Corporation; J.D. Chaney from the Kentucky League of Cities; State Rep. Susan Witten (R-Louisville); and George Eklund from the Coalition for the Homeless.

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about the Kentucky General Assembly 2026 session with State Senator Robert Stivers (R-Manchester), Senate President; State Representative David Osborne (R-Prospect), House Speaker; State Senator Cassie Chambers Armstrong (D-Louisville), Senate Minority Whip; and State Representative Lindsey Burke (D-Lexington), House Minority Caucus Chair.

Renee Shaw hosts a preview of the 2026 legislative session with State Rep. David Meade (R-Stanford), House Speaker Pro Tempore; State Sen. David Givens (R-Greensburg), President Pro Tempore; State Rep. Pamela Stevenson (D-Louisville), House Minority Floor Leader; and State Sen. Gerald Neal (D-Louisville), Senate Minority Floor Leader.

Renee Shaw leads a discussion about Eastern Kentucky tourism. Guests: Commissioner Mike Mangeot, Kentucky Department of Tourism; Kitty Dougoud, Kentucky Main Street program administrator; Seth Wheat, director of interpretation and engagement at Kentucky State Parks; and Jill Fraley Dotson, executive director of community relations, tourism and Main Street for the City of Pikeville.

Renee Shaw leads a discussion about food insecurity. Guests include: State Senator Jason Howell (R-Murray); State Representative Chad Aull (D-Lexington); Michael Halligan, president and CEO of God's Pantry Food Bank; Melissa McDonald, executive director of Feeding Kentucky; Alison Gustafson, Ph.D., executive director, Food as Health at the University of Kentucky Martin Gatton College.

Renee Shaw leads a discussion about SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). Guests include: State Rep. Adam Moore (D-Lexington), a member of the Kentucky General Assembly's Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Kentucky Task Force; Anne-Tyler Morgan, a Lexington healthcare attorney with McBrayer PLLC; and Heather LeMire, State Director of Americans for Prosperity - Kentucky.

Renee Shaw leads a discussion on the U.S. economy. Panelists include Charles Aull, Ph.D., vice president of policy at the Center for Policy and Research at the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce; Jason Bailey, executive director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy; and Thomas Lambert, Ph.D., professor in the College of Business at the University of Louisville.

Renee Shaw leads a discussion on vaccines and medications. Guests: Coy Flowers, M.D., obstetrician-gynecologist practicing at UK Healthcare; Molly Rutherford, M.D., primary care physician at Bluegrass Family Wellness in Crestwood, Ky.; Michael K. Kuduk, M.D., pediatrician at Kentucky Children's Hospital, UK Healthcare; and Kimberly Biss, M.D., obstetrician-gynecologist in Saint Petersburg, Fla.

Renee Shaw leads a discussion on K-12 education, including the charter school funding case before the Kentucky Supreme Court and $718 million new funding request from public education advocates.

Renee Shaw leads a discussion about state and national politics and the state of political discourse. Guests: Amy Wickliffe, Republican strategist with McCarthy Strategic Solutions; Jonathan Miller, a Democrat and attorney with Frost Brown Todd; Tres Watson, a Republican consultant and founder of Capitol Reins PR; and Sherman Brown, Democratic strategist with McCarthy Strategic Solutions.

Renee Shaw leads a discussion about housing in Kentucky. Guests include: State Rep. Susan Witten (R-Louisville), co-chair of the Kentucky Housing Task Force; State Rep. Joshua Watkins (D-Louisville), member of the Kentucky Housing Task Force; and Wendy Smith, deputy executive director of housing programs at the Kentucky Housing Corporation.

Host Renee Shaw leads this taped discussion on progress and opportunities in the South Central Kentucky region. Guests include: State Sen. Mike Wilson (R); State Rep. Michael Meredith (R); Bowling Green Mayor Todd Alcott; Ron Bunch, president and CEO of Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce; and Timothy Caboni, president of Western Kentucky University.

Guest host Ryland Barton leads a discussion about agriculture in Kentucky with State Senator Jason Howell (R-Murray), chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee; State Representative Chad Aull (D-Lexington), member of the House Agriculture Committee; Sandra Ballew Barnes, Community Farm Alliance; and Leandra Forman of FoodChain, a nonprofit working to increase access to locally-sourced fresh food.

Renee Shaw discusses progress and opportunity in the Lake Cumberland region in taped interviews with Somerset Mayor Alan Keck; Bobby Clue, Somerset-Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce; Lonnie Lawson, The Center for Rural Development; State Sen. Rick Girdler (R- Somerset); State Rep. Ken Upchurch (R- Monticello); Michelle Allen, Lake Cumberland Tourism, and Carey Castle, Somerset Community College.

