Transcript 0:00 Nice hat You, yeah, you want one? We got hats if you'll wear it. Don't want them just ending up in a closet 'cause it is supposed to be advertising. Yeah. Come on along, head for the mountains of Busch Beer. 0:14 Head for the mountains. It's cold and it's smooth and it's waiting for you. Come on, head for the mountains of Busch Beer. Head for the mountains of Busch. 0:28 Head for the mountains of Busch Light Beer. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2022. Anheuser-Busch, Busch, and Busch Light Beer, St. Louis, Missouri Beall Distributing, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 0:40 If you wanna understand what's really happening in South Dakota, start with the Dakota Scout, South Dakota's leading journal of politics and culture. Locally owned and printed in Sioux Falls. 0:52 Founded in 2022 by veteran reporters Jonathan Ellis and Joe Sneve, the Scout brings more than 40 years of combined experience and a reputation for relentless fair-minded reporting. 1:04 From Sioux Falls City Hall to the state capital in Pierre, the Dakota Scout delivers breaking news, investigative reporting, and serious political coverage without the spin. 1:15 Its Lewis and Clark inspired logo reflects its mission, charting new territory in a new era of South Dakota journalism. 1:23 Subscribe today for full access to stories delivered straight to your inbox, plus The Scouting Lounge podcast. $7 a month at thedakotascout.com. The Dakota Scout. Stay informed. Ryan, come smell this. 1:41 I'm not falling for that again. Hey, folks, have you ever had the displeasure of opening up a bed in a box? It's really stinky. Why? Because of all the toxicity in the foams they use. 1:53 At Juna, we only use safe, hypoallergenic, non-toxic materials. Even the glue we use between our foam layers is safe. A lot of companies use aerosol glues that are banned in over 17 states. 2:05 And have you ever slept on a foam or hybrid mattress and just kept sinking, and then kept getting hotter and hotter throughout the night? Our beds don't do that. 2:14 A Juna mattress supports you properly and actually pulls heat away from your body naturally. When we say we use the best materials, we mean it. Come try one out. 2:23 There's never any pressure to buy, not one ounce, 'cause that, well, it'd be pretty stinky. We build them by hand and deliver with love. Juna Sleep Systems, 41st And Grange in Sioux Falls. 2:35 You're gonna love the way you sleep. We guarantee it. We guarantee it. Juna. 2:39 [upbeat music] Welcome to The Scouting Lounge, a podcast of the Dakota Scout newspaper based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 3:02 My name's Jonathan Ellis. I'm one of the co-hosts. Yes, he is. And that is Joe Sneve, another co-host. Sitting in the guest chair. Sit- in the guest chair today. And, uh- Where Ben Nesselhauf was sitting... 3:14 or Ben Nesselhauf. He, he's our guest later, uh, in the show. He is the former state senator. 3:22 He is former chair of the Democratic Party, so obviously we talked a little bit about politics, but he's also in the marijuana business. Yep. And we talked a lot about that. Why'd you invite him down here? Hmm? 3:36 We needed a re-up. 3:37 [laughs] And, uh, then we talked about differences be- they're, uh, they have a shop here in Sioux F- in So- sorry, South Dakota, but they're also opening a shop in Minnesota, so we talk a little bit about the differences there. 3:50 So anyway, very fascinating interview in my opinion. Uh, and we talk a little bit about COVID, but we don't need to talk about that right now. There... Well, there's a theme here. 3:59 So it was helpful, like if we wanna have a theme about COVID and Fauci, to have that interview two, three weeks ago, 'cause I'm, I'm trying to move on. Okay. [laughs] Anyway, this is my Beall distributed product. Yeah. 4:13 And I did sleep in a Juna Sleep System last night. We, uh, we needed some rest this week, but we'll get into that later. Uh, Juna Sleep Systems, Beall Distributing, thank you for sponsoring this program. 4:28 Support them, because they support local independent journalism that covers South Dakota, um, 'cause that's where it matters. The closer you are to home, where dec- the closer you- decisions that are made, 4:42 um, are to you physically, the more important and impactful they tend to be on your life. 4:49 So news outlets that cover South Dakota journalism, um, and put that in front of our neighbors' faces regularly instead of bombastic entertainment television masquerading as news, as many people like to consume. Um, 5:08 so let's support the folks that give you news that actually affects your life. Which are, you know, us every, you know, lo- your local paper, right? So support them. You know who supports them? 5:23 People like us, the, the will of local journalism. Our newest sponsor. And- We have a new, we have another sponsor... we do have a new sponsor. 5:32 Uh, we're excited to talk about it, not just to tell you about First Bank and Trust and like... You know, sometimes you might have a, an advertiser or sponsor that, yeah, you'll take the money. They want... 5:44 You have to plug them, right? And I mean, we would... I don't think we would plug anything like we disagreed with, you know, morally or something like that. 5:54 Um, but I can wholeheartedly say I know this organization supports local journalism, you know. Uh, First Bank and Trust- Is our new podcast sponsor. 6:06 Uh, I can say what I just said because they bet on the Dakota Scout before we'd printed our very first paper. They did. Yeah. They've been with us since day one. Since day one. 6:16 I actually had to double check that they didn't come on, like, week two or week three. Um, so I looked at, pulled out one of the first- Day one... the very first paper, uh, half page ad, page two or three I think it was. 6:30 Um, so they, that organization, uh, you know, the Fischbachs, they, uh, you know, you can't say they don't, you know, back community. They're good to community stewards, South Dakota stewards. And well, why? 6:46 Because they're s- sponsoring a podcast? Why you gl- why you gloat, like, adoring them so much, Joseph? Well, it's not just that. Like, they are... 6:55 We have part- partnering- They're, they're doubling down with this, uh, about supporting journalism. Yeah. They're, like, really... This isn't just about, like, 7:03 throwing a check to a media outlet so they can keep the lights on. Um, they, Van Fischbach, uh, chairman of the board for First Bank & Trust, his family started that bank, you know- In, in the 1800s... a long time ago. 7:18 Um, and they like, uh, to do community banking, you know. They help their community. Uh, we had lunch with Van and Brad Jankert about a year ago now, and we were talking about what worries us 7:37 as far as journalism goes, the paper, um, you know, the... I remember thinking, like, when you said, like, "What can we help you guys with?" And I thought, we don't... I think I said that, like, "We don't need a loan." 7:51 [laughs] Yeah. Like, we're trying to stay out of debt. Yeah. And then the conversation was, "No," like, "What, like, are there hurdles, obstacles in front of you or..." 8:02 You know, and it's like, well, there's not really... There's lots of hurdles in front of us. We're starting a business. But, um, it worries me, like, who's gonna take the paper over when we're done? Uh, 'cause I don't 8:16 want this just to go away when we go away, and it won't. Uh, and then, but then, like, if our children, like, who's gonna run it? Who's gonna produce the content? 8:25 And the pipeline of journalists coming out of colleges is, uh, the... Well, one, there's not as many, and the, the talent pool is... 8:35 I don't know if the, what you're being taught in journalism school isn't quite what it used to be. 8:39 But the Collegian up there at Brookings is doing great work, and those kids, uh, young adults, uh, young writers are, are honing their skills up there, and it kinda pains me to say that they're far and away above, like, the Volan, which is the USD counterpart to that. 8:56 'Cause that was your, that's your old paper. Yeah, and it was the other way around when I was... At least I would've said so. I was biased, but we were... 9:03 The Volan was the one winning pacemakers at the time and, um, yeah, we were the stronger organization. I think that was pretty well-known. 9:13 Um, that ain't the case anymore, and I'm not trying to throw shade at USD, but it is what it is. So, and, uh, the Fischbachs are Brookings families- They are... so it's serendipitous really. It worked out. 9:25 Um, so we need to create... Well, out of that came this idea of an internship program. Uh, so this summer we had two interns as, like, a pilot program and then, 'cause we don't really know how to manage people. 9:38 I even told Jacob, uh, Brandy, as he left, like, he was the guinea pig. [laughs] Uh, so now we, next time we can manage his, um, descendants better than we managed him. Make to, make today better than tomorrow, right? 9:54 Uh, but not only that, it's not just an internship program. We're ex- also gonna feature, during this academic year we're gonna feature SDSU's, uh, or The Collegian's content, um, each week in the print paper. 10:08 Uh, so that'll, you know, that's good for us because it's in our readers because, um, it's just more content. It's diversity of content. 10:19 People pick up a news- a printed newspaper for a lot of different reasons, you know. Some people might do it for the sudoku. Yeah. Some do it for the journalism. Some do it for the sports. Uh, 10:29 you know, some, now somebody might wanna see what their old alma mater college newspaper's doing, you know? Um, so that'll also give those young adult, uh, young journalists... 10:42 I know everybody likes to see their name in ink and, you know, it's one thing to be in your student newspaper. It's another to be in the, uh, the newspaper of record, you know? Mm. So, um, it's good for both. 10:55 And then it also kinda serves as, like a, serves as a contest, like a, a year, an academic year-long pull, you might say, um- Among the Collegian staff or SDSU- Yeah, like who's... 11:08 It's a race to the internship, you know. The top two finishers get to have a paid internship at the Dakota Scout. Well, how do you finish top? Well, it's a bit subjective. 