Plain Talk

NOTE: The $740,000 question is a podcast from Plain Talk producer Matt Fern. After sending a letter to Governor Doug Burgum and receiving no response, a coalition of 27 filmmakers from across North Dakota hold a press conference outside the Attorney General’s office to demand transparency and accountability in how one filmmaker received $740,000 from the Department of Commerce. But despite the media attention and growing public scrutiny, state officials remain silent. The Governor never replies. The Attorney General passes the buck. And the ND Commerce insists nothing was done wrong. In this episode, filmmaker Matt Fern walks through the aftermath of the press conference and the months of waiting for answers. We hear from the State Auditor, whose report confirms the process was flawed, with a grant application window open for just six business days. But while the timeline may have been unusual, the audit stops short of calling it illegal. With no one taking responsibility, and no clear authority stepping in, Matt files a formal ethics complaint—only to discover how limited and untested the Ethics Commission process really is. Meanwhile, Canticle Productions begins building film sets, hiring crew, and raising more money for multiple films—without ever publicly addressing the controversy. And it all leads to one big question: if no one in the state is willing to investigate, who will?

Even as some local governments claim that a new, 3% cap on property tax increases will cause chaos in their budgets, Sen. Josh Boschee, a Democrat from Fargo, says he and his colleagues felt it was important to implement. He says lawmakers see it as a way of putting the responsiblity for property taxes back on local governments. "In the last decade, or my 12 years of service in the state legislature, we've tried to educate voters that property tax is a local issue," he said on this episode of Plain Talk. "Yet it continues to be put on our plate in Bismarck." He noted that with the state now providing significant relief, locals are expected to manage their budgets to prevent past issues of unchecked growth in valuations and spending. Boschee addressed property tax exemptions, including my recent column about a property tax break for newly-built single-family homes in Fargo that could go a long way toward addressing the city's shortfalls. He said the $1,600 tax credit lawmakers approved for primary residences gives local governments a good "off ramp" to end some of those exemptions, since the credit would cushion the blow for taxpayers. Switching topics, Boschee also addressed concerns that cuts in federal spending could hit North Dakota hard. He said the state's finances are in order to deal with some uncertainty. "We are in a good budget position," he said. "We worked and we're part of the ruling majority with the mainstream Republicans to make sure we had a good budget." "The governor has some leniency within about 5% of the budget to weather cuts at the agency level, or you know, some discretionary funds that we can see what can be moved around through the emergency commission. So we're in a a good position to be able to address them." 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

Is Doug Burgum, who is currently serving as Secretary of the Interior under President Donald Trump, a happy man right now? I posed that question in a recent column occassioned by Burgum's visit to infamous island prison Alcatraz at Trump's behest to assess it for use as a detention facility. Burgum has to know that this is a fantastically stupid idea. His face, during a Fox News interview from the prison, made it pretty clear that he knows that this initiative would be a non-starter for any rational, grounded human being. And yet, there he was, on national television, carrying the president's fetid water. We talked about it on this episode of Plain Talk. "If you want to be in Donald Trump's orbit, and if you want to climb the greasy pole of politics in the Republican party right now, you have to be Donald Trump's sock puppet," I argued. Co-host Chad Oban and I also discussed a possible ballot measure banning the use of public dollars and resources for private schools that North Dakota voters are currently being surveyed about. Also on the agenda was Sen. John Hoeven taking a victory lap after the release of federal funds for North Dakota school programs, and Rep. Julie Fedorchak's husband, Mike Fedorchak, getting a job as a lobbyist. 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

This episode of Plain Talk is a little unusual, because the guest we interviewed for the show is actually our own producer, Matt Fern. Matt, in addition to producing Plain Talk, is also a filmmaker by trade. A couple of years ago he organized a dozens of his colleagues from around the state to object to hundreds of thousands of dollars in film grants being issued by the North Dakota Department of Commerce under former Gov. Doug Burgum by untoward means. The Commerce Department ran an odd, extremely truncated bidding process for a grant that, per evidence from the legislative record, was always intended to go to a specific Bismarck-based company that, two years later, still hasn't released the films the state paid for. And this wasn't the first time something like this had happened, either. "Our group of filmmakers did speak out two years ago because we saw this coming because this already happened twice, with $100,000 in 2021 with nothing to show for it, and very little to show for $40,000 in 2017," Matt told us. Matt has produced his own podcast about these called "The $740,000 Question." It's available on YouTube, with the first episode available today, and subsequent episodes to be released in the coming weeks. Why does this story matter? While $740,000 is a lot of money from a personal perspective, it's not much in terms of North Dakota's overall appropriations. Also, North Dakota's film industry isn't exactly large. So why should you care? Because this is a window into how our state government sometimes does business, and it doesn't paint a pretty picture. Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I discuss Sen. John Hoeven's interesting maneuvering about the "Big Beautiful Bill" and Trump administration spending decisions, as well as the chaos around the Donald Trump/Jeffrey Epstein situation. 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

The $740,000 question is a podcast from Plain Talk producer Matt Fern. Making movies in North Dakota is hard. Unless you’re one company with powerful connections. In the premiere episode of The $740,000 Question, filmmaker Matt Fern unpacks how a single production company, Canticle Productions, received $700,000 in taxpayer-funded film grants from the North Dakota Department of Commerce. With no state film office, no tax incentives, and virtually no infrastructure, how did this happen and why? Matt traces the timeline of payments starting with a $40,000 stock footage deal in 2017, a $100,000 grant in 2021 with no public process, and a $600,000 grant in 2023 awarded after just six business days of competitive bidding. The eligibility criteria? What looks like a copy-paste of Canticle’s website. Through public records, media reports, and insider interviews, this podcast reveals a process marked by secrecy and a total lack of accountability. With little answers from state officials, the governor’s office, or Canticle Productions itself, Fern asks the question no one in power seems willing to: How is all of this legal?

Public defenders working in the federal system representing indigent defendants aren't getting paid. The federal government ran out of money, as my colleague April Baumgarten reported recently. That's a big problem. Every American accused of a crime has a right to counsel, and while you might think that public defenders are just for poor people, they actually represent most people accused of a crime. In North Dakota, the precentage of criminal defendants represented by a public defender is north of 80%. In the federal system, nationwide, it's around 90% Jason Tupman said on this episode of Plain Talk. Tupman is the top federal public defender for the North Dakota and South Dakota district (full disclosure: my sister works as an investigator for Tupman's office). "There will be consequences," he said of this lack of funding. "I think they are not just short-term, either." The federal employees in Tupman's offices cover about 2/3's of the cases in North and South Dakota, with the rest going to private sector attorneys who participate in what's called the Criminal Justice Act Panel. Right now, those panel lawyers won't be getting a check until October 1, though given the chaos in Washington D.C. right now, there's not a lot that's certain. Tupman, and Mark Friese, a prominent defense attorney from the Vogel Law Firm who is a representative on the CJA Panel, say that lawyers are beginning to turn down these cases. That means delays in the criminal justice process for defendants, which in turn means more costs associated with things like pre-trial detention. Also, it may also mean that they're assigned by lawyers from other areas, who may struggle to provide adequate counsel, which in turn may result in more appeals and procedural delays. We are currently having a rollicking debate about the federal debt and deficits, but delays or cuts in funding for federal public defenders could actually end up costing the taxpayers more. Tupman points out that the work of his office isn't political. "This office and this panel has represented George Floyd protesters and they have represented January 6 defendants," he said. "This is a non-political group...who represent individuals, treat them with dignity, and do so every day pretty quietly. To not pay them for the work they've already done can be crippling. Crippling to them and crippling to our future functioning." Friese, meanwhile, pointed out that even when the feds are paying the bills, they're far below what private sector attorneys can otherwise earn. "A lot of your listeners are going to say, $175 an hour, that's crazy," he said referring to the rate at which panel attorneys are compensated. "That's less than half the market rate. That's less than half the prevailing rate if you were to come to me in my private practice to hire me for representation." "When I take my car in the mechanic shop, the prevailing rate in in North Dakota is 150 bucks an hour," he continued. "So, we're paid $25 more an hour than a mechanic shop, essentially." Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I talk about my criticism of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa's lawsuit over redistricting (Chad thinks I'm full of it) and we also give some praise to the North Dakota Chamber of Commerce for their efforts to promote civics. 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

