It's a Very Special Episode of RacketCast!

No guests this week. Instead, three of Racket's four co-owner/editors—Jay Boller, Em Cassel, and Keith Harris—will share the origin story of our local news, arts, and culture publication, which'll turn four this summer.

All it takes? Four laid-off schmucks with a combined $4,000, plenty of Covid-era unemployment insurance, a dash of good luck, thousands of supportive readers, and the dream of keeping an alt-weekly-style news org alive in the Twin Cities. We think it'll be an entertaining listen for local news junkies, and, selfishly, we hope it'll help juice sales in the final moments of our prize-packed Spring Member Drive.

But first! Here are the stories we gabbed about during What I Learned In Racket...

• After George Floyd’s Murder, MN Companies Pledged Millions. We Asked 14 How Much They’ve Given.
• Food Trucks, Craft Markets, Live Music—Tattoos? At Local Events, Pop-Up Flash Tattoos Are the Hot New Item.
• Flying V Is Where the Hardcore Bands Go to Rage

Subscribe to RacketCast wherever you get your podcasts—Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, etc. Wanna advertise on RacketCast? Email us at [email protected]. Special thanks to local band Van Stee for supplying our podcast music!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The horror Davis Moturi and his wife, Caroline, experienced after moving into a cute white house on Grand Avenue in south Minneapolis has been well-documented. Moturi, a 34-year-old Black man, quickly realized his neighbor, 54-year-old white man John Sawchak, was determined to make his life hell.

Beginning in 2023, Sawchak's seemingly endless assault of racist remarks, violent threats, and disgusting vandalism barraged the Moturi household, according to Davis. He documented all of it, yet he says repeated pleas to the Minneapolis Police Department yielded indifference from law enforcement. Until, finally, Sawchak shot Moturi—the bullet shattered two ribs and embedded itself in his spine. Sawchak wouldn't be arrested until almost a week later.

Today, Moturi is still in physical and emotional recovery. (The prosecution of his assailant has been stalled after Sawchak was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial.) Moturi body remains weakened, but he resolve to expose MPD's failings is as strong as ever. We invited him to share his harrowing story in a longform conversation on RacketCast.

"It has been hell, and people need to know what happened," Moturi tells us. "They deserve to know what happened."

Before all that, we debut a hit new segment known as Movie Minute. And here are the stories we gabbed about during What I Learned In Racket...

• EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: MN Man Shares Name With New Pope
• How Much Would You Pay for the Best Reuben in Town?
• Raising the Sausage Curtain: How Art-A-Whirl Helped Turn NE Minneapolis Into an Arts District

Subscribe to RacketCast wherever you get your podcasts—Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, etc. Wanna advertise on RacketCast? Email us at [email protected]. Special thanks to local band Van Stee for supplying our podcast music!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last fall Racket surveyed 44 Minnesota brewing pros and found that 63.6% believe the industry is in a positive place—not bad!

Last month Racket highlighted Axios reporting that showed a 10.8% boost in Minnesota craft brewery production last year—nice!

But David Berg, the longtime brewmaster at August Schell Brewing Co., isn't convinced by those types of cheery reports, and he recently got all up in our Bluesky mentions to say as much.

"The brewing industry is pretty much in dire straits right now," Berg says. "I think it's a disservice to the industry to present it in any other fashion. It's as bleak as it's been in the 20 years I've been part of it."

Are Minnesota breweries in trouble? And, if so, how much? As the number of craft breweries throughout our state shoots past 237, is the long-murmured-about "craft beer bubble" finally ready to pop?

We got Berg on the horn to pick his considerable beer brain about the darker forces that might brewing on his industry's horizon.

Subscribe to RacketCast wherever you get your podcasts—Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, etc. Wanna advertise on RacketCast? Email us at [email protected]. Special thanks to local band Van Stee for supplying our podcast music!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A fresh RacketCast ep, out one day early due to Wolves Fever gripping the state.

Is it unwise to keep calling our listeners "dummies"? Perhaps, but that's what we did with our Twins preview pod, and we're doing it again for this Timberwolves explainer featuring the great podcaster Dane Moore.

Dane joined us Wednesday afternoon from L.A., where hours later your T-Wolves trounced the Los Angeles Lakers to advance to the Western Conference Semifinals round of the NBA playoffs. As fans hop aboard the hoops bandwagon, the host of The Dane Moore NBA Podcast equips us with the requisite knowledge to root deep into the postseason, including a long-view look at the franchise, a roster breakdown, and also details about his own self-made Wolves podcasting empire. Awoooooooo!

