WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.060 Okay, let's untack this. When you think of North 00:00:02.060 --> 00:00:05.820 Dakota, what immediately comes to mind? Is it 00:00:05.820 --> 00:00:09.380 wide open, maybe slightly desolate, cold plains? 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:12.220 Right. The ultimate flyover state. Exactly. It's 00:00:12.220 --> 00:00:14.320 often tagged that way, you know, landscape defined 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:16.780 by blizzards and distance. But if that's your 00:00:16.780 --> 00:00:19.800 mental image, you are missing one of the most 00:00:19.800 --> 00:00:24.399 dynamic, rapidly transforming and politically 00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:27.160 fascinating stories unfolding in the 21st century. 00:00:27.320 --> 00:00:29.960 It's a classic case of misconception versus reality. 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:33.719 Our sources reveal a state that's, well, it's 00:00:33.719 --> 00:00:36.240 built on geographical extremes and a profound 00:00:36.240 --> 00:00:38.539 history of political radicalism. And that's the 00:00:38.539 --> 00:00:40.829 part that's so surprising. It is. And now it's 00:00:40.829 --> 00:00:43.469 navigating this unprecedented economic transformation 00:00:43.469 --> 00:00:46.429 that's driven by massive natural resources. North 00:00:46.429 --> 00:00:48.969 Dakota is just it's a study in powerful, almost 00:00:48.969 --> 00:00:51.250 unbelievable contradictions. Our mission today 00:00:51.250 --> 00:00:53.770 is to cut through those stereotypes and give 00:00:53.770 --> 00:00:56.710 you a deep, fast and thoroughly informed understanding 00:00:56.710 --> 00:00:58.270 of the state. We're going to try. We're going 00:00:58.270 --> 00:01:01.369 to cover everything from how its unique history 00:01:01.369 --> 00:01:04.109 of agrarian populism created the nation's only 00:01:04.109 --> 00:01:08.269 state run bank to the staggering consequences 00:01:08.269 --> 00:01:11.310 of. the modern energy boom that has reshaped 00:01:11.310 --> 00:01:14.030 its economy and really strained its social fabric. 00:01:14.230 --> 00:01:17.010 We have the three key nuggets that I think really 00:01:17.010 --> 00:01:20.109 define this deep dive. Okay. First, the slightly 00:01:20.109 --> 00:01:23.370 absurd but politically significant rivalry that 00:01:23.370 --> 00:01:25.569 led to what's called the Harrison Shuffle during 00:01:25.569 --> 00:01:28.530 statehood. A great story. Second, the story of 00:01:28.530 --> 00:01:31.579 the Bank of North Dakota. That continental location 00:01:31.579 --> 00:01:34.319 is so key. It's located deep in the interior 00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:36.920 of North America, right? Roughly equal distance 00:01:36.920 --> 00:01:39.079 from the North Pole and the equator. Which means 00:01:39.079 --> 00:01:41.700 it lacks any moderating influence from major 00:01:41.700 --> 00:01:44.579 oceans. None whatsoever. So the weather doesn't 00:01:44.579 --> 00:01:46.939 just fluctuate. It oscillates wildly. It's not 00:01:46.939 --> 00:01:50.239 just cold. It's brutally extreme. And the state 00:01:50.239 --> 00:01:53.040 sits, I mean, it sits literally at the geographic 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:55.700 heart of the continent. That's the claim near 00:01:55.700 --> 00:01:57.519 Rugby, right? Exactly. Near the small town of 00:01:57.519 --> 00:01:59.799 Rugby. There's a marker there. claiming this 00:01:59.799 --> 00:02:02.519 is the geographic center of North America. And 00:02:02.519 --> 00:02:05.060 that central location, it just guarantees climatic 00:02:05.060 --> 00:02:07.599 intensity. The temperature records are what really 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:09.719 grab your attention. I mean, they're just they're 00:02:09.719 --> 00:02:12.939 wild. They're absolutely staggering. North Dakota 00:02:12.939 --> 00:02:15.699 holds the contiguous U .S. record for the longest 00:02:15.699 --> 00:02:19.000 consecutive period below zero degrees Fahrenheit. 00:02:19.020 --> 00:02:21.360 Which is an almost unbelievable 41 consecutive 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:24.819 days. 41 days. In Langdon, during the brutal 00:02:24.819 --> 00:02:28.000 winter of 1935 -36. Just imagine that. And yet, 00:02:28.099 --> 00:02:30.680 in that very same year, the record high was set 00:02:30.680 --> 00:02:33.620 in a town called Steele. Right. And it was 121 00:02:33.620 --> 00:02:35.780 degrees Fahrenheit. That's a registered historical 00:02:35.780 --> 00:02:39.419 swing of 181 degrees across the state. In the 00:02:39.419 --> 00:02:42.020 same year. It's a level of volatility most people 00:02:42.020 --> 00:02:44.180 just can't comprehend. And it's not just the 00:02:44.180 --> 00:02:46.500 static extremes, but the speed of change. You're 00:02:46.500 --> 00:02:48.439 talking about that Granville event. The Granville 00:02:48.439 --> 00:02:51.180 weather event. Yeah. Our sources highlight this 00:02:51.180 --> 00:02:54.960 single, almost implausible day in February 1918. 00:02:55.659 --> 00:02:58.520 The temperature there spiked 83 degrees in just 00:02:58.520 --> 00:03:01.620 12 hours. From what to what? It shifted from 00:03:01.620 --> 00:03:04.259 negative 33 degrees to 50 degrees Fahrenheit 00:03:04.259 --> 00:03:07.039 in half a day. So if you live in North Dakota, 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:10.960 you have to be ready for weather whiplash on 00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:13.680 a planetary scale. And the land itself, the terrain, 00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:16.520 is equally varied, which I think often surprises 00:03:16.520 --> 00:03:18.740 people who just assume the entire state is flat. 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:20.360 That's another one of the big misconceptions. 00:03:20.460 --> 00:03:22.919 In fact, it's physically divided into two highly 00:03:22.919 --> 00:03:25.020 distinct regions. Okay, let's break that down. 00:03:25.139 --> 00:03:28.620 The eastern half is dominated by the flat, exceptionally 00:03:28.620 --> 00:03:30.900 fertile Red River Valley. And this isn't just 00:03:30.900 --> 00:03:34.229 regular flat. It's like... scientifically flat. 00:03:34.330 --> 00:03:38.189 It is. This entire region is the historical basin 00:03:38.189 --> 00:03:42.009 of an ancient body of water, Glacial Lake Agassiz. 00:03:42.229 --> 00:03:45.590 And when that immense lake finally drained, it 00:03:45.590 --> 00:03:48.310 left behind these deep deposits of the finest, 00:03:48.469 --> 00:03:51.740 richest silt imaginable. That is the foundational 00:03:51.740 --> 00:03:54.280 wealth of the state's agriculture. And the Red 00:03:54.280 --> 00:03:56.560 River itself, which defines that eastern border 00:03:56.560 --> 00:03:59.740 with Minnesota, it has a peculiar characteristic. 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:02.120 It flows north. It flows northward into Lake 00:04:02.120 --> 00:04:04.599 Winnipeg in Canada. And this isn't just a quirky 00:04:04.599 --> 00:04:07.219 fact for a trivia night. It's a critical geographic 00:04:07.219 --> 00:04:10.479 challenge. A huge challenge. Because it flows 00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:12.939 north, the lower sections up in Canada freeze 00:04:12.939 --> 00:04:15.180 earlier in the winter and they thaw later in 00:04:15.180 --> 00:04:17.699 the spring. So the water gets backed up. It dramatically 00:04:17.699 --> 00:04:20.399 increases the risk of immense flooding. the southern 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:23.399 sections, like around Fargo when the spring runoff 00:04:23.399 --> 00:04:25.779 starts. The ice acts like a dam. Okay, so that's 00:04:25.779 --> 00:04:27.899 the east. What about the west? You contrast that 00:04:27.899 --> 00:04:31.560 with the central and western halves. As you move 00:04:31.560 --> 00:04:34.560 west past what's called the drift prairie, you 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:37.370 reach the Missouri Plateau. And things change. 00:04:37.449 --> 00:04:39.990 It's marked by rolling hills, steeper river valleys, 00:04:40.110 --> 00:04:43.089 and eventually you get to the dramatic, deeply 00:04:43.089 --> 00:04:45.790 eroded landscape of the northern part of the 00:04:45.790 --> 00:04:48.170 Badlands. All west of the Missouri River. Correct. 00:04:48.250 --> 00:04:50.829 And that is where you find the state's high point, 00:04:50.990 --> 00:04:55.230 White Butte, which tops out at about 3 ,507 feet. 00:04:55.410 --> 00:04:57.430 And also Theodore Roosevelt National Park, which 00:04:57.430 --> 00:05:00.350 is stunning. Absolutely. That park attracts around 00:05:00.350 --> 00:05:02.189 three -quarters of a million visitors annually 00:05:02.189 --> 00:05:04.850 for its rugged, sculpted terrain and, of course, 00:05:04.930 --> 00:05:07.790 its abundant... bison population. It really, 00:05:07.870 --> 00:05:10.050 really challenges that flat and empty stereotype. 00:05:10.410 --> 00:05:12.250 Human engineering has also had a huge impact 00:05:12.250 --> 00:05:14.230 on the landscape, especially the rivers. Oh, 00:05:14.250 --> 00:05:16.050 definitely. You have to talk about the Missouri 00:05:16.050 --> 00:05:18.629 River, the longest river in North America. It's 00:05:18.629 --> 00:05:20.990 contained by the massive Garrison Dam, which 00:05:20.990 --> 00:05:23.860 creates Lake Sakakawea. And Lake Sakakoya is 00:05:23.860 --> 00:05:26.319 the third largest artificial lake in the entire 00:05:26.319 --> 00:05:29.439 United States by volume. This speaks volumes 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:32.199 about the necessity of controlling water resources 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:35.459 in this dry continental climate. It's a massive 00:05:35.459 --> 00:05:37.779 feat of engineering. OK, so let's shift from 00:05:37.779 --> 00:05:40.019 that physical foundation to the political one. 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:44.879 The journey to statehood was marked by classic 00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:47.860 American expansionism mixed with some pretty 00:05:47.860 --> 00:05:50.040 profound political maneuvering. It really was. 00:05:50.730 --> 00:05:52.649 Much of the region was acquired through the Louisiana 00:05:52.649 --> 00:05:56.310 Purchase in 1803, but that far northeastern section, 00:05:56.550 --> 00:05:59.050 that valuable Red River Valley we were just talking 00:05:59.050 --> 00:06:01.310 about. The really fertile part. Exactly. That 00:06:01.310 --> 00:06:03.449 was actually part of British Rupert's land until 00:06:03.449 --> 00:06:06.610 the Convention of 1818 set the current 49th parallel 00:06:06.610 --> 00:06:09.209 border. So when the Dakota Territory was established 00:06:09.209 --> 00:06:12.509 in 1861, it immediately started to suffer from 00:06:12.509 --> 00:06:15.430 internal friction. A lot of it. The sources explain 00:06:15.430 --> 00:06:19.050 a very strong north -south tension. The southern 00:06:19.050 --> 00:06:21.470 part, which was more quickly populated and settled, 00:06:21.649 --> 00:06:24.129 increasingly viewed the northern half as, well, 00:06:24.250 --> 00:06:26.829 disreputable. Disreputable. That's a strong word. 00:06:26.930 --> 00:06:28.889 What do they mean by that? It was the domain 00:06:28.889 --> 00:06:31.810 of independent fur traders, large scale cattle 00:06:31.810 --> 00:06:34.730 ranchers, and it was the site of intense, often 00:06:34.730 --> 00:06:37.029 violent conflicts with indigenous populations. 00:06:37.529 --> 00:06:39.810 The northern settlers were perceived as less 00:06:39.810 --> 00:06:42.610 controlled, maybe more lawless, and certainly 00:06:42.610 --> 00:06:45.149 more politically unstable. And this internal 00:06:45.149 --> 00:06:47.490 friction, this tension, it became a valuable 00:06:47.490 --> 00:06:50.069 asset for national political players. That's 00:06:50.069 --> 00:06:52.529 the key. The decision to split the territory 00:06:52.529 --> 00:06:55.629 along the seventh standard parallel wasn't really 00:06:55.629 --> 00:06:58.670 about demographics or geography. It was a clear 00:06:58.670 --> 00:07:01.949 political war. A political war aimed squarely 00:07:01.949 --> 00:07:04.170 at Washington, D .C. Absolutely. If the combined 00:07:04.170 --> 00:07:06.649 Dakota territory came in as one state, it would 00:07:06.649 --> 00:07:09.069 yield two U .S. senators. Standard. But if it 00:07:09.069 --> 00:07:11.310 were split into North and South Dakota, it would 00:07:11.310 --> 00:07:14.089 yield four senators. And since this was during 00:07:14.089 --> 00:07:17.069 an era dominated by the Republican Party, splitting 00:07:17.069 --> 00:07:19.589 the territory meant adding two guaranteed Republican 00:07:19.589 --> 00:07:22.870 votes to the Senate floor. It was political manipulation 00:07:22.870 --> 00:07:25.410 at its most transparent. And that takes us right 00:07:25.410 --> 00:07:28.430 to the iconic moment of admission. November 2, 00:07:28.629 --> 00:07:32.430 1889. Yes, because there was such intense rivalry 00:07:32.430 --> 00:07:36.009 over which New State North or South Dakota would 00:07:36.009 --> 00:07:39.170 have the prestige of being admitted first. A 00:07:39.170 --> 00:07:42.449 genuine sibling rivalry from birth. A fierce 00:07:42.449 --> 00:07:45.069 one. And President Benjamin Harrison decided 00:07:45.069 --> 00:07:47.509 to resolve it through an act of deliberate historical 00:07:47.509 --> 00:07:52.050 obscurity. The famous Harrison Shuffle. He literally 00:07:52.050 --> 00:07:54.629 signed the statehood papers after shuffling them 00:07:54.629 --> 00:07:57.610 so the exact order went unrecorded and unknown. 