After a federal judge imposed a new district map on the State of North Dakota, former Sen. Judy Estenson lost her seat in the state legislature.

That's unfair, she argued in a recent letter to the editor of the Minot Daily News, and on this episode of Plain Talk.

"I am deeply frustrated that a judge's decision could undo the will of the voters who elected me in 2022," Estenson said. "I am angry that a midcycle court order forced me from from office, deprived district 15 of its chosen senator, and reship district 9 in a way that made it nearly impossible for me or any Republican to win."

Co-host Chad Oban rebutted that last claim from Estenson, pointing out that a Republican who ran with Estenson almost did win in the last election, even after redistricting, but the former Senator is correct that legal wrangling over North Dakota's district map has created headaches. The legal fight is still ongoing, too, making the map for the upcoming 2026 election something less than certain.

Estenson, an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump wand whose family is involved in ranching, also commented on the impact tariffs are having on production agriculture. As many as "20 to 30% of small farmers could go out of business and not be able to continue," Estenson, a former candidate for Agriculture Commissioner, told us.

While she says she supports Trump's efforts to address "unfair trade practices," she's not certain what the future holds. "I don't think anyone really knows what the end result will be of all these tariffs. I certainly don't."

Also on this episode, Oban and I discuss the absurd call on newly-appointed Rep. Dustin McNally to resign from his seat in District 42, the potential impact of data centers on power rates, and outlook for the Yankees and the Dodgers in the post season.

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Steve Forbes, the editor-in-chief of Forbes Media, the host of the "What's Ahead" podcast, and a two-time U.S. Presidential candidate is speaking at North Dakota State University later this month as part of the Challey Institute's Menard Family Distinguished Speaker Series.

He dropped by Plain Talk ahead of that speech to talk about some of the economic issues pressing on North Dakotans. Specifically, tariffs, which haven't just made selling crops and livestock harder for farmers and ranchers, but has also driven up their costs.

"Tariff is another word for tax, and when you impose a tax you are imposing a barrier of sorts between buyer, seller, producer and consumer," Forbes said. He argues that sweeping and uncertain tariffs, that can change wildly day-to-day based on the whims of President Donald Trump, are slowing down the economy.

He also thinks they're illegal. "Tariffs, because they're taxes, have to go through Congress, and most of those haven't gone through that kind of process," he said, adding that he hopes the U.S. Supreme Court will strike them down. But even setting aside they're legality, the tariffs aren't something Republicans should be supporting, Forbes said.

"Republicans should not be in favor of tax increases," he told us.

Forbes also criticized what he described as "weak dollar" currency policies from the Trump administration — "great countries don't trash their money," he said — and called for a "stable, strong dollar" which will lead to lower interest rates and prevent inflation.

Forbes will be espeaking at NDSU on October 23 at 5:30pm. Click here for more information on how to attend in-person or virtually.

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With Rob out for his daughter’s wedding, Chad Oban hosts alongside longtime ad man and GOP strategist Pat Finken for a discussion on the state’s transformation from a competitive two-party era to a durable GOP majority, what that’s meant for business, and the way national fights over climate and immigration filter down to North Dakota.

Then Justin Kringstad, Executive Director of the North Dakota Pipeline Authority, lays out the nuts and bolts of getting Bakken gas east. Kringstad details the phased schedule, explains the ship-or-pay realities that make pipelines “extremely risk averse,” and makes the case for domestic supply security. They also dig into data centers, value-added ag, and why early landowner outreach matters.

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.

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Guest host Chad Oban and guest co-host Pat Finken sit down with Governor Kelly Armstrong for a wide-ranging conversation on politics, policy, and free speech. Governor Armstrong explains why the cure for bad speech is always more speech, why government crackdowns are dangerous no matter who’s in charge, and how the real fight over information today doesn’t happen on late-night TV.

They also dig into the impact of North Dakota’s new cell phone ban in schools and the rollout of the recently passed $1,600 property tax credit. Governor Armstrong also outlines major energy and infrastructure priorities, including a west-to-east gas pipeline, new data centers, and how North Dakota can stay competitive for business.

In the second half, Chad and Pat dive into party mechanics, populists vs. traditional conservatives and read listener texts.

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.

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Dustin McNally was chosen by Republicans in District 42 to replace former state Rep. Emily O'Brien, who resigned her seat to take a position in Gov. Kelly Armstrong's administration. But despite emerging from that process the winner, he called it a "clown show" and a "bad faith effort all around" on this episode of Plain Talk, describe it as something that doesn't serve the people well.

Under North Dakota law, legislative vacancies are filled by the local committee for the political party the vacating lawmaker belonged to. This means the new lawmaker is picked in a small room where the populist faction of the NDGOP has shown it can win, often by controlling who gets to participate.

That was the case in District 42, according to McNally, though the tactic backfired. An attempt to block participants who had paid their dues and paid their residency upon entering the meeting "pissed off some voters they brought to the meeting" and swung their votes to him.

McNally, who makes no pretense about being a moderate Republican, said even though he won, he would have liked to have seen the party get far more participants. The final vote was just 20-17 in McNally's favor, meaning less than 40 votes were cast to elect someone to the Legislature.

