Better Minneapolis Podcast

The Revolution Will Be Live Streamed Minneapolis became the epicenter of national attention this week after Renee Good was shot and killed by an ICE officer. The killing sparked immediate outrage, intensified by the federal government’s self-serving interpretation of what occurred and by the rapid arrival of media figures and online personalities from around the country. What began as a local trag...

Just hours before Minneapolis’ newly elected City Council convened for its first meeting, Governor Tim Walz announced he would not seek a third term. The decision immediately reshaped the state’s political landscape and underscored how volatile the moment has become. That volatility was also evident inside City Hall. What might have been a routine organizational meeting instead revealed deep mistr...

Are you ready for the new year? Saturday morning, the U. S. invaded Venezuela and removed its leader. The federal government is withholding money intended for childcare and small businesses in Minnesota. Locally, Mayor Frey and the newly elected City Council will be sworn in on Monday, followed by the council’s first meeting on Tuesday. We expect the council to elect Jamal Osman as Vice President...

2025 — A Preview of 2026 When First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson talks about being understaffed, given the level of fraud his office is uncovering, we believe him. As we write this, it’s being reported that Rep. James Comer, the Republican chair of the U.S. House Oversight Committee, is expanding his investigation into Minnesota’s social services programs. For most people outside the legis...

Brief Overview As Uptown turns a corner after years of construction and disruption, community leaders and business owners say the neighborhood is showing real signs of life, with new transit, events, and openings drawing people back. But the roundtable made clear that lasting revival will depend on tackling public safety concerns and building stronger, locally driven systems to support businesses...

Brief Summary On December 16, Mayor Jacob Frey and City Council Vice President Aisha Chughtai reached a late-breaking agreement that allowed the mayor to sign Minneapolis’s budget. The deal, which requires a series of budget amendments after the council formally adjourns, was publicly framed as a win for collaboration. Not everyone saw it that way. Council Member Robin Wonsley sharply criticized t...

Brief Introduction: Mike Newcome is running for Minnesota governor as an independent with the Forward Independence Party, motivated by a belief that partisan politics and special interests have left state government disconnected from everyday Minnesotans. Interview Summary: Mike Newcome is running for Minnesota governor as a candidate of the Forward Independence Party, driven by a sense that the s...

Hi, If you’re not a paid subscriber yet, now is a good time. Help support the interviews and political commentary you’ve come to appreciate. We’re able to do this work because of supporters like you! Interview Summary Anders Folk, a lifelong Minnesotan and former federal prosecutor, is running for Hennepin County Attorney with a focus on restoring public safety and rebuilding the office’s reputati...

Brief Summary: In today’s newsletter, we examine how Minnesota’s nonprofit fraud scandals have evolved from local oversight failures into a national political vulnerability for the DFL. With leaders slow to confront the scale of the problem, Republicans have stepped in with investigations, audits, and messaging that could shape the 2026 elections. A Party Unwilling to Police Its Own In October 202...

INTRODUCTION Today on Better Minneapolis , we’re bringing you a conversation with Congresswoman Angie Craig as she launches her run for the U.S. Senate. We talked about the experiences that shaped her—growing up in a mobile home park without reliable healthcare—and how that fuels her push to lower costs, improve community safety, and reform Washington. We cover healthcare affordability, the $35 in...

Brief As Minneapolis leaders debate whether to add eight public restrooms downtown, the Minnesota Star Tribune reports that the City Council is considering a $700,000 budget amendment to build them. It’s a welcome recognition of a real need; private businesses shouldn’t be expected to function as the city’s bathroom system, but the proposed amount is far from the full cost. What Practical Governan...

The Bear Bones Let’s start with a disclaimer: we haven’t spent the dozens of hours it would take to fully dissect Minneapolis’s proposed 2026 budget. At nearly 500 pages, it’s a beast. But one thing is immediately clear: if the City Council approves the plan in December, Minneapolis will spend about $140 million more in 2026 than it did in 2025. To cover that increase, residents are being asked to...

Introduction In this interview, Latonya Reeves shares her background and the priorities driving her campaign to become Minnesota’s next representative for the 5th Congressional District. The seat has been held by Rep. Ilhan Omar since she won the DFL endorsement in 2018, defeating Margaret Kelliher. Any challenger—including Reeves—faces steep odds. Omar has demonstrated consistent strength in DFL...

