Rob Hanson is a member of the Braver Angels organization right here in Idaho. This group has been working for almost a decade nationally to engage the hyper polarized country that we find ourselves in and offer a framework to build bridges and connect with our fellow countrymen again. They host live and virtual events, and you can find them online and on Facebook. If you have the time or interest, I highly recommend that you look into the organization and the great work they do. Enjoy! The Ranch...
Nov 04, 2025•45 min•Ep. 685
Scott Nichols is a geothermal expert who has been working in the industry for decades. He came in to explain the nature and potential of geothermal power, from heating buildings to producing energy for our lights. The problem, however, is that although geothermal is indeed a baseload, green energy source, it takes considerable time to find and build out. Additionally, you’re not looking at making a 1000 megawatt geothermal plant anytime soon. Plants that come online are usually in the range of 5...
Nov 03, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 684
Richard McPherson is a world leading authority on Nuclear Technology. In Episode 16 of the American Nuclear series, we discuss the infamous Chernobyl disaster, whereby local operators engaged in an experiment with the reactor that was expressly forbidden in the operations manual, which resulted in loss of life. The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organization committed to unbiased, Idaho focused media. The Ranch Podcast is the premier source for long f...
Nov 03, 2025•41 min•Ep. 683
Jason Van Gilder is the director of public works for Middleton and came in to speak on the issue of the waste water treatment plant that Middleton is slated to build. The driving force behind the upgrade is in fact not growth, but instead a revision made by the Idaho Dept. of Environmental Quality that was made in 2015 that requires phosphate levels to be dropped from 5 parts per million down to between 0.3 and 0.1 parts per million, depending on the season. Although Middleton has grown consider...
Nov 01, 2025•55 min•Ep. 682
Dave Murray is a longtime Middleton resident and is running for re-election for City Council. He is passionate about Middleton, the culture, the growth, and the direction the city is going. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organization committed to unbiased, Idaho focused media. The Ranch Podcast is the premier source for long format interviews and information in the Treasure Valley and great state of Idaho. The Boise area is home to many cou...
Nov 01, 2025•36 min•Ep. 681
Steve Day is a Star resident and is running for City Council. He is passionate about Star, the culture, the growth, and the direction the city is going. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organization committed to unbiased, Idaho focused media. The Ranch Podcast is the premier source for long format interviews and information in the Treasure Valley and great state of Idaho. The Boise area is home to many counties and ways of life. It’s also hom...
Oct 31, 2025•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 680
Liz Flower is a longtime Star resident and is running for City Council. She is passionate about Star, the culture, the growth, and the direction the city is going. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organization committed to unbiased, Idaho focused media. The Ranch Podcast is the premier source for long format interviews and information in the Treasure Valley and great state of Idaho. The Boise area is home to many counties and ways of life. It...
Oct 31, 2025•37 min•Ep. 679
Phil McGrane is the Secretary of State for Idaho and came in to talk about the finding and prosecuting of illegal votes and voters in the state. With the support of the state and federal government, McGrane’s office has been able to identify several dozen individuals who have registered or registered and voted in Idaho that were not legally allowed, and from that roughly a dozen people are being prosecuted. These are complex cases, and more than anything underscore Idaho’s commitment to having t...
Oct 31, 2025•31 min•Ep. 678
Scott Brock is a seasoned security agent and runs the private security force working within the Middleton School District. Part of the levy that is coming up in the district is for security, and Scott came in to explain what he does, what his security force does, and how Middleton families can sleep better knowing that Scott and his team are there. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organization committed to unbiased, Idaho focused media. The R...
Oct 30, 2025•44 min•Ep. 677
Kristina Glascock is the Twin Falls County Clerk and kindly invited me to come chat about national election grifters that come to her office insisting that we modify Idaho’s election system. Things like hand counting votes is a common idea, but other things like “giving elections back to the people,” and eliminating the county clerks and statewide voter registration were new ideas I had never heard before. Kristina did a fantastic job of not only explaining the idea behind the proposed revisions...