00:07:57.870 --> 00:07:59.790 He covered them up, shuffled them, signed them 00:07:59.790 --> 00:08:02.149 blind, all to ensure neither state could truly 00:08:02.149 --> 00:08:04.610 claim victory. It was pure political theater, 00:08:04.730 --> 00:08:06.689 wasn't it? Yeah. Just designed to appease powerful 00:08:06.689 --> 00:08:09.810 local egos. That's all it was. While the documents 00:08:09.810 --> 00:08:12.129 were shuffled, North Dakota is numerically designated 00:08:12.129 --> 00:08:15.069 as the 39th state simply due to alphabetical 00:08:15.069 --> 00:08:17.649 ordering. But the rivalry over who was first 00:08:17.649 --> 00:08:20.430 remains a foundational and, frankly, a slightly 00:08:20.430 --> 00:08:22.670 humorous element of their political history. 00:08:22.810 --> 00:08:24.970 It absolutely does. That political maneuvering 00:08:24.970 --> 00:08:27.089 to secure statehood really set the stage for 00:08:27.089 --> 00:08:30.350 part two. North Dakota's truly radical roots. 00:08:30.509 --> 00:08:34.090 We are moving from political expediency to political 00:08:34.090 --> 00:08:37.169 ideology, and it's centered on this unique concept 00:08:37.169 --> 00:08:40.559 of agrarian wealth. and maybe more importantly, 00:08:40.740 --> 00:08:43.340 its protection. The political ideology of North 00:08:43.340 --> 00:08:46.480 Dakota was forged in fire. I mean, the fire of 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:49.600 intense agrarian unrest in the early 20th century. 00:08:49.820 --> 00:08:52.039 What was driving that unrest? This was a time 00:08:52.039 --> 00:08:55.159 when wheat farmers, many of them Norwegian immigrants, 00:08:55.500 --> 00:08:58.039 felt they were being systematically exploited 00:08:58.039 --> 00:09:01.080 by powerful external entities. The farmers' complaint 00:09:01.080 --> 00:09:03.100 was pretty straightforward, right? They grew 00:09:03.100 --> 00:09:04.820 the wheat, but they didn't control the market. 00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:07.320 Not at all. Out -of -state banks in places like 00:09:07.320 --> 00:09:09.980 Minneapolis and Chicago controlled all the credit. 00:09:10.259 --> 00:09:12.580 Minneapolis -based corporations controlled the 00:09:12.580 --> 00:09:15.019 green elevators and the railroads. So they set 00:09:15.019 --> 00:09:16.860 the prices. They set the prices and the interest 00:09:16.860 --> 00:09:20.120 rates, and it squeezed the local farmer mercilessly. 00:09:20.120 --> 00:09:22.080 There was a feeling of complete powerlessness. 00:09:22.360 --> 00:09:24.879 And that intense resentment gave rise to a revolutionary 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:28.419 populist movement, the Nonpartisan League, or 00:09:28.419 --> 00:09:32.620 NPL. Yes, which peaked around World War I. Their 00:09:32.620 --> 00:09:34.980 goal wasn't just higher prices for wheat. It 00:09:34.980 --> 00:09:38.139 was fundamental systemic change. They sought 00:09:38.139 --> 00:09:41.000 to insulate the state's economy and its farmers 00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:43.820 completely from the power of these external banks 00:09:43.820 --> 00:09:46.259 and major corporations. What's so unique is their 00:09:46.259 --> 00:09:48.740 strategy. They didn't immediately form a third 00:09:48.740 --> 00:09:51.019 party, which is what you'd expect. No, they were 00:09:51.019 --> 00:09:53.539 much savvier. They ran their candidates. And 00:09:53.539 --> 00:09:55.679 some of these candidates had openly socialist 00:09:55.679 --> 00:09:58.799 policies on the Republican ticket. Why the Republican 00:09:58.799 --> 00:10:00.820 ticket? Because that was the dominant party. 00:10:00.899 --> 00:10:02.940 They leveraged the established party structure 00:10:02.940 --> 00:10:06.279 to enact their own radical economic policies. 00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:08.659 It was a kind of political insurgency from within. 00:10:08.820 --> 00:10:11.779 And their legacy is arguably the most surprising 00:10:11.779 --> 00:10:14.460 and enduring political structure in the entire 00:10:14.460 --> 00:10:18.169 nation. I think it is. The NPL succeeded in creating 00:10:18.169 --> 00:10:20.789 two unique state -owned institutions that are 00:10:20.789 --> 00:10:22.909 still fully operational today. What are they? 00:10:22.990 --> 00:10:25.049 The North Dakota Mill and Elevator, which is 00:10:25.049 --> 00:10:27.429 a state -owned flour mill in Grand Forks, and 00:10:27.429 --> 00:10:29.570 more significantly, the Bank of North Dakota, 00:10:29.750 --> 00:10:33.029 the BND. Okay, let's dedicate some serious time 00:10:33.029 --> 00:10:35.610 to the BND, because this is where North Dakota 00:10:35.610 --> 00:10:38.149 truly separates itself from every other state. 00:10:38.549 --> 00:10:42.149 It is the nation's only state -run bank, established 00:10:42.149 --> 00:10:45.419 over a century ago. How does a bank run by the 00:10:45.419 --> 00:10:47.659 state government actively protect its financial 00:10:47.659 --> 00:10:50.480 system? It's all about capital flow and its mandate. 00:10:50.740 --> 00:10:54.000 The BND operates under a unique legislative mandate, 00:10:54.200 --> 00:10:57.080 and the wording is important. To encourage and 00:10:57.080 --> 00:10:59.879 promote agriculture, commerce, and industry in 00:10:59.879 --> 00:11:01.700 North Dakota. So it's not just about profit. 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:04.500 It's about development. And crucially... Unlike 00:11:04.500 --> 00:11:06.799 every other state, North Dakota law requires 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:09.659 that all state funds must be deposited in the 00:11:09.659 --> 00:11:12.399 BND. All state funds. You mean like tax receipts, 00:11:12.460 --> 00:11:14.960 employee retirement funds? All of it. Tax receipts, 00:11:15.059 --> 00:11:17.860 pension funds, oil royalty payments. It all has 00:11:17.860 --> 00:11:19.860 to go into the Bank of North Dakota. So the bank 00:11:19.860 --> 00:11:22.620 has this massive, stable pool of capital that 00:11:22.620 --> 00:11:24.600 is legally locked inside the state. Exactly. 00:11:24.620 --> 00:11:27.220 And this allows the BND to operate almost like 00:11:27.220 --> 00:11:30.759 a like a miniature Federal Reserve branch bank 00:11:30.759 --> 00:11:33.679 just for the state's financial ecosystem. How 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:36.179 does it interact with, say, the local banks in 00:11:36.179 --> 00:11:38.539 small towns? It partners with them. It doesn't 00:11:38.539 --> 00:11:40.940 compete directly with them for individual customers. 