Main Street

Sunday, February 28, 2021 - Dave Thompson starts us off with a Sunday morning news summary. ~~~ We had two interviews related to the power grid last week, and we feature them today for Main Street Weekend. With power outages in Texas causing rolling blackouts as far north as Minnesota and North Dakota, we visited about the nation’s energy grid with Tony Clark, who served on the North Dakota Public Service Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. ~~~ We follow that with John Bagu,

Friday, February 26, 2021 - This month’s Journalists Roundtable with new director Dave Thompson will feature special guests Amy Dalrymple Molter of the Bismarck Tribune, and Jacob Notermann of KFYR. Bills in the legislature that made it to crossover, and perhaps some that didn’t, will be major points of discussion.

Thursday, February 25, 2021 - Diana D’Amico Pawlewicz is the author of “Blaming Teachers: Professionalization Policies and the Failure of Reform in American History." She’s John Harris’s guest in an excerpt from the Prairie Pulse television show. ~~~ Harvest Public Media reports on the importance of broadband in bridging the rural-urban divide. ~~~ Matt Olien reviews “Judas and the Black Messiah.” ~~~ Sue Balcom is here for Main Street Eats. Today's topic is vegetable jerky.

Wednesday, February 24, 2021 - The UND School of Law will be hosting a national Indian law competition on Friday and Saturday. And Friday will also feature a tribal flag ceremony. The five American Indian tribes of North Dakota have presented their national flags to the law school for permanent display. Here to tell us about the events, and about the Northern Plains Indians Law Center at UND, is James Grijalva, UND professor of law. ~~~ Tribes are watching closely as Deb Haaland faces

Tuesday, February 23, 2021 - Yesterday we talked about the energy grid with Tony Clark; and our news department visited with John Bagu, who lives off that grid. We felt the topic deserves a deeper dive, so we invited John to join us on Main Street to elaborate on what it takes to become energy self-sufficient. ~~~ Dr. Craig Spencer is director of global health in emergency medicine at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, and an assistant professor of emergency medicine and

Monday, February 22, 2021 - The power outages in Texas have meant rolling blackouts as far north as Minnesota and North Dakota. That has us wondering about the nation’s energy grid. Here to give us some background is Tony Clark, who served on the North Dakota Public Service Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; and is a past president of the National Association of Regulatory Utilities Commissioners. ~~~ Quilting is not only a beautiful and functional activity, it’s also good

Sunday, February 21, 2021 - Each Sunday we recap a few Main Street highlights, and we start off with news director Dave Thompson. ~~~ An 8-year-old recently called-out NPR for not doing enough dinosaur stories! Instead of All Things Considered, he said it should be called Newsy Things Considered. Cracked us up. But that prompted us to get an update from state paleontologist Clint Boyd. ~~~ Dr. Josh Ranum is the vice president of the North Dakota Medical Association. He discusses the impact

Friday, February 19, 2021 - We get an update on efforts to save the historic rail bridge that connects Bismarck and Mandan from Mark Zimmerman, president of Friends of the Rail Bridge. ~~~ Dave Thompson is here for our weekly conversation about topics in the news. ~~~ Robin Wright makes her directorial debut with “Land,” a new movie about a woman's search for meaning in the vast and harsh American wilderness. Matt Olien is here with a review.

Thursday, February 18, 2021 - Dr. Josh Ranum is the vice president of the North Dakota Medical Association. He joins us to discuss the impact monoclonal antibody treatments in fighting COVID-19. ~~~ Chuck Lura share a Natural North Dakota essay on Red Breasted Nuthatches. ~~~ Sue Balcom discusses transplanting your seedlings in this week’s episode of Main Street Eats. ~~~ Historian Tom Isern has a Plains Folk essay titled “Northern Passage.”

Wednesday, February 17, 2021 - An 8-year-old recently called-out NPR for not doing enough dinosaur stories! Instead of All Things Considered, he said it should be called Newsy Things Considered. Cracked us up. But that got us thinking that it's about time for an update on the goings-on in the paleontology program at the North Dakota Geological Survey; and it so happens that they’ve just finalized the summer fossil dig schedule. Here to discuss the digs, the state’s fossil collection, and online