Plain Talk

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Forum Communications Co.
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Plain Talk is a podcast hosted by Rob Port and Chad Oban focusing on political news and current events in North Dakota. Port is a columnist for the Forum News Service published in papers including the Fargo Forum, Grand Forks Herald, Jamestown Sun, and the Dickinson Press. Oban is a long-time political consultant.

  1. 1 day ago ·  Video

    729: 'We do disagree with the position that natural kratom leaf products should also be banned' (Video)

    There's been a lot of talk in North Dakota in recent weeks about kratom after Gov. Kelly Armstrong issued executive orders banning the substance and called lawmakers into a special session in Bismarck with an eye toward making that ban permanent. But what does the kratom industry think about it? "We agree with the governor in part and we disagree in another part," Mac Haddow said on this episode of Plain Talk. "It's a lot like being married, right? We have to get it right at the end." Haddow is a former state lawmaker, and a Reagan-era chief of staff for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Currently, he's a senior fellow on public policy at the American Kratom Association, and where he and his organization agree with Armstrong is on synthetic kratom. He said that colloquial descriptors like "gas station heroin" are accurate. "There's no question it's the same as an opioid." But on a previous episode of Plain Talk, Armstrong said the natural, botanical variety of kratom should be banned too, and that's where Haddow and his group diverge. Natural kratom is a different animal. "This is akin to what happened during Prohibition," he argued. "We don't call moonshine corn and we certainly don't call caffeine coffee. These are things that need to be closely examined and properly regulated." Haddow argues that good policy coming out of this session would ban synthetic kratom and regulate the natural variety to ensure that it's only available to adults and is transparent about things like ingredients and dosage. Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I responded to listener feedback and talked about renewed controversy around Fargo-area state lawmaker Rep. Desiree Morton. In June, Morton attacked fellow lawmakers for allowing Somali volunteers on their campaigns. More recently, in private messages, Morton insinuated that a ward proposal for Fargo's city government would allow "imports" to take over the city. Morton said in her message that she's "not a hater," but Oban disagrees. "She is a hater," he said. "She's a bigot. She's a racist." If you want to participate in Plain Talk, just give us a call or text at 701-587-3141. It's super easy — leave your message, tell us your name and where you're from, and we might feature it on an upcoming episode. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts or use one of the links below. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Pocket Casts | Episode Archive

  2. 1 day ago

    729: 'We do disagree with the position that natural kratom leaf products should also be banned'

    There's been a lot of talk in North Dakota in recent weeks about kratom after Gov. Kelly Armstrong issued executive orders banning the substance and called lawmakers into a special session in Bismarck with an eye toward making that ban permanent. But what does the kratom industry think about it? "We agree with the governor in part and we disagree in another part," Mac Haddow said on this episode of Plain Talk. "It's a lot like being married, right? We have to get it right at the end." Haddow is a former state lawmaker, and a Reagan-era chief of staff for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Currently, he's a senior fellow on public policy at the American Kratom Association, and where he and his organization agree with Armstrong is on synthetic kratom. He said that colloquial descriptors like "gas station heroin" are accurate. "There's no question it's the same as an opioid." But on a previous episode of Plain Talk, Armstrong said the natural, botanical variety of kratom should be banned too, and that's where Haddow and his group diverge. Natural kratom is a different animal. "This is akin to what happened during Prohibition," he argued. "We don't call moonshine corn and we certainly don't call caffeine coffee. These are things that need to be closely examined and properly regulated." Haddow argues that good policy coming out of this session would ban synthetic kratom and regulate the natural variety to ensure that it's only available to adults and is transparent about things like ingredients and dosage. Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I responded to listener feedback and talked about renewed controversy around Fargo-area state lawmaker Rep. Desiree Morton. In June, Morton attacked fellow lawmakers for allowing Somali volunteers on their campaigns. More recently, in private messages, Morton insinuated that a ward proposal for Fargo's city government would allow "imports" to take over the city. Morton said in her message that she's "not a hater," but Oban disagrees. "She is a hater," he said. "She's a bigot. She's a racist." If you want to participate in Plain Talk, just give us a call or text at 701-587-3141. It's super easy — leave your message, tell us your name and where you're from, and we might feature it on an upcoming episode. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts or use one of the links below. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Pocket Casts | Episode Archive