11:17 Um, but whoever has the strongest body of work will get first crack at these internships, and, um, hopefully it will continue to be, like, a coveted internship among South Dakota student journalists. 11:31 But nonetheless, all that, more pages, paying interns, there's cost to all that, and the payoff there is tomorrow there will be more better journal- uh, more level-headed 11:46 and well-equipped journalists to help cover South Dakota government and keep holding peer accountable. So, and the idea... I don't know. I'm hogging the mic here, but- Well, you're explaining it very well, right? 12:02 Journalism's, like, under attack, you know. Yeah. You've got AI. We've got, um, politicians on every side of the aisle and underneath it, um- Law enforcement sometimes... doesn't, doesn't really matter, you know. 12:18 Just like, well, one ideology's more pro-media than the other. No. No, like, see what happens when, when a y- one ideology gets offended by something they read. Like it's, it ain't, 12:32 i- it's not being monopolized, you know, uh, being aggrieved by what you read. I don't know. Kill the messenger, right? It happens everywhere. Happens all the time. 12:42 Uh, AI's sort of like this looming thing that people can't seem to see the writing on the wall with. Um, you know, I, I will say, do people even know now that when you search on a search engine, 12:56 what you're seeing is not, like, the results of a search engine? Like, here's- Not, it's not the old Yahoo. Yeah, like what you're seeing is, like, an aggregated AI. 13:09 The AI's deciphering what you used to have to decipher. Now it's giving you, like, what it learned, and it's usually wrong. Like, there's something wrong about it. And it's... 13:24 I mean, I'm seeing more deer in the headlights when I ask people, like, when we're driving somewhere and you ask somebody, like, "Look up what's coming up in this town." What... Right? Like, 13:33 this is, is they, they, like, read what they're seeing as fact as it... And they think it is, and then it's literally nonsense, and they're... I don't know. They think- Yeah. 13:44 Now I'm a little off topic here, but AI's under attack. Humanity is potentially under attack in that way, but, and hu- human intelligence and cognitive thinking. But it's also being attacked from the inside, you know. 13:57 I don't know if too many media outlets would say the media is undermining itself in a lot of ways. That's a little foreshadowing to some content coming later. [laughs] Um, 14:07 and let's face it, we got a r- we are not activist journalists. A lot of them coming out of college are. 14:14 I don't know when that switched in journalism school, but there needs to be, in my opinion, a recalibration of media. And I'll be damned if I'm gonna go along to get along on that. 14:26 So I take it, I'll take, I will carry the gauntlet and die early to, to fight that battle. So, um, somebody said they thought it was weird I said soldiers. Call it, like, ref- analogous to soldiers. 14:39 Well, if you had the mindset that I have, I need some soldiers to help. So- We need some soldiers to cover the flanks. Yep. And, uh, we won't tolerate any lowering of the standards just to have a bigger army. 14:55 Well, maybe, if it was a real army. There's power in numbers. But anyway- So- So thanks to those guys... thanks to- New sponsors... First Bank. And I will say, like, so yeah, like, as a business, I would... 15:08 We s- we bank with First Bank and Trust. We opened a CD. Uh, it was the easiest thing ever. 15:15 I mean, I have some anxiety about going into banks and, like, trying to do paperwork and making changes and s- opening accounts and stuff, and it was, it was like snap of the finger. It was... 15:29 So those guys are great over there. Um, they got a location downtown. They're, like, our neighbors. Uh, so just know that First Bank and Trust is a staunch advocate and ally of media the way it should be done. 15:44 So thank you to those guys. Uh, I would say our friend Ben, you know, he, he's an ally to the media. And speaking of young journalists, I've known Ben Nesselhauf since I was... 16:01 I don't know, it'd be like 2007, I think I met him. Damn. We could have saved the three bears a lot of time. Just Right Mattresses, built by mattress nerds with a lifetime comfort commitment. 16:16 We build them by hand and deliver with love. Juno Sleep Systems in Sioux Falls and online at junosleep.com. Come on along, head for the mountains of Busch Beer. Head for the mountains. 16:30 It's cold and it's smooth and it's waiting for you. Come on, head for the mountains of Busch Beer. Head for the mountains of Busch. 16:43 Head for the mountains of Busch Light Beer. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2022. Anheuser-Busch, Busch, and Busch Light Beer. St. Louis, Missouri. Beale Distributing. Sioux Falls, South Dakota. An old friend- [laughs]... 16:55 guest, uh, hearken back to the Vermillion days. Yes. Uh, back to the days when we had a healthy Democratic Party. Ooh. When, when there was some numbers up in Pierre. There were a few more. A formidable caucus- Yeah... 17:10 you might say. Was it open then? Yeah. It was? An open caucus. The D- the GOP may have even had an open caucus. No, they did not. No, they've never had. Nope. Well, no, they did once upon a time. Okay. 17:19 Or at least they would let someone in and then, then, uh- Yeah... someone burned that, right? They used to at least let a reporter in. But anyway, Ben Nesselhauf. Hey. The antici- See you guys... enough anticipation. 17:31 [laughs] And we're off. Thanks for coming in. Yeah. Absolutely. Well, I, uh- You're having an, a, a... Is that's a Beale distributed- Alaskan... fan- fancy? 17:42 I was, I was told this was, uh, Larry Rhoden's favorite, so- Yeah. Alaskan IPA. Is that what that is? Yeah. See. Love it. I hear if you drink too many IPAs you get man boobs. I'm doing all right. That's my problem, huh? 17:57 I think you're doing okay. Yes. Um- Don't miss chest day, buddy. [laughs] Um, uh- That's not true. There was a, there was a- That's a scare tactic. They said that about marijuana too. 18:07 Oh, well, that's something we'll talk about here. Mm-hmm. Um, there was a point I think when you were in the Senate when you had, Democrats had 17 members. Is that- We had 15. 15, okay. Yep. The last, uh... from Yes. 18:19 Once again, congratulations on your very timely guest here. Uh, so- [laughs] From, uh, yeah, tw- 2007 to 2011, we had 15, 15 to 20. Oh. And we had great, uh, you know, Scott Heidepriem was our leader. 18:32 Dave Knutson was the leader for the Republicans. I felt like that four years we, at least on the Senate side, we were getting some good stuff done. Yeah. Yeah. Well, those, uh, those were... 18:42 Yep, those were the last days really that, uh- Yeah... Democrats had some numbers and- 2010 election wasn't great... that was a wipeout. Yes. I- I think-... 18:50 vaguely remember, since I was running for secretary of state and- Oh, I'd forgotten... didn't turn, didn't turn out so well for me... I'd forgotten- That's, that's-... that you ran for secretary of state. Yeah. 18:59 That's right. That's the problem. Yeah. But you're right, that was the- Weren't there a lot of people running? Wasn't that a pretty crowded field or? For secretary of state? Yeah. No, there was- Or am I confused? 19:07 Me and I, I- There were- I think we had a Libertarian candidate in there, but- The Republican primary in 2010 for governor, there were a multiple candidates. Yeah. Yep. And, uh- Well, I was in college. 19:17 Everything's coming at you so fast. [laughs] You know. I moderated a debate one time with you and, uh, Jared. Uh- Did you moderate that? Yeah, barely. Good. The, uh, it was, it was difficult. 19:28 That was the- I, I remember, uh, I, uh, kind of forgot how to start the Pledge of Allegiance. There was a lot of- [laughs] There was a lot of pressure up there. [laughs] Yeah, that was 2008. 19:38 That was, uh, the last real good year [laughs] I felt like- So-... that we had here in South Dakota... I remember, uh, Joe the Plumber- Yep, that was a big one then... was a thing. Mm-hmm. 19:48 And he said something, the other candidate said something that tried to make a joke about me and Joe the Plumber, and I s- I... 19:55 It was only, the best thing I did up on stage was say, like, "Well, I don't make anywhere near $200,000 a year." [laughs] Because if you remember, it was a tax thing, you know? 20:03 And the story came from- Yeah, you remember that s- tiny story from 20 years ago- 20 years. Yeah... Jonathan? [laughs] Come on. About 20, 18 years ago. Holy cow. You know. Anyway. We're getting old, boys. 20:13 Yeah, that's hard to believe. So, and forgive me, we're recording this, uh, fresh off of Sturgis, so I still have kind of a fog brain here. But people that listen to this all the time are like, "So what's new?" Yes. 20:26 But, uh, what are you doing in town, sir? I, um, was just over in Minnesota, um, checking out, um, a grow operation there for, uh, some cannabis, um, to see if that's... I'm, uh, opening a shop in Minneapolis- Right... 20:41 uh, with my brother and- So they went rec- Have to- Full rec in Minnesota... they went full rec. Yeah. 20:46 And the real issue now is just supply chain, so that's kind of why we've been holding off on opening up, and, um, just kind of wait to let things settle down a little bit. 'Cause right now there's just no supply. 20:59 They've, they've had dispensaries in Minnesota open and close in the last year, 'cause they got really excited, opened up, and there's nothing to sell. There's nothing to sell. Yeah, yeah. How's the red tape around that? 21:09 Like, so you operate, uh, in the cannabis market in the state of South Dakota. Yes. Uh, are you, are you, uh, a cultivator or are, are you- Nope. I have-... a dispensary owner? 21:20 I, uh, along with a couple of partners, own a, a dispensary in Sioux City called True North. Um, I should throw in, like, mention this ad and, you know, get 15% off. 21:32 [laughs] But, um- [laughs] I don't think you can do that... yeah, you can't do that. Yeah. [laughs] Um, yeah, we can do discounts. Well- Can't do, you can't do freebies. You can do discounts. 21:40 Well, what, what I mean, like, can you advertise it everywhere? Oh, that's right. Yeah. Well, then okay. So edit that out. So then you, it's, no, it's on you, not us. I don't care. Yeah. Uh- [laughs] 21:49 Yes, but- Let's talk. Knock twice. There's a secret handshake. There you go. Yeah. Yeah. So we, uh, so we are a, a standalone. We're not in, uh, vertically integrated. 21:58 We don't, um, don't have a cultivation or a manufacturing license, just a, just a retail. Um, that's... 22:05 I don't, I don't know a lot about cultivation and manufacturing, and it, the startup costs on that are astronomical, so, uh- Do you-... stuck with what we knew... when you talk about supply chain issues- Mm... 22:16 in Mini- Minnesota, how do you get around them then? Well, it's, um, because until last year there were really no legal grows outside of the reservation, so, um, it's just a matter of all of that catching up. 22:29 It's ramping up. Yeah, it's ramping up, and it takes, you know, it takes a year or two to get a market healthy enough that you have a adequate, reliable supply chain. So do you already have a space in Minneapolis? 22:41 Uh, yes. You have a, so like- We have a space. We're working on, um, developing it. It's, uh, actually in Osseo, which is a northern- Okay... suburb, um, which there were great... 22:51 I mean, just it lined up perfectly for us. Um, so we're redoing a building up there that's just taking some time to get done, but coming together pretty nicely. I think it's gonna be a really cool little spot. 23:01 Do you bring any samples? No. I get, I get asked that frequently. [laughs] Frequently. You're, you're not original in the joke, Joe, but, uh- That's okay. But I'm actually genuine. Yeah. [laughs] You guys can get... 23:13 [laughs] So, uh- Yeah... well, I wonder, so when you, you've been kind of down in the Iowa world a little bit, right? Yes. Yep, I live in Sioux City. Uh, so you kind of... 23:24 Like, our worlds are, I'm gonna, we should be hanging out, man. Maybe. You like politics and weed. Yeah. The, uh [laughs] There's- I know... probably two issues that take up most of my day. [laughs] Yeah. 23:35 Well, maybe once upon a time for me, but- [laughs] Uh, h- I'm curious though. I went to Iowa. Mm-hmm. Went to South Dakota. This, this is all still new in South Dakota, right? Like we're like- Yeah, I think we're-... 23:45 six years since people- Yeah. We, we've been open for almost four years... people didn't wanna say the word marijuana in South Dakota in 2020. You know? Right. Yeah. 23:54 There's some, there was a lot of people up at the capital that, like, would whisper it. You know? They felt very uncomfortable saying the word. But, uh- Don't feel like it's gotten more popular. 24:02 No, but at least they- At least in Pierre, which is the capital... say it. They're, at least they're emboldened about- Right... their anti-weed stuff now. But- Yeah... uh, 24:10 when we went, I went with a group of legislators to Des Moines, I think it was. Mm-hmm. And we saw, they were trying to get a lay of the land, how do other states do this? 24:18 And, you know, Iowa has a medical program- They don't have... You can't, like, buy flower. Mm-hmm. Uh, the way I saw it, like, they figured out how to, like, take... It, it's all, it's very much medical only. 24:31 There's no way to, like, have fun- Oh, yeah... with the medicine- Yeah, it's not... that is cannabis. Yeah. Uh, have you... 24:39 So you probably have knowledge, though, of the, the regulatory environment of three states probably pretty well, right? Um, less so in Iowa just because I don't do business there. 24:51 But Minnesota is, it's obviously a very different environment when you have one where the state made the change and is inviting you in as opposed to South Dakota where it was kind of forced upon them. 25:02 And, um, and there's still resistance in the legislature, and not so much in the governor's office as much as it used to be, but still obviously Larry's not a... Sorry, Governor Noem's not a huge 25:16 supporter by any stretch. But, um- Mm-hmm... but Governor Noem was definitely- Hostile... an, hostile, exactly. 25:23 And, and so, uh, there were times where you would, um, it was quite obvious that rules were being kind of made up and, and hoisted upon us in ways to try and shut us down or make life more difficult. 25:36 And you compare that to Minnesota, which, uh, has been very inviting, but they're attempting, and I think in the long run this will be good, they're attempting to set it up in such a way that you kind of avoid the Walmart of marijuana moving in. 25:49 So they're attempting to get it set up more for operators like myself, like small time, you know, have one shop operators. Um, but in doing so it's just taken more time. 26:00 So I've been working on that project for, like, th- uh, it's been over three years now. Um, and there's been delays and lawsuits and, you know, all kinds of things pushing, pushing that timeline back. 26:11 But, um- It's three... Go ahead. 26:14 Well, and the, the other big thing in Minnesota, um, they're gonna I think obviously make a lot more money off it because there's a cannabis tax which, I mean, God bless South Dakota, as much as they, uh, legislature hates cannabis they hate taxes more, so we just pay the standard sales tax here. 26:30 Um, which is, you know, nice. Yeah. [laughs] So it's I think a 15% additional tax. I mean, so it's- You can buy it from your neighbor still. It's tax-free. Well, that's- [laughs] And that's who our competition is really. 26:41 It's black market. Yeah. Um. Well, that's, that's really I think what it is. Mm-hmm. Have you seen, kind of all over here, but have you seen... 26:50 Do you think it's a problem where people buy marijuana legally and then turn around and sell it? Or is it more of just- I- They're still getting it from the old supply chains, which are black market supply chains. 26:59 I think that's the case. I mean, I haven't seen... N- I, I have no evidence of that happening where somebody's taken their supply and, um, you know, selling it to others. Um, I've heard, you know, I, I... 27:14 One of my partners in it is a, a r- a former police officer so he's pretty well-connected, and, uh, ask him about things in Sioux City and, and, um, haven't heard anything about that at all. 27:27 Our police chief in North Sioux, and I, I want to say North Sioux City's been wonderful to work with. 27:31 Um, the police chief there who was not thrilled about us coming in to say the least, he was very, uh, very much opposed to it. 27:38 Um, I think he's come around too, um, just in realizing that we, uh, you know, in almost four years never had to call [laughs] the police for anything. There's never been an issue. 27:49 Um, we had a, a dump truck hit the back of our building. That's been the most excitement that the, the police had to be involved with. Were they trying to do a smash and grab? Uh, th- Well, no. 27:58 I th- [laughs] They were trying to pick up the dumpster and, uh, hit the gas instead of the brake I think. But, um, you know, any small town bar has more- All right... more calls to the cops than we have. 28:11 I mean, if you didn't, if you didn't know any better you'd think, if you just stood outside our shop you'd think we're a fairly busy insurance agency or something. Yeah. Well, you- You just would never know... 28:20 for three years you've been trying. And you, were you referring to Minnesota? Yeah, yeah. That's- Is, is that how long it's been rec- legal there? Well, it's been longer than that. 28:28 Um, it's taken them q- quite a while to figure out the licensing process. The, um, there was a lottery that, uh, I had a couple of [laughs] entrants into and didn't, didn't win. But, um, uh, that was a process. 28:43 That was for a license? Lo- lottery for a license? That, that was for... Yes, that was for a retail license that would've allowed you up to five locations. Okay. 28:49 Um, which I was very interested in, but, uh, we didn't get in on that. But, um, my backup plan was my brother ha- applied for a micro license, which wasn't a lottery, so that allows you one location. 29:02 W- Why wouldn't they just free market it? Just let her, let her rip, baby. Oh. No, you'd wind up with a couple of place... You know, a couple of owners- The Walmart... running. 29:13 You'd wind up with Walmart running the whole show. The... W- How, how they, um... You mentioned that there was an additional 15% tax- Mm-hmm... on cannabis products there. 29:22 Do they have estimates, like, when the program is fully going? I'm sure they do. I have no clue what they are. Okay. Um. But probably, I would imagine probably a lot. Do you... Probably a lot, yeah. 29:32 In South Dakota it feels like you're, with medical, feels like a huge risk to get into this business with just medical- In South Dakota... and the government having control over the cards. Mm-hmm. 29:43 And you gotta have a card, and you go- You can't sell out of state, folks, unless they have a local card. Who... Nobody does that. Uh- Yeah... your, your client pool is so limited and constricted and out of your control. 29:57 Yes. Uh, it's gotta be a nightmare getting banks to come along board for other- Well-... other reasons than- Banks are... That's a whole separate issue Yeah. That, I, I... I mean, that's a whole... I know there's, uh, 30:10 I don't know, every time we have a change in administration they change how they deal with banking- Little bit... on that. Yeah. But I mean, my whole point, the pro- the, the point of my question is the risk there. 30:18 Oh, yeah. I mean, it seems- It's a new industry. I mean, of course there's risk. There's risk. Yeah. And when we started, um- We started this process when rec had passed. 30:28 And so we thought we're gonna have a location right on the border in a rec state. You know, this is, you know, dollar signs going off in the eyeballs. 