Plain Talk

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. -9 ч ·  Видео

    719: 'The kids unfortunately are seeing a lot of the negative' (Video)

    You know what would be a big help to the level of discourse we're having around politics in North Dakota and the rest of the country? If more citizens had a stronger grasp on how their government works. Or, at least, had the honesty to admit when they don't understand the process. I've been reporting and commentating on politics for going on two and a half decades, and I can tell you that the state of civics education in this country is abysmal. It's hard enough to debate an issue with someone you disagree with. Now try it with someone who doesn't understand how the process unfolds. That's why we wanted to talk about the civics bee put on by the Greater North Dakota Chamber of Commerce. Local competitions have already happened, and the state competition is scheduled to take place at the capitol building in Bismarck on July 10 with Plain Talk co-host Chad Oban as the master of ceremonies. "Having been the former mayor of Horace, North Dakota, I understand the whole civics thing," Kory Peterson, government affairs specialist for the GNDC, said on this episode. "The conversations about all the different aspects of things, having that political discourse of things like that, the kids, unfortunately, are seeing a lot of the negative that comes with the civil discourse. And this is a way to kind of promote a positive experience with civil, civic engagement." Peterson tested out some of the civics questions on us. Chad got them all right. I went 4 for 5 (that Supreme Court question was a tough one). Also on this episode, we talked about the odd far-right, far-left coalition the North Dakota Democratic-NPL seems to be trying to build for its candidates this election year. Plus, a conversation about ailing, aging politicians on the national level, and right here in North Dakota, clinging to office long past the point when they should have resigned. 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

    1 ч. 4 мин.

  2. -9 ч

    719: 'The kids unfortunately are seeing a lot of the negative'

    You know what would be a big help to the level of discourse we're having around politics in North Dakota and the rest of the country? If more citizens had a stronger grasp on how their government works. Or, at least, had the honesty to admit when they don't understand the process. I've been reporting and commentating on politics for going on two and a half decades, and I can tell you that the state of civics education in this country is abysmal. It's hard enough to debate an issue with someone you disagree with. Now try it with someone who doesn't understand how the process unfolds. That's why we wanted to talk about the civics bee put on by the Greater North Dakota Chamber of Commerce. Local competitions have already happened, and the state competition is scheduled to take place at the capitol building in Bismarck on July 10 with Plain Talk co-host Chad Oban as the master of ceremonies. "Having been the former mayor of Horace, North Dakota, I understand the whole civics thing," Kory Peterson, government affairs specialist for the GNDC, said on this episode. "The conversations about all the different aspects of things, having that political discourse of things like that, the kids, unfortunately, are seeing a lot of the negative that comes with the civil discourse. And this is a way to kind of promote a positive experience with civil, civic engagement." Peterson tested out some of the civics questions on us. Chad got them all right. I went 4 for 5 (that Supreme Court question was a tough one). Also on this episode, we talked about the odd far-right, far-left coalition the North Dakota Democratic-NPL seems to be trying to build for its candidates this election year. Plus, a conversation about ailing, aging politicians on the national level, and right here in North Dakota, clinging to office long past the point when they should have resigned. 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

    1 ч. 4 мин.

  3. -6 дн. ·  Видео

    718: Looking at data centers through 'the lens of expertise versus just opinion' (Video)

    With artificial intelligence issues -- and, specifically, the question of data centers -- set to be a top issue this election season and beyond, lawmakers in Bismarck have created a committee (not, specifically, a task force) to gather information and establish facts. Why a committee and not a task force? "We want it to be an official committee so it can all be on public record," Rep. Jonathan Warrey, who is chairing the committee, said on this episode of Plain Talk. "We can have public input and it becomes part of the legislative record in organizational session going into the next session." Warrey said that was an important first step given the amount of mistrust and conspiracy mongering around this issue. The goal of the committee is to cut through the noise of public opinion and get to facts. "Many people have passion or they've been impacted deeply by something," he said, "and I want to respect their opinion, but we have a job to do, and we really want it filtered through a lens of what are your credentials? What are your sources?"  "I want to make sure that anybody presenting information can source it and they've got some credential with it, too," he continued. Warrey, a Republican from District 22, said that one thing he, personally, isn't ready to accept is a moratorium on data center development that Democratic-NPL candidates like Vern Thompson and Trygve Hammer (along with a horseshoe coalition of far-right populists) have been calling for. "I don't like moratoriums and I don't like the symbol they send off to say 'nope we we dug our heels in we're not developing we're closed for business," he said. "And yet I appreciate and respect the feeling behind that too much too fast. Let's go to work and get this framework out for our decision makers and give them some resources around legal environmental structural power so that they can be informed." To achieve that goal, Warrey says he'd like this committee to produce a "playbook" to help local elected leaders understand the legal and regulatory issues around data centers. "So many of our township officers, our county commissioners, our city council members, they're not experienced with this," he said. "Developing a playbook to help our communities would be paramount, I think." Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I talk about how artificial intelligence has made it so that there are no experts any more, because everybody is an expert. People with actual expertise are now drowned out by online mobs who can generate massive amounts of content in support of their ill-informed opinions and amplify it through social media. Also, with the 4th of July, and America's 250th birthday upon us, we talk about why patriotism shouldn't be partisan. 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