  3. 6 days ago ·  Video

    728: 'Any moron can sound like Hemingway with ChatGPT' (Video)

    On this episode of Plain Talk, recorded on location inside Brewhalla at the TedXFargo event, we talked about a deeply uncomfortable topic. Suicide, namely. Our guest was Haley DeGreve, founder of the Gray Matters Collective, an advocacy group focused on mental health issues which also provides training for the public on how to recognize mental health episodes and health. We think about CPR training, and first aid training, but what about someone who is having a manic episode, or contemplating suicide? "Where our organization has leaned into that gray area is there are people like you and I who care, but we don't know how to help," DeGreve told us. "We're not trained in this. And so, we actually spend a lot of our funding on training to get people trained so, if you're in the grocery store and you see someone having a mental breakdown, you know what to do. You know how to connect them." Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I discussed a recent, tacit acknowledgement that property tax exemptions have a real cost for the public. "The true thing is that when we give away an exemption, there's a cost," I argued. "Maybe the cost is worth paying, right? We can have a debate about that, but it is a cost and we can't ignore it." We also discussed the back lash against data centers, and how the public's shift towards online populism has influenced that. "This is what happens when there's an issue that's very complicated and you have a fringe that's sort of running the messaging on this that everything is terrible," I said. The real threat of AI, I argue, is that it can make nonsense arguments seem plausible. "Any moron can sound like Hemingway with ChatGPT," I said. If you want to participate in Plain Talk, just give us a call or text at 701-587-3141. It's super easy — leave your message, tell us your name and where you're from, and we might feature it on an upcoming episode. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts or use one of the links below. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Pocket Casts | Episode Archive

  4. 6 days ago

    728: 'Any moron can sound like Hemingway with ChatGPT'

    On this episode of Plain Talk, recorded on location inside Brewhalla at the TedXFargo event, we talked about a deeply uncomfortable topic. Suicide, namely. Our guest was Haley DeGreve, founder of the Gray Matters Collective, an advocacy group focused on mental health issues which also provides training for the public on how to recognize mental health episodes and health. We think about CPR training, and first aid training, but what about someone who is having a manic episode, or contemplating suicide? "Where our organization has leaned into that gray area is there are people like you and I who care, but we don't know how to help," DeGreve told us. "We're not trained in this. And so, we actually spend a lot of our funding on training to get people trained so, if you're in the grocery store and you see someone having a mental breakdown, you know what to do. You know how to connect them." Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I discussed a recent, tacit acknowledgement that property tax exemptions have a real cost for the public. "The true thing is that when we give away an exemption, there's a cost," I argued. "Maybe the cost is worth paying, right? We can have a debate about that, but it is a cost and we can't ignore it." We also discussed the back lash against data centers, and how the public's shift towards online populism has influenced that. "This is what happens when there's an issue that's very complicated and you have a fringe that's sort of running the messaging on this that everything is terrible," I said. The real threat of AI, I argue, is that it can make nonsense arguments seem plausible. "Any moron can sound like Hemingway with ChatGPT," I said. If you want to participate in Plain Talk, just give us a call or text at 701-587-3141. It's super easy — leave your message, tell us your name and where you're from, and we might feature it on an upcoming episode. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts or use one of the links below. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Pocket Casts | Episode Archive

  5. 5 Aug ·  Video

    727: 'I'm comfortable overreacting' (Video)