30:37 But, uh, as we set it up, um, for, for our shop, as we set it up with the lawsuit going on and not knowing how that was gonna be, we set it up to be successful in a medical-only market. 30:49 And so when we started, there was 5,000 cards, I think, and now there's 19,000. So, um, you know, from our perspective, things are going tremendously. 19,000? I kinda quit paying attention. Yeah. 31:01 When I was writing about the pop-up clinics and stuff- Mm-hmm... and when the dust settled and all that, I kinda quit paying attention to the ebbs and flow of the card numbers. But 19,000. Are those active? 31:11 Yeah, I believe so. Dang. So- I mean, I just, I see the numbers every month from the state. I think it's- Are we getting sicker? I think it's 19,350. Not that I watch it very closely. Are we getting sicker? 31:22 I, I don't know. No. Or is it just people are becoming- I think people, I think people are, um, becoming more accepting of it. I mean, um- They're more willing to go get the card themselves. Yes. 31:30 And, and I think the, the taboo of it is sort of going away. I mean, my mother who, um, tried to ground me for life when I was 17 and smoked a joint, um, uh, has several Saturdays come and work at the shop with me. 31:46 Um, you know, which is a kick because she was a s- guidance counselor at Sioux City East for 25 years. So her first day, um, checking cards, a couple of former students came in. 31:56 [laughs] That's- One of them damn near passed out, thought it was a trap of some sort. [laughs] So, uh, but I mean- It's all been one big ruse. Right. But, like, and I think- Appreciate it... 32:07 I think she's a great example of the w- way attitudes have changed as it's become more legal and, and people have become more exposed to it and realize it's not the, the reefer madness that we've been indoctrinated with for 100 years is maybe not, maybe not the whole story. 32:25 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, uh, I suppose it's kinda like any business. The first... 32:33 If you can keep the lights on for the first few years, th- you're probably out of the w- or not quite, no, you're never out of the woods- Right... in this business, but, uh, so congratulations. Thanks. 32:41 I mean, it's- Thanks. Yeah. It's been exciting. It's, uh, uh... I wonder where do you think it's going? I, I kinda feel like we missed our, like, one opportunity on rec. Uh- I, I feel like that's accurate. 32:56 'Cause I think with Minnesota going, um, rec, and on the other side it, well, I believe Montana has already done it. Um, Rob Sands running for governor of Iowa, that's part of his platform. 33:08 I think he's got a, you know, better than even shot of winning. Um, so I, I, I feel like yeah, we might have missed a real chance at, at developing a industry here on that. 33:23 Um- It always felt like Amendment A and IM 26. Mm-hmm. Those two things together, like IM 26 lifted A's. Yeah. Like, they were marketed as, like, you gotta vote for one or the other. Mm-hmm. 33:35 And it was l- probably legitimate given some of the legislative, um, gamesmanship that had taken place in the years before that. Mm-hmm. 33:44 Uh, but now that medical's passed, the, the heartstrings of the anti-marijuana, uh, but compassionate- Mm-hmm... conservative, you know, those, those strings are not to be plucked anymore because- Yeah... 33:58 'cause that's, that's a non-issue. And to be honest, I mean, if we have just a medical program, I mean, up until 34:08 Iowa, at least from our perspective, up till Iowa passes rec, we'll, we'll keep doing this and be just fine. Yeah. You, you said there are four dispensaries in North Sioux? Four now. Yep. Okay. 34:19 So that's, I mean- It seems like a lot... one of them owned by former, uh, South Dakota Republican chairman, Dan Lederman. Yep. So we'll be tailored. We've written about that. You guys on friendly terms? Oh, yeah. Yeah. 34:31 Is it a real cutthroat industry? The people- I have, I have not found it to be that way. I know, I know that some... 34:38 I mean, part of it is probably because I think people don't view us as a, a statewide threat to, um, you know- Right... compete with them. Like, we're not, we're not competing with the Sioux Falls dispensaries. 34:50 We're, we're on our own down there. We have our niche, and, and I think, uh, are very, very happy with that and... I think some of the... There's a bit of backbiting among some of the cannabis companies. It can be. 35:04 You know? I mean, I think that's any industry. There's some people that aren't- Yeah... happy with each other. But I, I was, I try and avoid all of that. Who else, what else cooking? 35:16 I haven't seen you in a while, Jonathan. Nope. That's what happens when you go to Sturgis. Got a T-shirt for you. Did it make sense that the... Am I- I thought you might want that one. [laughs] No. 35:26 [laughs] So I bought some. Found a clearance rack or something. Oh, cool. So, uh- Thank you for thinking of me. Yeah. The one of them said, like, "I spent all my money on 35:34 gambling, whiskey, and wild women, and the rest of it I..." Or, "I h- I spent half my money on that, and the other half I wasted." Yeah. [laughs] The other half. Well, I don't gamble, 35:45 so, you know, just you, you- Well, you gambled by starting a business with me. Well, yeah. But I mean, I don't, like, go to the casino, right? Yeah, that's true. You know? So. So, uh, I have a bucket list item. Last... 35:56 I turned 50 last year, and my wife made me come up with a bucket list. Yeah. I came up with two items. One of them is to, uh, bartend in Sturgis during rally week. Okay. Which, uh, Murdock- That's an interesting one. 36:06 Murdock can help you out with that. Murdock can hook... Yeah, he's, he's gonna... But he told me I gotta wait for a, a, a year with a zero or a five. Yeah. So, so he's like- So it's worth it... avoid this year. Yeah. 36:15 Yeah. So, like, three years from now, I think I've got a- You'll be-... appointment to... Well, I'll come make sure, uh, you get a wild customer. Yeah. Yeah. [laughs] I'm sure there'll be one. 36:26 That's not a bucket list, though. If you only have two things, that's like a teaspoon list. Yeah, it's a teaspoon list. What's the other thing? Yeah, what's the other thing? Oh, uh, um, I actually achieved it. 36:33 I, uh, was a roadie for a English punk rock band last fall, uh, for 10 days on an East Coast tour. How do you pull... How do you arrange that? You just say, "Hey, can I tag along?" 36:41 Well, it's punk rock, so you basically just talk your way into the van, and then, uh- [laughs]... drive them around, which is essentially what I did. What was the name of the band? They're called Pet Needs from England. 36:51 We'd seen them perform several times, and uh, um, didn't know them at all but lovely, lovely guys. Yeah. So it was wonderful. Yeah. Well, you're probably good friends with them now. We got buddy tattoos, so. Really? 37:01 Yeah. So that was kinda fun. I have no tattoos, but I almost got one in Sturgis. Almost. Chickened out, though. I- You gotta get one. You know? I did- You know what? Maybe I'll get a little rabbit, picture of a rabbit. 37:15 RIP, I hit a rabbit- Oh... out there on, uh, kind of around Custer. Never hit an animal besides a bird before, but it got real- I feel like- It was kinda scary... 37:27 if you hit an animal, I feel like a rabbit's a good way to go- Yeah... on a motorcycle. So another guy told me good thing it wasn't a squirrel, 'cause they roll, and like they'll take you down, but- Mm... 37:38 it just got soft. You know those like little, uh, tar, they, like they patch cracks on roads with p- like tar strips, and they get- Right... on a hot day, they get- Mm-hmm... a little mushy? That's what it felt like. 37:49 It was like, [mimics punching] a little thumper. He didn't make it, though, I don't think. 37:53 Uh- So I, I mentioned earlier, and I wanna make sure I say this with the microphone on, about how much I appreciate what you guys are doing, uh, with The Dakota Scout, and frankly, how I've... 38:07 I brag about South Dakota all the time, but the independent media- Yeah... in South Dakota is spectacular, um, between what you guys are doing and Patrick, Paulie- Sioux Falls Live. Yeah... so yeah, and uh- Third Set... 38:22 Seth Tupper. Yeah, I mean, these guys, I mean, you're out... It's wonderful to have actual news coming back, so thank you- For sure... 38:30 for doing what you're doing and for taking that gamble, you know, Jonathan, with this guy. Yeah. [laughs] Thanks. Well, you- Yeah... well, thank you for reading, and uh, thanks everybody for listening and reading. 38:40 But you're not wrong. I think it's not lost on us, like not, um, I mean, aside from what we're doing, we feel there's so much competition and collaboration and like camaraderie in it all. Mm-hmm. You know? Yeah. 38:54 It's very spirited and healthy. Uh, and when you really step back and look at it, for a town of this, a market of this size- Mm-hmm... to have that much quality independent journalism- Right... you know, it's not just... 39:08 We're all consistent about it, I think. Mm. It's not like somebody's firing off a story every four to eight days. Right. You know, like there's... It's, I mean, it's top-notch, I think, uh, for, for what it is. 39:20 So, um- Well, I, I- Megan Raposo, we don't wanna forget about her. Yep. Sioux Falls Simplified. Mm-hmm. So Jodi Schwann, Two Falls Business. Yeah. I mean, it's tremendous. Good stuff. So- And it's, uh, yeah. 39:31 And I- Well, I met you down in Vermil- Yeah... a long time ago. You remember Dan Gelson? I do not. He, uh... You remember Ashley? Sure. Up Harvard, Harvard House. I don't know. Dan's Far- What? Dan, Farmer Dan's. 39:44 What are we talking about, Joe? [laughs] Like what's happening here, man? Vermillion. Vermillion. I, I, I, no idea. I don't know, either. 39:51 It's, I can't believe I remember as much as I do from those days, but, uh- As I, now, as I recall, you were not always very nice to me. [laughs] I don't think either one of us were very nice to one another, honestly. 