Oct 30, 2025•28 min•Ep. 676
Stan Ridgeway is a former mayor of Eagle and the Eagle Senior Citizen organization that sued and won against the city of Eagle. There are many details regarding the lawsuit that should be understood, including the hundreds of thousands of dollars that the city of Eagle now has to pay in legal fees to the Eagle Senior Citizen organization. It has also come to pass that the building that was funded by the community for the seniors and held in trust for the use of the senior citizens is now wholly ...
Oct 29, 2025•41 min•Ep. 675
Bruce Skaug is an Idaho State Representative out of Nampa and came in to talk about handling some of the darker sides of Idaho. The Gem state has its share of problems, and Bruce is working to address them head on. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organization committed to unbiased, Idaho focused media. The Ranch Podcast is the premier source for long format interviews and information in the Treasure Valley and great state of Idaho. The Boise...
Oct 28, 2025•58 min•Ep. 672
Mary Ludemann is running for Star Fire District Commission Candidate. She is passionate about the fire district, its finances, and its future. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organization committed to unbiased, Idaho focused media. The Ranch Podcast is the premier source for long format interviews and information in the Treasure Valley and great state of Idaho. The Boise area is home to many counties and ways of life. It’s also home to many ...
Oct 28, 2025•34 min•Ep. 674
Trevor Chadwick is the mayor of Star, Idaho, the fastest growing town in the state by percentage. With the unprecedented growth, Star has found itself in a very difficult spot, both with services and with cultural transmission, but Mayor Chadwick and the city council are delicately navigating the city through. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organization committed to unbiased, Idaho focused media. The Ranch Podcast is the premier source for ...
Oct 28, 2025•50 min•Ep. 673
Richard McPherson is a world leading authority on Nuclear Technology. In Episode 15 of the American Nuclear series, we discuss Richard’s background as a student of energy and what specifically makes him one of the foremost experts on not just nuclear, but also that American energy system in general. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organization committed to unbiased, Idaho focused media. The Ranch Podcast is the premier source for long format...
Oct 27, 2025•40 min•Ep. 671
Robert Wagner is the President of Idaho State University and came on to discuss the nuclear renaissance that Idaho and the US is going through. Nuclear power was all but born in the state of Idaho, and with the recent resurgence of interest, Idaho stands to supply the country with the technology, the physical plants, and the skilled, educated people to work them. Robert Wagner and ISU will be instrumental in this effort. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-p...
Oct 27, 2025•41 min•Ep. 670
Adam Richins is the Chief Operating Office for Idaho Power and came in to speak about a few key energy questions. Why are irrigation farmer power rates higher than large load customers like Micron but LOWER than residential customers? Why are credit rates for excess power for rooftop solar customers changing? And why is Idaho power going through so much chaos with transmission lines that buy and sell power for Idaho? Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profi...
Oct 25, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 669
Trent Tripple is the Ada County Clerk and invited me into the new Ada County Election office. The building is now transparent, like literally. You can see from the parking lot all the way to the back wall of the elections area. There are also over 3 dozen cameras live streaming the happening of the elections counting, storing, and monitoring systems. You can tour in person or just checkout the live streams to see not only your tax dollars at work but the US democracy in full effect. On top of th...
Oct 24, 2025•46 min•Ep. 668
Ray Waltemate is a Middleton resident and is running for City Council. He is passionate about Middleton, the culture, the growth, and the direction the city is going. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organization committed to unbiased, Idaho focused media. The Ranch Podcast is the premier source for long format interviews and information in the Treasure Valley and great state of Idaho. The Boise area is home to many counties and ways of life....
Oct 23, 2025•38 min•Ep. 666
Gordon Jones is the President of College of Western Idaho. Gordon has worked in innovation across the education field from BSU to Hardvard but has been focused on CWI and its students since 2021. The focus of CWI and President Jones is clear: offer an attainable education to students that delivers a self evident “why.” Many higher education systems argue that it is imperative that the schools focus on the careers of tomorrow that will develop, but President Jones has come back with a strong focu...