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about changes in Medicaid. Guests: State Senator Julie Raque Adams (R-Louisville); Mark Birdwhistell, senior vice president for health and public policy, University of Kentucky; Nancy Galvagni, president of the Kentucky Hospital Association; Dustin Pugel, policy director at the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy; and Anne-Tyler Morgan, healthcare law attorney.

Chip Polston hosts a discussion about Kentucky history with Scott Alvey, executive director of the Kentucky Historical Society; Stephanie Lang, Ph.D., editor of the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society; Vanessa Holden, Ph.D., director of UK African American and Africana Studies; and Patrick Lewis, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Filson Historical Society. A 2025 KET production.

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about national politics with KC Crosbie, Republican National Committee Co-Chair; former Kentucky Congressman John Yarmuth, Democrat; Andy Westberry, communications director for the Republican Party of Kentucky; and former Kentucky State Treasurer Jonathan Miller, Democrat.

Continuing a recap of the 2025 Rx and Illicit Drug Summit, KET interviews Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman; Van Ingram, executive director of the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy; and Tom Vicini, president and CEO of Operation UNITE. Recovery, treatment and prevention groups featured on the program include Lifeline Recovery Center in Paducah and Scott County Detention Center.

Renee Shaw recaps the Rx and Illicit Drug Summit 2025 with one-on-one interviews, including U.S. Representative Hal Rogers (R-KY5); U.S. Representative James Comer (R-KY1); U.S. Representative Brett Guthrie (R-KY2); and Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about Kentucky's flood response with Eric Gibson, director of the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management; Nadine McCrindle, regional chief executive officer of the Kentucky Region of the American Red Cross; State Representative Josh Bray (R-Mount Vernon); State Representative Erika Hancock (D-Frankfort); and Michael Mueller, Franklin County Judge/Executive.

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion and review of the completed 2025 Kentucky General Assembly session with State Representative David Meade (R-Stanford), House Speaker Pro Tempore; State Representative Pamela Stevenson (D-Louisville), House Minority Floor Leader; State Senator Gerald Neal (D-Louisville), Senate Minority Floor Leader; and State Senator Amanda Mays Bledsoe (R-Lexington).

Renee Shaw discusses abortion and maternal health with Addia Wuchner from Kentucky Right to Life and Tamarra Wieder from Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates. Next, Renee discusses gender identity with Chris Hartman from the Fairness Campaign; David Walls from The Family Foundation; Emma Curtis, Lexington-Fayette Co. councilwoman; and Colin Smothers from Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.

Renee Shaw hosts a review of the 2025 Kentucky General Assembly session with State Rep. Kimberly Poore Moser (R-Taylor Mill), chair of the House Health Services Committee; State Rep. Lindsey Burke (D-Lexington), House Minority Whip; State Senator Phillip Wheeler (R-Pikeville), chair of the Senate Economic Development, Tourism and Labor Committee; and State Senator Robin Webb D-Grayson).

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion with State Rep. Scott Lewis (R), Chair of the House Primary and Secondary Education Committee; State Rep. Tina Bojanowski (D), member of the House Primary and Secondary Education Committee; State Sen. Stephen West (R), chair of the Senate Education Committee; and State Sen. Reginald Thomas (D), Senate Minority Caucus Chair and member of the Senate Education Committee.

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about the mid-point of Kentucky's legislative session with State Senator David Givens (R-Greensburg), Senate President Pro Tempore; State Senator David Yates (D-Louisville), Senate Minority Whip; State Representative Steven Rudy (R-Paducah), House Majority Floor Leader; and State Representative Al Gentry (D-Louisville), House Minority Caucus Chair.

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about the economy, jobs and business issues with Andi Johnson, chief policy officer, Commerce Lexington; Jason Bailey, executive director, Kentucky Center for Economic Policy; Andrew McNeill, president, Kentucky Forum for Rights, Economics & Education (KYFREE); and Terry Brooks, executive director, Kentucky Youth Advocates.

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about family and health issues with State Senator Julie Raque Adams (R-Louisville); State Senator Cassie Chambers Armstrong (D-Louisville; State Representative Kimberly Poore Moser (R-Taylor Mill); and State Representative Adrielle Camuel, (D-Lexington).

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion with freshman lawmakers in Kentucky's General Assembly. Guests: State Senator Craig Richardson (R-Hopkinsville); State Senator Keturah Herron (D-Louisville); State Representative Mitch Whitaker (R-Fleming-Neon); and State Representative Anne Gay Donworth (D-Lexington).

Renee Shaw hosts a discussion about the 2025 Kentucky General Assembly with State Senator Max Wise (R-Campbellsville), Senate Majority Floor Leader; State Senator Reginald Thomas (D-Lexington), Senate Minority Caucus Chair; State Representative David Meade (R-Stanford), House Speaker Pro Tempore; and State Representative Lindsey Burke (D-Lexington), House Minority Whip.