00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:44.259 It provides liquidity and participates in loans 00:11:44.259 --> 00:11:46.279 that might be too large for a small community 00:11:46.279 --> 00:11:49.620 bank to handle on its own. This structure gives 00:11:49.620 --> 00:11:52.519 the state unprecedented control over lending 00:11:52.519 --> 00:11:55.039 standards. And this is what was so pivotal during 00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:58.340 the 2008 financial crisis, right? The BND acted 00:11:58.340 --> 00:12:01.620 as a strategic economic buffer. It was a textbook 00:12:01.620 --> 00:12:03.919 application of their founding mission. It was 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:06.559 almost as if the founders had seen 2008 coming 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:09.860 a century earlier. Because the BND was the main 00:12:09.860 --> 00:12:11.919 source of capital and lending standards for these 00:12:11.919 --> 00:12:15.039 local banks, it could and it did prevent the 00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:17.879 spread of predatory practices. They simply didn't 00:12:17.879 --> 00:12:21.019 allow local institutions to issue high risk subprime 00:12:21.019 --> 00:12:23.779 mortgages. And even more critically, they didn't 00:12:23.779 --> 00:12:26.240 allow the packaging of those loans into derivatives. 00:12:26.340 --> 00:12:28.759 Right. They did not allow those simple loans 00:12:28.759 --> 00:12:31.480 to be collateralized. packaged into the complex 00:12:31.480 --> 00:12:34.240 toxic derivative instruments that destabilized 00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:36.639 Wall Street and the entire global economy. So 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:38.480 they essentially avoided the financial lottery 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:41.000 tickets that sank the national economy. They 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:43.740 did. By keeping credit simple, transparent and 00:12:43.740 --> 00:12:46.740 focused locally, North Dakota avoided the massive 00:12:46.740 --> 00:12:48.860 housing price collapse that afflicted the rest 00:12:48.860 --> 00:12:52.019 of the nation. It's a stunning example of radical 00:12:52.019 --> 00:12:54.820 populist infrastructure paying dividends nearly 00:12:54.820 --> 00:12:57.860 a century later. And the NPL legacy goes even 00:12:57.860 --> 00:13:01.320 further. into land ownership. It does. Our sources 00:13:01.320 --> 00:13:04.059 confirm there are these powerful anti -corporate 00:13:04.059 --> 00:13:06.700 laws which have been upheld by the courts that 00:13:06.700 --> 00:13:10.080 virtually prohibit any corporation or bank from 00:13:10.080 --> 00:13:12.539 owning land that is zoned as farmland. Which 00:13:12.539 --> 00:13:15.259 makes foreclosure incredibly difficult. Extremely 00:13:15.259 --> 00:13:17.419 difficult. It acts as a powerful shield against 00:13:17.419 --> 00:13:20.419 outside entities buying up acreage and it ensures 00:13:20.419 --> 00:13:22.840 the protection of family farms. It's another 00:13:22.840 --> 00:13:25.080 layer of insulation. And while the political 00:13:25.080 --> 00:13:27.139 structure has shifted dramatically since those 00:13:27.139 --> 00:13:30.740 NPL days. that agrarian focus remains the heart 00:13:30.740 --> 00:13:33.519 of the economy. It does. Even though less than 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:36.059 10 % of the state's population is directly employed 00:13:36.059 --> 00:13:38.659 in agriculture, it remains the largest single 00:13:38.659 --> 00:13:41.759 industry by value. The scale is just immense. 00:13:42.179 --> 00:13:45.120 About 90 % of North Dakota's total land area 00:13:45.120 --> 00:13:48.000 is dedicated to farms. That translates to 27 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:51.279 .5 million acres of cropland. Which makes it 00:13:51.279 --> 00:13:53.480 the third largest cropland state in the nation. 00:13:53.700 --> 00:13:55.779 Right. We're talking about a landmass roughly 00:13:55.779 --> 00:13:58.330 the size of a mid -Atlantic. state like Pennsylvania, 00:13:58.649 --> 00:14:01.570 dedicated solely to cultivation. What's truly 00:14:01.570 --> 00:14:03.730 remarkable, though, is North Dakota's market 00:14:03.730 --> 00:14:06.990 dominance in highly specific commodities. It's 00:14:06.990 --> 00:14:09.690 not just growing things. It's cornering these 00:14:09.690 --> 00:14:12.409 niche markets based on that fertile Red River 00:14:12.409 --> 00:14:15.360 soil and the cold, hardy climate. The rankings 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:18.440 are extraordinary. North Dakota is the undisputed 00:14:18.440 --> 00:14:20.620 number one producer in the U .S. for several 00:14:20.620 --> 00:14:24.179 key crops. Like what? For example, 92 % of the 00:14:24.179 --> 00:14:26.899 U .S. canola crop comes from North Dakota. 94 00:14:26.899 --> 00:14:30.019 % of the flaxseed. Wow. They also dominate durum 00:14:30.019 --> 00:14:33.080 wheat, which is used for pasta, with 58 % of 00:14:33.080 --> 00:14:36.379 the U .S. supply, and spring wheat with 36%. 00:14:36.379 --> 00:14:39.460 Plus dry edible beans, honey, lentils, and dry 00:14:39.460 --> 00:14:41.980 edible peas. It's an incredible list. Near total 00:14:41.980 --> 00:14:44.779 dominance in certain niche food chains. specialization 00:14:44.779 --> 00:14:46.519 is directly linked to the climate you mentioned 00:14:46.519 --> 00:14:48.480 earlier, right? Canola thrives in those cold 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:51.120 winters. Exactly. But this high degree of specialization 00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:53.220 also carries risks. And this is particularly 00:14:53.220 --> 00:14:56.539 true when we look at recent trends toward monoculture. 00:14:56.659 --> 00:14:58.879 What do the sources say about that? They point 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:02.399 out that between 2002 and 2007, North Dakota 00:15:02.399 --> 00:15:05.120 led the entire country in increasing its total 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:09.120 cropland. And there was a massive 1 .8 million 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:11.899 acre shift toward monoculture relying very heavily 00:15:11.899 --> 00:15:14.360 on just corn and soybeans. That pivot to corn 00:15:14.360 --> 00:15:17.559 and soybeans is a modern story. Soybeans, for 00:15:17.559 --> 00:15:19.500 instance, were barely grown in the state back 00:15:19.500 --> 00:15:21.820 in the 1940s. Not at all. And now they are a 00:15:21.820 --> 00:15:24.559 major cash crop, largely grown for livestock 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:28.240 feed. But monoculture is both an economic gamble 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:31.480 and an ecological risk. How so? Well, it creates 00:15:31.480 --> 00:15:34.720 significant vulnerability. When you rely on vast 00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:37.480 fields of a single commodity, you become far 00:15:37.480 --> 00:15:39.720 more susceptible to a single blight, a single 00:15:39.720 --> 00:15:43.200 disease or a sudden dramatic drop in global commodity 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:45.740 prices. And the ecological consequences. Soil 00:15:45.740 --> 00:15:48.360 depletion and a heavy reliance on chemical inputs, 00:15:48.580 --> 00:15:50.960 which over the long term undermines the sustainability 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:54.019 of that rich Lake