Wedge LIVE!

A conversation with Abdihakim Ibrahim, former school board member in St. Louis Park, now running for the district 3 seat on the Hennepin County Board. You can scroll back in the feed for our July 14 episode with incumbent Commissioner Marion Greene. Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive Wedge...

We are walking across the Mississippi River for groceries with Scott from Prospect Park. Along the way we learn what it's like to shop for loose carrots and loose powders at the Seward Co-op. Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

Steve Simon is spending a lot of time preparing for federal threats to this year's election while running for a fourth term as Minnesota Secretary of State. We talk about potential federal interference; how he balances being both a politician and the state's top election official; and what it would mean for a Republican in era of Trump-style election denialism to replace him as Secretary of State....

Ayana Smith-Kooiman is this week's contestant on "grocery shopping with strangers without a car." Will we beat the countdown to catch the 2 bus? Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

Eric Harris Bernstein of the Minneapolis Board of Estimate & Taxation is building a patio on his neighbor's property. He says he has permission. While he works, we talk about his first big vote as a member of the BET: in favor of a maximum property tax levy of nearly 12% for 2027. We talk about his attempts to force action to rein in MPD overspending, the city's future budget outlook,...

Elliot Newhouse started riding the bus for groceries in high school and has agreed to share more than a decade's worth of grocery shopping wisdom with us as part of our special series where John goes grocery shopping with strangers without a car. Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive Wedge...

Parker Seaman shows me how to shop at Costco without a car, offering tips on how to bring a 36 pack of Diet Dr. Pepper home to Minneapolis from St. Louis Park on your bicycle's front rack. We discuss whether Parker has a "Dr. Pepper problem" and why he shops this way. Plus we enjoy a couple of Costco hot dogs under harsh warehouse lighting. Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive Join the conversatio...

Blue Delliquanti takes me grocery shopping at a Cub Foods in Edina. Afterwards we walk home to neighboring Richfield, and I become horrified that there are no sidewalks. This is the pilot episode of our new podcast miniseries where people take me shopping for groceries without a car. In addition to walking for groceries, Blue Delliquanti is a comic artist and writer. You can learn more about their...

On this special hydration episode, we're towing a bike trailer stacked with cases of water through the tri-neighborhood area, making deliveries with Al from the "Whittier Water Coolers" (aka the Hydration Honeys). This group of neighbors regularly stock water bottles across their network of nine coolers (and counting) to make sure nobody goes thirsty. We talk about why the group was...

We're talking about Mayor Frey's proposed property tax levy for 2027 with Commissioner Jason Garcia, of the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, and Eric Harris Bernstein, of the Board of Estimate & Taxation. The Park Board is feeling shortchanged by the mayor's suggested 2.5% increase in their levy, at the same time he has proposed a 14.4% increase for the city's portion o...

Two youthful-looking podcasters, Taylor Dahlin and John Edwards, infiltrate a teenage scooter takeover in downtown Minneapolis. Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

Taylor Dahlin and Ethan Knight join this episode for reaction and analysis to the 2026 Minnesota primary. Peggy Flanagan cruise to an easy victory over Angie Craig, and will face NFL sideline reporter/Republican nominee Michele Tafoya in the race for the US Senate. Lisa Demuth defeated the pillow man and will take on Amy Klobuchar for governor. A guy we've never heard of will be this year'...

Irene Fernando, chair of the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners, joins me for a blockbuster conversation as we walk around Wirth Lake (using only practical effects, no CGI). We talk about what she's been up to in the 8 years since we last spoke; why she's running for a third (and final) term as a county commissioner; Blue Line vs the bus; the county's progress on street designs; wh...

Angela Conley, currently running unopposed for a third term on the Hennepin County board, leads me on a walking tour of the Bryant neighborhood of Minneapolis, known to many as the home of George Floyd Square at 38th and Chicago. We talk about local street projects, visit neighborhood landmarks, pause to admire the bees, pet a cat, talk about the county's role in mitigating the devastating effects...

Professional pedicab driver Phil Schwartz shares his knowledge of the mean streets of Minneapolis and allows us to experience every pothole on the 90+ year old Lyndale Avenue. While doing the complete Lake-to-Hennepin-to-Lyndale circuit around the Wedge neighborhood, we check out the new Hennepin Avenue and see what's possible on a reconstructed Lyndale Avenue. On Thursday the Minneapolis City...

Hennepin County Commissioner Marion Greene joins me to talk about her campaign for reelection and the great big conversation we're having about reconstructing the 90+ year old Lyndale Avenue. What did we learn from the Hennepin Avenue experience? Why is a "pause" a bad idea? We also talk about the state of Uptown. Is Mayor Frey's plan to use MPD as a more prominent solution to ho...

What's the prospect for meaningful statewide housing policy reform in Minnesota? Brit Anbacht (Neighbors for More Neighbors) and Rep. Katie Jones (district 61A) join me to talk about zoning - parking minimums, minimum lot sizes, overly restrictive caps on unit sizes that make it impossible to build homes for families, and other things that make housing too damn expensive. We look back at the most...

The Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board voted 8-1 last Wednesday to end the use of Minnehaha dog park for off-leash dogs, believing it to be in conflict with the sacred nature of the site for the Dakota community. This upset a lot of the dog owners who frequent this park. Commissioner Jason Garcia who authored the resolution to decommission the off-leash use for the park, joins us to talk abou...

Legendary parade commentators Taylor Dahlin and John Edwards carry on the tradition of narrating another year of Big Honkin' Trucks rolling down Nicollet Mall. Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

Analysis of the results of the Hennepin County DFL Convention. Sheriff Dawanna Witt lost a five round battle of attrition against... nobody. County Commissioners Irene Fernando, Marion Greene, and Angela Conley were all endorsed for reelection. And Cedrick Frazier was endorsed by for the open seat for Hennepin County Attorney. We talk about how Anders Folk might be this year's Ryan Winkler (mi...

Rep. Ilhan Omar stops by for a conversation in the middle of Lyndale Avenue, as she campaigns for re-election ahead of the August 11th DFL primary. Then we talk to Eric Harris Bernstein of the Minneapolis Board of Estimate & Taxation. Episode recorded at Open Streets on June 7, 2026. Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live Support the sho...

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison stops by for a live conversation at Open Streets on Lyndale Avenue on June 7, 2026. Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

My conversation with Lauren McCarley who is organizing the Uptown People's Assembly as a counter to business interests that have dominated the conversation about Uptown on public safety, homelessness, the proposed business improvement district, and street infrastructure. The Uptown People's Assembly is happening Saturday, June 13 at 1:00 pm at 3400 Dupont Ave S (First Unitarian Church). RSVP here:...

Melody Hoffmann of Southwest Voices drives us to the new Uptown Little Caesars. Along the way we discuss the state of Uptown and Minneapolis' unraveling police chief situation. Plus we miss our turn and jump a curb while trying to steer clear of the medians on Hennepin Avenue. This is the first episode of the podcast that takes place partly inside an automobile. Watch: https://youtube.com/wedg...

My conversation with Kevin Chavis about his campaign for Hennepin County Board in District 3. Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee