What is Unorganized Territory?
Unorganized Territory is a podcast and newsletter that tells the story of the 2026 midterm election through the voices of voters in the small towns, villages and municipalities at the heart of community life in Maine.
Unorganized Territory strives to open a window into voters lives, and the issues and personal concerns driving how they vote and engage in politics.
In the process, Unorganized Territory seeks to encourage active listening across electoral and cultural divides at a time when shouting, intolerance and vitriol too often dominate political discourse.
What does Unorganized Territory make?
Unorganized Territory produces a bi-weekly podcast set in a different Maine community. Episodes tell stories about the pressing personal, family, work, financial and place-based concerns in the lives of voters, prompted by:
The 2026 election in Maine and nationally
The Trump Administration and its policies
Political, economic and other stories in the news
The issues and concerns driving their engagement in politics
Why Subscribe?
By subscribing, you’re supporting the idea that it’s never been more important to incentivize in-depth, thoughtful coverage of politics that gives the personal stories and challenges facing actual voters at least equal footing alongside the daily drumbeat of horse race reporting on tactics, polling, punditry, advertising, money, redistricting, endorsements, power brokering, real scandals and faux scandals.
If you live in a community you recognize in an Unorganized Territory episode, the hope would be that the podcast could help you feel less isolated and more empowered to make your voice heard.
If you’re a candidate for office, someone already elected to office, a member of the professional political class or a journalist covering politics, Unorganized Territory hopes to model active listening as a professional superpower.
If you're a political junkie (like me!), we hope this project will worsen your addiction.
Subscriptions to Unorganized Territory will be free out of the gate as we build a following.
The intention is to produce high quality work that listeners value and want to pay for. We’ll have more to share about what our paid offerings will look like in the near future.
Pledges toward a future paid subscription are welcomed.
What’s your ethics policy?
Important question. Please click here for Unorganized Territory’s ethics policy.
Who’s involved?
Jay Field is a writer, reporter, audio producer and the creator of Unorganized Territory. A former award-winning public radio journalist, Jay took a break from his career in 2016 to be a full-time dad to two awesome young people. He then found his way to a communications and storytelling role with a startup company, where he worked inside a hundred year old paper mill undergoing renovation to manufacture and sell wood fiber construction insulation for the first time in North America.
Jay is excited to be getting back to the type of storytelling he enjoys most. As the project evolves, Unorganized Territory plans to partner and collaborate with writers, editors, audio producers, students and news organizations eager to use their talents to improve the quality the work and expand its reach.