Oct 23, 2025•58 min•Ep. 667
Jessica DeAngelo is a Chief Hiking Officer and author of The Wild Advantage. After years of working with top fortune 500 companies and then privately consulting, Jessica found herself trapped by not only her success but by the thing that was supposed to optimize and simplify her life: technology. Facing horrendous burnout and lack of creativity, she pushed herself to take a timeout on a hike, at 6am, in January, in Idaho. After watching the sun rise on a muddy, snowy trail, she realized that tim...
Oct 22, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 665
Debbie Critchfield is the State Superintendent of Education and came in to speak about the nation leading CTE program that Idaho has developed. Over the last three years, Idaho has invested 60 million dollars into its CTE infrastructure, and the results are phenomenal. Critchfield also spoke about how Idaho is, in essence, working to consistently answer the question of, “why public education?” It was incredible to hear what the State Department of Education is doing and supporting. Enjoy! The Ra...
Oct 22, 2025•53 min•Ep. 664
Jordan Morales is a longtime Boise resident and is running for re-election for City Council. He is passionate about Boise, the culture, the growth, and the direction the city is going. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organization committed to unbiased, Idaho focused media. The Ranch Podcast is the premier source for long format interviews and information in the Treasure Valley and great state of Idaho. The Boise area is home to many counties...
Oct 21, 2025•44 min•Ep. 663
Greg Timinsky is the Fire Chief of the Star/Middleton Fire District and is running a levy on the upcoming ballot. Star has grown roughly 140% over the last five years, and the budget for the fire district has only grown roughly 40%. Taxing in Idaho works differently than other surrounding states, so although there are many more rooftops, the budget has not grown in step. Greg came on to explain a couple misconceptions regarding the fire service. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In ...
Oct 20, 2025•38 min•Ep. 662
Richard McPherson is a world leading authority on Nuclear Technology. In Episode 14 of the American Nuclear series, we discuss the infamous Fukushima nuclear accident and tidal wave, the causes, the impact, and the three key mistakes that were made that caused the core damage and following explosions. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organization committed to unbiased, Idaho focused media. The Ranch Podcast is the premier source for long form...
Oct 20, 2025•48 min•Ep. 661
Adam Tiller is a standup comedian. He is based out of Seattle and touring the Pacific Northwest. He is in town for two days playing at Mad Swede on the 17th and 18th of Oct. We had a fantastic time talking. Check out his IG @atill55 or better yet, go see his show. Enjoy! This show is NOT supported by or associated with Truth in Media Foundation*
Oct 17, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 660
Samantha Parrott, AKA the Sugar Beet Queen, is the executive director of Snake River Sugarbeet Growers Association and is charged with protecting and advocating for this billion dollar industry. Sugar beets are one of the few types of produce from which real sugar can be produced and October 15th was National Real Sugar day. Although sugar gets a bad rap at times, I enjoyed every bite of these beets. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organizat...
Oct 17, 2025•31 min•Ep. 659
Kristen Delano works with the Koloma energy company, a ground breaking energy company engaged in finding and harvesting naturally occurring hydrogen. Hydrogen naturally occurs all over the earth’s crust, and where you find iron rich rock formations that enjoy close contact with water resources regularly, you find hydrogen. Amazingly, Idaho has just the right combinations to create energy dense byproduct. Kristen came in to explain the process, the science, and what Koloma wants to bring to our g...
Oct 17, 2025•43 min•Ep. 658
Paul Arrington is the executive director of the Idaho Water Users Association and came in to speak on the recent revisions to use and penalties surrounding domestic well users in the state. Domestic well users are, in general, restricted to using water both in their homes but also for irrigation of one half of an acre of their land. Up until this point, the fines associated with irrigating too much have been minimal, but with the increased demand on our limited water resource, fines and enforcem...
Oct 16, 2025•41 min•Ep. 657
Steve Martinez is the president of Tradewinds Homes, having spent 24 years building both the company and Idaho. The building industry is plagued by many problems, but more than anything it is stuck in an impossible paradox as people view it as both the problem and the solution to the issues we all experience with growth. Steve had wonderful insights. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organization committed to unbiased, Idaho focused media. The...
Oct 15, 2025•55 min•Ep. 656
