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Plain Talk

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.

642: 'Republicans should not be in favor of tax increases' (Video)

57 mins; October 01, 2025

642: 'Republicans should not be in favor of tax increases' (Audio)

57 mins; October 01, 2025

641: 'You can't drink Diet Coke without the fizz' (Video)

52 mins; September 26, 2025

641: 'You can't drink Diet Coke without the fizz' (Audio)

52 mins; September 26, 2025

640: 'Whoever's in power is going to censor the opposing viewpoint' (Video)

65 hours 59 mins; September 24, 2025

640: 'Whoever's in power is going to censor the opposing viewpoint' (Audio)

65 hours 59 mins; September 24, 2025

639: A 'clown show' and a 'disaster' (Video)

60 hours 10 mins; September 19, 2025

639: A 'clown show' and a 'disaster'

60 hours 10 mins; September 19, 2025

638: 'We have to be concerned about people not even liking or wanting to read'

58 mins; September 17, 2025

638: 'We have to be concerned about people not even liking or wanting to read' (Audio)

58 mins; September 17, 2025

637: 'Do they know there's ways to influence a president beyond kissing his ass all the time?' (Video)

59 mins; September 12, 2025

637: 'Do they know there's ways to influence a president beyond kissing his ass all the time?' (Audio)

59 mins; September 12, 2025

636: 'Constant distractive state' (Video)

57 mins; September 10, 2025

636: 'Constant distractive state' (Audio)

57 mins; September 10, 2025

635: 'Definitely calmed down since the pandemic' (Video)

64 hours 23 mins; September 05, 2025

635: 'Definitely calmed down since the pandemic' (Audio)

64 hours 23 mins; September 05, 2025

634: Applied Digital CEO talks about Harwood, AI, jobs, and nondisclosure agreements (Video)

53 mins; September 03, 2025

634: Applied Digital CEO talks about Harwood, AI, jobs, and nondisclosure agreements (Audio)

53 mins; September 03, 2025

633: 'Why not? We have it.' (Video)

53 mins; August 29, 2025

633: 'Why not? We have it.'

53 mins; August 29, 2025

632: 'A little bit closer to perfect' (Video)

56 mins; August 28, 2025

632: 'A little bit closer to perfect'

57 mins; August 27, 2025

631: Back-to-school tax, Trump's Fedorchak endorsement, and cheerleader culture wars

51 mins; August 21, 2025

ND Insurance Commissioner John Godfread from Episode 630 (Video Interview)

34 mins; August 20, 2025

630: One Big Beautiful Bill Act could lead to 'death spiral' in health insurance

55 mins; August 20, 2025

F5 Project Founder Adam Martin from Episode 629 (Video Interview)

29 mins; August 19, 2025

629: 'I think it should be wiped across the board'

66 hours 23 mins; August 14, 2025

628: 'I pay people the courtesy of candor'

53 mins; August 13, 2025

627: Jeans, property taxes, scandal, and baseball

46 mins; August 07, 2025

626: 'Zip, none.'

56 mins; August 06, 2025

Bob & Dan | The $740,000 Question (Episode 3)

61 hours 34 mins; August 05, 2025

625: Voters need to be responsible for who they're voting for

50 mins; August 01, 2025

624: 'We need more human-to-human, face-to-face interaction'

51 mins; July 30, 2025

No Comment | The $740,000 Question (Episode 2)

29 mins; July 25, 2025

623: Democratic lawmaker says now is a good time for local governments to "off ramp" property tax give aways

54 mins; July 24, 2025

622: 'The greasy pole of politics in the Republican party'

53 mins; July 23, 2025

621: 'We knew this was coming'

62 hours 17 mins; July 18, 2025

Department of Incompetence | The $740,000 Question (Episode 1)

26 mins; July 18, 2025

620: 'This panel has represented George Floyd protesters and they have represented January 6 defendants'

58 mins; July 16, 2025

619: 'Conservation sometimes becomes the dog that everybody can get behind kicking'

67 hours 57 mins; July 11, 2025

618: Legislature stepped up with funding to move public defenders 'in the right direction'

63 hours 1 min; July 09, 2025

617: Rep. Nico Rios didn't show up (REPLAY)

39 mins; July 04, 2025

616: 'We have...lifelong Republicans saying I'm done.' (REPLAY)

37 mins; July 02, 2025

615: 'Donald Trump likes people who like him'

58 mins; June 26, 2025

614: 'When someone on your own side is referring to them as cuts, you're losing that war'

62 hours 20 mins; June 25, 2025

613: 'We're not providing a grant. We do expect a return to come back to us.'

55 mins; June 19, 2025

612: 'I'm a North Dakotan first. I'm the governor second and a Republican third.'

