Radio Boise Podcast

Jonathan Kuntz returns to take a deep dive into predatory gambling. Moving beyond ethics and morals, this episode brings hard stats and real-world examples to unpack how modern gambling targets teens, drains middle-class savings, and impacts banks.

Jon is a professor emeritus at Boise State University's College of Business and Economics. He has studied gambling policy and its economic impacts for decades and serves as chairman of the national board of the Stop Predatory Gambling Foundation. His latest concerns extend into the rapidly expanding world of prediction markets—where billions of dollars can be wagered on everything from elections to sporting events.

Hosted by Esteban Anastasio, who pays homage to his "Jesus" and "Santa Claus" Frank Zappa, with N-Lite/Negative Light/Venice Submerged/The Lifestyle You Deserve from 1976's Civilization Phaze III. Followed Wolves in the Throne Room with I Laid Down My Bones Among the Rocks and the Roots live at Roadburn, and completing the suite with Ode to Solitude (Somnium Obmutem) by Estatic Fear from 1996. Be weird, be beautiful, say the Captain.

Congress, political parties, and elections can seem complicated from the outside. But how did we get here, and what does it actually take to become a candidate?

We recently spoke with Charles Hunt, an Associate Professor of Political Science at Boise State University. Hunt earned his Ph.D. in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, and his research focuses on Congress, congressional elections, representation, and political candidates. He’s also the author of Home Field Advantage, which examines the role a candidate’s local roots can play in congressional elections.

In our conversation, we covered the history of how we became Democrat vs. Republican, dabbled into how Congress and congressional campaigns work, and what it takes for people without political experience, but may be just as qualified, to run for office.

Hosted by Jodi Eichelberger. Porch Night, a collaboration with The Idaho Historical Museum, features three storytellers who do the setup, then come back later in the episode to tell us how they stories all end up. With three terrific stories. From Fort Hall, to the James Castle House to the Boise Soul Food Festival, this episode has you covered.

What does it really take to run a towing company and what happens behind the scenes? In this episode, we sit down with Michael Ellis, the young owner of Longhorn Towing in Boise. Michael started in the towing business at just 18 years old in 2022, when his family chose to invest in him rather than send him down the traditional college path. They helped him get his first tow truck, and from there, he began building a business of his own.

I first became interested in the towing profession after I needed a tow myself. On the way to the dealership, I ended up sitting in the cab with one of Michael’s drivers, and that ride gave me a completely different perspective on an industry most of us rarely think about—until we need it.

So what does towing actually look like from the inside? In this conversation, we talk about the realities of running a towing company, the ethics and controversies surrounding towing, what a typical day is really like for a tow operator, and the role towing companies play in keeping a city moving.

👀🔎 THINKING IN THE FUTURE TENSE: PART TWO — READING CHANGE

Change rarely sends us an engraved invitation.

Usually, it starts quietly. Something shifts at work. Your body feels different. A relationship changes. A new technology suddenly becomes part of everyday life. 🌎📱

The question is: Are we paying attention?

This Tuesday on Elementary Watson, Jo-Ellen Watson and Sheepdog continue our three-part series, Thinking in the Future Tense, by exploring how we recognize change—and remain capable of responding to it.

We’ll talk about:

🔎 The small signals that may point toward bigger changes

🧩 What happens when several changes collide at once

🧠 Psychological flexibility and staying steady when the answer is still unknown

🤖 What becomes uniquely valuable about human intelligence as AI becomes more capable

💡 Why asking a great question may become more important than simply knowing an answer

One of the biggest skills for the future may be surprisingly simple:

Accept reality without surrendering agency. 💪✨

📻 Join us Tuesday from 4–5 PM on @radioboise

#ElementaryWatson #ThinkingInTheFutureTense #Adaptability #PsychologicalFlexibility

🗺️ What if the problem isn’t that you’re lost… but that you’re using an old map?

We all carry ideas about how life is supposed to go—career, relationships, family, health, retirement. But what happens when life changes and our expectations don’t? 🤔

This week, Elementary Watson begins a three-part series: Thinking in the Future Tense. ✨

In Part One, Updating the Map, Jo-Ellen Watson and Sheepdog explore how we can become better prepared for an uncertain future—not by predicting what will happen, but by becoming more capable of meeting whatever comes. 🌱🧠

We’ll ask:

🗺️ What has already changed that I’m still treating as though it hasn’t?

🔮 What future am I assuming is inevitable?

💡 Can I imagine several possible futures instead of betting everything on just one?

The goal isn’t to know exactly what tomorrow will look like.

It’s to exercise our imagination, update our maps, and become increasingly capable of meeting the future. 💛

📻 Join us Tuesday from 4–5 PM on @radioboise for Part One of Thinking in the Future Tense.

#ElementaryWatson #ThinkingInTheFutureTense #FutureThinking #Resilience #PersonalGrowth #LifeTransitions #FutureReady #RadioBoise #LiveYourBestLife #grayintogold

What if a window cleaning business could be about something much bigger than clean windows?

This week, we sit down with Brian Hoyt, founder of Poor Man Window Cleaning, to talk about a journey that began at one of the lowest points of his life—and ultimately became a lesson in how business can be used as a force for good.

After a devastating hit-and-run motorcycle accident left Brian injured, unemployed and struggling to get by, he started knocking on doors with little more than a bottle of window cleaner, some paper towels and a willingness to work. That humble beginning eventually became Poor Man Window Cleaning, a Boise business that has now been serving the community for more than two decades.

Brian's story is about building a business that creates relationships, gives people their time back—and creates opportunities to give back to the community.

And then there's the soup. Brian has made a remarkably simple commitment: spending $100 a week making and giving away soup as a way of helping people.

So how does a window cleaner arrive at the idea that business can be a vehicle for generosity? What can a willingness to serve teach us about creating a life of purpose?

This week, Brian Hoyt joins us for a conversation about entrepreneurship, adversity, generosity—and how sometimes the simplest things can change a life.

Hosted by Ken Rodgers and Rebecca Evans. Diane Raptosh’s collection American Amnesiac (Etruscan Press) was longlisted for the 2013 National Book Award (poetry). The recipient of three literature fellowships (Idaho Arts Commission) and the winner of Idaho Governor’s Arts Award in Excellence (2018), she was Boise’s Poet Laureate (2013) and Idaho’s Writer-in-Residence (2013-2016). Her ninth collection, I Eric America, was recently published (Etruscan 2024). She teaches literature and creative writing as well as courses in criminology at the College of Idaho.

Our trusty retired Idaho hydrologist, Ron Abramovich, is back—and this time he's watching the Pacific Ocean.

We're heading into a winter that could be one for the record books, with forecasters predicting an exceptionally strong El Niño—potentially among the strongest events we've seen in decades.

So what exactly is El Niño? It begins thousands of miles away, with unusually warm ocean temperatures in the tropical Pacific. But those changes in the ocean can ripple through the atmosphere and influence weather patterns far beyond the Pacific—including here in Idaho.

Ron has spent decades studying the relationship between snow, weather, water and Idaho's rivers. As Idaho's Snow Survey Water Supply Specialist, he built a career around understanding what the snowpack can tell us about the water year ahead. And he's been looking at historical data long enough to know that when the current conditions resemble some of the big years in the record, it's worth paying attention.

So what could this unusually strong El Niño mean for Idaho? More snow? Less snow? A warmer winter? A different kind of water year? And perhaps most importantly—what can a century of weather and hydrologic data actually tell us about what's coming?

In this episode, Ron Abramovich takes us inside the numbers, the history and the science behind this potentially historic El Niño—and what Idaho should be watching for this winter.