40:03 I, I, I- I mean-... I never wrote a bad word about you. [laughs] Well, I don't think I wrote anything horrible about you, but, uh, I was never an opinion writer. Um- [laughs]... and I think, 40:14 honestly, I think the Jared fella was more perturbed with me in that campaign than, than either one of them. I tried getting a hold- He, he moved down to, uh, Sioux City or Dakota Dunes as well. 40:24 I run into him once in a while. Yeah, he got, his business got a big ready loan or something recently, and I tried to reach out and never got a call back. It would've been a good, fun story. 40:33 So hey, I was tr- I was, uh, sharpening my teeth and figuring out how to be a journalist, you know? Mm-hmm. So if I got the scorn sources out of the way before I got out of college- [laughs]... then it's good. 40:44 I don't- But no, I'm sorry you had to do that... I don't actually remember if you were. Yeah. [laughs] Thought I- Well, I think I was afraid of everybody back then- Yeah... 40:51 to be honest, because like I said at the beginning, there's a lot coming at you. Um, and I learned quite a bit, quite a bit. So, um- Well, it's, it's evident in your- Yeah... writing. 41:04 I also appreciate the, uh, podcast to kinda get some, a little more opinion out of you guys, and- Yeah... I, uh- You wanna hear my take on Fauci? I, I- Yeah. I, we can come back to that. 41:16 [laughs] But I was gonna say, this is a, I consider you guys like the Sadler and Waldorf of, uh, South Dakota politics, so. Well, thanks. That's, uh- We get to let our hair down here- Mm-hmm... a little bit more. 41:26 I'm often not comfortable with it after we get done with an episode. I'm like, "I don't know if it's good for business to let that much out." But, um, anyway. So let's back up, though. But Fauci, let's do this. Yeah. 41:40 Little bit. What is up with you guys and Fauci? Well, uh- Good Lord... uh- The guy tells you to wash his, you wash your hands, and you lose your damn mind. Well, no, actually, I was all about that part. 41:50 That was all, I lo- I love, I, I've always washed my hands. Our, our take on this- My grandfather, my grandfather was a doctor, and I was brought up very early that you- If, if the whole world-... 41:59 gotta wash your hands... and, and you know the guy, the German guy who figured that out, they frigging launched him o- they, you know, the, the- The doctors... 42:07 doctors were like, "How dare you tell us we're dirty- Oh, so they would, they would do multiple surgeries or whatever... and have to..." They'd, uh, go from cadavers to- Inconvenient... 42:13 you know, doing surgery and couldn't figure out why everyone was dying. Yeah, well- And they, uh- Population control... they stuck him in a loony bin and beat him to death. Yeah. [laughs] That poor bastard. 42:21 How, how dare you tell us to wash our hands? Well, see, we all kinda felt the same way as that guy did, where we're like, "I don't know, masks, uh"- Yeah, exactly... you know? Like- Exactly... 42:30 I just think we all got hoodwinked, and, um, the f- the, uh- Hoodwinked would imply that somebody was intentionally trying to-... sell you masks or something. 42:40 Well, actually- I mean- You know, they were- We can agree that people- They were intentionally-... got stuff wrong No, no, he, they were intentionally saying one thing knowing that it was not true. What? 42:50 Ivermectin ef- efficacy. I feel bad for the people I made fun of when on the same day they... Fauci's on TV espousing there's no efficacy, there's no evidence that this works. 43:05 Internal memos, correspondence say 70% to 80% effective rate. Same day. So, so- You gotta peel back. This is all true... I, I mean, I never, never touched on that... this is all true. 43:16 There's a whole, there's a whole host of things that they're so- Mm-hmm... they, he, they're- Which is why I just said everybody should just quit defending the guy because- They, they- You're not- It's not a... I'm... 43:25 No, keep in mind, I don't know the guy. I'm not defending him. Certainly he got stuff wrong. But the, him being the face of the response to the pandemic- Sure... 43:37 uh, I, I would, I would love to be able to find the one person you can be like, "That's who's responsible. Let's pin it," you know? Well, shit, I don't know. I mean, every good conspiracy theorist- I'm gonna say this... 43:46 loves a simple answer. I'm gonna say this- I don't have it... uh, that, that I think that at, at the very... There's a reason why the pardon went all the way back to 2014. Mm-hmm. 43:53 And that's because that's after gain of function research was outlawed, and they continued to fund, send money via nonprofits, uh, to Wuhan- Mm-hmm... uh, this lab to do this work. 44:06 So I will say that he is at the very least indirectly responsible for that. Well, I don't even mind that. And- I think there's a place for all kinds of research in the world, right? 44:14 Like, you can go so ahead on a donkey somewhere. Mm-hmm. I don't care. Yeah. Like, I'm okay with doing that somewhere if it's in a controlled environment. Like, we have to expand humanity's knowledge of the universe. 44:25 Yeah. Like, I'm not- I'm not, I'm not de- debating the right or wrong. I, I- I'm just saying it was made illegal. I just think- And-... 44:30 it's ineffective to go down that route on a, if you're trying to convince somebody what, that there's been real egregious wrong here. Well- And there has been. It's deceit is what it is. 44:40 And he might not be the only one, 'cause he's not. But they were also- I think, I mean- They were shunning people within the industry, within their world, who were like, "No, this ain't right. 44:48 This isn't exactly what's happening." Um, they were being fired and chastised, and- Well- We were all made to feel like shit about it. 44:55 Going back, going back to the vaccine, so that, the latest was that there was some p- potentially evidence of miscarriages, okay? That they were in there, they were downplaying that. 45:05 Um- And- Going back to the origins of the thing- That was-... early on f-... nonsense though, the miscarriages. Uh, I don't know the that though. But I mean, there, there, there... 45:14 They, they said, they were saying early on that, yeah, it's causing, it's causing, um, extreme illness, and I don't know people... I knew people who got the vaccine who were very ill. 45:23 Anyway, um, they were downplaying that. They were downplaying the, uh, people who had already had it natural immunity- Mm-hmm... which I thought was bullshit. 45:32 I remember being on the press call asking when the vaccines first started coming out, and they're in short supply initially- Mm-hmm... if you remember. I remember. Yeah. 45:40 And I remember asking our health department here saying, "You know, why are you, why are you focus- why are you getting people who've already had it documented cases, why are you vaccinating?" 45:50 "Well, we've been told that everybody needs to get vaccinated." And you're like, "Well, what, well, shouldn't you be vaccinating the older, and the people who are, you know- Mm-hmm... at high risk populations?" 45:58 Blah, blah, blah. And there's just, just the, the messaging, the origins of the thing, they were saying publicly they're trying to label anybody a racist who might have s- Well, I think-... said that it came from... 46:08 They were very, on their private emails saying, "Yeah, well, this probably came from this lab." That's what bothered me too. You know, so it's, it's, it's the cancellation stuff. 46:14 That, that- It's the cancellation stuff that came about. Right. And, and, and very reputable, very reputable tr- uh, doctors who had different opinions about how to- Mm-hmm... approach this were shunned. 46:24 And, and you, and the media was used as a sword to whack these people- Right... at the behest of, of the, the- A lot-... the Fauci perks and that, that alignment. 46:32 A lot of that's not exactly criminal, and I think it's, a lot of it's mushy and subjective. Mm-hmm. But there are hard, fast, black and white errors if not criminality that have happened here. 46:45 And suppressing things for g- for, for- Mm-hmm... you know, commercial gain. I mean, and that's what's frustrating about this. 46:52 Like, if we can't all call a spade a spade on some of this stuff, because there is a so much- Oh, I-... else around it. Mm-hmm. Shiny stuff and sh- he's a human. He's vil- let's vilify him. Let's hang him up. 47:04 If we could just cut out the noise and, and get to those five or six points that are, like, undisputable- Mm-hmm... agr- you know. Uh, like I had a small child. Like, 47:15 w- we've stolen from our kids because nobody, because we had, because we had leadership, uh, malpractice. And if we can't just cut through that, I know people wanna defend... 47:27 Our, their tendency is to defend what they were defending- Mm-hmm... six years ago. Right. Like- I think, I mean- It's frustrating... 47:35 he, I think it's easy to sit here now and be like, "Well, these people made mistakes and are criminals." If you recall, in 2020, we had zero idea what was going... I mean- Yeah... 47:46 you know, we were scared out of our mind. I mean, I was. I was frightened for peop- Because, because of their- I mean, not for myself so much... because they couldn't just say, "We don't know." 47:53 There was- They had to pretend like they knew. Well, yeah. When they did know. That was, that, that's maybe the, the greatest error is acting like you know. But, you know, when the vaccines came out, that was- Yeah... 48:04 that was one of the best days I've had was getting vaccinated. And w- I'd set up a... I was, uh, at the time, um, managing, uh, senior housing. You know, about 1,200 units. Uh, 48:18 we were the first site in a seven state area to get an on-site vaccine, uh, through Walgreens or s- I can't even remember who. 48:27 But that was huge to get that d- I mean, the relief on people's faces in getting that was amazing. And this is, but this was early on, so it's before everything became political with the vaccines. 48:38 Um, I mean, it's, it's... I was, I guess- Uh, I've in the past compared it to, like, you know, I remember '98, the Spencer tornado, the way, you know- Right... 