Introduction This interview began after a chance conversation with Nancy Ford at her shop, Repair Lair. (Zelda, our dog, had chewed through a small shoulder pack we were dropping off for repair.) We started talking about how business was going and whether conditions in the neighborhood had improved. According to Nancy, the area around the 46th & Hiawatha transit station remains deeply troubled. Qu...

Introduction In this interview, Becka Thompson and I discuss the upheaval at the Park Board, the realities of campaigning, and the growing strains on Minneapolis’s budget. One of the biggest surprises this election cycle was the defeat of longtime Park Board Commissioner Steffanie Musich by Kay Carvajal Moran in District 5. Moran, a recent Augsburg University graduate with degrees in sociology and...

Introduction Our interview with Phil Fuehrer and Bill Halter was a reminder that politics doesn’t have to look the way it does today. As we continue to search for a political home, we were reminded that there is another option beyond the current DFL/Republican duopoly. The newly formed Forward Independence Party is positioning itself as that alternative, with an emphasis on ethical candidates, pro...

The Tour The state DFL Listening Tour stops in Minneapolis this Thursday, November 13, at the Sabathani Community Center (6:30–7:30 p.m.). We’ll be there — curious to see whether the event brings clarity to a party struggling to define its message and direction. If you’d like to participate but are unable to attend, you can still add your comments on the DFL website . Now is the Time We applaud St...

Brief Summary The politics we’re seeing now will continue for another four years. The question is whether the results change, and Minneapolis experiences less crime, more investment, and a broader group of people reaping the benefits of our economy. Prediction Review We did well in our pre-election predictions — correctly calling the mayoral race and 9 of 13 City Council contests. Here’s where we...

Introduction Election Day is tomorrow — Tuesday, November 4, 2025.What follows are our predictions, drawn from close observation over the past year and the surveys we’ve conducted. These are not endorsements, but simply our best attempt to forecast the outcomes. If you’re still finalizing your choices, we encourage you to revisit our many candidate interviews — available on the Better Minneapolis...

Brief Summary Commissioner Meg Forney centers her re-election message on equity and accessibility, restoring the city’s tree canopy, and diversifying park funding beyond property taxes. She highlights expanding public access to water through North Side riverfront projects, activating parks like the new Graco “River Hub,” and major investments in North Commons Park. Forney contrasts Minneapolis’s w...

Introduction It may seem unusual for Better Minneapolis to interview Christina Baldwin, artistic director of the Jungle Theater, and Rachel Murch-D’Olimpio, managing director. We’re not stepping into the theater review business, but we wanted to hear directly from them about how recovery is progressing four years after COVID. The city lifted its mask mandate on July 1, 2021, but the return to norm...

Introduction If you watched the documentary Precarious State , you saw Jim Rubin, a longtime Minneapolis apartment owner, featured. Our decision to interview him isn’t an endorsement of the film or his views. It’s part of our ongoing effort to make Better Minneapolis a forum for open, sometimes uncomfortable conversations that move the city toward better solutions. What follows is one of those con...

For today’s Better Minneapolis podcast, Tane Danger joins us as moderator for a wide-ranging conversation about what we’ve learned from a year of interviews and newsletters. Tane is co-founder of Danger Boat Productions, creators of Sketches of Minnesota — a traveling improv troupe that listens to communities across the state, turns their stories into sketches, and uses humor to bridge civic divid...

Minneapolis City Council President Elliott Payne joined Better Minneapolis to discuss how his background in engineering and public innovation shapes his approach to governing. From expanding the city’s Behavioral Crisis Response program to strengthening oversight and reform in public safety, Payne outlined his focus on professional management and data-driven accountability. He spoke candidly about...

In this conversation, longtime civic leader and former Park Board commissioner Bob Fine discusses his bid for the Minneapolis Board of Estimate & Taxation, the small but powerful body that sets the city’s maximum property-tax levy and manages its bonding authority. Drawing on 16 years of prior service on the board and decades of experience in public finance, Fine outlines his vision for restoring...