Even though O'Brien was just re-elected last year, the law requires that McNally's appointment be confirmed by the voters on the next general election ballot, which will happen before the next regular meeting of the legislature. McNally says he plans to run, and expects to face a primary challenger from the populist faction.

Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I discuss the City of Minot's decision to withdraw from the League of Cities over the organization's support for Gov. Kelly Armstrong's property tax plan, and the somewhat odd spectacle of activists who say voter ID laws are voter suppression encouraging voters to get IDs.

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.

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It's no secret that the rise of the internet and social media has upended the news business. We've been talking about it for decades. But the industry isn't dying, as many like to say, so much as changing.

People still want their news. They just want it in different ways, and the news industry is rising to meet that challenge. That's what Cecile Wehrman, executive director of the North Dakota Newspaper Association, had to say on this episode of Plain Talk.

Part of that challenge is convincing people that local news is worth paying for, especially in a time of subscription fatigue, but some of the challenges are even more fundamental than that. Many news consumers don't want journalism so much as cherry-picked facts and commentary that affirm what they already believe, and even upstream from that is the problem that many Americans don't like reading.

"The last time I checked overall grades, it was 44% are reading at grade level," Wehrman said, referring to numbers from North Dakota proficiency testing. "There are some schools in western North Dakota where that number is as low as 29%."

"It's a long play, but we have to be concerned about people not even liking or wanting to read. I mean, it's that fundamental," she continued. "Aside from all of the other distractions and questions about who's paying and who isn't paying and where the news is coming from and all of those things, if people don't like to read, newspapers don't have anything for them. And that spells disaster for our future workforce, our society, for understanding who to vote for, whether our rights are being taken away. And I mean, it's just that bedrock of an issue."

Also on this episode, my co-host Chad Oban and I discussed the terrible murder of right-wing organizer and commentator Charlie Kirk, and the terrible way his death has been turned into content for the influencer industry, and a new wedge to drive between Americans of differing political sentiments.

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.

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In late June, terrible storms destroyed millions of dollars worth of property, and took lives in parts of the state around Enderlin, Spiritwood, and beyond. In late July, Gov. Kelly Armstrong issued a disaster declaration, asking President Donald Trump administration to release aid to the state.

Weeks and weeks went by, until North Dakota's Federal delegation -- Senators John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer, and Rep. Julie Fedorchak -- sent their own letter to the Trump administration, indicating that state emergency funds had been depleted, and urging the president to act both on Armstrong's declaration for the June storms, and a more recent one from Sept. 2 related to tornadic storms in August.

The Trump administration has been very slow in responding to these sorts of request, taking over a month on average compared to just a couple of weeks for previous administrations. And the declaration for the Enderlin/Spiritwood storm, in particular, took over 50 days before finally being acknowledged by Trump this week.

"Look, it's absolutely shameful. You have a lot of Republican politicians failing a lot of Republican voters," state Rep. Zac Isa, the Minority Leader for the Democratic-NPL, said on this episode of Plain Talk (which was recorded before Trump finally acquiesced to Gov. Armstrong's request).

"I take the back roads home from Bismarck and I drove through Page ,and Hunter, and the Arthur area. I saw the damage that windstorm did and and I can also look at electoral map," he continued. "I know there's a whole lot of Republican voters in that region. They expect Julie Fedorchak and John Hoeven and and Kevin Cramer to deliver, but those those guys are just rubber stamps for Trump. I mean, do they know there's ways to influence a president beyond kissing his ass all the time?"

Ista argues the delegation could not"rubber stamp his policies until he authorizes a disaster relief for North Dakota."

"It's just an absolute failure of any influence they might have," he continued.

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When Pat Traynor, Gov. Kelly Armstrong's interim Commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services, said that excessive use of cell phones and other digital devices is "probably the biggest public health threat that we have," I wrote that he was wrong, and accused him of stoking a moral panic.

Traynor came on today's episode of the Plain Talk podcast to talk about it, and said that our devices leave us "continuously distracted." Referring to North Dakota's law law circumscribing cell phone use in public schools, he wondered how studens can be effectively educated when in a "constant distractive state."

Since cell phones aren't going away in our society any time soon, does a ban on their presence in schools help or hinder our ability to teach kids how to deal with them responsibly? Traynor says that part is up to families.

"Remember there's 24 hours in a day. Just from a standpoint of, parents still control the environment within which their kids grow up. Values. Norms," he said. "For instance, when you have a family meal together, are you present? And that goes for us, goes for me, with my kids and everything of the sort. But you're in charge of your family structure, as a parent or with guardians and others that take care of children."

Also on this episode, me and guest co-host Kyler Collom, from The Dakotan, discussed the use of a religious litmus test in appointing state Rep. Kathy Skroch to replace former Rep. Cindy Schreiber-Beck in District 25, and the mounting controversy around a similar appointment process playing out in District 42, where Rep. Emily O'Brien resigned her seat to take a position in Armstrong's administration.

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.

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