One proposal in the recently passed "big, beautiful bill" that didn't make it to the finish line was an amendment from Utah Sen. Mike Lee, which would have jump-started a sell-off of federally owned lands. On this episode of Plain Talk, John Bradley, executive director of the North Dakota Wildlife Federation, talked about that victory, and also discussed the place in politics conservation issues often find themselves.  "Conservation sometimes becomes the dog that everybody can get behind kicking," he said. Bradley expressed a desire for public lands to become a "third rail" issue that politicians are "terrified to go after," but also acknowledged that there are instances where some sales make sense. He says there is, in existing law, a process for selling or swapping out federal lands, and while he admits that it can be bureaucratic, he also says that it's important that all interested parties are involved in that process. Bradley also discussed his group's recent criticism of North Dakota's congressional delegation's support for using the Congressional Review Act to rewrite federal land use rules that the delegation says are too arduous for the energy industry and other interests. He called the approach "scorched earth," arguing it "wipes that entire process" and assumes D.C. politicians "know better" than local experts. Also on this episode, we discussed the hard feelings between Attorney General Drew Wrigley's office and the North Dakota Ethics Commission, as well as news that millions in federal dollars for after school programs in North Dakota have been frozen. There are "crickets from the congressional delegation in terms of unfreezing this money," my co-host Chad Oban said of the situation. "Crickets from the governor's office to unfreeze this money. Crickets from the superintendent of public instruction." "I understand that [Superintendent Kirsten Baesler] is trying to get a job in Washington, but if our superintendent of public instruction is not screaming and yelling to unfreeze these dollars, I'm not sure she can be doing her job," he added. "Our congressional delegation should be pounding on the door of OMB and the Department of Education getting this money to our kids in North Dakota, but everybody's afraid of Trump," he continued. 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.

The criminal justice system is often where public policy debates, from civil rights to addiction, converge. It's also critical for ensuring accountability when the government oversteps. North Dakota's Commission on Legal Counsel for Indigence, led by Director Travis Finck, headed into this year's legislative session facing a "perilous situation," that was dangerously close to a "constitutional failure" due to a lack of resources, leaving many without legal counsel. But lawmakers stepped up. The Finck and his fellow public defenders received a 20% budget increase, amounting to an additional $4.5 million over their 2023 budget. The budget boost is moving the agency "in the right direction," Finck said on this episode of Plain Talk. This funding has tangible impacts on recruitment and retention. Frink notes the agency can now offer higher salaries, implementing a new compensation plan to put them "on par with places like the attorney general’s office." Previously, they weren't even "in the same stadium," Finck said. The agency is now projected to be fully staffed by September, a stark contrast to the 25-30% vacancy rate prior to the session. Beyond attorneys, the budget also allowed for hiring two new investigator positions, increasing their statewide total from one to three. Legislative support also provides a crucial morale boost. Applicants, even from out of state, recognize that the North Dakota legislature "acknowledges the public defenders exist…and the important role they play," Finck said. This commitment fosters a client-centered culture, attractive to new law school graduates, emphasizing the profound impact public defenders have. Looking forward, Finck emphasizes that while the progress is significant, the job isn't done. Future goals include hiring more investigators for thorough case reviews and developing "holistic approach" models to provide services such as housing and job assistance, to reduce recidivism. The agency also seeks to re-evaluate reliance on user fees and eliminate remaining fines, asserting that constitutional rights should not be funded by those exercising them. Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I discuss the turmoil in Minot's recent mayoral elections, which included one of the candidates, Rob Fuller, suggesting I illegally accessed public records about his arrest for domestic violence. We also talked about the ongoing (and very tiresome) Armstrong veto controversy, and we react to some 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

In this replay episode, we revisit a conversation that didn’t go as planned. We had scheduled Rep. Nico Rios to appear on Plain Talk to discuss his recent controversies; from bigoted and homophobic remarks during a DUI arrest, to a social media post invoking the CIA and antisemitic language, to a constitutionally questionable resolution declaring Jesus Christ “King over all the world.” We wanted to have a respectful, honest conversation about his words and actions. But just minutes before the interview, Rep. Rios backed out. “Ay dude I'm not going on your boring little show,” he texted. “Got more important things to do than chat Capitol gossip.” Replay or not, this episode is a revealing look at the tone and tension inside North Dakota politics today. 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

In this special replay episode, Rob Port and Chad Oban revisit a timely conversation with former North Dakota Republican Party Chair Bob Harms. With infighting and censures making headlines again, Harms' perspective on internal party dynamics, district-level power struggles, and the long-term risks to the GOP brand hits even harder today. The discussion dives into how party rules, legislative overreach, and local gamesmanship are discouraging participation and undermining transparency. Harms also shares his concerns about property tax reform, the future of the Legacy Fund, and what happens when politics becomes more about power than principle. 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