Wedge LIVE!

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

Minneapolis Caucus Night 2025 is in the books and if anyone is qualified to draw premature conclusions, it's the Wedge LIVE news team. Taylor Dahlin and Jason Garcia are in studio. Josh Martin is here via his landline telephone. Which city candidates have the edge heading into DFL convention season? Who needs a little help? Does Ward 8 candidate Josh Bassais really drive a Mustang with the van...

A conversation with three founders of a group called "Seniors for All." After becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the way they were being represented by the Minneapolis DFL Senior Caucus, they decided to do something about it. They organized for change. This grew into a movement that swept new leadership into power. Along the way, they were falsely accused of infiltrating the Senior Caucus. Th...

A conversation with Paula Chesley, who's running for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 7. https://www.paulaforward7.org/ You can participate in the Minneapolis DFL caucuses on April 8, 2025. For more info: https://minneapolisdfl.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 b...

For years Mark Lanterman has been a go-to expert on tech-based crimes and scams, both on local news and in courtrooms. Now people are asking, was Minnesota's king of digital forensics sitting on a throne of lies? In an exclusive interview, I spoke with Wisconsin-based lawyer Sean Harrington, who's turned up a trove of evidence calling into question Lanterman's credentials and affiliati...

Bill Lindeke says there is no trash emergency in St Paul. Pay no attention to Mayor Carter's declaration of a state of emergency. We talk about disagreement over the future of a piece of land that Mayor Carter and the city's trash hauler say must be used for a garbage truck staging facility. We talk about why the council sided with neighbors who say the city should stick with the plan to designate...

A conversation with Lydia Millard, who's running for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 10. https://lydiamillardward10.com/ You can participate in the Minneapolis DFL caucuses on April 8, 2025. For more info: https://minneapolisdfl.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...

A conversation with Aisha Chughtai, Vice President of the Minneapolis City Council, who's running for reelection in Ward 10. https://www.aishaforward10.com/ You can participate in the Minneapolis DFL caucuses on April 8, 2025. For more info: https://minneapolisdfl.org/ Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live Support the show: https://patreon....

A conversation with Soren Stevenson, who's running for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 8. https://sorenstevenson.org/ You can participate in the Minneapolis DFL caucuses on April 8, 2025. For more info: https://minneapolisdfl.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...

A conversation with Josh Bassais, who's running for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 8. https://www.joshbforward8.org/ You can participate in the Minneapolis DFL caucuses on April 8, 2025. For more info: https://minneapolisdfl.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 son...

Elliott Payne reflects on his first two years as President of the Minneapolis City Council. We talk about the stakes of this year's city election; the recent surge of corporate money and PACs trying to influence the results; an assessment of the city's public safety situation; and why he both loves and hates being the man in the middle of all those complicated personal relationships on the...

Amity Foster is here to talk about her effort to organize transit fans to show up on 4/8/2025 for the Minneapolis DFL caucuses and become delegates to DFL ward and city nominating conventions. She wants you to use this golden opportunity to make the case for better transit and a more livable city. Candidates for city council and mayor will be knocking on your door and calling you on the phone, rea...

Mary Moriarty joins John for a conversation reflecting on her first two years as Hennepin County Attorney. We talk about navigating politics as an elected prosecutor; her approach to a recent spate of reckless driving and vehicular homicide cases; how to fix the problem of extremely low rates of police solving certain crimes; her occasionally strained relationship with Chief O'Hara; how we went fr...

Caucus season is almost upon us. It's your chance to become a superlobbyist and wield influence with local candidates on behalf of the issues you care about. Josh Martin joins John to talk about why you need to get involved and why there's no reason to feel intimidated by the process. We're talking about the story of the unsuspecting flower shop owner who says she had little interest in politics f...

The Minneapolis government restructuring of 2021 was sold as a solution to our city's biggest problems. The Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce (yes, that's right the campaign to change the charter was 100% funded by the Chamber) said said we had to rid ourselves of the 14 bosses holding us back and creating internal confusion at city hall. Council Member Jeremiah Ellison's career spans both the four...

My conversation with a man who attended the 2025 North Loop Neighborhood Association annual meeting. This episode may contain the sounds of opening a swag bag. 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 Sen. John Marty (Roseville) about an effort in the state legislature to legalize sports gambling apps: the recent failure to pass the bill out of committee and what that means for its prospects in 2025; why anyone who's lived through the last 15 years of smartphones and social media would think it's a good idea to set tech companies free to unleash 24/7 pocket casinos; the ext...

My conversation with Ethrophic Burnett, who's running for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 5 on the Northside. Ethrophic's campaign site: https://www.eforward5.com/ Star Tribune article discussed in this episode: https://www.startribune.com/poor-families-path-to-american-dream-leads-to-suburbs/386364021 Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live...