    55 мин.

  4. -6 дн.

    718: Looking at data centers through 'the lens of expertise versus just opinion'

    With artificial intelligence issues -- and, specifically, the question of data centers -- set to be a top issue this election season and beyond, lawmakers in Bismarck have created a committee (not, specifically, a task force) to gather information and establish facts. Why a committee and not a task force? "We want it to be an official committee so it can all be on public record," Rep. Jonathan Warrey, who is chairing the committee, said on this episode of Plain Talk. "We can have public input and it becomes part of the legislative record in organizational session going into the next session." Warrey said that was an important first step given the amount of mistrust and conspiracy mongering around this issue. The goal of the committee is to cut through the noise of public opinion and get to facts. "Many people have passion or they've been impacted deeply by something," he said, "and I want to respect their opinion, but we have a job to do, and we really want it filtered through a lens of what are your credentials? What are your sources?"  "I want to make sure that anybody presenting information can source it and they've got some credential with it, too," he continued. Warrey, a Republican from District 22, said that one thing he, personally, isn't ready to accept is a moratorium on data center development that Democratic-NPL candidates like Vern Thompson and Trygve Hammer (along with a horseshoe coalition of far-right populists) have been calling for. "I don't like moratoriums and I don't like the symbol they send off to say 'nope we we dug our heels in we're not developing we're closed for business," he said. "And yet I appreciate and respect the feeling behind that too much too fast. Let's go to work and get this framework out for our decision makers and give them some resources around legal environmental structural power so that they can be informed." To achieve that goal, Warrey says he'd like this committee to produce a "playbook" to help local elected leaders understand the legal and regulatory issues around data centers. "So many of our township officers, our county commissioners, our city council members, they're not experienced with this," he said. "Developing a playbook to help our communities would be paramount, I think." Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I talk about how artificial intelligence has made it so that there are no experts any more, because everybody is an expert. People with actual expertise are now drowned out by online mobs who can generate massive amounts of content in support of their ill-informed opinions and amplify it through social media. Also, with the 4th of July, and America's 250th birthday upon us, we talk about why patriotism shouldn't be partisan. 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

    55 мин.

  5. 1 июл. ·  Видео

    717: Are North Dakota leaders betraying Theodore Roosevelt's legacy? (Video)

    Some conservation advocates say political leaders like Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Senators Kevin Cramer and John Hoeven, and Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak are betraying Theodore Roosevelt's conservation legacy even as they attend the opening of a presdiential library dedicated to him. "When you see the attacks on national monuments, when you see national park staff being cut all across the board, it's hard to say, yes, these people are TR champions," John Bradley, executive director of the North Dakota Wildlife Federation, said in this episode of Plain Talk. "TR ended the Gilded Age, and it seems to be that we're right back in a Gilded Age where people with money and people with power and influence can run roughshod on our public lands, our national narrative," he continued. Bradley says that what his organization wants is balance. "We have an approach that it's not one or the other," he said. "It's not 'our public lands must be protected in in pristine wilderness,'" he said. "What we're seeing, though, is just a shift from a more balanced approach to this administration with their their drill baby drill policies." Brock Wahl, chair of the North Dakota chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, said North Dakota's leaders aren't listening to his organization. "If they're not talking to us hunters in North Dakota, us residents, then whose opinions are they listening to?" he asked. Also on this episode, we discuss the complicated legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, and respond to listsener feedback on tuition waivers, the property rights issues around data centers, and a controversial survey conducted by the North Dakota Ethics Commission. 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

    53 мин.

  6. 1 июл.

    717: Are North Dakota leaders betraying Theodore Roosevelt's legacy?