60 hours 40 mins; June 18, 2025

611: 'The escalation is 100% the point'

74 hours 44 mins; June 13, 2025

610: 'There's going to be an election day reckoning'

83 hours 45 mins; June 11, 2025

609: Remembering Rep. Josh Christy on AI (REPLAY)

33 mins; June 06, 2025

608: 'That is a blatant falsehood' (REPLAY)

31 mins; June 04, 2025

607: How do we do politics in the classroom? (REPLAY)

34 mins; May 30, 2025

606: 'We can disagree and still respect each other'

53 mins; May 28, 2025

605: 'It just doesn't work for me'

61 hours 17 mins; May 23, 2025

604: 'Our partners in the Republican Party'

68 hours 53 mins; May 21, 2025

603: 'Nobody in the nation is doing what North Dakota is doing'

62 hours 25 mins; May 16, 2025

602: 'We are horrible at telling our success stories'

75 hours 20 mins; May 14, 2025

601: 'We found out about it in the newspaper'

81 hours 44 mins; May 10, 2025

600: 'We're going to have problems with the caps'

73 hours 55 mins; May 07, 2025

599: 'We are 100% in a no-win situation with this'

80 hours 38 mins; May 02, 2025

598: 'Fodder for just trolling and fishing'

78 hours 13 mins; April 30, 2025

597: 'We're at the point where we're ready to throw fists here'

66 hours 57 mins; April 25, 2025

596: 'I'm kind of a free speech absolutist'

78 hours 11 mins; April 23, 2025

595: 'I couldn't care less that this comes from Donald Trump'

78 hours 52 mins; April 18, 2025

594: 'I hope it's not that I'm some kind of junky for chaos'

63 hours 10 mins; April 16, 2025

593: Ethics process is 'ready for exploitation and weaponization' without good reforms

84 hours 48 mins; April 11, 2025

592: 'We have...lifelong Republicans saying I'm done. I've had it.'

69 hours 45 mins; April 09, 2025

591: 'We're going to be right back in this position fighting'

74 hours 46 mins; April 04, 2025

590: 'We don't even know who we're supposed to call'

74 hours 18 mins; April 02, 2025

589: 'I think this is an unforced error'

97 hours 30 mins; March 28, 2025

588: 'Does everything in the library need to be at the at the level for a kindergartner?'

75 hours 24 mins; March 26, 2025

587: 'I don't know what President Trump's position on Canada is right now either'

68 hours 33 mins; March 21, 2025

586: 'The people who ultimately get hurt in this...are the patients'

77 hours 57 mins; March 19, 2025

585: 'We're going to need massive amounts of CO2'

83 hours 59 mins; March 14, 2025

584: 'I just found it disgusting'

91 hours 24 mins; March 12, 2025

583: 'The retaliation is the problem'

76 hours 24 mins; March 07, 2025

582: 'We've got counties in North Dakota where 20, 25, 30% of the kindergarteners aren't vaccinated'

79 hours 50 mins; March 05, 2025

581: 'I'm taking the heat for it'

79 hours 12 mins; February 28, 2025

580: Introducing dozens of bills is 'poor legislation' says lawmaker

65 hours 2 mins; February 26, 2025

579: 'Nobody wanted to listen to Scott Davis the Indian guy'

68 hours 50 mins; February 21, 2025

578: Plain Talk Live! The legislature will have to change

76 hours 25 mins; February 19, 2025

577: Will the Legislature pass education savings accounts?

89 hours 2 mins; February 14, 2025

576: 'That is a blatant falsehood'

78 hours 20 mins; February 12, 2025

575: Rep. Nico Rios didn't show up

66 hours 32 mins; February 07, 2025

574: 'Try to have good speech drive out bad speech'

51 mins; February 05, 2025

573: 'If we had less bills we could have more meaningful debates'

80 hours 29 mins; January 31, 2025

572: 'Prions don't exist'

79 hours 7 mins; January 29, 2025

571: Should North Dakota have an ID requirement for online porn?

78 hours 14 mins; January 24, 2025

570: 'That does hurt'

68 hours 37 mins; January 22, 2025

569: 'I'm patient...but our patience is wearing thin."

81 hours 40 mins; January 17, 2025

568: A legislative fight over chronic wasting disease

66 hours 48 mins; January 15, 2025

567: Auditor Josh Gallion wants subpoena power

66 hours 26 mins; January 10, 2025

566: Gov. Armstrong and Attorney General Wrigley are at odds over criminal justice reform

71 hours 59 mins; January 08, 2025

565: Tax Relief, Energy Policy and the Pledge of Allegiance

61 hours 15 mins; January 03, 2025

564: Rerun interview with former Fargo television personality Chris Berg

50 mins; January 01, 2025

563: Rerun interview with Ethics Commission executive director Rebecca Binstock

40 mins; December 27, 2024

562: A very Plain Talk Christmas

66 hours 28 mins; December 25, 2024

561: Biden's commutation of North Dakota man 'despicable' says prosecutor

58 mins; December 20, 2024

560: Paying for school lunches, and Luigi Mangione is no hero

70 hours 5 mins; December 18, 2024

559: 'It's damning. It's aboslutely horrible.'

63 hours 45 mins; December 13, 2024

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