Wedge LIVE!

We're headed to Saint Paul for conversations with all four candidates to fill the vacant Ward 4 seat on the City Council. Our guest for this episode is Cole Hanson. Special election is August 12, 2025. 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 LaFontse...

We're talking about the saga of Saint Paul's Summit Ave with Melissa Wenzel. I mean it's one street, Melissa. How much controversy could it inspire? Turns out, an endless amount. Lies about bikes threatening trees; a misunderstanding of why streets are reconstructed (it's about infrastructure deep underground as well as on top); and the bottomless bank accounts of some very wealthy...

I'm joined by my authoritative bald-headed friend Josh Martin and Taylor Dahlin (aka Rondi Arradondi) for an examination of the wildest, weirdest Minneapolis DFL convention in recent memory. Omar Fateh is your DFL endorsed candidate for mayor. This convention hit so hard that the most normal thing to happen all day was Scott Graham (congressional district 5 DFL chair) getting kicked out of for all...

John is joined by David Brauer for an assessment of this year's campaign for mayor of Minneapolis as we head into this weekend's Minneapolis DFL convention. We also discuss key city council races and who David likes for Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board. Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live Support the show: https://patreon.c...

Michael Wilson is running for an at-large seat on the Minneapolis Park & Rec Board. Hosts Taylor Dahlin and John Edwards spoke with him about his campaign and the issues facing Minneapolis parks as he gave us a sailboat ride on Lake Nokomis. Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive Wedge LIVE...

Dan Engelhart is running for the Minneapolis Park & Rec Board in District 1. We took a bike ride through NE Minneapolis and talked about why he's running for such an unpleasant, low pay elected office. 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 LaFontse...

Tom Olsen is running for re-election to the Minneapolis Park Board. While paddling a canoe together, we talk about his first term; why Minneapolis has such a hard time attracting and electing good Park Board candidates; what he hopes to accomplish if elected to a second four-year term; why he forced me to use the short paddle; and so much more. Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive Join the convers...

A bike ride conversation with Jazz Hampton, candidate for Mayor of 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

With John sidelined by legal wrangling, Josh Martin becomes the first ever fill-in host of the Wedge LIVE podcast. We start by discussing the recent targeted attacks on DFL state legislators and the assassination of House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark. Then Josh gets the full story from Taylor and John about being exonerated in campaign finance court. Ward 12 City Council candidate...

We're on location in Kenwood Park for a conversation with Andrew Gebo, who's running for the District 4 seat on the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. 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

We're on location in Kenwood Park for a conversation with Conrad Zbikowski, who's running for the District 4 seat on the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. 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

The thrilling conclusion of our two part series of harrowing stories from the Ward 10 Minneapolis DFL convention. Dex Anderson talks about their experience helping to organize the convention, dealing with a shouty landlord before he shoved the incumbent council member, caption mishaps, and much more. Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live Su...

Professional Journalist Taylor Dahlin uncovers the Reddit post history of a candidate for mayor of 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

You may remember Samuel Doten as the authority figure wielding a tiny gavel in the face of an unruly crowd who stormed the stage at the 2023 Ward 10 DFL convention in Minneapolis. Last Saturday he returned to the elementary school auditorium where it happened. His role this year: leader of a crack team of sergeants-at-arms policing misbehavior at the 2025 convention. These are his stories. Watch:...

We begin with a report from Taylor Dahlin on yesterday's federal law enforcement raid of a restaurant on Lake Street. With dozens of officers from ICE, DEA, FBI, ATF, Homeland Security, along with the participation of local cops from Hennepin County and MPD. Many of the feds were masked and dressed for combat, drawing a crowd of protesters who assumed it was an immigration raid. Then Taylor, J...

We're on location in Kenwood Park for a conversation with Jason Garcia, who's running for the District 4 seat on the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. 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

We check in with Melody Hoffmann for her first public appearance since being downsized at Southwest Voices. What's next for Melody? What's the state of the hyperlocal news business? Then we have an uncomfortable conversation about race as Minneapolis continues to reflect on five years since MPD murdered George Floyd. John explains why he's not taking responsibility for the Kenwood neighborhood. As...

We’re reviewing five years of Minneapolis politics since George Floyd’s murder with guest D.A. Bullock. We pick apart the records of two very different police chiefs - Medaria Arradondo and Brian O’Hara. We talk about the backlash to the backlash: fear politics is bigger than ever in 2025. Minneapolis has two PACs aligned with Mayor Frey using crime as a wedge to get us to vote for candidates who...

Seven city council wards have held their DFL conventions so far (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 12,13). We have endorsements in five of them - several with North Korea margins. There's six more wards to go, plus the city convention. Joining me for analysis of the action so far: Josh Martin, Taylor Dahlin, and America's favorite pundit meat squeezed through a tubed casing: Hot Dog Larry Jacobs, aka Jason Garcia. W...

A conversation with Katie Cashman, who's running for reelection to the Minneapolis City Council, as we ride our bikes through Uptown and the lakes neighborhoods of Ward 7. https://www.katieforcouncil.org/ 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

Kyle Jones is a small town Minnesota boy who came to the big city, trusted too many people, and has learned some valuable life lessons. In part one, Kyle was pepper sprayed after using the 311 app to report an Amazon delivery truck blocking both a bike lane and a bus stop. In today's episode, Kyle returns to tell us about having a gun pulled on him in a nearly identical circumstance -- while u...

A conversation with Aurin Chowdhury, who's running for reelection to the Minneapolis City Council in Ward 12. https://www.aurinchowdhury.org/ 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 Damla Erten, owner of Sencha Tea Bar and founder of the Uptown Community Coalition, about her opposition to the creation of a business improvement district for Uptown. The push for a BID comes from the Uptown Association, which represents their member businesses in the area. Damla says the problem with a BID is that it gets voted on only by property owners, not by renters or b...

It's your favorite syndicated tabloid entertainment TV show that's actually a podcast: Loring Stories with Taylor Dahlin. On today's episode, an attack on the first amendment - Taylor captured exclusive video of herself being physically assaulted by a smaller, much older woman in Loring Park. Plus a tree fell down. Then, executive producer John Edwards bids farewell to the mayoral campaign of Emil...

A harrowing personal story from Curt Myran of Whittier, who talks about how his life changed the day they rearranged the Aldi at 26th and Lyndale. 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