The Woven Record

Mike Lagerquist and Becki True talk about the first day of in-person early voting in Minnesota, how to get ready to vote before the November 3 election, and what is new at The Woven Record: Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Substack, a Sunday multimedia newspaper, and how to send us your story ideas.

CHAPTERS

GET READY TO VOTE

How to vote early in Minnesota:

The Woven Record:

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Mike Lagerquist and Becki True talk with Mary Nesgoda, the DFL candidate for Minnesota House District 22B. This is the first half of the conversation.

The district. District 22B covers most of Le Sueur County and parts of Scott, Blue Earth and Rice counties.

Why she is running. After her husband died of cancer, Mary looked for a meaningful purpose. When she saw that no candidate had filed in 22B, she stepped up.

Health care and child care. Her own health insurance premium went from $490 to more than $1,300 a month. Drawing on 18 years as a single parent, she talks about the need for affordable child care so parents can work without daycare taking their whole paycheck.

ALICE families. She describes households that are Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed: above the poverty line, not eligible for public assistance, and one emergency away from crisis.

Continue with the second half of the conversation.

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Mike Lagerquist and Becki True continue their conversation with Mary Nesgoda, the DFL candidate for Minnesota House District 22B. This is the second half. Start with the first half.

A drafted candidate. Mary stepped up because no one from her party had filed in 22B, and says she would have yielded to a stronger candidate.

Finding common ground. She focuses on goals people share, like safe neighborhoods and stable homes, and describes connecting across party lines while door-knocking.

Media and polarization. She contrasts the objective journalism of the Walter Cronkite era with outlets driven by corporate or political agendas, and says face-to-face conversation breaks down the hostility that social media builds.

Civic responsibility. She calls voting both a right and an obligation, urges younger voters to register, and talks about baking for local food shelves under her cottage kitchen license.

Keep up with what's going on in the Mankato area by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

In this Get Election Ready interview, Mike Lagerquist talks with Don Friend, candidate for Mankato City Council in Ward 3.

Why he is running. Don has lived in Mankato for nearly 30 years and ran for the same seat four years ago. He wants to give back and represent everyone in the ward.

A non-partisan race in a polarized time. How national politics spills into local races, and why he puts practical solutions for the whole community first.

Housing and cost of living. Rising rents and property values, and home insurance costs driven by climate events. He discusses public-private partnerships, enforcing property standards and housing affordability.

Infrastructure and climate. A university professor who works on climate change, Don argues for heat-resilient roads, more storm sewer capacity, solar power on city buildings and gradually electrifying the city fleet.

Getting around. Paths for scooters, bikes and wheelchairs, and keeping them clear of snow all year.

Keep up with what's going on in the Mankato area by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, and voting has already started in Minnesota. Mike Lagerquist and Becki True walk through the early voting dates, the difference between absentee voting and the new Early Voting, how mailed ballots work, and why going early gives you time to fix problems.

Key dates

Read our guide, How to Vote Early in Minnesota, and check your registration with the Minnesota Secretary of State.

Keep up with what's going on in the Mankato area by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

Behind Mike Lagerquist and Becki True, a crane is holding a 153-year-old iron truss bridge over the Blue Earth River in Mankato. It is the Kern Bridge, known for most of its life as the Yaeger Bridge. Six years ago it was taken apart five miles south of Mankato, where it crossed the Le Sueur River, and put in storage while a committee decided where it should go. It now links Land of Memories Park and Sibley Park, two parks a hundred yards apart that until now you could only reach by highway.

Becki grew up near the bridge south of Mankato. It couldn't take the weight of a school bus, so hers turned around in the driveway. Her father and his friends, in high school in the late 1950s, used to drive at the approach ramp as fast as they could to see how far onto the wooden deck they could land.

Then they turn to this fall. In our Get Election Ready series, they make the case for making a plan now and voting early in person, because the rules on mail-in ballots are still unsettled 65 days before the midterms. Check your registration through the Minnesota Secretary of State, your county, or vote.org.

Last, they look at what tariffs and other pressure are doing to farmers:

They ask you to call your representative. In this area that is Brad Finstad, at his Washington or New Ulm office. As Luke Frederick told them, the fastest way to reach a desk is a personal story, so bring the facts but lead with someone you know who has been affected.

Contact your representative: find your member of Congress or Rep. Brad Finstad's office. Check your registration with the Minnesota Secretary of State or Vote.org. Read the USDA report.

If you or someone you know is struggling, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is free and confidential, 24 hours a day. Call or text 988. The Farm Aid hotline is 1-800-327-6243.

