The Neal Larson Show
Neal Larson is an Associated Press Award-winning newspaper columnist and radio talk show host. He has a BA from Idaho State University in Media Studies and Political Science. Neal is happily married to his wife Esther with their five children in Idaho Falls.
Julie Mason is a long-time resident of east Idaho with a degree in journalism from Ricks College. Julie enjoys reading, baking, and is an avid dog lover. When not on the air she enjoys spending time with her three children and husband of 26 years.
Together these two are a powerhouse of knowledge with great banter that comes together in an entertaining and informative show.
The Neal Larson Show
4.20.2026 - Iran Tensions, Police Endorsements, Education Enrollment Cliff
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Today we bounced between the global and the hyper-local, which is kind of where life actually lives right now. Neil unpacked the volatility in the Strait of Hormuz and why “deals” with Iran are so hard to trust, arguing that protecting U.S. interests may ultimately require something closer to regime removal—even if nobody wants to call it that. We also hit the pace of the news cycle (and what it drops when Trump pivots to the next big headline), plus Kash Patel’s vow to sue *The Atlantic* over reporting he says is defamatory—another example of the broader “fight back” posture toward legacy media.
Closer to home, we wrestled with something that matters to regular people: public trust. Specifically, we talked about the Idaho Fraternal Order of Police ramping up candidate endorsements and why that kind of political activity can burn through goodwill fast—even among people who strongly support law enforcement. From there, we dug into the coming “enrollment cliff” (fewer kids, shifting demographics), how education behaves like a business when it comes to funding and discipline, and why weak consequences for serious school violence undermine safety and push families toward other options. We wrapped with some lighter-but-real talk: self-help culture, gratitude and mindset, our “420” station anniversary, and a surprisingly deep rabbit hole on marijuana laws, loopholes, and what’s actually being sold in Idaho.
### Highlights
- Neal’s take on Iran and why ceasefires/deals may be temporary leverage games tied to oil and the Strait of Hormuz
- Concerns about the FOP’s increased political endorsements and the risk of politicizing law enforcement
- The “enrollment cliff” and what fewer students could mean for school budgets, closures, and discipline incentives
- Kash Patel threatening a defamation lawsuit against *The Atlantic* and the broader media/legal strategy
- Marijuana in Idaho: what’s illegal, what’s being sold anyway, and how enforcement/priorities seem to be shifting
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