Backstory: an Ithaca Voice podcast
The Ithaca Voice
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About This Podcast
Backstory is the local news podcast powered by the newsroom of The Ithaca Voice. Every week, our reporters take you behind the scenes of the stories shaping Ithaca, Tompkins County and the reality that surrounds these ten square miles.
The Ithaca Voice is an independent not-for-profit online news outlet based in Ithaca, N.Y.
New episodes of Backstory drop Tuesday.
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Recent Episodes
S2E6 June 9, 2026 — What the housing crisis looks like for Ithaca's older adults
Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts.When Kathy Bernson moved to Ithaca, she was just looking for a quiet, artsy little…
S2E5 June 2, 2026 — The trial of Autreyu Massaline
This episode contains graphic descriptions of violence and makes reference to racist and sexist slurs. Sensitive listeners may want to skip this one.Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple…
S2E4 May 26, 2026 — The state of The Commons
Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts.The Commons is the heart of downtown Ithaca. But some say that its heartbeat is a…
S2E3 May 19, 2026 — Immigration enforcement in dairy country
Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts.Earlier this month, a man in rural Cayuga County was arrested by what are likely…
S2E2 May 12, 2026 — Trimmed, tweaked and back on the ballot: the plan to repair Ithaca's aging schools
Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts.Two years ago, voters in the Ithaca City School District rejected a proposal for a…
S2E1 May 5, 2026 — Ithaca's long break up with 'Flock' AI police cameras
Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts.We're back!For this inaugural episode of the second season, we’re returning to an…
S1E22 Dec. 23, 2025 — Stories from (nearly) a decade in Ithaca news
Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts.Editor’s Note: This bonus episode of Backstory was originally scheduled for Dec. 19,…
S1E21 Dec. 12, 2025 — A renewed fight for a nurses' union at Cayuga Medical Center
Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts.Nurses at Ithaca’s only hospital are looking to unionize. They say they haven’t had…
S1E20 Dec. 5, 2025 — The rise and fall of Ithaca's city manager
Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts.Ithaca's top government official was asked to resign this week. The move comes, most…
S1 Nov. 21, 2025 — Mini episode: the headlines and a note
Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts.We're putting out this "mini episode" for now because we hit some unforeseen…
S1E19 Nov. 14, 2025 — How The Commons came to be
Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts.Fifty years ago, the very last car drove down the stretch of State Street that would…
S1E18 Nov. 7, 2025 — Election Day takeaways from across Tompkins County
Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts.Voters in Tompkins County headed to the polls this week to elect new local and…
S1E17 Oct. 31, 2025 — A hole in the city budget / Ithaca's homegrown ghost stories
Episode notesListen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts.Part I:Surprise! There’s an unexpected two million dollar hole in the…
S1E16 Oct. 24, 2025 — Could an AI data center fit into Lansing's vision for the future?
Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts.The debate over a proposed artificial intelligence (AI) data center in Lansing just…
S1E15 Oct. 10, 2025 — Another year of Flock AI police cameras / Common Council compensation
Listen and subscribe to Backstory on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts.Part I: There’s a growing push against Flock, an AI powered system of cameras and…
S1E14 Oct. 03, 2025 — Teachers head back to the bargaining table / Mental health services scale back
Listen and subscribe to Backstory on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts.Part I: The Ithaca City School District and the union that represents its roughly 600…
S1E13 Sept. 26, 2025 — A budget season double feature: Tompkins County and ICSD
Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts.This week on the podcast, a public spending double feature!Part I: It's everyone's…
S1E12 Sept. 19, 2025 — A week of take backs
Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts.Part I: The head of Ithaca City School District, unexpectedly, was just approved for…
S1E11 Sept. 12, 2025 — An AI data center on Cayuga Lake
Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts.The artificial intelligence (AI) industry is growing … and so is the demand for the…
S1E10 September 5, 2025 — A surge of debate over Ithaca's new AI powered police initiative
Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts.In 2023, the City of Ithaca and Tompkins County inked deals with Flock Safety, a…
Frequently Asked Questions
Backstory: an Ithaca Voice podcast has published 29 episodes since June 2025, covering topics in News, Society & Culture.
Backstory: an Ithaca Voice podcast is currently highly active with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 25m.