Two shorter clips from this video are also on our channel: 65 Days to the Midterms, and Mail-In Ballots Are Still an Open Question and Washington Now Pays 30% of Farm Income, and Farmers Are Still Behind.

Keep up with what's going on in the Mankato area by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

Julia Hamann is running for mayor of Mankato in a three-way primary. Jacob Bases is running for the Third Ward city council seat and goes straight to the general election. They are campaigning together. As Hamann puts it, the mayor or one council person doesn't have any more power to change anything than anybody else.

Hosts Mike Lagerquist and Becki True talk with both candidates about what "progressive" means at the local level, how policy gets made in Mankato, housing costs, and how community input gets onto a council agenda. This is part of our Get Election Ready series on how local elections work.

Topics include why Hamann, who works in social work and nonprofits, is running for mayor, Bases's time as an Army medic in Afghanistan and why he put down roots in the area, and what it is like to knock on doors in a college town in summer as the youngest candidates on the ballot.

We also posted short clips from the conversation:

Learn more about the candidates: Julia Hamann for mayor and Jacob Bases for Mankato City Council Ward 3.

Keep up with what's going on in the Mankato area by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

Mike Lagerquist and Becki True talk from downtown Mankato, with the silos and mural behind them, about the thing that runs our lives and that we rarely stop to look at: our government. With the United States turning 250, they ask whether it is working for us.

Then they give a plain guide to getting election-ready in Blue Earth County and Southern Minnesota. They cover what the SAVE Act could mean for voters, especially women whose names don't match their birth certificates, the fight over vote-by-mail and Minnesota's voter rolls, and the deadlines for the August primary. They also explain why gerrymandering and shifting court rulings are a reason to prepare now.

Becki then pulls out her pocket Constitution and Declaration of Independence, and the two connect 1776 to today: the 27 grievances, the "regular folks" who built the country, and how today's billionaires can look like the old aristocracy. Their takeaway is that a peaceful revolution means registering, showing up and voting.

Minnesota primary key dates

Official information is at the Minnesota Secretary of State. The full text of the Declaration of Independence is at the National Archives.

The video reads one grievance exactly as written in 1776. It includes language that dehumanizes Native Americans, which we would never use or defend today. It is included so people can read the document as it was written, not to endorse it.

Keep up with what's going on in the Mankato area by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

Minnesota State Representative Luke Frederick (District 18B) sits down with Mike Lagerquist and Becki True for a wide-ranging conversation about what it is like to serve in the legislature, and what is at stake for Mankato, North Mankato, St. Peter and Blue Earth County. The interview was recorded in March 2026 and is part of our Get Election Ready series.

Luke grew up in Mankato, spent 21 years working direct care at the St. Peter Regional Treatment Center, and got into politics through his union, AFSCME. He explains how legislation gets made, why bipartisanship is harder than ever, and why it still happens.

In this conversation:

Shorter clips from this conversation are on our channel, including why your story has power, how he went from politically clueless to the Capitol and grief, PTSD and governing under fire.

Have a topic you want us to cover? Tell us in the YouTube comments.

Keep up with what's going on in the Mankato area by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

In this interview, Mike Lagerquist and Becki True sit down with Ben Findley, owner of Insty Prints of Mankato and co-owner of Tremendous Brewing Company in St. Peter, to explore how he built two successful businesses through mentorship, adaptability, and community connections. Ben shares how a casual conversation about trivia nights led to voicing the legendary Happy Chef statue, how working at a print shop while going to college ultimately led to business ownership, and the dramatic difference between managing an established business versus launching a startup brewery.

Ben discusses the evolution of the printing industry over the past 25 years --from producing thousands of carbonless forms monthly to pivoting toward signage, banners, and custom solutions. He emphasizes the importance of saying 'yes' to new challenges and helping customers find solutions, even when you can't directly serve them. This customer-first approach transformed his print shop and continues to define his leadership style.

The conversation also dives into the brewery startup experience, which Ben describes as a completely different beast from running an established business. From navigating construction and city proposals to understanding diverse beer preferences (and admitting he doesn't actually like beer), Ben reveals the unexpected complexities of launching a new venture. He discusses brewery trends including mocktails and non-alcoholic alternatives, the importance of location clustering for brewery tourism, and how 'brewery folks' travel hours to hit multiple breweries in a region. After just one year in operation, Ben's brewery is already thriving, but he emphasizes there's still much to learn

Keep up with what's going on in the Mankato and St. Peter area by subscribing to our YouTube channel or our YouTube Podcast.