Episodes
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We kick things off with results and analysis of Don Samuels vs Ilhan Omar in the 5th congressional district primary. Josh breaks out his google docs. We list all the factors working against Samuels in 2024, compared to his previous campaign in 2022. We cover Katie Jones's victory in Minneapolis's only competitive state legislative race (house district 61A) - and what the results can tell us about Council Member Katie Cashman's Ward 7 reelection campaign in 2025.
Taylor joins us for the second half hour, delivering her unique brand of tabloid political coverage. Which 61A campaign turned down the endorsement of Mayor Jacob Frey? Which Timberwolves star doesn't pick up the phone when candidates come calling? Why is the Majority Leader of the Minnesota House so humorless? All that and so much more.
Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive
Join the conversation: https://twitter.com/wedgelive
Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive
Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee
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Jason Garcia, aka Hot Dog Larry Jacobs, joins us to do podcast punditry while attempting to eat 12 hot dogs for charity. Josh Martin makes sure the score-keeping stays honest. In this groundbreaking 90 minute episode, we talk about the race for Minnesota House of Representatives in 61A. Frank Hornstein is retiring, creating a vacancy for the first time in decades. We're trying to answer the question: Why do even people who agree with Will Stancil think he's incredibly irritating? John gives his strongest possible endorsement of Katie Jones. Jason tries to choke out an endorsement of Isabel Rolfes while eating yet another hot dog.
We're also talking about Don Samuels underwhelming, backward looking, unfocused campaign against Rep. Ilhan Omar; we review crime stats and react to the Minneapolis Police Department's plan to expand their gunshot detection microphones, known as ShotSpotter, into the Wedge and Whittier neighborhoods; Josh has an update about an effort to move St. Paul's elections for mayor and city council from odd years to presidential years; and so much more.
Don't forget to vote in the primary by August 13, especially if you live in 61A. Early voting and polling place information here: https://vote.minneapolismn.gov/voters/vote-early-in-person/
Read John's endorsement of Katie Jones for Minnesota House in 61A: https://wedgelive.com/endorsement-katie-jones-for-mn-house-district-61a/
If you'd like to honor Jason's hot dog heroism, consider a donation to the Indigenous Food Lab's program providing meals to the community: https://iflmarket.square.site/product/donate-to-help-fund-our-community-meal-program-/446
Thank you to our sponsor North Star Art Club. They offer art clubs, art camps, birthday parties, adult classes and more. North Star Art Club is the exclusive sponsor of the Wedge LIVE Hot Dog Counter which appears in the YouTube version of this episode. Website: https://northstarartclub.com/
Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive
Join the conversation: https://twitter.com/wedgelive
Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive
Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee
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Missing episodes?
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On this episode of Wedge Save America: After their department earned an unprecedented double consent decree, the Minneapolis police union earns a historically large 21.7% pay increase as part of their new contract; the plan to add an additional elected member/crackpot to the Minneapolis Board of Estimate and Taxation dies at the Charter Commission; Taylor Dahlin joins us to talk about becoming a vacant building activist; President Biden gives way to Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for president in 2024; Senior political analyst Josh Martin auditions to replace Larry Jacobs in a classic meme.
Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgeliveJoin the conversation: https://twitter.com/wedgeliveSupport the show: https://patreon.com/wedgeliveWedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee
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For this episode, Mike Norton and host John Edwards welcome your angry replies to their bike ride through Uptown, around the lakes, and back again. We discuss the life and death of Uptown; the perverse incentives of the commercial real estate market; how Minneapolis has earned its designation as the happiest city in the USA; why Mike Norton's resignation as Minneapolis DFL vice chair was really just him getting out ahead of an ethics investigation; we rank Uptown's many coffee shops and grocery stores; John expresses a fear that Minneapolis is transitioning from the era of demanding police accountability to mindless police hero worship.
Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgeliveJoin the conversation: https://twitter.com/wedgeliveSupport the show: https://patreon.com/wedgeliveWedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee
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We're biking from downtown Minneapolis to Powderhorn Park to talk about People's Pride — the local, laid back, non-corporate alternative to Twin Cities Pride. No police either — they've taken sequeerity into their own hands. It's happening Saturday, June 29 at Powderhorn Park from noon to 4 pm. My guest is one of the event's organizers, Luna Zeidner, who talks about the recent origins of this event as an alternative to the big corporate sponsored Pride festival in Loring Park, how organizers have navigated city permitting and security requirements, and why you should come out and enjoy the event. They're also looking for volunteers and donations.