Here are the stories we gabbed about during What I Learned In Racket...

• Life After HUGE: How the Twin Cities Improv Scene Is Evolving (and Even Expanding) Following HUGE Improv Theater’s Closure
• We Taste Tested the New Frozen Jucy Lucy Brand
• ‘The Park Is Vibrating’: How DJ Sound Systems Redefined Powderhorn’s MayDay Celebration
• 
  

And would you like to know the exact make/model of chest freezer Jay drones on and on about? Take a look. (Best Buy... please sponsor the pod!)

Subscribe to RacketCast wherever you get your podcasts—Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, etc. Wanna advertise on RacketCast? Email us at [email protected]. Special thanks to local band Van Stee for supplying our podcast music!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're still figuring out what types of conversations y'all wanna hear on RacketCast, and our first experiment with a newsier, shorter installment was a certified hit.

So here's another bonus ep along those lines: our chat with veteran state Sen. John Marty (DFL-Roseville) about whether Minnesota should ban billboards. Marty's eye-catching new bill would establish a moratorium on new billboard construction, and eventually phase out existing ones as they age. If the bill becomes law, Minnesota would join Maine, Alaska, Vermont, and Hawaii as the only states who've declared war on the visual pollution that lines our roadways.

Of modest consequence? Sure, but the legislation aims to improve the state in a tangible way, which is more than we can say about two recent bad-faith trolling bills authored by Republicans in the House. (We asked Marty about both of those.)

Oh, yeah! If you don't have plans Saturday head to Insight Brewing for Smash Fest, where Racket's Jay Boller will be judging a smashburger competition featuring two recent RacketCast guests.

Subscribe to RacketCast wherever you get your podcasts—Spotify, Apple Music, Pocket Casts, etc. Wanna advertise on RacketCast? Email us at [email protected]. Special thanks to local band Van Stee for supplying our podcast music!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Twin Cities burger freaks: This is the episode for you.

The proprietors of two elite food trucks—Angry Line Cook (Jesse Hedman and Mona Negasi) and Burger Daddies (Nikki and Brian Podgorski)—dropped by our studio for a long conversation about cheeseburgers, building your business from scratch, and life in the trenches of the food industry. (FYI: Whenever "the burger group" gets mentioned, we're referring to the fantastic Facebook group MSP Burgers.) On April 26, Jay from Racket will actually be judging a blind taste test at Insight Brewing's Smash Fest (details here), which'll feature battling burger joints Angry Line Cook, Burger Daddies, Private Sector Provisions, and Garillers.

This episode of RacketCast is brought to you by...

TPT's award-winning music series Stage, which returns on April 7 with an electrifying new season, featuring never-before-seen collaborations filmed at the legendary 7th St Entry. This season brings fresh energy with standout pairings like Kiss the Tiger with Diane, Your Smith with Raffaella, and Cory Wong with Misty Boyce. Experience intimate performances and powerful storytelling from Minnesota’s top talent. Watch on TPT 2 and the PBS App, or catch exclusive previews on The Current’s The Local Show. Learn more here.

And also by...

Lodestone Coffee and Games is a friendly local game store and cafe, specializing in Magic the Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons and board games of all kinds. You can find tournaments, meetups or open play events every single day of the week. Lodestone also carries a massive selection of over 500,000 Magic the Gathering singles at lodestonegames.com, with same day pickup available, and free domestic shipping for orders over thirty dollars. If you are looking for an inclusive space with delightful milkshakes, check out Lodestone on Cedar Lake Road in Minnetonka, or at lodestonegames.com.

Subscribe to RacketCast wherever you get your podcasts—Spotify, Apple Music, Pocket Casts, etc. Wanna advertise on RacketCast? Email us at [email protected]. Special thanks to local band Van Stee for supplying our podcast music!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What's going on up there in Duluth?

Plenty of stuff worth trying out ahead of your demise, that's for sure. Duluth News Tribune reporter Jay Gabler chronicled the exact number in his new book, 100 Things to Do In Duluth Before You Die. Jay, who you might remember from his time at 89.3 the Current, hopped on the pod to discuss the Zenith City's must-do activities, and he also gave us a nice rundown of the big talkers coming out of the Twin Ports; check out his book-release party dates here.

And here are the stories we gabbed about during What I Learned In Racket…

• An Educated Guesser’s Guide to the 2025 Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival
• Grading the 2025 Additions to Target Field’s New Food Lineup
• I Came to Minnesota From Venezuela 2 Years Ago. Now I Have to Go Back.