10,000 people converged to help out your neighbors. Yeah. 48:52 And then we're dealing with a pandemic, and it's like, "Oh, maybe wear a mask," or, you know, "Don't go to a function with a whole bunch of peop-..." And people lost their mind. 49:03 How dare you tell me to do this simple thing to take care of my neighbors? It was- Simple... like wearing a mask was easy. 49:09 I don't know if it was effective or not, but it was easy to do, and if it helped 1%, I'm happy to do it. Well, I think they did everything- It's easy... 49:15 they did everybody kind of an injustice, though, because people connecting dots, you know? Mm-hmm. I'm not saying, um, you know, most of us don't just go with the flow. 49:27 Hopefully we, we question what we're being told to do. I mean, my parents told me- Hey... I wouldn't jump off a bridge. I'm a contrarian. Right? Like, oh, I get- I'm constantly questioning. I understand that. 49:35 But if, but when you have people connecting dots, like, hey, wait a minute, you guys just told me in January- Mm-hmm... don't wear masks unless you're sick, you know? Yeah. 49:44 And that, and then they'll say, "Well, we had to wait for the supply chain to catch up." Mm-hmm. 49:47 Well then, so, so that means the medical advice you've been giving has been sullied, and you're d- in, in circumstance, right? Yeah. Well, that undermines- I mean, again, it was-... the legitimacy of, of medical guides. 49:58 You- I didn't question vaccines nearly as much as I do now. Mm-hmm. Right? A lot of pe- this is not, this is not elevated science. He's like, "Trust the science," right? Mm-hmm. Like there's a, some, this... 50:09 Who's gonna pay the price here? He's, like, done some serious damage. Not just he, the CDC, uh, but just- By the vaccines, you're saying, did damage? No, just by the entire idea, or the entire, uh, 50:21 what's played out here. Mm-hmm. I mean, nobody... Do you think more people have faith in the medical system today than they did, uh, six years ago? No. But- And it's because of that... 50:31 it's, you could say that, or more people, do more people have confidence in the election system than they did six years... No. Because people are on TV constantly saying, "You should question. This is wrong. 50:41 You should question it." Yeah. "We have to be outraged about something because that's our motivation in politics anymore," is, is- True. But, and now this validates that. The, this- See-... 50:51 this Fauci thing validates all that, even if it shouldn't, even if that shouldn't have any credit. 50:57 Because this is a crystal clear example of the authorities that are supposed to give us good advice deceiving us in more than, in a couple of s- crystal clear examples. Sure. And, and it's, that's just the way it is. 51:10 That's the outcome of this. Mm-hmm. And my advice last week was if, don't, s- just stop defending it because it continues to get worse. Yeah. More texts have come out. It continues to get worse. Mm-hmm. 51:21 And I guess you don't know it gets worse if you don't know it. Mm-hmm. Like, but this is, this isn't done yet either. I think there's a reason why the guy got a pardon. 51:30 Well- And this is- That's- This is all- That's, that's a- Trust me... that's a red herring argument. So, uh, well, it's not. Of course. [laughs] What, no. If, if, if- It's not... 51:41 like the, the idea that you actually have to commit a crime in order to be prosecuted by this administration is ridiculous. But, but, well, I, I get that. Of course he should've gotten a pardon to protect him from... 51:54 I mean, look what they're doing to this Olympian or to, you know, any number of people- Well-... that have caused arguments... 51:59 see, that's just really getting down the same partisan path, which is I'm not a partisan at all. Right. And- And well, I'm not. Yeah. 52:07 And the saddest part about this is, is I don't care to get into the emotional arguments around this. Mm-hmm. Like you, I... Ben, you're, you're a smart guy. 52:17 I would f- I would pause if you haven't, you know, I just, I just pulled out a smoking gun, and you've never even- Yeah, no, that's-... heard of it, right? Yeah. 52:23 So I would, I mean, I would just advise- Well, I get all my news from The Daily Scout. No, we don't cover that. The Freedom Scouts. We don't cover- So you won't. [laughs] We can't cover that because we're biased, right? 52:32 [laughs] The, uh- No, and again, I'm not, I'm not defending the guy. I just think this vitriol towards the, the face of it is- Well- I understand it. 52:41 I would also like to find someone to be pissed off at for the last six years. Well, I don't- I'm not sure that's the guy... do you have children? I don't. 52:49 Well see, I mean, I don't wanna say I have, you know, we, we- Right... we have a better standing for this, but to see children put in masks- Yeah... 52:56 to have them deprived of that, um, upbringing, like legitimate, serious setbacks- Mm-hmm... that's why I'm so emotional about this. Yeah. Because I lived that. 53:07 But- You know, it wasn't, it didn't seem- And we, and we didn't even have that bad here because there were, you know, we were b- school s- was back in session in 2020, but there were places, states where they weren't in school for two years. 53:19 It, it was just so sad. Yeah. It was just so- It was-... goddamn sad every day. I think- So-... the other part of it- Based on nothing... 53:27 is, I mean, we talk, you know, I've heard you guys talk about, I witnessed it, uh, you know, at the time about, oh, South Dakota did it right. We didn't shut down. Wonderful. True. 53:38 I think that's fine, but you also have to acknowledge that the death rate in 2020 from COVID in South Dakota was about 50% higher than it was in Minnesota. 53:47 So clearly before the vaccines came along, when government policy was dictating everything, there was a cost to that. I mean, it's, it's fair to say absolutely- Right... the economy was great. 53:58 We lost, you know, a few hundred more people than we otherwise would have, but- Early. Yeah. And even that- Yes. And, you know- Yeah. It did. Yeah. We could've had- It evens out... 54:10 we could have had grandma or- I, I, I, I mean, I was watching the death rates of, of the, of the regional death rates. Mm. 54:14 Minnesota was actually one of the highest initially out the, out of the gate because there- Mm-hmm... were so concentrated. Right. Mm-hmm. 54:19 Um, and then South Dakota caught up at, at- South Dakota in 2020, I think was, I think it was like New York, California, South Dakota on We all had our time to shine. Yeah. 54:29 If you watched morning news, they would point out it was like a shell game. Mm-hmm. It was like watching the stock market on- Right... over the last 10 years on fast forward. 54:37 But again, it's to say one state or one ideology was correct is, I think... But the, not- But that's what, but that's what our, my, what I, I'm so pissed about the media because that's what- Mm-hmm... 54:49 the media, we would have, you know, they're, they're, they're the ones doing it right, like in stories in April and May. Mm-hmm. And you're just like, you don't know. 54:57 Then there, there was a concerted effort to come down hard on Sweden because they were kind of bucking the, what, what everybody else was doing in Europe. 55:04 I, I, I felt like the m- the media, my industry, which is supposed to be questioning stuff- Mm-hmm... was actually like, like I said earlier, being used as a sword- Yeah... to go after people. Yeah. No. 55:13 And that's why, that's, that's what I disagreed with on- Yeah... from my issues. Well, a lot of byproduct of it that's undisputable too, addiction rates through the roof, divorce rates, uh- Education... 55:23 you know, domestic abuse. Mm-hmm. All this, nothing good came of that. Right. 55:29 So I do think there's, you know, I think we have, we're justified in being a bit upset here, especially when you were sort of cast aside as crazy when you were questioning this- Mm... to begin with, you know. So 55:41 I just, I mean, I'm not gonna, I'm not one to get opinionated publicly about things, but as, as God as my... I, I wa- I, I'm not wrong here. [laughs] I'm not, I'm not wrong. So Anthony Fauci, uh, 55:59 he will. So- Let's switch to politics. Yeah, like- Other shit. He is- But- I just... And that's the thing, it's not political. Yeah. It's not political. It's, uh- It, it's unfortunately- It is... 56:09 everything seems to be political anymore. It's a good time not to be in politics anymore. I'll tell you that. Yeah. It's just that I- I'll stick with, uh, cannabis, you know, something completely uncontroversial. 56:18 Well, too bad you didn't bring any samples because I, I need to chill out. I do, I do, uh, do wanna ask you, uh, because Iowa has, uh, you have an open Senate race. Mm-hmm. 56:26 And you have the governor's race you, you won too. Yeah. How are, how's, how are things l- you're still partisan Democrat obviously. It's, I'm still a, through, like arguably more so. Yeah. 56:37 Um- Than when you were actually running the state party? Well, when- Is it because of the weed? [laughs] So 2012, when I was chairman of the state party- Yeah... 56:45 first year I ever voted a straight ticket Democrat, and I felt obligated to. Um, up to that point, I was always, al- you know, especially because I knew all the candidates, it was always a Republican. 56:55 I thought, "Well, this is a more capable person who I might have some disagreements with, but I think is gonna do a good job." I can't find that anymore. I mean, once you've... Okay, the, my real partisan take, uh, 57:11 the Republican Party on the national level is not functioning as a political party anymore. It's a cult of personality, and there's no way to get past that. Um- It's hard, it's hard- When, when-... to argue that... 57:22 when you watch hardcore Republic- like Johnson, for instance, um, who has, you know, is practically as anti-Trump as you can be anymore because he doesn't just automatically do what he's told. 57:37 But the fact that we now, you know, they're complaining about communism, okay? We have a president who, who now has instituted the ownership of companies, of private companies, and not a word from these guys. Yeah. 57:53 Mm-hmm. Because why would you upset the, you know, you don't go after the, the- Don't bite the hand... the cult leader. Yeah. Part, well, part of this, I mean, and I, and I, I, there are, there are- It's, yeah... 58:01 interesting, interesting critiques of the Democratic Party too. Mm. Uh, uh, of, of- Oh, trust me, I can be as critical [laughs] as anybody... and how they're operating as well. Yeah, absolutely. 58:10 Um, depriving, I think, voters of ch- especially in presidential. I mean, I don't think the Democrats have had a, have a, have had a, uh, real presidential contest, uh, since 2008, one- Mm. Obama, Hillary. 58:22 I, I would disagree. No. Living in Iowa, when we had the caucuses, which we managed to screw up, um, we had- With Bernie... very, yeah, yeah, we had- But they stole that from Bernie. They didn't steal it from Bernie. 58:34 I will tell you, having been there, the caucuses- The Bernie, the Bernie supporters think so. Well, Bernie supporters also- And they think they, they think they got screwed in 2016. Mm-hmm. 58:43 So but I'm just, but the critiques of the parties are the- The auger game... I'm gonna, I go back to the Mc- I go back to McCain-Feingold. Right. 58:50 Because totally defanged the parties, the, the parties of being able to exert power. Mm-hmm. And this is, that the void is filled with c- certain things. Oh, yeah. 58:58 And so I think, I don't think the parties have enough power, you know. I, hmm. Hmm. I would disagree. Good take. I mean, I think, I don't think central, and this is coming from a for- former party chairman- No... 59:10 who even at the time thought that we should open it up more than we do. I mean, this is how you wind up with who's gonna be the next attorney general in South Dakota? Uh- Lance Russell. 59:21 Lance Russell, because the parties have too much power. I mean, if you opened it up, there's zero chance that Lance Russell would be the next attorney general. 59:31 Um, I mean, I've said for years- So I'm talking, I guess I'm looking at it from a national perspective of nat- Okay... national fundraising, na- the ability to sort of control, uh, the messaging of your party, control. 59:43 So, so the, the, when you've defanged the, the ability of the parties to really raise a lot of money and that's where- Mm... then, then you've opened it up to the political action committees- Right... the outside forces. 59:52 Yeah. I mean- So that's what, that's I guess what I'm alluding to... it's, and they've just opened it up now back for the parties to spend freely. A little bit. Uh, they've loosened- Not a little bit. 1:00:02 Well, I mean- Pretty much... it was, it's not what it's was pre McCain-Feingold. Right. But- I mean, money always finds a way in American politics. But the, but the, but the- It's like water. It washes Yeah. 1:00:10 It's, it's terrible... but the, the parties, the national parties used to control, have, exert a lot more control over that. Yeah. And thus, that, that now again, it's been diffused. Mm-hmm. 1:00:19 The national parties, this is my, they don't have the power that they once had. Yeah. And I think that that's- I agree with that... why you have other issues. Do you know the chairman of the Democratic National Party? 1:00:28 Ken. Ken. I don't know. Right. There you go. Yeah. Yeah. Who? Ken, uh- Ken Martin... Martin. Yeah. He's a buddy of mine from- 1:00:35 Old days Hey, Ken, we'll send you a, we'll send you a link [laughs] Don't, don't know how long he's gonna last there. Yeah, he's kind of been battling a little bit. 1:00:42 Sorry, let's go back, let's go back and talk about Iowa races. Sorry. Yeah. You got- I, I got distracted... interesting races. Yeah We have really interesting races. 1:00:47 I think there's a, a better than even chance for the first time in my adult life I'll live in a state with a Democrat governor in Rob Sand, who, uh, has been, um, who I, I've known for a number of years now. 1:00:59 Heck of- Is he secretary of state? No, ag, um- Or no... no, auditor. Auditor, okay. So he's been the state auditor for eight years. The only statewide elected Dem, um, has put together a fundraising, I mean, 1:01:13 at the last report he had 19 million on hand. Mm-hmm. Um- Dang... I don't know how much he'd raised on top of that. Um, and- And he was the auditor? And, yeah, but- Check the ones and zeros... 1:01:24 well, yeah, so you think [laughs] Um, I mean, just tremendous fundraising. Um, is running against a, I think, real, um- Piece of shit... well, no, I was gonna say wounded Oh, sorry. Okay. That- I mean, 1:01:39 uh, uh, the, the guy that everyone thought was gonna win the Republican primary, my congressman, um, didn't and got upset by, um, gosh, I don't even, I can't think if it was Zach Nunn, I wanna say. 1:01:50 That might not, no, that's a congressman. Um, that's, uh- But he's considered the inferior candidate, like- Like, I mean, and Rob Sand is- Is he, is it because he's crazy? 1:01:58 Because he's so far, or is he because more conservative than the general population, or- Well, he's certainly that, but um, they defined him immediately. 1:02:04 Uh, turns out he pretty much lives in Kansas, and it's, was just coming up to, uh, to run for governor. So, um, you know, he's trying to claim to be a farmer, but he worked on, uh, uh, Americans for Prosperity. 1:02:16 He worked for them- Yeah, for many years... for many years, was married to one of the daughters of, what's the- Koch brothers? 1:02:20 Yeah, one of the Koch brothers' daughters, and I mean, he's, he's as into it as you can get and is claiming to be an outsider. So, uh, and Rob had the resources to define him early, so that's gonna be really interesting. 1:02:32 The Senate race is an open race. Um, Josh Dhurand and Hensley, uh, Ashley Hinson. Hin- Hinson, I think. Yeah. He's our Iowa correspondent. Yeah. That's gonna be a interesting race. 1:02:44 Dhurand is a very interesting candidate, um, and it's wide open, and Iowa's, you know, been trending red. 1:02:51 I, I used to joke about how I just kind of brought South Dakota, uh, with me when I came down 'cause, uh, about the time I got there, the trends [laughs] started going- There you go... pretty hard. 1:03:01 Um, but it, this is a year where they could win. Yeah, this- They could win the governor's race. The less- Trump effect... less likely maybe. Yeah. Um- In fact, the, the, uh, the Democrats are, are eager to go vote. 1:03:15 Yeah. True. Yeah, that's true. It's gonna be- How is Trump, how is 2018, 'cause it's gonna be worse for Republicans, I think, this time. 1:03:22 I think, I think the overall vote, yes, but I think they've managed to compress the competitive districts down to a handful, so- Yeah, there aren't, uh, on the House side there aren't a lot of- It'll be- There can't be, 1:03:35 uh, unless things- I-... really go off the rails, there's not really room for big wave elections- Right. Yeah... like there were, like, in 2010 and- Yeah... you know, so. 2010, 2018. Um- Yeah... 1:03:43 I don't think we'll see that. But I, some of those on the bubble that they moved to, you know, made less safe to make others, um- Maybe, yeah... some of those might go. Yeah. Some of the ones they thought were safe. 1:03:54 So it's gonna be interesting 'cause I do think, uh, I do think it's gonna be a pretty good year for, for, um, Democrats. It's trending that dir- that way. I think it will be too. Yeah. 1:04:04 I mean, I don't really pay attention to national news. I don't think Fauci's gonna carry the day. [laughs] And, uh- So-... and we got this Iran war going on that, uh- That's not helping... and everything else. 1:04:15 So, uh- Yeah. 1:04:16 I mean, you look at, like, look at how bad 2010 was for the Democrats when they had a president who was not upside, I mean, maybe marginally, but cr- not upside down in approval rating, uh, was on message and actually attempting to help his party's candidates win, and you look at what we have now where neither of those [laughs] things- Yeah... 1:04:37 is true. Um- They have more infighting. Much. With the Trump and the Thune stuff going on and all that, so. Which is just weird. Yeah. It's weird. But- Anyway... this is one of the- This was fun, boys... yeah. 1:04:48 Thanks for letting me come and- Yeah. Thanks for- Get a nice little spar there... thanks for dropping in. Yeah. At the end of the day- About to say... we can all agree on cannabis. 1:04:56 [laughs] Come on alone, head for the mountains of Busch Beer. Head for the mountains. It's cold and it's smooth and it's waiting for you. Come on, head for the mountains of Busch Beer. 1:05:14 Head for the mountains of Busch. Head for the mountains of Busch Light Beer. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2022. Anheuser-Busch, Busch, and Busch Light Beer, St. Louis, Missouri. 1:05:27 Beale Distributing, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We could have saved the three bears a lot of time. Just Right Mattresses built by mattress nerds with a lifetime comfort commitment. 1:05:37 We build them by hand and deliver with love. Juna Sleep Systems in Sioux Falls and online at junasleep.com. Thanks again to Ben for coming in on his trip to, through town, going to Minneapolis. 1:05:52 He didn't bring any samples either. I thought maybe after we stopped recording he would- Nope... whip out the gummies. Nope, he didn't. Uh- That would be illegal. That would be illegal. I don't have a card or anything. 1:06:02 Right. So we follow the law. Yeah. Uh- I was gonna, I meant- Thanks, thanks again to our sponsors, Beale, Juna, and First Bank & Trust. Yep. We'll get an ad spot for them soon. 1:06:12 But, uh, and the audio, but going to Flandreau maybe tonight, pick up some papers. Not rolling papers, newspapers. Newspapers. I will say my weak point, my weak, 1:06:27 you know, what's your strength and weaknesses or whatever when it comes to, like, this operation that the Scout is, circulation. Have a hard time keeping count of papers Sucks. 