Mad About Montana Podcast

Bill Foley

Erik Nylund worked nearly 17 years for U.S. Senator Jon Tester. Bill Foley has covered sports (and more) in Montana for a quarter of a century. Both have a love-hate relationship with their home state and politics that run it. Together they dive into the important issues that affect the people of Montana and beyond. They strive to give voices to the voiceless and whistles to the whistleblowers. Contact Erik and Bill if you have issues you would like to see tackled or would like to be a guest. Email Erik at ecnylund@hotmail.com, and contact Bill at foles74@gmail.com.

  1. 10/26/2025

    No. 24: Ain’t nothing like creating a distraction

    If you can’t prove them wrong, create a distraction. That seems to be the government playbook in Butte and around the country. In this episode, Erik and Bill start off agitated by the rumors being spread that they said a recently-hired Butte firefighter was not qualified for the job. They were accused of saying he only got the job because his uncle is a member of the Butte-Silver Bow Council of Commissioners. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. Erik and Bill have done nothing but praise firefighters — paid and volunteer. The brave men and women who sign up to go into a burning building to save lives are nothing but heroes, and Erik and Bill would never profess to be experts on the hiring qualifications of those heroes. They figure that the rumor dates to an episode earlier this year when Trudy Healy mentioned an ethics complaint she made against fellow commissioner Josh O’Neill because he did not disclose a conflict of interest while chairing the Fire Advisory Board. There was no mention of nepotism or qualifications in the complaint, and Erik and Bill had nothing to do with it. You can read the complaint at MadAboutMontana.com. The rumor is nothing more than a distraction to take away from the fact that our local government recently poisoned our water. It is a distraction so we might not notice that our chief executive lobbied the United States Department of Urban Development to raise — yes raise — the acceptable lead standards for affordable housing. Distractions are also been used by dark-money groups to attack citizens over the Bozeman Water Adequacy Ballot Initiative Well, Erik and Bill are not falling for it, and neither should you.

    1h 17m
  2. 10/16/2025

    No. 23: ‘A crisis in the courthouse’

    Is our local government in Butte-Silver Bow lying about the latest water disaster that shook the community in August? Is it really being transparent when it comes to data centers planned for the Mining City? The answers to those questions are “yes,” “no,” and “whichwater crisis are you referring to?” Anonymous whistleblowers alerted the Mad About MontanaPodcast to the fact that Butte-Silver Bow’s response to the report of possible contamination from Montana Resources to the public drinking water actually made the problem worse. They also said that the imaginary dividing line of FrontStreet was just that. Imaginary. The five dividing valves that would have separated the water from downtown to uptown are on Aluminum Street. So, those who live and work in the blocks between Front and Aluminum were given a false sense of security while the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and Butte-Silver Bow pretended to solve the problem by handing out bottles of water. The whistleblowers will remain anonymous because Butte Silver Bow has a long — and recent history — of retaliating against anyone willing to blow a whistle. This episode also dives into plans for data centers in Butte and the insane amount of water it will take to run them. These plans, by the way, were made with little to know public input, and anyone who asks questions only gets chastised by the Council of Commissioners. The Montana Environmental Information Center will hold adiscussion, which will be moderated by Erik Nylund with the Mad About Montana Podcast, at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Montana Tech Copper Lounge.

    1h 13m
  3. 08/28/2025

    No. 19: Jeff Mangan and The Montana Plan

    Since they have spent so much time complaining, Erik and Bill decided to drive on the wet highway to Helena Thursday to talk about a solution. That is where they found Jeff Mangan, the leader of The Montana Plan. Also known as the Transparent Election Initiative, The Montana Plan is a ballot initiative aimed at making the Citizens United Decision irrelevant and getting rid of dark money in Montana elections. Mangan is a former Montana legislator and Commissioner of Political Practices. He has been working on the Montana Project for about a year with the hope of getting it on the ballot in November of 2026. The Montana Plan uses the state’s authority to define what powers corporations get and stops giving them the power to spend in Montana elections. It is not a partisan issue. It is not about red and blue. Rather, it is about green. We are all tired of the endless election ads and smear campaigns that have defined politics in Montana and around the nation. We are tired of the commercials and the endless supply of election junk mail. The Montana Plan could be the solution to that headache and help us take our state back from out-of-state and even overseas corporations. Listen in as Jeff talks about the whys and the hows of the plan and how you can join the fight by going to TheMontanaPlan.com. Listen in to hear why he is so confident that the Transparent Election Initiative will make it to the ballot and be passed by the voters of the Treasure State.

    1h 17m

Ratings & Reviews

3.3
out of 5
15 Ratings

About

Erik Nylund worked nearly 17 years for U.S. Senator Jon Tester. Bill Foley has covered sports (and more) in Montana for a quarter of a century. Both have a love-hate relationship with their home state and politics that run it. Together they dive into the important issues that affect the people of Montana and beyond. They strive to give voices to the voiceless and whistles to the whistleblowers. Contact Erik and Bill if you have issues you would like to see tackled or would like to be a guest. Email Erik at ecnylund@hotmail.com, and contact Bill at foles74@gmail.com.