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Listen Frontier

Listen Frontier

Written by: The Frontier
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Listen Frontier is a podcast exploring the investigative journalism of The Frontier and featuring conversations with those on the frontlines of Oklahoma's most important stories. At The Frontier, our mission is to hold public officials accountable, give a voice to the powerless and tell the stories that others are afraid to tell, or that illuminate the lives of people in our community. We will shine a light on hypocrisy, fraud, abuse and wrongdoing at all levels in our community and state. We will delve into complex issues and explain them to our readers, arming them with the information they need to make change.Copyright 2026 The Frontier Economics Political Science Politics & Government
Episodes
  • Why Tulsa is hitting pause on data centers

    Why Tulsa is hitting pause on data centers
    Apr 6 2026
    Data centers are coming to Tulsa. Eventually.But that momentum has hit a pause.City leaders have unanimously approved a temporary moratorium on new data center development, stepping back amid growing concerns about what these massive projects could mean for Tulsa’s power grid, water supply and long-term growth.At the same time, data centers promise jobs, investment, infrastructure and a foothold in a rapidly expanding industry. But they also come with enormous demands. So where does Tulsa go from here?On this episode of Listen Frontier, we’re talking with Tulsa City Councilors Phil Lakin and Laura Bellis about why they supported the moratorium, what questions still need answers, and what it would take for them to feel comfortable moving forward with data center development in Tulsa.Tulsa District 4 City Councilor Laura BellisDylan: What does the moratorium actually do and what does it not stop?Laura Bellis: Project Anthem’s Phase One is still moving forward, and potentially Phase Two depending on future approvals. What the moratorium does is create a nine-month pause so our planning office can update how data centers are handled in our zoning code.Right now, our code treats them like light industrial uses, which assumes they won’t have off-site impacts like noise or vibration. But that’s not what we’re seeing with large-scale, hyperscale data centers. So this pause gives us time to study best practices and update our policies.During the moratorium, no new permits can be pulled for data centers. The goal is that when it ends, we’ll have clearer rules about where they can go and whether our community has the capacity to support them.Dylan: Are there limits to what this moratorium can accomplish?Laura Bellis: This is a good first step, but it’s not a complete solution. Technology, especially AI and data centers, is evolving faster than regulation.At the city level, we can address land use and zoning, but we really need broader policy at the state and federal levels as well. My hope is that during this time, we can learn from other communities, see what works elsewhere, and start building a more comprehensive approach.Dylan: What does success look like when the moratorium ends?Laura Bellis: Success would mean we have clear definitions in our zoning code for different types and sizes of data centers, along with requirements to mitigate impacts.Ideally, we’d limit where hyperscale data centers can go and have a better understanding of how many our region can realistically support, especially when it comes to water and power. We’ll also have more information from things like the Cherokee Nation’s upcoming study and potential state legislation.Right now, we just don’t capture the nuance. By the end of this process, we should.Tulsa District 8 City Councilor Phil LakinDylan: What led you to support the moratorium?Phil Lakin: I supported it, but really as a way to take time and get policy right. The final version was the result of compromises, and that’s why it passed unanimously.Our zoning code wasn’t written with data centers in mind, and right now they could potentially be built next to neighborhoods or existing businesses. This gives us time — about 270 days — to fix that.It also allows projects already in the pipeline to continue, which was an important consideration.Dylan: How did you balance economic opportunity with community concerns?Phil Lakin: That was a big part of the discussion. On one hand, data centers bring investment, property tax revenue and franchise fees from electricity use. Those can be meaningful for the city.On the other hand, there are concerns about water use, power demand and proximity to neighborhoods. For me, the key was balance.We want to remain open for business, but we also want to be thoughtful about where these projects go. A moratorium gives us time to get that planning right instead of reacting after the fact.Dylan: What does success look like after the moratorium?Phil Lakin: The most important thing is getting the zoning code right, clearly defining where data centers can and can’t go.Beyond that, I think success is having a better public understanding of both the benefits and the downsides. A lot of people focus on one side or the other, but we need to look at the full picture.We all use data centers every day, whether it’s cloud storage, Google searches or AI. So part of this is helping people understand both the impact and the role they play in our daily lives.
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    29 mins
  • Why Trump picked Markwayne Mullin for Homeland Security

    Why Trump picked Markwayne Mullin for Homeland Security
    Mar 6 2026

    Today on the Listen Frontier podcast, we’re talking about one of the more surprising political shakeups in Washington — the firing of Kristi Noem and the appointment of Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin to replace her.