Agassiz silt that made it all 00:15:54.019 --> 00:15:56.690 possible in the first place. If the first century 00:15:56.690 --> 00:15:58.590 of North Dakota's political life was defined 00:15:58.590 --> 00:16:01.429 by that fight for agrarian stability, the 21st 00:16:01.429 --> 00:16:03.090 century has been defined by a sudden intense 00:16:03.090 --> 00:16:06.429 flood of volatile external wealth. This is the 00:16:06.429 --> 00:16:08.850 energy revolution that fundamentally shattered 00:16:08.850 --> 00:16:11.809 the state's calm. That agrarian conservatism, 00:16:11.830 --> 00:16:14.830 buttressed by the BND, gave the state a century 00:16:14.830 --> 00:16:18.690 of fiscal peace. But nothing tests a fortress 00:16:18.690 --> 00:16:22.419 like a sudden massive unpredictable flood of 00:16:22.419 --> 00:16:24.639 external capital. And that's exactly what North 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:27.080 Dakota received with the Bakken boom. Oil wasn't 00:16:27.080 --> 00:16:29.179 new to the state, though. No, not at all. It 00:16:29.179 --> 00:16:32.720 was first discovered near Tioga way back in 1951. 00:16:32.940 --> 00:16:35.679 And there were smaller, earlier booms that always 00:16:35.679 --> 00:16:38.700 died out when prices fell. But the current surge, 00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:41.440 which began in the 2000s, was completely different 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:44.039 because of technology. The sources credit hydraulic 00:16:44.039 --> 00:16:46.759 fracturing, fracking, and the ability to drill 00:16:46.759 --> 00:16:49.379 horizontally. Why were these two technologies 00:16:49.379 --> 00:16:51.649 so crucial for the Bakken? It's because of the 00:16:51.649 --> 00:16:54.210 geology. The oil in the Bakken formation isn't 00:16:54.210 --> 00:16:57.149 trapped in porous, easy to reach sandstone. It's 00:16:57.149 --> 00:16:59.809 locked tight within dense shale rock that stretches 00:16:59.809 --> 00:17:02.129 for hundreds of miles under the northwest of 00:17:02.129 --> 00:17:04.289 the state. So traditional vertical wells wouldn't 00:17:04.289 --> 00:17:06.730 work well. They were very inefficient. But horizontal 00:17:06.730 --> 00:17:09.289 drilling allows companies to drill down and then 00:17:09.289 --> 00:17:12.349 turn the drill bit sideways, following the shale 00:17:12.349 --> 00:17:14.970 layer for miles from a single pad. And then fracking 00:17:14.970 --> 00:17:18.450 releases the oil. Exactly. Fracking uses high 00:17:18.450 --> 00:17:20.490 pressure fluid to fracture the rock, creating 00:17:20.490 --> 00:17:22.690 tiny fissures that release the oil and natural 00:17:22.690 --> 00:17:25.589 gas. This combination transformed previously 00:17:25.589 --> 00:17:29.069 unreachable geological deposits into highly profitable 00:17:29.069 --> 00:17:31.930 reserves. And the sheer volume of that reserve, 00:17:32.089 --> 00:17:35.460 it shocked everyone. It was dramatic. The U .S. 00:17:35.500 --> 00:17:37.880 Geological Survey estimated that there are 3 00:17:37.880 --> 00:17:41.799 to 4 .3 billion barrels of technically recoverable 00:17:41.799 --> 00:17:44.519 oil. And that was 25 times the estimate from 00:17:44.519 --> 00:17:48.690 1995. 25 times. Some industry estimates push 00:17:48.690 --> 00:17:51.130 that even higher, suggesting reserves could potentially 00:17:51.130 --> 00:17:53.910 sustain production for over 100 years. But this 00:17:53.910 --> 00:17:56.029 isn't a small field. It's one of the most significant 00:17:56.029 --> 00:17:58.470 domestic oil reserves in the modern era. Which 00:17:58.470 --> 00:18:00.349 translates into staggering current production 00:18:00.349 --> 00:18:03.829 levels. Absolutely. As of November 2022, North 00:18:03.829 --> 00:18:06.349 Dakota is the second largest oil producer in 00:18:06.349 --> 00:18:08.690 the entire United States, right behind Texas. 00:18:08.990 --> 00:18:11.289 They are consistently pumping over 1 million 00:18:11.289 --> 00:18:14.509 barrels per day. And the epicenter of this frantic 00:18:14.509 --> 00:18:18.440 growth. is the Northwest. Yes, the region encompassing 00:18:18.440 --> 00:18:21.380 Williston, Tioga, Stanley, and Mena, Burlington. 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:24.039 This rapid infusion of wealth creates a sort 00:18:24.039 --> 00:18:26.920 of isolated fiscal superpower, especially when 00:18:26.920 --> 00:18:29.140 you compare it to its neighbors. The economic 00:18:29.140 --> 00:18:31.460 indicators are almost unbelievable for a state 00:18:31.460 --> 00:18:34.009 of this size. Consider the job market. North 00:18:34.009 --> 00:18:37.289 Dakota led the entire U .S. in job creation every 00:18:37.289 --> 00:18:41.609 single year from 2009 to 2013. They added 56 00:18:41.609 --> 00:18:45.910 ,600 private sector jobs since 2011. And annual 00:18:45.910 --> 00:18:48.730 personal income growth has averaged 6 % per year, 00:18:48.970 --> 00:18:51.769 far exceeding the national pace. And here's where 00:18:51.769 --> 00:18:54.509 that BND legacy ties in again. The stability 00:18:54.509 --> 00:18:56.509 of the state bank and those conservative fiscal 00:18:56.509 --> 00:18:59.029 policies meant they were uniquely equipped to 00:18:59.029 --> 00:19:01.630 manage this incoming cash flow. They were. Because 00:19:01.630 --> 00:19:03.910 the state was receiving massive of oil tax revenue 00:19:03.910 --> 00:19:06.049 and royalties, coupled with controlled spending, 00:19:06.369 --> 00:19:08.390 North Dakota has maintained a budget surplus 00:19:08.390 --> 00:19:10.970 every year since the 2008 market crash. That 00:19:10.970 --> 00:19:13.230 level of fiscal stability is almost unheard of 00:19:13.230 --> 00:19:15.430 in modern state governance. It is. And their 00:19:15.430 --> 00:19:17.710 unemployment rate is consistently among the lowest 00:19:17.710 --> 00:19:20.029 in the nation, around 2 .4 percent recently, 00:19:20.289 --> 00:19:23.109 meaning virtually anyone who wants a job in North 00:19:23.109 --> 00:19:26.250 Dakota can find one. But focusing only on oil. 00:19:26.619 --> 00:19:29.279 misses the depth of North Dakota's energy profile. 00:19:29.660 --> 00:19:31.880 They've also diversified in ways that are often 00:19:31.880 --> 00:19:35.220 overlooked. Indeed. While oil gets the headlines, 00:19:35.539 --> 00:19:38.539 the state relies on its own extensive lignite 00:19:38.539 --> 00:19:41.240 coal reserves, primarily in the western region, 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:44.319 to generate its power. About 90 % of the state's 00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:46.039 electricity comes from lignite. That's right. 