For more information on People's Pride at Powderhorn Park: https://www.mplspeoplespride.com/
Donate to support the event: https://www.gofundme.com/f/877th-support-the-2024-minneapolis-peoples-pride
Luna suggests that after People's Pride on Saturday, you can show up downtown on Sunday to participate in the annual Taking Back Pride protest of the police and corporate presence at Twin Cities Pride:https://www.instagram.com/takingbackpride/
As an alternative, John suggest showing up to Loring Park's Pride festival on Sunday to take in the corporate sponsorships and sign up to join the FBI: https://www.fbi.gov
We also talk to Luna about how selling her car helped her to afford the purchase of a home, while also getting healthier and more connected to her community; her reaction to downtown scooter outrage; and why it's more important than ever to get involved in the lives of young people.
Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgeliveJoin the conversation: https://twitter.com/wedgeliveSupport the show: https://patreon.com/wedgeliveWedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee
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What have we learned from the big push for ambitious statewide zoning reforms during the 2024 Minnesota legislative session? From parking reform to fourplex legalization, most of these proposals failed to pass. But advocates got the conversation started and built an impressively broad coalition of housing, environmental, labor, faith groups, and others in support of these proposals. And they saved the 2040 Plan!
John's guests are Peter Wagenius of the Sierra Club and Andrea Riehl of Neighbors for More Neighbors. Peter says the League of Minnesota Cities rallying cry of "local control" is not a substantive vision for the future. If cities won't act on our housing and climate needs, we should expect the state to act for them. Andrea talks about a small but meaningful victory on single stairway reforms and a near victory on implementing a land value tax pilot.
Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgeliveJoin the conversation: https://twitter.com/wedgeliveSupport the show: https://patreon.com/wedgeliveWedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee
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DJ and transportation activist Eric Moran takes John on a bicycle tour of North Minneapolis. We talk about the status of Northside streets and transit advocacy. We wonder why Ward 4 Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw (a former board chair of the Bicycle Coalition/Our Streets) is the Minneapolis City Council's biggest opponent of bike infrastructure. We talk about why Eric advocates for safer streets and the projects he's most excited about.
We also make a harrowing detour into neighboring Robbinsdale, Minnesota -- a place where many North Minneapolis residents, who lack options for grocery and drug stores, travel for daily essentials. Robbinsdale is also a place where opposition to a transit project is dominating a special election to fill a seat on their city council.
Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgeliveJoin the conversation: https://twitter.com/wedgeliveSupport the show: https://patreon.com/wedgeliveWedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee
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A conversation with Michelle Phelps, author of The Minneapolis Reckoning, a book that puts the murder of George Floyd in the context of generations of Minneapolis police violence and abuse -- and activist efforts at both reform and abolition. We talk about why she felt compelled to write the book; how this project that began at the height of the BLM movement, and activism in response to police killings in the Twin Cities, became something different after Floyd's murder; how Minneapolis has grappled with our "ambivalence" and conflicted feelings about the future of police and public safety; how to understand the politics that led to the Minneapolis City Council declaring in 2021 they would dismantle MPD; how resistance to a new kind of public safety was more a generational divide than a racial one; how the defeat of the public safety charter amendment in 2021 wasn't the end of the story; how the killing of MPD officer Jamal Mitchell, four years and five days after Floyd's murder, is already affecting police politics; and how a rise in community violence, victimization and crime politics threatens to overshadow efforts to address police violence.
Buy the book: https://moonpalacebooks.com/item/6CvPe_CEu0Zi5VUiASXa9Q\
From the publisher:
"Phelps explains that the council’s pledge did not come out of a single moment of rage, but decades of organizing efforts. Yet the politics of transforming policing were more complex than they first appeared. Despite public outrage over police brutality, the council’s initiatives faced stiff opposition, including by Black community leaders who called for more police protection against crime as well as police reform. In 2021, voters ultimately rejected the ballot measure to end the department. Yet change continued on the ground, as state and federal investigations pushed police reform and city leaders and residents began to develop alternative models of safety.