•••

This episode of RacketCast is brought to you by TPT's award-winning music series Stage, which returns on April 7 with an electrifying new season, featuring never-before-seen collaborations filmed at the legendary 7th St Entry. This season brings fresh energy with standout pairings like Kiss the Tiger with Diane, Your Smith with Raffaella, and Cory Wong with Misty Boyce. Experience intimate performances and powerful storytelling from Minnesota’s top talent. Watch on TPT 2 and the PBS App, or catch exclusive previews on The Current’s The Local Show. Learn more here.

Subscribe to RacketCast wherever you get your podcasts—Spotify, Apple Music, Pocket Casts, etc. Wanna advertise on RacketCast? Email us at [email protected]. Special thanks to local band Van Stee for supplying our podcast music!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Late Tuesday, Gov. Tim Walz surprised around 40,000 state workers by announcing a mandatory 50% return-to-office policy for employees who live within 75 miles of their main work location.

“This policy change supports the economic vitality of office districts like downtown St. Paul, bringing foot traffic back to businesses and public spaces,” the governor's office says of the directive, which is set to take effect June 1. The move set off waves of online anger, with the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees union threatening legal action and even a strike.

RacketCast has never waded into breaking news territory, but considering the scope of this order and its abrupt timeliness, we asked MAPE President Megan Dayton to hop on the pod to discuss how her union's 18,000ish workers are processing the news. Spoiler: They've not been this pissed off in recent memory. Let us know if you enjoy this type of bonus episode, and we'll keep 'em coming.

Subscribe to RacketCast wherever you get your podcasts—Spotify, Apple Music, Pocket Casts, etc. Wanna advertise on RacketCast? Email us at [email protected]. Special thanks to local band Van Stee for supplying our podcast music!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the early '00s Aaron Gleeman's U of M journalism professors suspected he was chronically hungover. In reality, the young blogger was chronically exhausted from writing about baseball literally all night long. That set Gleeman on a path that includes Aaron's Baseball Blog (cute!), NBC Sports, Baseball Prospectus, and, since 2019, the Athletic, which is now the de facto sports desk of the New York Times. In our view? He's the state's ace hardball writer.

Gleeman joined Racket in our brand-new office/podcast studio to breakdown the state of the in-flux Twins franchise, the team's roster heading into 2025, and his own journey through the blogger-to-professional-sportswriter pipeline. (Apologies for any echoey sound—our audio paneling efforts are also in-flux.) You can—and should!—subscribe to and support his Gleeman & the Geek Twins podcast, featuring co-host John Bonnes, here; you can read all of his writing via the Athletic here.

But first: We debut a hit new segment known as Birthday Break Down. And here are the stories Em and Jay gabbed about during our regular segment, This Week in Racket:

• Let's Taco 'Bout Politics mayoral candidate Q&A series
• How Alive or Dead is Dinkytown in 2025? Depends on Who You Ask.

Subscribe to RacketCast wherever you get your podcasts—Spotify, Apple Music, Pocket Casts, etc. Wanna advertise on RacketCast? Email us at [email protected]. Special thanks to local band Van Stee for supplying our podcast music!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Voters elected Mary Moriarty as Hennepin County's top prosecutor in 2022, which, given the sweeping sociopolitical changes since, feels like 1,000 years ago. Just over two full years into the job, how has Moriarty's progressive vision of restorative justice unfolded while Minneapolis remains under a national microscope? We asked the first openly LGBTQ+ Hennepin County attorney about her successes, challenges, and surprisingly elusive favorite restaurants. You can check out Moriarty's brand-new podcast, We Don't Have to Choose, right here.

And here are the stories we gabbed about during This Week In Racket. (P.S. Jay misidentified Todd Haug's post-Surly gig as War Pigs outta Iowa; in reality, he's at Indiana's 3 Floyds Brewing Co.)

• Shoegaze is Having a Moment and Twin Cities Bands Are Here For It.
• How Did Minneapolis Metal Band Powermad End up in David Lynch’s ‘Wild at Heart’?
• Meet the One-Woman Team Overseeing MN’s Online Encyclopedia 

Subscribe to RacketCast wherever you get your podcasts—Spotify, Apple Music, Pocket Casts, etc. Wanna advertise on RacketCast? Email us at [email protected]. Special thanks to local band Van Stee for supplying our podcast music!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.