The Spouse Angle Podcast — Up this week: Vaccines, troop drawdowns and child care changes

The Spouse Angle is a podcast breaking down the news for military spouses and their families. Each episode features subject-matter experts and military guests who dive into current events from a military perspective — everything from new policy changes to research on family lifestyle challenges. The podcast is hosted by Natalie Gross, a freelance journalist and former Military Times reporter who grew up in a military family.

Military Times reporters Leo Shane and Karen Jowers join host Natalie Gross to discuss vaccines, troop drawdowns, child care changes, and other news stories military spouses need to know about this year.

This week’s guests:

Leo Shane covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 —National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award. @leoshane

Karen Jowers has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book “A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families.” She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga. @karenjowers

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