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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.

558: 'The good, the bad, and the ugly' of artificial intelligence

63 hours 31 mins; December 11, 2024

557: 'Nobody's getting what they want'

57 mins; December 06, 2024

556: 'The bounds are being pushed' on gambling in North Dakota

73 hours 4 mins; December 04, 2024

555: Tony Bender remembered

42 mins; November 29, 2024

554: Reforming North Dakota's campaign finance laws

64 hours 54 mins; November 27, 2024

553: The strange bedfellows in the carbon capture debate

66 hours 0 mins; November 22, 2024

552: 'There will be caps'

69 hours 48 mins; November 20, 2024

551: Tackling Property Taxes & Trump's Cabinet Picks

68 hours 18 mins; November 15, 2024

550: The Bell Bump and the Mock Block

69 hours 7 mins; November 13, 2024

549: 'I don't give platitudes'

60 hours 57 mins; November 08, 2024

548: 'The importance of showing up'

67 hours 13 mins; November 06, 2024

547: Expect better from the politicians

79 hours 9 mins; November 01, 2024

546: Bank of North Dakota president responds to conspiracy theories

67 hours 7 mins; October 30, 2024

545: A legislative debate all of North Dakota should listen to

61 hours 12 mins; October 25, 2024

544: Sen. Scott Meyer should resign

80 hours 47 mins; October 23, 2024

543: 'Where are the dollars invested?'

68 hours 31 mins; October 18, 2024

542: A nostrum for our civic despair

57 mins; October 16, 2024

541: A feisty debate between superintendent candidates

63 hours 35 mins; October 11, 2024

540: A school choice debate, and a conservative's case for voting for Harris

67 hours 5 mins; October 09, 2024

539: 'The only tax people like is the one somebody else pays'

67 hours 5 mins; October 04, 2024

538: 'We can't have District 46 be the front lines of a culture war'

63 hours 16 mins; October 02, 2024

537: Debating Measure 5's legalization of recreational marijuana

61 hours 13 mins; September 27, 2024

536: Litigation costs, abortion, and 'raging Rob'

70 hours 8 mins; September 25, 2024

535: A totally not boring conversation about Measure 3

70 hours 9 mins; September 20, 2024

534: A sometimes heated conversation about Measure 2 and the limits of direct democracy

66 hours 3 mins; September 18, 2024

533: Should North Dakota end property taxes?

61 hours 58 mins; September 13, 2024

532: 'No one else has done this for pretty good reasons'

61 hours 31 mins; September 11, 2024

531: Gubernatorial debate, Kelly Armstrong vs. Merrill Piepkorn

62 hours 7 mins; September 06, 2024

530: How do we do politics in the classroom?

65 hours 31 mins; September 04, 2024

529: Republican Julie Fedorchak and Democrat Trygve Hammer square off in the U.S. House debate

58 mins; August 30, 2024

528: 'I'm grateful for every minute I have in this job'

61 hours 50 mins; August 28, 2024

527: U.S. Senate debate between Sen. Kevin Cramer and challenger Katrina Christiansen

59 mins; August 23, 2024

526: Marijuana and the Democratic national convention

57 mins; August 21, 2024

525: 'For many years the locals have blamed the legislature'

64 hours 49 mins; August 16, 2024

524: 'Bill Gates doesn't need another tax break'

64 hours 18 mins; August 14, 2024

523: 'There's a new pep in our step'

63 hours 33 mins; August 02, 2024

522: 'I get frustrated because we're pretending like we're doing something'

65 hours 7 mins; July 31, 2024

521: 'Ethics commissions alone do not create an ethical government'

68 hours 11 mins; July 26, 2024

520: 'I've never spoken to the chancellor'

63 hours 55 mins; July 24, 2024

519: 'Nobody pushed President Biden out of anything'

61 hours 48 mins; July 22, 2024

518: 'We're not going to be held hostage by 7 contract-rejecting faculty'

84 hours 40 mins; July 19, 2024

517: 'I'm bringing people together'

69 hours 37 mins; July 17, 2024

516: 'They all had love for him at a certain point'

67 hours 33 mins; July 12, 2024

515: 'The idea that the pipeline is dangerous, I reject that'

60 hours 57 mins; July 10, 2024

514: 'The public does not yet have any sense of the breadth and depth of what's going to be coming out'

71 hours 2 mins; July 03, 2024

513: Chancellor Mark Hagerott, Rep. Brandy Pyle, and that terrible debate performance from President Joe Biden

85 hours 32 mins; June 28, 2024

512: Trygve Hammer and Keep It Local ND

59 mins; June 26, 2024

511: 'You can't take these things seriously'

67 hours 42 mins; June 14, 2024

510: Julie Fedorchak recaps U.S. House primary win

56 mins; June 12, 2024

509: Our predictions for North Dakota's 2024 primary election

54 mins; June 07, 2024

508: 'We need to do away with some of this Washington D.C. politics'