"The Minneapolis Reckoning shows how the dualized meaning of the police—as both the promise of state protection and the threat of state violence—creates the complex politics of policing that thwart change. Phelps’s account of the city's struggles over what constitutes real accountability, justice, and safety offers a vivid picture of the possibilities and limits of challenging police power today."Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgeliveJoin the conversation: https://twitter.com/wedgeliveSupport the show: https://patreon.com/wedgeliveWedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee
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A conversation with Aurin Chowdhury, who represents Ward 12 on the Minneapolis City Council. We talk about MPD's continued use of coaching as a way to hide misconduct; what she hopes to see from a new union contract; why she isn't sold on the idea of moving the city's election office into the old MPD 3rd Precinct; how budget conversations are proceeding with a $21 million budget gap looming for 2025; her hesitancy on the idea of adding more city council staff; the Uber/Lyft saga and how dad jokes are born; and the fate the Roof Depot/East Phillips Urban Farm now that the legislature has failed to pass a key piece of funding.
Note: Episode was recorded May 30, prior to the mass shooting in the Whittier neighborhood, where a gunman injured four people and killed MPD officer Jamal Mitchell.
Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive
Join the conversation: https://twitter.com/wedgelive
Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive
Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee
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A conversation about the chaotic end to the 2024 Minnesota state legislative session with Dan Thomas-Commins, the self-styled parliamentary rules nerd who you might have seen running your local DFL convention. We talk about GOP obstruction; what might explain the DFL's seeming lack of urgency; how literal last minute procedural mistakes cost tens of millions in vital public investments; how the rules are actually whatever these legislative bodies say they are; and why it's ok that the political party in control of the state house, senate and governor's office are able to enact their agenda.
For the second half of the episode we talk about Dan's experience chairing DFL conventions. John asks Dan to imagine if he were recruited by a shadowy US government agency to be part of an elite team of parliamentarians deployed overseas -- how would he weaponize the rules to create mayhem for the deliberative bodies of America's enemies?
Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive
Join the conversation: https://twitter.com/wedgelive
Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive
Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee
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It's the world's first half bike/half scooter mobile podcast episode, with Taylor Dahlin. We are patrolling the streets of Loring Park and downtown Minneapolis on the lookout for scooter scofflaws. We talk about the alleged connection between scooter ridership and crime; Taylor's transportation habits as a year-round, all-seasons scooter commuter; the state of bike and scooter infrastructure in Minneapolis; and so much more. You're won't want to miss the lovely scenery, so catch this episode on our YouTube channel.
Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive
Join the conversation: https://twitter.com/wedgelive
Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive
Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee
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John is joined by Josh Martin to talk about three proposals to amend the Minneapolis City Charter, including a plan to move from odd to even year city elections. Plus: Ilhan Omar's DFL convention win over an underwhelming Don Samuels; and how despite the city's 2040 Plan appeals court victory, only the legislature can save us from endless further litigation.
Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive
Join the conversation: https://twitter.com/wedgelive
Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive
Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee
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There's a linear park in Uptown called "the Mall" that functions more like a parking lot. In 2020, after two years of community engagement, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board adopted a long-range plan that transforms some of the Mall's parking area into actual "forested and green space" and includes additional amenities like a community garden. But now that the plan is about to be implemented, a pair of commissioners elected in 2021 appear determined to scrap the plan in the name of public safety.
For this conversation, John is joined by Melody Hoffmann of https://southwestvoices.news. We talk about the parking concerns and, more urgently, the public safety concerns being used as cover for the parking concerns; why Minneapolis Fire Chief Bryan Tyner is recommending against a plan he concedes he has never seen; why a park commissioner would discard years of community engagement in the name of listening to the community; how MPRB ordinance prohibits overnight parking on all parkways, including the Mall, which means the thing they're trying to preserve (24 hour residential parking) is not a legal use to begin with.
We're also talking about the latest on the Uber and Lyft saga, now that DFL leaders in the MN House and Senate have come to an agreement with the Minneapolis City Council on pay rates; Metro Transit's new service for disabled riders; and as always some recommendations.
Read John's post here: https://wedgelive.com/plan-to-expand-forested-green-space-in-uptown-at-risk-over-parking-concerns/
Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive
Join the conversation: https://twitter.com/wedgelive
Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive
Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee
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Today, we're talking about people who think Roberts Rules is an acceptable form of bullying. It turns out, shouting "Point of order! Point of order!" over and over again is not an excuse to get up in a parliamentarian's personal space. Our conversation is inspired by Deborah Copperud's recent experience at the Minneapolis DFL City Convention. We talk about what's wrong with the DFL process, some potential solutions, and importantly, why those fixes will never happen. In a surprising twist, we agree the current deeply flawed process is still better than a primary.