    Some conservation advocates say political leaders like Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Senators Kevin Cramer and John Hoeven, and Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak are betraying Theodore Roosevelt's conservation legacy even as they attend the opening of a presdiential library dedicated to him. "When you see the attacks on national monuments, when you see national park staff being cut all across the board, it's hard to say, yes, these people are TR champions," John Bradley, executive director of the North Dakota Wildlife Federation, said in this episode of Plain Talk. "TR ended the Gilded Age, and it seems to be that we're right back in a Gilded Age where people with money and people with power and influence can run roughshod on our public lands, our national narrative," he continued. Bradley says that what his organization wants is balance. "We have an approach that it's not one or the other," he said. "It's not 'our public lands must be protected in in pristine wilderness,'" he said. "What we're seeing, though, is just a shift from a more balanced approach to this administration with their their drill baby drill policies." Brock Wahl, chair of the North Dakota chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, said North Dakota's leaders aren't listening to his organization. "If they're not talking to us hunters in North Dakota, us residents, then whose opinions are they listening to?" he asked. Also on this episode, we discuss the complicated legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, and respond to listsener feedback on tuition waivers, the property rights issues around data centers, and a controversial survey conducted by the North Dakota Ethics Commission. 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

    53 мин.

  7. 26 июн. ·  Видео

    716: 'We built what I think is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world' (Video)

    There will be a lot to see when the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library opens in Medora next month. There will be traditional exhibits and artifacts and eight "adventure galleries" where visitors can learn from Theodore Roosevelt instead of just about him. Among the experiences available will be sitting around a camp fire and talking to characters from Roosevelt's era, a train ride experience simulating Roosevelt's frantic trip back to New York to be with his suffering family, a 14-minute canoe ride down the "River of Doubt," and an opportunity to interact with an AI-simulated version of Roosevelt himself. But one of Robbie Lauf's favorite features, he told us on this episode of Plain Talk, is the building itself. "We built what I think is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world," he said. Lauf is the executive director of the library, which he says will help change the shape of tourism in North Dakota, moving it from being, somewhat infamously, the last place people think to visit in the United States to perhaps a spot much higher on the list. "I hope this is an incredible story of what our state can do and when we dare greatly and put big ideas out there," he said. He also said the library is in a strong fiscal position, and hasn't yet touched the funds made available by the State of North Dakota. "The state of North Dakota put the first $50 million as a challenge grant to raise $100 million to access that 50. That is an endowment," he said. "So zero dollars of that $50 million has been spent on construction. Zero dollars of the earnings, frankly, have been spent. We have it siphoned off in a separate fund where it hasn't been touched, because that, for us, in the legislative intent, was for the operations and maintenance of a facility." Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I discuss the potentially divisive distraction President Donald Trump's visit to the library opening festivities could cause. We also talk about some of the misguided partisan analysis around Fargo's recent local elections, and respond to listener feedback. 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

    56 мин.

  8. 26 июн.

    716: 'We built what I think is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world'

    There will be a lot to see when the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library opens in Medora next month. There will be traditional exhibits and artifacts and eight "adventure galleries" where visitors can learn from Theodore Roosevelt instead of just about him. Among the experiences available will be sitting around a camp fire and talking to characters from Roosevelt's era, a train ride experience simulating Roosevelt's frantic trip back to New York to be with his suffering family, a 14-minute canoe ride down the "River of Doubt," and an opportunity to interact with an AI-simulated version of Roosevelt himself. But one of Robbie Lauf's favorite features, he told us on this episode of Plain Talk, is the building itself. "We built what I think is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world," he said. Lauf is the executive director of the library, which he says will help change the shape of tourism in North Dakota, moving it from being, somewhat infamously, the last place people think to visit in the United States to perhaps a spot much higher on the list. "I hope this is an incredible story of what our state can do and when we dare greatly and put big ideas out there," he said. He also said the library is in a strong fiscal position, and hasn't yet touched the funds made available by the State of North Dakota. "The state of North Dakota put the first $50 million as a challenge grant to raise $100 million to access that 50. That is an endowment," he said. "So zero dollars of that $50 million has been spent on construction. Zero dollars of the earnings, frankly, have been spent. We have it siphoned off in a separate fund where it hasn't been touched, because that, for us, in the legislative intent, was for the operations and maintenance of a facility." Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I discuss the potentially divisive distraction President Donald Trump's visit to the library opening festivities could cause. We also talk about some of the misguided partisan analysis around Fargo's recent local elections, and respond to listener feedback. 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

    56 мин.
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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.

Информация

  • Канал
    Forum Communications Co.
  • Автор
    Forum Communications Co.
  • Годы выхода
    2019 - 2026
  • Выпуски
    912
  • Ограничения
    Без ненормативной лексики
  • Авторские права
    ©2026 Forum Communications Co.
  • Сайт подкаста
    Plain Talk

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