Raleigh Launches Your City, Answered Podcast for Community Q&A

Raleigh launched a new short-form podcast, Your City, Answered, to give residents a direct channel for questions about municipal services. The city described the show as a quick, question-and-answer-style program that dives into one community-submitted question in every episode, with hosts Ran Northam and Katie Dombrowski sitting down with City of Raleigh staff and special guests to unpack the topics that matter most to residents.

The city released the podcast announcement on February 6, 2026. Episodes are described as being released regularly and will be available on common podcast platforms as well as on the City of Raleigh website. The announcement directly urged listeners to bookmark the city site, saying, "Episodes will be released regularly and can be found wherever you listen to stay connected. You can also bookmark our website as each episode will be available there."

Your City, Answered will focus each installment on a single resident question. The city used concrete examples to illustrate the format: "How much does a firetruck cost?" and "Is there lead in my water pipes?" Residents are asked to submit their questions online via the city’s website or on any of the city’s @RaleighGov social channels. The announcement cautioned that "Due to time constraints, not all questions will be answered on the podcast. As questions start to roll in, we will add questions (and answers) to our website."

By pairing communications staff with subject-matter city employees and occasional guests, the podcast aims to clarify operations and policy decisions that affect Wake County households, from public safety procurement to utility infrastructure concerns. The format could shorten the path between residents and officials, providing brief, focused explanations of budget choices, service timelines, and regulatory responsibilities that are often opaque at public meetings.

Background context underscores how the podcast fits into local governance: Raleigh's municipal government is overseen by an elected city council and supported by a city manager who manages day-to-day operations. The city divides representation into districts A through E, and municipal decisions on services and budgets flow through this council-manager structure. Community life in Raleigh also includes civic engagement around local institutions and events, including sports and neighborhood programming, which shape demand for municipal information.

The city’s announcement includes a contact for media inquiries at communications@raleighnc.gov and bears a publication stamp of Published 2/6/2026 and Updated 2/6/2026. The news page header sometimes appears as "Your City Answered Podcast," though the announcement copy uses the punctuation Your City, Answered as the program name.

The launch establishes a new avenue for transparency, but the announcement leaves operational details open: the city did not specify episode cadence, typical running time, or accessibility plans such as transcripts. For residents, the immediate step is simple: submit questions through the city website or @RaleighGov social channels and monitor the city's podcast feed and news page for episodes and posted Q&A entries.