John's guests are Conrad Zbikowski, new chair of the Minneapolis DFL, and Deborah Copperud of the new substack "Deborah Copperud Shops at Target."
Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive
Join the conversation: https://twitter.com/wedgelive
Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive
Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee
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This is part of a series of conversations with 2024 candidates for MN House district 62B to be published ahead of the DFL Convention on Sunday, April 14. This episode features candidate Anquam Mahamoud (https://www.anquam62b.com).
Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive
Join the conversation: https://twitter.com/wedgelive
Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive
Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee
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This is part of a series of conversations with 2024 candidates for MN House district 62B to be published ahead of the DFL Convention on Sunday, April 14. This episode features candidate Londel French (londelfrench.org).
Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive
Join the conversation: https://twitter.com/wedgelive
Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive
Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee
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This is part of a series of conversations with 2024 candidates for MN House district 62B to be published ahead of the DFL Convention on Sunday, April 14. This episode features candidate Bill Emory (billemory.org).
Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive
Join the conversation: https://twitter.com/wedgelive
Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive
Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee
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John is joined by PeggySue Imihy Bean (President of the Minnesota Chapter of the American Planning Association) and Alex Schieferdecker (also a planner). We're talking about the effort at the state legislature to protect municipal comprehensive plans from bad-faith environmental lawsuits (contact your state legislators!). The group of wealthy pretend environmentalists currently holding up the Minneapolis 2040 plan in court - over too much housing density - could be a sign of things to come for every city in the region. Not only is this potentially costly for cities who can't afford it, it has the potential to distort the process and discourage thoughtful and thorough long-range planning. The world's climate scientists agree that dense pedestrianized cities are good for the environment, allowing people to use less energy and driving less. PeggySue explains how comprehensive plans are already a form of environmental review. And as she wrote in a recent Star Tribune opinion, the tools available for environmental review in Minnesota are intended for specific projects or sites, not for speculative visions of the future, like citywide comprehensive plans. Alex notes that what's missing from the discussion and the court record is that the 2040 Plan isn't solely about housing density - it's about planning for stormwater runoff and a less car-centric transportation system. While a dozen of the state's realest environmental organizations (like Sierra Club) have signed on to fix state law, the plaintiffs in the anti-2040 case were created for the sole purpose of this lawsuit (and are represented by a lawyer who typically represents big polluters). We talk about how the Moorhead, MN and Washington state examples (of places that use environmental review for their comprehensive plans) are bad ones. And much, much more.
It also comes to light during this episode that PeggySue is draining my small business of cash by purchasing her Wedge LIVE apparel through ad links, wiping out my already thin margins - so it's more important than ever to support Wedge LIVE (patreon.com/wedgelive).
PeggySue's Star Tribune opinion: https://www.startribune.com/counterpoint-from-an-urban-planning-perspective-2040-dispute-is-mystifying-worrisome/600348208/
Please only use the direct link to the Wedge LIVE store, never an ad: https://www.etsy.com/shop/WedgeLIVE
Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive
Join the conversation: https://twitter.com/wedgelive
Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive
Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee
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Melody Hoffman (southwestvoices.news) joins us for a conversation about serious allegations made against a US mail carrier in southwest Minneapolis. Witnesses recount a series of assaults that ultimately ended a beloved neighborhood turkey's life. First, an attack with a shovel. Then a brutal hit-and-run attack with a mail truck.
We also talk about: Uber and Lyft threatening to leave Minneapolis, or the metro area entirely, due to the recently passed pay increase; the war of words between Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty; reopening Nicollet Ave at Lake St where the old Kmart stood; and John reminds people about the race for the MN House in 61A and reflects on his recent conversations with the candidates. Plus, Melody makes friends with the publisher of a Longfellow neighborhood newsletter.
Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive
Join the conversation: https://twitter.com/wedgelive
Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive
Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee
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Rep. Frank Hornstein is retiring after 20 years representing District 61A in the Minnesota House. So far there are four publicly announced candidates seeking the DFL endorsement. We're having conversations with all of them ahead of the DFL Senate District 61 Convention on Saturday, March 23. This episode features candidate Katie Jones (katiejones.org)
Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive
Join the conversation: https://twitter.com/wedgelive
Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive
Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee
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