Main Street

Monday, March 18, 2019 – Who Killed Lt. Van Dorn? That question is the title of a film chosen for this week’s Fargo Film Festival. Zach Stauffer is the reporter, producer, and cinematographer. He joins us to share a story about Lt. Wes Van Dorn, who died in a helicopter crash off the coast of Virginia and the subsequent investigation that uncovered a long history of negligence and institutional failings around that model of helicopter. ~~~ Another film at the festival is titled “Riplist.” It’s a

Friday, March 15, 2019 – Travis Rosenbluth is one of the co-founders of Harvestable, a service that helps local growers market to restaurants. He just returned from the South By Southwest festival where Harvestable was one of 16 start-ups in the world selected for special recognition. ~~~ A corruption scandal in Canada has raised new questions about Indigenous values and leadership, and it has inspired today’s commentary from Mark Trahant. ~~~ News director Dave Thompson is here for our weekly

Thursday, March 14 – If you’re a math major, you might not think you should to take art classes, or vice versa. Educator William Fritz prefers a multidisciplinary approach, and says all students stand to gain from taking ag classes….even those who didn’t grow up on a farm, or think they want to run one. He’s a National AgriScience Teacher Ambassador in Rolla and he joins Tom Gerhardt in this excerpt from The Cutting Ed podcast to share how he uses his background to guide how he teaches. ~~~ Tom

Wednesday, March 13 – The cost of care late in life can be daunting. Here to discuss the economics of long-term care are Kathleen Ujvari of the AARP Public Policy Institute and Mike Chaussee, advocacy director for AARP North Dakota. ~~~ Carl Jones of the National Weather Service in Grand Forks joins us for a discussion of the unusual and quite powerful storm called a bomb cyclone that’s about to hit much of the region. ~~~ Emily Beck, executive director of the Fargo Theatre, shares a preview of

Tuesday, March 12, 2019 – The Hunger Free North Dakota Coalition is celebrating 10 years of helping people. Karen Ehrens and Lori Capouch join us to discuss the group’s various efforts, including the Rural Grocer Initiative, which seeks to address the continuing loss of rural grocery stores. There’s been a 15% drop in just 5 years. ~~~ The National Book Awards at Concordia College in Moorhead takes place this Thursday and Friday. Today we visit with Victoria Johnson, non-fiction finalist for

Monday, March 11, 2019 – Norma Baker-Flying Horse is a fashion designer from New Town who’s hitting the big time. She just had a show as part of Paris Fashion Week, and she's the first contemporary Native American fashion designer to have one of her gowns worn at the Oscars. She’s just back in the state and joins us to discuss her career and her style of design. ~~~ Commentary from Mark Trahant, who wonders about the possibility of a presidential primary in Indian Country. ~~~ Chuck Lura shares

Friday, March 8, 2019 – Ag is big business in North Dakota and some of the success can be credited to the Bank of North Dakota, the only state-owned bank in the country. 100 years ago, the bank started as a way to combat out-of-state, predatory lenders who took advantage of North Dakota farmers. Mike Jacobs is the former editor and publisher of the Grand Forks Herald. For the bank's centennial year, he wrote, "The Bank of North Dakota: From Striving to Thriving.” He speaks with host John Harris

Thursday, March 7, 2019 – Rebecca Bender joins us to discuss “Still,” a combination biography-memoir she co-authored with her father before he passed away. It’s a history of five generations of North Dakotans. Today is the release date for the book, which is published by North Dakota State University Press. ~~~ Tom Isern shares a Plains Folk essay titled: “Fires of Hope.” ~~~ Dicamba’s job is to kill weeds, and it does it well, but it also damaged a million acres of soybeans in the U.S last year

Wednesday, March 6, 2019 – Earlier this week we aired a story from NPR about the rift in the United Methodist church regarding its stance on sexual orientation, a rift that could divide the denomination and perhaps even divide individual congregations. Today we get some thoughts on how the issue might play out in the Dakotas from one of the clergy delegates to the General Conference, the Rev. Rebecca Trefz. She is also the director of connectional ministries for the denomination’s Dakotas

Tuesday, March 5, 2019 – Fintan Dooley is a land and mineral rights attorney. He’s also a member of the Salted Lands Council. He joins us to discuss “Salted Land and Water Day,” which is this Friday at the Capitol in Bismarck. Salted lands refers to land damaged by brine ponds and spills that can occur in conjunction with oil and gas development. ~~~ Commentary from Mark Trahant about coal, its relationship with native tribes, and public policy. ~~~ Drone racing is coming to UND, and it’s