00:19:46.220 --> 00:19:48.319 And for those unfamiliar, lignite is often called 00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:51.359 brown coal. It's a lower grade, high moisture 00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:54.599 form of coal. Why rely so heavily on that specific 00:19:54.599 --> 00:19:57.380 type? Because it is incredibly abundant and locally 00:19:57.380 --> 00:19:59.680 sourced. It's right there. While it generates 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:02.339 less heat per ton and has a significant environmental 00:20:02.339 --> 00:20:05.039 footprint, its sheer volume means it's cheap 00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:07.599 and ensures energy independence for North Dakota. 00:20:07.799 --> 00:20:10.299 And it allows them to export power. It does to 00:20:10.299 --> 00:20:12.819 surrounding states. And looking toward the future, 00:20:12.980 --> 00:20:15.119 the Great Plains, including North Dakota, are 00:20:15.119 --> 00:20:17.900 often referred to as the Saudi Arabia of wind 00:20:17.900 --> 00:20:20.140 energy. Because of the consistently high wind 00:20:20.140 --> 00:20:22.900 speeds in the open geography. Exactly. It presents 00:20:22.900 --> 00:20:25.339 a massive renewable energy potential. And if 00:20:25.339 --> 00:20:27.700 you think it's all extraction, you'd be surprised 00:20:27.700 --> 00:20:31.089 by the growing tech footprint. Fargo. the largest 00:20:31.089 --> 00:20:33.730 city, is home to the second largest campus of 00:20:33.730 --> 00:20:36.650 Microsoft. Employing 1 ,700 people. And Amazon 00:20:36.650 --> 00:20:39.650 has a sizable presence in Grand Forks. This creates 00:20:39.650 --> 00:20:42.289 a fascinating economic split between the remote, 00:20:42.450 --> 00:20:45.529 volatile resource hubs in the West and the stable 00:20:45.529 --> 00:20:48.309 service sector cities in the East. However, this 00:20:48.309 --> 00:20:51.170 massive influx of external capital and workers 00:20:51.170 --> 00:20:54.450 has come at a severe social cost. The back and 00:20:54.450 --> 00:20:57.170 boom generated a kind of chaos that was particularly 00:20:57.170 --> 00:21:00.309 hard on small rural towns that were ill - equipped 00:21:00.309 --> 00:21:02.789 to handle exponential growth. It was a classic 00:21:02.789 --> 00:21:05.369 boomtown problem, but on steroids. We're talking 00:21:05.369 --> 00:21:07.630 about sociological strain. What were the tangible 00:21:07.630 --> 00:21:10.890 daily realities in a town like Williston or Tioga 00:21:10.890 --> 00:21:13.470 when the boom hit? Infrastructure was immediately 00:21:13.470 --> 00:21:16.470 and completely overwhelmed. Rental costs in these 00:21:16.470 --> 00:21:19.490 oil boom towns surged by 100 percent or more, 00:21:19.670 --> 00:21:22.089 seemingly overnight. Making it impossible for 00:21:22.089 --> 00:21:24.230 local teachers, nurses and police officers to 00:21:24.230 --> 00:21:26.410 afford to live there. Correct. The oil workers 00:21:26.410 --> 00:21:28.690 often lived in these temporary housing communities 00:21:28.690 --> 00:21:31.809 known as man camps, which created isolated, high 00:21:31.809 --> 00:21:34.549 density populations, straining sewage, water 00:21:34.549 --> 00:21:37.769 and road systems. Hospitals and schools struggled 00:21:37.769 --> 00:21:40.470 to hire staff and keep up with the demand. And 00:21:40.470 --> 00:21:43.539 this rapid poorly managed economic and population 00:21:43.539 --> 00:21:46.400 influx directly correlates with a shocking rise 00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:49.259 in crime. It's the shadow of the boom. North 00:21:49.259 --> 00:21:51.400 Dakota historically had some of the lowest crime 00:21:51.400 --> 00:21:53.259 rates in the country. It was one of the safest 00:21:53.259 --> 00:21:55.960 places to live. But the violent crime rate in 00:21:55.960 --> 00:21:59.259 2016 was three times higher than it was in 2004. 00:21:59.680 --> 00:22:01.720 And that coincides precisely with the height 00:22:01.720 --> 00:22:04.680 of the oil boom. Precisely. The sources are clear 00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:07.319 that workers migrating into these oil boom towns, 00:22:07.539 --> 00:22:10.000 who were often transient and had tenuous community 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:13.180 ties, were widely cited and blamed for this concerning 00:22:13.180 --> 00:22:15.819 increase. It's a very harsh tradeoff for economic 00:22:15.819 --> 00:22:18.319 prosperity. Despite all the oil and the demographic 00:22:18.319 --> 00:22:21.180 volatility, let's not overlook the older, quieter 00:22:21.180 --> 00:22:23.420 industry of tourism. It still manages to punch 00:22:23.420 --> 00:22:25.880 above its weight. Tourism is North Dakota's third 00:22:25.880 --> 00:22:28.400 largest industry, bringing in over $3 billion 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:31.609 annually. even though it's often cited as the 00:22:31.609 --> 00:22:34.970 least visited state. It is perhaps lacking a 00:22:34.970 --> 00:22:38.289 single global iconic landmark like a Grand Canyon 00:22:38.289 --> 00:22:41.289 or a Disney World, but it draws visitors for 00:22:41.289 --> 00:22:44.029 high quality outdoor activities like hunting 00:22:44.029 --> 00:22:46.569 and fishing, tracing the Lewis and Clark Trail, 00:22:46.670 --> 00:22:49.369 and of course, the quiet beauty of Theodore Roosevelt 00:22:49.369 --> 00:22:53.119 National Park. We need to pull back now and examine 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:55.839 the demographic tapestry of North Dakota because 00:22:55.839 --> 00:22:58.759 the people who live here are as complex and contradictory 00:22:58.759 --> 00:23:01.779 as the economy itself. North Dakota is sparsely 00:23:01.779 --> 00:23:03.859 populated. That's the first thing you know. It 00:23:03.859 --> 00:23:06.279 is the fourth least populous and fourth least 00:23:06.279 --> 00:23:09.079 densely populated state with a current population 00:23:09.079 --> 00:23:12.119 just under 800 ,000 people. And to grasp the 00:23:12.119 --> 00:23:14.740 concentration, nearly a fifth of that total population 00:23:14.740 --> 00:23:18.000 resides in just one city, Fargo. Despite the 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:20.200 small numbers, the state is undergoing a rapid 00:23:20.200 --> 00:23:23.339 and important demographic transformation. Historically, 00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:25.359 its population was overwhelmingly homogenous. 00:23:25.819 --> 00:23:28.000 Overwhelmingly white, yes, with the crucial exception 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:30.299 of its indigenous inhabitants. But that is changing 00:23:30.299 --> 00:23:32.660 quickly, and it's largely due to targeted refugee 00:23:32.660 --> 00:23:34.819 and immigration efforts. This is a remarkable 00:23:34.819 --> 00:23:37.259 feature. North Dakota has been cited as one of 00:23:37.259 --> 00:23:40.240 the top locations for refugee resettlement proportionally. 