Hello. 

I’m Taylor, the writer and podcaster behind Policy Out Loud. 

Here’s what I know about people – when we hear other people’s story, we often recall the theme but seldom remember the details. By contrast, when we think of our own story, every nuance comes alive with riveting and punishing detail. Our relationship to the story matters.

It’s the same when it comes to policy. We can study policy, but if at first glance we fail to establish relationship with it, we tend to forget about it’s importance…and then the policy is left to be written and shouldered by people who recognize their personal investment.

On this platform I leverage the subject I received my master’s degree in, to tell the story of how you relate to policy , without frills, fear-mongering, or sensationalism. I believe if you realize how personal policy is, and how actionable change is, you will believe in your power to do good for one another in a way that achieves desired community and personal outcomes without limiting individual autonomy. When we realize we have skin in the game, we become engaged because we realize the outcome matters.

This is a platform dedicated to personifying policy. It’s a platform dedicated to showing you that regardless the policy, you aren’t standing on the sidelines, but are in-fact in the middle of the action.

On this platform I talk about my own relationship with policy to tell the story, utilize research to paint the picture, and talk to field experts and the people doing the hard work. These are seldom politicians, but the people behind the scenes leading innovation. I also talk to the people who have realized their relationship and are leading the charge.  I think it’s a radically cool way to understand the world around us. We talk about everything from war, to food, to environment, to statelessness, to children’s rights…and a lot of other topics in between.

It’s where the personal and the pivotal intersect. It’s human. It’s messy. It’s research based. It’s Policy Out Loud. 

You can read a little bit more about me on my profile page, but here’s my quick & dirty:

First thing’s first: Because I know you are wondering, this is not a political-party affiliated (or motivated) website. I’m openly politically agnostic and tend toward’s policies that most directly lead to the outcomes in society that solve the problem, and result in the fewest insults and injuries to rights and liberties. I sometimes agree with the left. Sometimes the right. I care about the policy, not the party.

I was a lifestyle blogger for five years before completing my Master’s Degree in political science with a focus in policy. When 2020 hit the world like a freight train, I woke up one morning and looked at the big, messy, complex world and the messaging available to readers and thought to myself, “is this really the best we can do?” This is when I chose to leverage my academic passions and shift the blog from a story of self, to a story of community. 

My life has afforded me the ability to live and work in different corners of the world. These vantage points have included the inside of lockdown facilities, in courtrooms and church pews, in graveyards and soup-kitchen lines; the places where the lowest levels of policy take on names and faces and heartbeats. I am passionate about this work because I have seen first hand how real world problems + real world policy can affect very real people. 

I am so happy to have you here. 

Your Partner in Policy, 

Taylor Patrice