    "We know of at least 23 deaths in North Dakota where it's listed as a primary cause," Gov. Kelly Armstrong said on this episode of Plain Talk, referring to the substance kratom. Armstrong made headlines this week when he announced a temporary executive order banning kratom, and that he was calling lawmakers to Bismarck for a special session to pass more permanent policy. Some claimed that kratom is a ruse intended to cover other issues, such as the red-hot data center debate, or the financial disaster that is a military museum on the capitol grounds, but Armstrong made it clear that the session is very much about kratom. "We've basically only started testing for this stuff since September of last year, nd everybody I talked to in this space that knows what it is from the health perspective says this stuff is really, really addictive and it's really bad news and it's completely unregulated right now in North Dakota," he said. "If we have to overreact to something this addictive, I'm comfortable overreacting," he added. But Armstrong did indicate that he hopes lawmakers do something about the military museum mess while in Bismarck, even if it just means appropriating the dollars needed to winterize the project, buying some time for the legislature to come up with a way to address it during their regular session beginning in January. He also indicated that, while he has no control over what bills lawmakers consider, he would be very skeptical of signing any sort of a data center moratorium. "I'm not a huge moratorium guy," he said. "If the argument is we have to make sure there's more local control, doesn't a moratorium take all local control away? I don't see that as being a real viable scenario at this point." Also on this super-sized episode of Plain Talk, Signe Snortland, a candidate for the state Senate in District 33 said that if she were participating in the special session, she'd vote for a moratorium. The district she lives in touches on four counties, each of which have at least one proposed data center project in them. She acknowledges that the data centers are needed, but said North Dakota needs more time to consider the policies around them. One thing she'd like to see on the table is a requirement for reclamation bonds, in case the markets turn and the data centers are abandoned. "We're worried what will happen if the bubble bursts and people walk away from these plants," she said. "What happens in the county and the city? How do they reclaim the land?" Co-host Chad Oban and I also discussed the ways in which Doug Burgum is overshadowing his strong legacy as a leader and businessman in North Dakota by carrying President Donald Trump's rancid political water, the controversy over pride flags in Detroit Lakes, and political shakeups in Fargo-area legislative districts, including the possibility that Rep. Jim Kasper, an elderly lawmaker who has been out of the public eye for some time after suffering a brain bleed, could soon be replaced. If you want to participate in Plain Talk, just give us a call or text at 701-587-3141. It's super easy — leave your message, tell us your name and where you're from, and we might feature it on an upcoming episode. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts or use one of the links below. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Pocket Casts | Episode Archive

  6. 5 Aug

    727: 'I'm comfortable overreacting'

    "We know of at least 23 deaths in North Dakota where it's listed as a primary cause," Gov. Kelly Armstrong said on this episode of Plain Talk, referring to the substance kratom. Armstrong made headlines this week when he announced a temporary executive order banning kratom, and that he was calling lawmakers to Bismarck for a special session to pass more permanent policy. Some claimed that kratom is a ruse intended to cover other issues, such as the red-hot data center debate, or the financial disaster that is a military museum on the capitol grounds, but Armstrong made it clear that the session is very much about kratom. "We've basically only started testing for this stuff since September of last year, nd everybody I talked to in this space that knows what it is from the health perspective says this stuff is really, really addictive and it's really bad news and it's completely unregulated right now in North Dakota," he said. "If we have to overreact to something this addictive, I'm comfortable overreacting," he added. But Armstrong did indicate that he hopes lawmakers do something about the military museum mess while in Bismarck, even if it just means appropriating the dollars needed to winterize the project, buying some time for the legislature to come up with a way to address it during their regular session beginning in January. He also indicated that, while he has no control over what bills lawmakers consider, he would be very skeptical of signing any sort of a data center moratorium. "I'm not a huge moratorium guy," he said. "If the argument is we have to make sure there's more local control, doesn't a moratorium take all local control away? I don't see that as being a real viable scenario at this point." Also on this super-sized episode of Plain Talk, Signe Snortland, a candidate for the state Senate in District 33 said that if she were participating in the special session, she'd vote for a moratorium. The district she lives in touches on four counties, each of which have at least one proposed data center project in them. She acknowledges that the data centers are needed, but said North Dakota needs more time to consider the policies around them. One thing she'd like to see on the table is a requirement for reclamation bonds, in case the markets turn and the data centers are abandoned. "We're worried what will happen if the bubble bursts and people walk away from these plants," she said. "What happens in the county and the city? How do they reclaim the land?" Co-host Chad Oban and I also discussed the ways in which Doug Burgum is overshadowing his strong legacy as a leader and businessman in North Dakota by carrying President Donald Trump's rancid political water, the controversy over pride flags in Detroit Lakes, and political shakeups in Fargo-area legislative districts, including the possibility that Rep. Jim Kasper, an elderly lawmaker who has been out of the public eye for some time after suffering a brain bleed, could soon be replaced. If you want to participate in Plain Talk, just give us a call or text at 701-587-3141. It's super easy — leave your message, tell us your name and where you're from, and we might feature it on an upcoming episode. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts or use one of the links below. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Pocket Casts | Episode Archive