00:23:40.279 --> 00:23:42.339 What are the numbers on that? They took in over 00:23:42.339 --> 00:23:45.880 68 refugees per 100 ,000 people between 2013 00:23:45.880 --> 00:23:49.680 and 2014. Given the low base population, those 00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:51.960 numbers have a significant and immediate cultural 00:23:51.960 --> 00:23:54.500 impact. And that new diversity is evident in 00:23:54.500 --> 00:23:57.200 the numbers. Very much so. Nearly 30 % of new 00:23:57.200 --> 00:23:59.500 immigrants entering North Dakota are from Africa, 00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:01.779 and they are primarily settling in the larger 00:24:01.779 --> 00:24:04.460 cities like Fargo and Grand Forks. This has led 00:24:04.460 --> 00:24:07.119 to a rapid increase in the black population proportion 00:24:07.119 --> 00:24:10.799 rate. It surged from a mere 0 .6 % in 2000 to 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:14.210 3%. point nine percent by 2020. And the top countries 00:24:14.210 --> 00:24:16.670 of origin for immigrants now include Liberia, 00:24:16.710 --> 00:24:20.930 Bhutan, Nepal, the Philippines and Canada. This 00:24:20.930 --> 00:24:23.690 is creating a rich, complex cultural mix that 00:24:23.690 --> 00:24:25.930 really challenges the traditional image of the 00:24:25.930 --> 00:24:28.730 Great Plains. Let's delve deeper into those foundational 00:24:28.730 --> 00:24:30.529 cultural threads, starting with the original 00:24:30.529 --> 00:24:33.549 inhabitants. The name Dakota itself derives from 00:24:33.549 --> 00:24:36.000 the indigenous Dakota and Sioux peoples. Right. 00:24:36.079 --> 00:24:38.799 It means allies or friends. And there are five 00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:42.000 federally recognized tribes whose nations lie 00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:44.579 partially or wholly within North Dakota's borders. 00:24:44.779 --> 00:24:48.279 Yes. The Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, 00:24:48.519 --> 00:24:50.839 who are collectively known as the three affiliated 00:24:50.839 --> 00:24:53.500 tribes. Then there's the Spirit Lake Nation, 00:24:53.819 --> 00:24:56.700 the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, the Turtle Mountain 00:24:56.700 --> 00:25:00.759 Band of Chippewa Indians, and the Sisseton Wapiton 00:25:00.759 --> 00:25:03.390 Oyet Nation. And indigenous cultural traditions 00:25:03.390 --> 00:25:05.930 remain vital. Traditional social gatherings known 00:25:05.930 --> 00:25:08.690 as wasippus or powwows are central to community 00:25:08.690 --> 00:25:11.190 life. They are. And the United Tribes International 00:25:11.190 --> 00:25:14.730 Powwow, held in the capital of Bismarck, is recognized 00:25:14.730 --> 00:25:17.269 as one of the largest and most significant Native 00:25:17.269 --> 00:25:19.569 American cultural events in the entire country. 00:25:19.769 --> 00:25:22.779 Okay, moving to the European influence. The Scandinavian 00:25:22.779 --> 00:25:25.359 footprint is profoundly deep. Especially the 00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:27.700 Norwegian and Icelandic settlements in the northeast 00:25:27.700 --> 00:25:31.099 Red River area, starting around 1870. These groups 00:25:31.099 --> 00:25:33.579 established strong communities built around Lutheran 00:25:33.579 --> 00:25:35.960 churches, and they brought over unique culinary 00:25:35.960 --> 00:25:38.599 traditions. Absolutely. Things like the potato 00:25:38.599 --> 00:25:41.359 flatbread lefts and the notoriously pungent lye 00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:44.000 -soaked lutefisk. And these influences are far 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:46.839 from historic footnotes. They're celebrated today 00:25:46.839 --> 00:25:49.599 at events like Norse Kustfest in Mino. Which 00:25:49.599 --> 00:25:52.140 is billed as North America's largest Scandinavian 00:25:52.140 --> 00:25:54.839 festival. It showcases arts and culture from 00:25:54.839 --> 00:25:58.180 all five Nordic countries. And it makes sense, 00:25:58.259 --> 00:26:00.619 with Norwegians making up nearly one -third of 00:26:00.619 --> 00:26:03.420 the city of Mino's population. That heritage 00:26:03.420 --> 00:26:06.119 informs the social and political culture fundamentally. 00:26:06.759 --> 00:26:10.000 An equally significant, though often less understood, 00:26:10.099 --> 00:26:12.960 cultural thread is that of the Germans from Russia. 00:26:13.450 --> 00:26:16.630 A fascinating history. These were ethnic Germans 00:26:16.630 --> 00:26:18.730 who were invited by Empress Catherine the Great 00:26:18.730 --> 00:26:20.710 to settle in Russia during the 18th century. 00:26:20.910 --> 00:26:23.730 They maintained their language, customs and religious 00:26:23.730 --> 00:26:26.250 freedoms there for generations. But when those 00:26:26.250 --> 00:26:28.490 religious freedoms and military exemptions were 00:26:28.490 --> 00:26:30.569 revoked in the late 19th century, they faced 00:26:30.569 --> 00:26:33.440 economic hardship and persecution. And that prompted 00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:36.059 a mass migration to the American plains. They 00:26:36.059 --> 00:26:38.279 settled primarily in the south -central area 00:26:38.279 --> 00:26:40.940 of North Dakota, an area often referred to as 00:26:40.940 --> 00:26:43.559 the German -Russian Triangle. And these groups, 00:26:43.680 --> 00:26:46.339 comprising Lutherans, Mennonites, Catholics, 00:26:46.420 --> 00:26:49.000 and the communal Hutterites, were deeply committed 00:26:49.000 --> 00:26:51.920 to agrarian life. Absolutely. Their cultural 00:26:51.920 --> 00:26:55.019 contribution is not just in cuisine, but in their 00:26:55.019 --> 00:26:57.880 deep seated conservatism, their commitment to 00:26:57.880 --> 00:27:00.920 large families and a profound work ethic that 00:27:00.920 --> 00:27:03.220 was rooted in their history of maintaining cultural 00:27:03.220 --> 00:27:06.599 integrity while adapting to a harsh new environment. 00:27:06.900 --> 00:27:09.299 They really helped cement the agricultural base 00:27:09.299 --> 00:27:12.180 of the state. So we have this unique sociological 00:27:12.180 --> 00:27:15.660 layering. the traditional strength of the indigenous 00:27:15.660 --> 00:27:18.700 nations, the populist political radicalism of 00:27:18.700 --> 00:27:21.940 the NPL, and the deep cultural conservatism and 00:27:21.940 --> 00:27:24.960 agrarian commitment of the Scandinavian and German 00:27:24.960 --> 00:27:27.619 -Russian immigrant populations. That cultural 00:27:27.619 --> 00:27:29.839 profile is reflected in the state's high rate 00:27:29.839 --> 00:27:32.200 of religious adherence. North Dakota historically 00:27:32.200 --> 00:27:34.279 has had the highest percentage of a church -going 00:27:34.279 --> 00:27:37.500 population in the country. And as of 2022, 80 00:27:37.500 --> 00:27:39.819 % of the population identifies as Christian. 00:27:39.880 --> 00:27:42.519 That's right. Mainline Protestantism, dominated 00:27:42.519 --> 00:27:44.779 by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 00:27:45.019 --> 00:27:47.880 remains the largest form of Protestantism, which 00:27:47.880 --> 00:27:50.000 is a direct legacy of the Norwegian settlers. 00:27:50.279 --> 00:27:52.859 However, Catholicism is the single largest denomination. 