Castuner

Searchlight Report

Meghan O’Brien

Reporter and host Meghan O’Brien works with other South Dakota Searchlight journalists to take listeners inside politics and policy in The Mount Rushmore State, including the annual legislative session.

Podcast website

Listen in your app

Episodes

41 episodes

  1. As blue ‘ripple’ hits Sioux Falls, Democratic Party leader won’t ‘write off’ rural South Dakota 26:59
  2. Voices of mail-in voters: ‘What other alternative do many of us have?’ 19:39
  3. Why South Dakota’s Republican attorney general wants to be a member of the US House 36:49
  4. South Dakota’s Democratic nominee for US House makes her case to voters 44:51
  5. Pro and con arguments on a ballot question that could repeal SD’s Medicaid expansion requirement 22:21
  6. Democratic candidate for governor makes his case against decades of Republican rule 29:17
  7. Governor candidates debate data centers, education, economic development 12:41
  8. Pro and con voices on Amendment J, clarifying the citizenship requirement for voting in South Dakota 17:50
  9. Supporters of creating a state trust fund for unclaimed property explain Amendment K for voters 13:57
  10. Pro and con voices on a ballot question that would raise the bar for changing the state constitution 20:17
  11. How independent US Senate candidate Brian Bengs wants to ‘deny the majority’ to get things done 30:00
  12. ‘Shouldn’t I be dead first?’ Sounds from Kristi Noem’s South Dakota statue unveiling 26:43
  13. SD House leader says ‘third camp’ of Republicans arose during primary to ‘trash the conservative leadership’ 19:55
  14. US Sen. Rounds on Wounded Knee medals, water pipelines and a ‘clandestine’ postal investigation 24:26
  15. Recapping the runoff: Pat Powers on Doeden's doomed quote, Rhoden’s victory and a Democrat’s ‘uphill battle’ 25:58
  16. South Dakota’s journey to a historic runoff election 16:28
  17. Bringing the Capitol art and paint scheme back from ‘outlined in Sharpie’ to the ‘way it should be’ 20:23
  18. An insider’s tour of South Dakota’s state museum renovation and the wonders within 19:50
  19. Trump, Rushmore, fireworks, Little Bighorn and how it’s all related 14:43
  20. As pendulum swings away from populists, lobbyist hopes to ‘make state government boring again’ 27:53
  21. The ‘fatal error’ in the Republican governor primary campaign, and a look ahead to the runoff 20:27
  22. Previewing South Dakota’s first-ever statewide runoff election with journalist Kevin Woster 24:11
  23. What South Dakotans need to know about new laws and their rights before they vote in the primary election 18:10
  24. How governor candidate Dusty Johnson says he would ‘strike the right balance’ on data centers 27:04
  25. Governor candidate Jon Hansen calls state’s approach to economic development a ‘breeding ground of corruption’ 37:11
  26. ‘We owe it to society’ to rehabilitate inmates, Gov. Larry Rhoden says amid campaign debates about prisons 19:42
  27. How governor candidate Toby Doeden says he’ll phase out property taxes 33:27
  28. Higher sales taxes for lower property taxes: How South Dakotans will be affected 23:47
  29. Big concern and big bucks for fireworks, a final debate for GOP governor candidates, and a Democratic candidate’s take 18:44
  30. Uranium drilling concerns, state money for defense and guns, and highlights from another governor debate 18:27
  31. One candidate’s tax cut is another’s increase, Noem gets mixed reviews, and more governor debate highlights 14:40
  32. A No Kings protest in SD’s capital, voting citizenship changes and the Legislature’s ‘quickly forgotten’ topic 18:06
  33. Landing the ‘budget plane,’ slamming the gas (literally) and other sights and sounds from the final legislative week 20:32
  34. How a sales tax roller coaster could lead to property tax relief for South Dakotans 16:41
  35. The search for a state senator: a Searchlight Report special edition 23:28
  36. Lawmakers torn over tax bills and data centers, all about that odor in Sioux Falls, and gaveling with gusto 18:14
  37. Lab-grown meat, prenatal videos, and other highlights of the Legislature’s halfway point 18:42
  38. The lawmaker who takes ivermectin, a Republican rift over data centers, and more from legislative week 4 19:44
  39. ‘Woke’ money, wildfires and more from the Legislature’s third week; plus: ‘The Data Center Divide' 22:18
  40. God, ice cream and tea: Legislature’s second week brings hemp debate, committee kerfuffle and more 15:31
  41. Looking at the bookkeepers to catch crime, and other highlights from legislative week 1 15:42