Wedge LIVE!

Harrowing Personal Story: Up until last week, Deborah was the author of a popular local substack called "Deborah Copperud Shops at Target." Then her whole world got turned upside down. The Target corporation surrendered to Donald Trump's whims and dropped their diversity initiatives. We talk about Deborah's attempt to vote with her family's dollars, whether you should ever buy into the PR-driven g...

After four years representing Ward 11 on the Minneapolis City Council, Emily Koski is running for mayor. Why has this formerly Frey-endorsed council member decided to oppose him? Koski argues she hasn't changed, she just got an up close look at all the ways the Frey isn't up to the job. Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live Support the show...

Mayor Frey's administration has a plan to add "vibrancy" to Nicollet Mall by adding additional programming and events, but that means removing the buses. The longtime transit mall would transition to a full time pedestrian mall. Bus riders Amity Foster and Taylor Dahlin join John for a conversation about whether this is a good idea; why buses aren't the problem; why you should be...

Celisia Stanton is the Minneapolis-based host of a podcast called Truer Crime (season 2 out now). We talk about how she came to podcasting, her unique approach to the true crime genre, and how her experience as a crime victim informs her perspective. We also talk about how mutual friend PeggySue Imihy brought us together. From truercrimepodcast.com: "Do you ever listen to a true crime podcast and...

It was a few days before Christmas and Kyle Jones was trying to report an Amazon delivery driver for the dual infraction of parking in a bike lane and blocking a bus stop. But as Kyle was attempting to report this using the Minneapolis 311 app, the driver of a Mercedes pulled up and all hell broke loose. Do you have a harrowing personal story you'd like to tell on the Wedge LIVE podcast? Email you...

We're talking property taxes with Steve Brandt, who is running for reelection to the Minneapolis Board of Estimate and Taxation. We talk about what's behind this year's large property tax increase and how declining commercial property values are shifting the burden to residential taxpayers. Steve suggests a small income tax on the city's highest earners and a geographic expansion of the downtown e...

There's a special primary election coming up on January 14th, which will effectively decide which DFL candidate fills the open seat in Minnesota Senate District 60. I'll be speaking with several of the top candidates for the podcast. This episode features Peter Wagenius (https://www.peterwagenius.org). Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live...

There's a special primary election coming up on January 14th, which will effectively decide which DFL candidate fills the open seat in Minnesota Senate District 60. I'll be speaking with several of the top candidates for the podcast. This episode features Doron Clark (https://www.doronforsenate.org). Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live Su...

There's a special primary election coming up on January 14th, which will effectively decide which DFL candidate fills the open seat in Minnesota Senate District 60. I'll be speaking with several of the top candidates for the podcast. This episode features Monica Meyer (https://www.monicameyermn.com). Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live Su...

Jake Ameca Luna recounts the harrowing experience of having his boss -- Brenda Short, candidate for mayor of Minneapolis -- announce his firing in the newspaper. Jake didn't find out about it until someone sent him a link to the interview with Brenda two weeks after it happened. In the meantime, Jake had continued performing his campaign duties, and Brenda said nothing about his firing. Listen: ht...

John is joined by Yasmin Hirsi and Alex Burns of Our Streets Minnesota for a conversation in reaction to the Minnesota Department of Transportation announcing they will not include interstate removal as one of five options for further study when it comes to the future of I-94. We talk about the "up is down, black is white" analysis MnDOT is using (Urban interstate removal causes more air and noise...

John is joined by Melody Hoffmann from southwestvoices.news for a rundown of 2024's top local stories. Part 2 of 2. 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

John is joined by Melody Hoffmann from southwestvoices.news for a rundown of 2024's top local stories. Part 1 of 2. 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

Because way too much local news is happening all at once, John is joined by Josh Martin for an Emergency Episode. We take up urgent issues like the Minneapolis City Council adopting a budget for 2025 - overriding Mayor Frey's veto in the process; Council Member Vetaw horsing around while accusing others of being "unserious"; Josh discloses a conflict of interest; John admits his embarrassment at h...

Sen. Omar Fateh is running for mayor of Minneapolis. We talk about his record in the state legislature, the state rideshare law he helped pass, public safety, homelessness, the case against Mayor Frey, and what it's like to be a super chill low-key guy. Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive We...

We're covering some of 2024's biggest Minneapolis stories in a special crossover episode hosted by Jay Boller and Em Cassel of the Racket Cast podcast. John Edwards is usually your host, but today he's just a guest alongside Taylor Dahlin and Hot Dog Larry Jacobs himself, Jason Garcia -- who spends the whole episode in a hot dog costume. Thanks to Jay and Em of Racket for hosting, and Jay for edit...

John is joined by Taylor Dahlin and Ryan Brown for an uncomfortable Thanksgiving conversation about the state of the online world. John and Taylor have been doing double duty on both bluesky and twitter in recent weeks. Ryan wonders if he'll ever post again, as he tries to figure out what he wants from social media. We talk about the ups and downs of both platforms and try to convince Ryan to join...

Because our broadcast signal does occasionally bleed across the river, John is joined by Garrison McMurtrey, a candidate for a seat on the Ramsey County Board that controls an annual budget in excess of $800 million. We talk about the challenge local governments face under a second Trump administration, streets, health care, housing, homelessness, transit, and more. The special election for the di...

Council Member Linea Palmisano takes me on a bike tour of the future E Line bus rapid transit route through Ward 13 (about a quarter of the total route). We talk about the exciting prospect of a 17 minute bus ride from Linden Hills to downtown, the pain of street infrastructure upgrades for local business in her ward, her thoughts on the Davis Moturi shooting and MPD Chief Brian O'Hara's initial r...

My conversation with Cody Fischer - whose company Footprint Development builds small-scale, sustainable, multi-family housing - about imminent changes to the City of Minneapolis's 4d tax incentive program for affordable housing. We also talk about unique energy efficiency features he puts into his buildings and how the 4d program makes those possible. Plus an update on "single stair" building lega...

Robin Wonsley, who represents Ward 2 on the Minneapolis City Council, is here to help me recover from the devastating results of the presidential election. We also talk about her work on regulating off-duty jobs for police officers, local efforts to turn socialists into a punching bag, and a look ahead to the 2025 city election. Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive Join the conversation: https://t...

With the 2024 election and the fate of the nation still hanging precariously in the balance, the 2025 city election season has already begun. This is my conversation with Rev. Dr. DeWayne Davis as he embarks on his mayoral campaign (recorded Oct 23, 2024). Davis is the lead minister at Plymouth Congregational Church in the Steven’s Square neighborhood; served as co-chair of Mayor Frey's Community...

Kim Ellison is running for re-election to an at-large seat on the Minneapolis School Board, which means every voter in the city will have her on their ballot There are two competitive school board races this year. One is for a citywide at-large seat and the other is in district 6. This is one of four episodes with candidates for those two seats. In addition to listening to this podcast, I recommen...

Shayla Owodunni is running for an at-large seat on the Minneapolis School Board, which means every voter in the city will have her on their ballot There are two competitive school board races this year. One is for a citywide at-large seat and the other is in district 6. This is one of four episodes with candidates for those two seats. In addition to listening to this podcast, I recommend reading t...

Greta Callahan is running for Minneapolis School Board in district 6, located in southwest Minneapolis. There are two competitive school board races this year. One is for a citywide at-large seat and the other is in district 6. This is one of four episodes with candidates for those two seats. In addition to listening to this podcast, I recommend reading the candidate interviews in Minneapolis Scho...