This week on The Dispatch, we hear from just one of many drone startups plying the increasingly crowded skies over North Dakota, where I’m on vacation. Open space, an established aviation industry, local funders and a wealth of tech talent are turning the prairie into a hotbed of development for unmanned aviation. The state has pumped nearly $34 million into its drone business, including a civilian industrial park for drones near Grand Forks Air Force Base. As oil production drops in the state, a burgeoning tech industry is poised to take its place. I talked to one of North Dakota’s many drone-related startups.

Plus, as I head into my vacation, some thoughts on Waze, the traffic and navigation app that goes out of its way to shave minutes off your daily commute, and Apple reaching the ripe old age of 40. 

Follow Dispatch more closely by creating a Soundcloud playlist right here. You can also add our feed to your podcast player. In Podcasts on iOS, click the plus sign and paste in this link: it’s a similar process for almost every other podcatcher app.