1:06:40 And I, I feel bad for, for our new circulation manager because I'm the problem. I just found that out today. [laughs] I couldn't possibly be the problem. Um, anyway, speaking of migration. Yep. 1:06:56 Not just print, we migrated digital too. We migrated digitally. We are now with Beehive. What is Beehive exactly? It's a, it's another content management publication, or what would you want? 1:07:11 CMS solu- content Content management service... service. And we as a- System Sy- Content management system... system. And m- It's a website host... website host. And so all of you have known us through Substack. Yeah. 1:07:27 Um- And thanks, thanks to Substack for- Yeah... existing. Um, I don't know if we would have ever, like, got to this. I mean, we- we're, we're resilient enough. Where there's a will, there's a way. 1:07:39 But, um- They made it easier... they made it easier for us to do what we did at the rate, uh, speed to market that we had. 100%. 1:07:48 So, and we knew there would come a time where it would no longer be cost beneficial or it would be cost prohibitive or it'd just be upside down. 1:08:00 It'd be inefficient and bad business to continue using them because of the, the way they do, the way they make money. And everybody's entitled to make money. Their model is you share a cut of every subscription you sell. 1:08:12 And well, building a website that can do everything Substack did and does would cost us tens and tens of thousands of dollars, plus tens of thousands of dollars to maintain every month and year. Um, 1:08:26 so we will use them to launch this thing, and then... I mean, we still don't wanna run our... We don't wanna build our own website. No, probably not. And after t-this whole migration, I am affirmed by that. Yeah. 1:08:38 We're- Uh-... we're good for a while. [laughs] Yeah. Like, could you... That was hard enough. You imagine building something- Right... from scratch. And, um, so it's a different kind of a rate structure. 1:08:50 So as we mentioned last week, you know, there's some financial ga- benefits, but then, you know, that also allows us to continue building out this organization. So, um, it's a win for everybody. 1:09:04 And except for that one guy commented, uh, when we announced this move. The comment was like, "Well, I hope you don't have 20 ads in every story." Yeah. And I counted. Oh, there's 17 in that one. Uh, 1:09:17 but it is, it will, it does allow some of our advertisers to get better data on, on their, who's seeing their ads. And, uh, readers can customize their experience more. And, uh- It, it will allow us to do different, 1:09:33 different things with ads that probably will be, I think readers will appreciate. 1:09:38 Um, you know, so we'll, we'll, we'll work through a lot of that stuff over the coming weeks to see how all that's, how all, all of it's gonna- Yeah... change. 1:09:46 But for now, it, it looks, it'll look the same probably a lot of... You know, and will look similar to how it's always looked. Um, but there'll be- It'll be-... 1:09:53 there'll be a lot of opportunities for different changes to come, so. Yeah. I mean, there, you can already see, like, if you're on the website, there's, I mean, it looks a little different. It's- It looks bolder... 1:10:03 it's bolder. Yeah. It looks kinda shinier. Yeah. You know? Um, I don't wanna say more professional, but definitely further removed from, like, my 10th grade computer science class, you know, um, 1:10:18 where you learned how to build websites and stuff. But, uh, back in the day. Did you ever have computer science class? Oh, yeah. 1:10:27 What'd you guys- In fact, I was in a computer science class when, uh- In the green, black screen, green letters? Well, yep. 1:10:32 Well, the, uh, in a b- they had the, like, the little triangle and you'd, like, type a command, and it would, like, go over here. And then you'd type a, give it coordinates and stuff like that. 1:10:41 I was in computer s- I was in computer class when the Space Shuttle Challenger blew up. Did you do it? I wasn't the one. Did it have the internet connected up there? No. I wasn't the one. The wrong button. 1:10:51 It was a, it was a bad, uh, it was an, a bad seal. Yeah. The, the... Anyway. Yeah, I guess I shouldn't- So we were there. We were-... shouldn't make jokes about that... 1:10:58 we were in that class, and actually, and so we kinda... Then we turned on, they brought, wheeled in the, the TV, so we watched that, how, how that unfold. Yeah. That was a little before my time. Yep. So. Yeah. 1:11:11 One of those things, you know, you know where your, one of the historical events, like, where you were when something historical goes down. Yeah. Like, I remember Ronald Re- when I, when Reagan got shot. 1:11:20 That was a little before your time too, wasn't it? [laughs] Yeah, no. Yeah, it definitely was. Uh, was that '84 or, uh, '80- '81. Did he get shot twice? No. Oh. It was, uh, I think it was '81. 1:11:32 And, uh, yeah, 'cause he got elected in '80, took office, and he was shot. Oh, he got shot right away. Okay. Yeah, so. Yeah. I wasn't sure on the timeline of that. Yeah. 1:11:40 So yeah, you remember, obviously we have the 25th anniversary of 9/11. Don't ask me where I was. I'm cutting this part out. [laughs] So. I, well, yeah. I'm not, well, I, I know where I was. 1:11:52 I was, uh, I was getting ready for, for my internship at the Denver Business Journal. Amy was getting ready. She was a, a law student at the University of Denver, and we had NPR on in the morning. 1:12:04 And they cut in and say, "There's a plane that hit the W- World Trade Center." And you're like, "Oh, that's weird." Like, you think of a Cessna or whatever. They don't even tell you, like, what kind of... 1:12:12 And then, like, a f- couple minutes later, they, they go back to their regular show, and then a couple minutes later they break in. They're like, "Another plane hit another." 1:12:17 You know, and then you're like, "This ain't right." And then you find out they're airliners, right? So Amy took me down to the Denver Business Journal. She dropped me. Like, we had to share a car. 1:12:25 Dropped me off, and I had my bike then, so then I had to bike, 'cause then I had to bike to school after I was done with my internship. Um- You rode a bike, like a pedal bike around? Yep, bicycle, bicycle. Yeah. 1:12:35 Like pedaling around the park. And, uh- Yeah... and it was really, it was really, uh, crazy being in a... I mean, I was in a newsroom when this ha- when it went down. Yeah. I bet they were losing their shit. 1:12:44 We were, uh- They were trying to figure out, like, a lot of yelling probably. Like Uh, it was Neil Westergard was the editor. He brought everybody in. He's like every, you know, everything we were doing this week, gone. 1:12:55 Yeah. Start working on stuff. So anyway, but so you r- you remember these historical events and where you were, but we got way off topic. Yeah, it's okay. Yeah, it is coming up, 25th anniversary. 1:13:07 So I should dig out a box. I wrote a poem about that, and they read it on the loudspeaker the next day over the whole school. Um, I don't know if it was the next day, but I read it. There was a... 1:13:20 I remember some of the lines, and it was pretty cheesy actually. I said I rhym- my mom's name is Kelly, and I rhymed. I said Kelly and telly, 'cause like my mom called on the telly or something like that. 1:13:30 I remember it was cheesy, but it won some awards or something. I didn't write it with AI. Poetry. If you see some, if you see some people all of a sudden posting poems and they've never wrote poems in their life before- 1:13:44 Question that. Yeah. Question its origins. Yeah, all of a sudden I write poems. [laughs] Well, it's been a week. Thanks to Bill- Yeah, I'll say thanks to Bill, June Sleep System, 1:13:56 First Bank & Trust, and then the Beehive people were great. Yep. Thanks to our team, 'cause it has been a week, and we don't say thanks to our team enough on here. Uh, because it was... 1:14:09 There's a lot of people in the kitchen here, you know? Yep. Uh, 1:14:13 and it's the kinds of newsroom, we're deadline-driven people, and it was hell week because you still had to do all your regular jobs, and then this migration, a lot of it was supposed to be automated, but... 1:14:27 And then how do you, you know, how do you drive the car? Like we're buying... Like we know how to drive a car. We just got a, a fifth wheeler, you know, with all sort of... 1:14:38 Or like a 747, and I don't know what all the buttons on the dash mean. And so then we have to throw ourselves into the... You know, s- it was a sink or swim moment, and nobody drowned is what I'm saying. 1:14:52 So, uh, so far so good. 1:14:55 Podcast listeners, if you are a subscriber, you get emails, or you visit our website, thedakotascout.com, and you see here anything that you think could be improved on our site or you don't understand how to make it function in the way you 1:15:11 want to, if you can't get to what you are, believe you are paying for or whatnot, uh, we wanna hear all that feedback. Uh, the... 1:15:21 It takes a village, uh, and early on here in a transition, like we need feedback on how the functionality is and if things aren't working right. Like don't be afraid to... Be like me as a reporter. 1:15:34 Don't be afraid to annoy my sources, call them too much. Uh, don't be afraid to annoy us with, um, feedback, thoughts, whatnot, so. And as always, thank you for listening. Thanks to the sponsors. Thank you, Jonathan. 1:15:49 Thanks Ben. Nestelhoff, news tips welcome. Thanks. 1:15:53 [upbeat music] If you wanna understand what's really happening in South Dakota, start with The Dakota Scout, South Dakota's leading journal of politics and culture, locally owned and printed in Sioux Falls. 1:16:23 Founded in 2022 by veteran reporters Jonathan Ellis and Joe Sneve, the Scout brings more than 40 years of combined experience and a reputation for relentless fair-minded reporting. 1:16:35 From Sioux Falls City Hall to the state capital in Pierre, The Dakota Scout delivers breaking news, investigative reporting, and serious political coverage without the spin. 1:16:45 Its Lewis and Clark inspired logo reflects its mission, charting new territory in a new era of South Dakota journalism. 1:16:53 Subscribe today for full access to stories delivered straight to your inbox, plus The Scouting Lounge podcast. $7 a month at thedakotascout.com. The Dakota Scout, stay informed. [upbeat music]