00:27:53.099 --> 00:27:55.099 Which is a testament to the influence of those 00:27:55.099 --> 00:27:57.539 German -Russian communities. Okay, so now let's 00:27:57.539 --> 00:27:59.599 address the political paradox that links this 00:27:59.599 --> 00:28:02.119 radical past to the present. While North Dakota 00:28:02.119 --> 00:28:05.880 was the incubator for the NPL, a radical, populist, 00:28:05.900 --> 00:28:09.240 sometimes almost socialist movement, Today, it 00:28:09.240 --> 00:28:11.579 is overwhelmingly Republican. Overwhelmingly, 00:28:11.579 --> 00:28:13.319 at the state and federal levels. The Republican 00:28:13.319 --> 00:28:15.519 presidential candidate usually wins by margins 00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:20.140 approaching 67 % or more. The question is, how 00:28:20.140 --> 00:28:22.579 did the state shift so dramatically from agrarian 00:28:22.579 --> 00:28:25.220 radicalism to modern political conservatism? 00:28:25.380 --> 00:28:28.480 The shift was gradual but decisive. The NTL, 00:28:28.559 --> 00:28:30.700 which eventually merged with the Democratic Party, 00:28:30.759 --> 00:28:33.660 slowly lost power as North Dakota's economic 00:28:33.660 --> 00:28:35.799 and social base changed. After World War II. 00:28:35.960 --> 00:28:38.579 Exactly. The rise of industrial agriculture meant 00:28:38.579 --> 00:28:40.980 fewer small, independent farmers and more large 00:28:40.980 --> 00:28:43.319 -scale operations. The political base for the 00:28:43.319 --> 00:28:46.619 NPL literally shrank. Furthermore, the Cold War 00:28:46.619 --> 00:28:48.880 created a powerful anti -socialist sentiment 00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:52.000 that eroded the radical edge of the NPL's platform. 00:28:52.339 --> 00:28:54.799 In essence, the new wealth and the new business 00:28:54.799 --> 00:28:56.839 structures. combined with the general national 00:28:56.839 --> 00:28:58.960 shift toward conservatism in the latter half 00:28:58.960 --> 00:29:02.079 of the 20th century, effectively erased the political 00:29:02.079 --> 00:29:05.319 relevance of the agrarian radicalism that founded 00:29:05.319 --> 00:29:07.920 the state's most unique institutions. But despite 00:29:07.920 --> 00:29:10.180 the intense political partisanship, the state 00:29:10.180 --> 00:29:12.660 is remarkably effective at governance. How do 00:29:12.660 --> 00:29:14.660 we measure that? Well, MIT's Election Performance 00:29:14.660 --> 00:29:17.799 Index ranked North Dakota as the number one state 00:29:17.799 --> 00:29:20.140 in overall election administration policy and 00:29:20.140 --> 00:29:23.539 performance multiple times between 2008 and 2018. 00:29:24.970 --> 00:29:26.849 the nuts and bolts of government exceptionally 00:29:26.849 --> 00:29:30.230 well. One final structural tidbit that perfectly 00:29:30.230 --> 00:29:32.289 links back to the extremes of the climate we 00:29:32.289 --> 00:29:35.109 discussed in part one. North Dakota's infrastructure. 00:29:35.509 --> 00:29:38.630 A great point. If you drive on the major interstates 00:29:38.630 --> 00:29:42.069 I -29 north, south, and I -94 east, west, you 00:29:42.069 --> 00:29:44.750 will notice a unique feature. Virtually all of 00:29:44.750 --> 00:29:46.950 the Andorran interstate highway system is paved 00:29:46.950 --> 00:29:49.609 in concrete, not traditional blacktop or asphalt. 00:29:49.750 --> 00:29:52.500 Why the concrete preference? It is entirely to 00:29:52.500 --> 00:29:55.740 withstand the extreme weather conditions. Concrete 00:29:55.740 --> 00:29:58.059 handles the deep freeze and the rapid thaw cycles 00:29:58.059 --> 00:30:01.140 much, much better than asphalt, which cracks 00:30:01.140 --> 00:30:03.259 and buckles quickly under that kind of stress. 00:30:03.480 --> 00:30:06.180 So it's infrastructure built to endure the state's 00:30:06.180 --> 00:30:08.839 massive temperature volatility. A silent tribute 00:30:08.839 --> 00:30:10.940 to the necessity of building tough in the northern 00:30:10.940 --> 00:30:13.859 plains. This deep dive has stripped away the 00:30:13.859 --> 00:30:17.079 stereotypes and revealed North Dakota as a place 00:30:17.079 --> 00:30:21.259 defined by powerful, almost unbelievable contrasts. 00:30:21.259 --> 00:30:23.940 It really has. It is geographically central to 00:30:23.940 --> 00:30:26.059 the continent, yet it's demographically peripheral, 00:30:26.359 --> 00:30:28.740 being the fourth least populous state. And it's 00:30:28.740 --> 00:30:31.240 politically dominated by the Republican Party, 00:30:31.420 --> 00:30:34.460 yet its foundational fiscal legacy is. We've 00:30:34.460 --> 00:30:36.660 explored a state that is managing an incredibly 00:30:36.660 --> 00:30:39.559 delicate balancing act, trying to maintain the 00:30:39.559 --> 00:30:42.339 stability guaranteed by its founding radicalism 00:30:42.339 --> 00:30:45.599 while absorbing massive. unpredictable wealth 00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:48.940 and a rapid demographic shift driven by external 00:30:48.940 --> 00:30:51.740 migratory workers and international refugees. 00:30:52.099 --> 00:30:54.579 And this leads to our final lingering provocative 00:30:54.579 --> 00:30:57.779 thought for you. The agrarian founders created 00:30:57.779 --> 00:31:00.460 the Bank of North Dakota specifically to shield 00:31:00.460 --> 00:31:03.079 the state from external financial power and predatory 00:31:03.079 --> 00:31:06.380 capitalism, ensuring local capital remained local. 00:31:06.599 --> 00:31:08.960 That was the entire point. Right. Now, in the 00:31:08.960 --> 00:31:11.980 21st century, North Dakota is awash in massive, 00:31:12.099 --> 00:31:15.299 highly external capital. from the oil, gas, and 00:31:15.299 --> 00:31:18.099 major tech booms. So the question is, does this 00:31:18.099 --> 00:31:20.799 century -old, unique, state -owned financial 00:31:20.799 --> 00:31:23.799 system have the structural power to stabilize 00:31:23.799 --> 00:31:26.400 this massive new influx, ensuring the benefits 00:31:26.400 --> 00:31:28.740 remain local and enduring? Or is the new money 00:31:28.740 --> 00:31:31.259 too much? Or will the sheer scale and volatility 00:31:31.259 --> 00:31:33.559 of the boom eventually overwhelm and undermine 00:31:33.559 --> 00:31:35.880 the state's unique political and social infrastructure? 00:31:36.259 --> 00:31:38.720 That tension between the populist past and the 00:31:38.720 --> 00:31:40.960 oil rich present is the question North Dakota 00:31:40.960 --> 00:31:43.220 must answer for the next generation. They're 00:31:43.220 --> 00:31:45.599 truly profound tension at the heart of the Peace 00:31:45.599 --> 00:31:48.000 Garden State. Thank you for diving deep with 00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:50.000 us into the fascinating complexities of North 00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:52.660 Dakota. We encourage you to explore the sources 00:31:52.660 --> 00:31:54.259 that generated these insights further.