  7. 31 Jul ·  Video

    726: 'We are defending people who don't deserve to be defended' (Video)

    On this Plain Talk, recorded live from TedXFargo, me and co-host Chad Oban talked about the rationalizations and excuses we make for ourselves in politics. Which also just happened to be the subject of my talk at the event. The decisions we're making politically — who we vote for, who we give money to, who we oppose — are what's driving what's happening to our country. But when things go poorly, we like to blame others. The lobbyists. The billionaires. The media. I'll not defend those things, but we also have to look in the mirror. We have to point the finger at ourselves. We are defending people who don't deserve a defense. We are attacking people who don't deserve to be attacked.  Also on this episode, we interviewed Jen Burgard, founder and executive director of Haven, a Fargo-based nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting families navigating pregnancy or infant loss. Burgard was also a speaker at TedXFargo, and talked about her group's efforts to guide families through loss and grief. She also discussed the way her organization was victimized by a woman who faked a pregnancy, and the loss of an infant, and embezzled a significant amount of money, something Burgard chronicled in her blog False Hope. That incident nearly ended Haven, but Burgard kept it alive. "I decided that if this organization was going to fail, it wasn't going to be because of her," she said. "That's it. If it fails, it fails. Just like any business, right? Sometimes things don't work out. But it was not going to be because of her." If you want to participate in Plain Talk, just give us a call or text at 701-587-3141. It's super easy — leave your message, tell us your name and where you're from, and we might feature it on an upcoming episode. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts. #northdakota #tedxfargo

  8. 31 Jul

    726: 'We are defending people who don't deserve to be defended'

    On this Plain Talk, recorded live from TedXFargo, me and co-host Chad Oban talked about the rationalizations and excuses we make for ourselves in politics. Which also just happened to be the subject of my talk at the event. The decisions we're making politically — who we vote for, who we give money to, who we oppose — are what's driving what's happening to our country. But when things go poorly, we like to blame others. The lobbyists. The billionaires. The media. I'll not defend those things, but we also have to look in the mirror. We have to point the finger at ourselves. We are defending people who don't deserve a defense. We are attacking people who don't deserve to be attacked. Also on this episode, we interviewed Jen Burgard, founder and executive director of Haven, a Fargo-based nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting families navigating pregnancy or infant loss. Burgard was also a speaker at TedXFargo, and talked about her group's efforts to guide families through loss and grief. She also discussed the way her organization was victimized by a woman who faked a pregnancy, and the loss of an infant, and embezzled a significant amount of money, something Burgard chronicled in her blog False Hope. That incident nearly ended Haven, but Burgard kept it alive. "I decided that if this organization was going to fail, it wasn't going to be because of her," she said. "That's it. If it fails, it fails. Just like any business, right? Sometimes things don't work out. But it was not going to be because of her." If you want to participate in Plain Talk, just give us a call or text at 701-587-3141. It's super easy — leave your message, tell us your name and where you're from, and we might feature it on an upcoming episode. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts or use one of the links below. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Pocket Casts | Episode Archive

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About

Plain Talk is a podcast hosted by Rob Port and Chad Oban focusing on political news and current events in North Dakota. Port is a columnist for the Forum News Service published in papers including the Fargo Forum, Grand Forks Herald, Jamestown Sun, and the Dickinson Press. Oban is a long-time political consultant.

Information

  • Channel
    Forum Communications Co.
  • Creator
    Forum Communications Co.
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    932
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    ©2026 Forum Communications Co.
  • Show Website
    Plain Talk

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