    Noem was abruptly pushed out of her role leading the Department of Homeland Security by President Donald Trump, setting off a scramble over who would take over one of the federal government’s most powerful agencies — responsible for border security, immigration enforcement, disaster response and counterterrorism.

    Trump’s pick of Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin stunned many. If confirmed, Mullin would leave what is often considered one of the most secure jobs in American politics — a U.S. Senate seat — to take on a Cabinet position in an administration known for frequent turnover.

    To help us break down what happened, why Mullin might take the job, and what it could mean for Oklahoma politics, I’m joined by Reese Gorman.

    Reese is a national political reporter for NOTUS covering Congress and the Trump administration. Before that, he worked here in Oklahoma as a reporter for The Frontier.
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    21 mins
  • Salty, oily drinking water left sores in their mouths. Oklahoma refused to find out why.

    Salty, oily drinking water left sores in their mouths. Oklahoma refused to find out why.
    Feb 11 2026

    In our latest investigation, reporter Nick Bowlin digs into a troubling question: What happens when families report salty, oily drinking water that leaves sores in their mouths — and the state declines to determine the cause? In “Salty, oily drinking water left sores in their mouths. Oklahoma refused to find out why,” Nick traces complaints of oilfield contamination, examines how regulators responded and explains why key questions remain unanswered. In this conversation, he takes us behind the scenes of the reporting, the documents that shaped the story and what it reveals about oversight of oil and gas pollution in Oklahoma.

    Dylan Goforth: When you first heard about the Boarmans’ situation, what made you think this wasn’t just a private well problem but a story about the state’s oil and gas regulator? What was the moment where the story “clicked” for you?

    Nick Bowlin: After my initial conversations with Tammy and Chris, I sent in an open records request with the state. Once I got the files and began to read, the click happened pretty fast. I saw that officials at the OCC had found strong signs of oil and gas pollution using a number of different metrics and tests. And this was for a house that sits in the middle of a legacy oilfield, drilled in the 1940s. Old wells plugged with mud – a common practice at the time – surround their house. But all this evidence didn’t seem to lead to urgent action. The agency slow-walked testing nearby oil and gas operations and water sampling for heavy metals. And when they finally ran those tests, they found problems. People all over the state are dealing with pollution threats from historic and current oil and gas. Tammy and Chris were unusually proactive in pushing the state to help them and trying to learn all they could about their situation. If this is how the state handled the Boarmans’ case, it didn’t bode well for other Oklahomans coming to the OCC for help.

    Dylan: A huge part of this story relies on internal emails, test results and agency reports. How did you go about getting those records, and what was the most surprising or revealing document you found?

    Nick: I relied primarily on open records requests to the OCC. My first one took a while, since my request covered over a year of agency work on the Boarmans’. But after that, I could submit requests covering only a few months at a time and the agency tended to return these promptly. To my mind, the most revealing set of emails come from September 2024, after the Boarmans’ state senator got involved. His arrival seemed to spur the state to finally order long-delayed tests. I was also struck by the electromagnetic survey images: For the most part, oil and gas reporters don’t get to see the pollution we report on. Leaks happen deep below our feet, while CO2 emissions are invisible. But those images taken by the agency offered a rare and disturbing picture of the pollution plume contaminating the Boarmans’ drinking water.

    Dylan: There are several points in the story where agency staff appear to know more than the Boarmans do about what’s happening to their water. How did you piece together that timeline of who knew what, and when?

    Nick: I built out a detailed chronology, based on the records I received and interviews with the Boarmans’. It wasn’t hard to do that with the agency emails. But I also built a timeline of the evidence. There isn’t a single test that definitively proves oil and gas contamination. Instead, the state relied on an accumulation of data, evaluating things like salts, the presence of certain metals, chemical ratios and the belowground electromagnetic maps. That was a useful exercise: to see the growing pile of evidence pointing to oil and gas, compared to the agency’s handling of the Boarmans’ pollution case.

    Dylan: The McCoon injection well becomes central to the story. How did you figure out it might be a key
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    22 mins
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