34 mins; June 05, 2024

507: A heated conversation with Kelly Armstrong about Donald Trump's conviction

64 hours 44 mins; May 31, 2024

506: Alex Balazs talks House race

64 hours 1 min; May 29, 2024

505: 'People are fed up'

57 mins; May 24, 2024

504: Coal industry endorses Fedorchak

61 hours 38 mins; May 22, 2024

503: 'Absolutely underhanded and unethical'

63 hours 1 min; May 17, 2024

502: 'I'm the only candidate that has consistently been a Republican'

57 mins; May 15, 2024

501: Anti-Becker mailers and governor's race polling

63 hours 12 mins; May 10, 2024

500: A renewed legal battle over redistricting and teacher pay

63 hours 11 mins; May 08, 2024

499: 'I don't look for racism'

67 hours 8 mins; May 03, 2024

498: ND coal industry distances itself from Summit carbon pipeline project

94 hours 27 mins; May 01, 2024

497: Will ND voters legalize recreational marijuana?

63 hours 23 mins; April 26, 2024

496: 'Supporting Ukraine puts America first'

62 hours 28 mins; April 24, 2024

495: 'The House doesn't really need more bulls in a China closet'

59 mins; April 19, 2024

494: U.S. House candidates Julie Fedorchak and Cara Mund

70 hours 41 mins; April 17, 2024

493: 'I have not heard in 12 years that families are asking us for more Christianity'

59 mins; April 12, 2024

492: 'If you just want to stir things up you're not doing your job'

53 mins; April 10, 2024

491: North Dakota's primary election just got a lot more interesting

61 hours 49 mins; April 08, 2024

490: 'I don't even know what AOC stands for'

80 hours 55 mins; April 03, 2024

489: 'Let's get back to making North Dakota better for its citizens'

66 hours 38 mins; March 27, 2024

488: 'I'm in a campaign. I'm always nervous.'

57 mins; March 22, 2024

487: 'I'm not sure that we're achieving justice at this point'

81 hours 8 mins; March 20, 2024

486: 'Rob, sometimes you make us money'

65 hours 54 mins; March 15, 2024

485: A bellwether legislative race

60 hours 46 mins; March 13, 2024

484: 'It's strategically dumb'

35 mins; March 08, 2024

483: Five for Fighting plays Fargo, Burgum won't say if he would have certified the 2020 election

66 hours 15 mins; March 07, 2024

482: The Stenehjem email saga continues

50 mins; March 04, 2024

481: Standing up for what's right

48 mins; March 01, 2024

480: What kind of a strategy is avoiding voters?

69 hours 37 mins; February 28, 2024

479: Previewing North Dakota's presidential caucus

64 hours 53 mins; February 23, 2024

478: 'I don't like the state of our country'

61 hours 7 mins; February 21, 2024

477: On lies, and the people who tell them

38 mins; February 16, 2024

476: Tammy Miller joins North Dakota's gubernatorial race

39 mins; February 15, 2024

475: 'I am frustrated by Biden' on border security says Democratic U.S. Senate candidate

65 hours 12 mins; February 09, 2024

474: Former Valley News Live host Chris Berg has some regrets

48 mins; February 05, 2024

473: 'He's taking more crap for this than we are'

57 mins; February 02, 2024

472: 'Does he want to bankrupt our small towns with no farm program?'

56 mins; January 31, 2024

471: 'The expansion of state government is not going to solve problems'

33 mins; January 25, 2024

470: A wild week in North Dakota politics

61 hours 6 mins; January 24, 2024

469: Law enforcement spokesman says it's 'angering' and 'frustrating' that Rep. Rios hasn't resigned

62 hours 47 mins; January 19, 2024

468: North Dakota has a carbon shortage?

66 hours 58 mins; January 17, 2024

467: Trygve Hammer talks U.S. House campaign

59 mins; January 12, 2024

466: 'I'm not here to bash Doug'

62 hours 58 mins; January 10, 2024

465: 'I'm on a never-ending quest to prove you don't have to be crazy to be conservative'

60 hours 41 mins; January 05, 2024

464: 'I watched the video. I was deeply disappointed.'

67 hours 54 mins; January 03, 2024

463: Republicans silent on Nico Rios scandal, Treasurer Beadle talks re-election

61 hours 5 mins; December 22, 2023

462: Getting RFK Jr. on North Dakota's ballot

57 mins; December 20, 2023

461: Sec. of State Howe says he's 'extremely concerned' about harassment of election workers

65 hours 25 mins; December 15, 2023

460: A new news source for North Dakota

55 mins; December 13, 2023

459: Armstrong says he hasn't endorsed Trump

56 mins; December 07, 2023

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