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.
Episodes
431 episodes
4.28.2026 - FlashPoll: Idaho Gubernatorial Race, Chemtrail importance, Assassination attempt aftermath
Today’s show centered on the disturbing reality that we’ve now seen multiple credible assassination attempts against President Trump in a short span—and what that says about where our culture is headed. We tried to “reverse engineer” why this k...
4.27.2026 - Trump Security, Kempthorne Legacy, Political Temperature
Neal Larson and Julie Mason spend the morning processing a heavy weekend: a third public assassination attempt against President Donald Trump and the death of Idaho statesman Dirk Kempthorne. We talk through the whiplash of covering high-stakes...
4.24.2026 - Idaho Elections, Medical Marijuana, Iran Tensions
Today on the show, Neal Larson and Julie Mason bounce between big headlines and very local stakes. They hit the latest on Iran and President Trump’s posture of “peace through strength,” then pivot hard into Idaho’s May 19 primary season—why the...
4.23.2026 - Bills in Drawers, Campaign Cash, Authenticity
Today felt like one long group-therapy session about politics—how exhausting it is, how obvious some of the games are, and how hard it can be to stay sane when you’re watching people run as one thing and govern as another. We talked about the w...
4.22.2026 - DEBATE - Rep. Rod Furniss and Karey Hanks- Immigration Bills, Education, Spending
Today’s show was a mix of pre-debate commentary and a full-on District 31 rematch debate between Representative Rod Furniss and former Representative Karey Hanks. Before the candidates came in, we previewed the format (including a little “AI go...
4.21.2026 - Election Races, Media Trust, Cultural Flashpoints
Today was one of those shows where we admitted up front: the news cycle is a mess, and it’s hard to even know what deserves attention anymore. We talked through the flood of conspiracy-laced clips people send in (often with a weird demand that ...
4.20.2026 - Iran Tensions, Police Endorsements, Education Enrollment Cliff
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. int...
4.17.2026 - S4C Aaron Ball Band, Dark Money, Idaho Spending, Space Awe
Idaho’s getting “discovered,” and with the population growth we’re seeing, we’re also getting a flood of out-of-state money and national agendas trying to reshape what makes this place work. We talked through what that looks like on the ground:...
4.16.2026 - INTERVIEW: Sen. Jim Risch, Iran Update, Idaho Politics, Medical Marijuana
Neal Larson and Julie Mason check in with U.S. Senator Jim Risch for a fast-moving update on Iran, the Strait of Hormuz, and where things go next. Risch argues Trump deserves major credit for finally forcing a decisive moment after decades of I...
4.15.2026 - DEBATE: Bingham vs McKellar D32B
Today’s show had that “debate day” energy right from the start—Neal Larson and Julie Mason set the table for a live legislative debate in Idaho House District 32B between appointed incumbent Representative **Aaron Bingham** and challenger **Bri...
4.14.2026 - Trump AI Image, Outrage Culture, Idaho Primaries
Today we spent a good chunk of time on the social-media firestorm over President Trump sharing (and then deleting) an AI-generated image with heavy religious symbolism—something a lot of people took as “Trump portraying himself as Jesus.” We di...
4.13.2026 - Iran Breakdown, Idaho Union Bill, Primary Money Questions
This episode was one of those “it’s Monday but it doesn’t feel like Monday” shows—because everything hit at once. We walked through the collapse of the Iran peace talks after a marathon 21-hour negotiation, with J.D. Vance central to the effort...
4.10.2026 - INTERVIEW: ISU AD Pauline Thiros, S4C Ty Liddle NIL Turbulence, Cowboy Poetry, Local Politics
We kicked off by laying out the next month of political coverage—four straight weeks of candidate debates, plus the usual logistical chaos that comes with trying to get everyone in the same room at the same time. And honestly, we meant what we ...
4.9.2026 - Ceasefire Confusion, Boise Pride Workarounds, GOP Primary Shakeups
Today we bounced between the global and the hyper-local, starting with the messy reality of an Iran ceasefire—how it’s not a clean “light switch,” and how a so-called “10-point deal” making the rounds was basically a media-fueled ghost document...
4.8.2026 - Trump, Iran, NATO
Neal Larson and Julie Mason spend most of the show working through two big themes: how to interpret President Trump’s public threats and how much weight we should give our own emotional reactions to politics. Neal argues that people keep making...
4.7.2026 - Artemis Awe, Iran Warnings, Boise Pride Pushback
Today was a real whiplash kind of show—in the best and worst ways. We spent a lot of time sitting in the wonder of NASA’s Artemis II mission: four astronauts (three Americans and a Canadian) pushing farther past the moon than humans have ever g...
4.6.2026 - Artemis II, Bracket Drama, Easter Debates
Today felt like one of those “how is all of this happening at once?” mornings. We’re following Artemis II as it closes in on the moon—about 10 hours out from the big loop around the far side—with a real focus on scouting for water, because if w...
4.3.2026 - Sine Die, School Boundaries, Harriman Fallout
The session is finally signed sine die, and it feels like a relief—but also like we’re closing the book on a year that was all over the map. We walked through the rough spots (budget turbulence, cultural bills, and the frustration of basically ...
4.2.2026 - INTERVIEW: Sgt. Brian Lovell (FOP), Legislative Sauce, ICE Cooperation, Artemis 2
Today’s show had that late-session “everybody’s a little saucy” energy—Neal Larson and Julie Mason were feeling it, the listeners were feeling it, and the Idaho Legislature was absolutely feeling it. We dug into the end-of-session maneuvering (...
4.1.2026 - INTERVIEW: Rep. Mike Simpson, SCOTUS hears Birthright Citizenship, DHS, SAVE Act
This episode was a whirlwind look at two big, very “right now” stories: the Supreme Court’s oral arguments on birthright citizenship (with President Donald Trump in the chamber) and the ongoing partial government shutdown centered on DHS fundin...
3.31.2026 - Parental Transparency, Attorney General Power, Culture & Family
Today we worked through a packed slate of Idaho policy and a few national flashpoints, with the big focus on the Senate moving bills that have been stuck in the pipeline. We dug into House Bill 822—framed as closing a loophole in Idaho’s vulner...
3.30.3036 - No Kings Protests, Bathroom Bill, Confirmation Bias
Neal Larson and Julie Mason kicked off the week sizing up a busy weekend in East Idaho—especially the “No Kings” protests—and the bigger point they kept coming back to was this: if you’re going to rally, at least be clear about what you’re tryi...
3.27.2026 - TSA Showdown, Immigration Power Plays, SOS Benefit Concert
We spent the first part of the show chewing on the TSA/DHS funding standoff and how it feels like Democrats are deliberately leveraging airport misery—especially during a heavy travel week—to force unrelated outcomes like targeting ICE. The con...
3.26.2026 - Shutdown Standoff, Iran Update, Updated Party Cohesion Index
Today’s show was a mix of national chaos and local accountability. We started with US Senator **Jim Risch** laying the blame for the ongoing government shutdown at Democrats’ feet, calling it completely avoidable and emphasizing how unfair it i...
3.25.2026 - Housing Bills, Classroom Silence, Capitol Power Plays
We spent time unpacking the late-session Idaho housing “affordability” bills and the common thread running through them: loosening planning and zoning to allow more density—duplexes, apartments, even backyard tiny homes—plus talk of rent caps t...
