Wedge LIVE!

John is joined by Abigail Cerra for a conversation about a proposal for a  new police oversight commission in Minneapolis. Cerra is the former  chair of the Police Conduct Oversight Commission, a body that hasn't met  for most of 2022 due to the failure of the mayor and city council to  appoint new members. We talk about the draft creating the new commission  and its several glaring flaws; Cerra's experience; why she resigned  from the PCOC; and how the old commission was ignored by city leaders  and denied direct access to city data. Cerra says this is an opportunity  to fix those problems -- so that the city's next police oversight  commission has the political independence, resources and authority to  engage in meaningful oversight.

The proposal will be voted on (approved, amended, delayed or rejected) by the city council this Thursday, December 8.

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

John is joined by Logan Carroll (a recent third place finisher for a prestigious journalism award) for a conversation about what our otherwise vibrant local news scene is lacking. He says we're missing stories that take the long view, that offer depth and accountability. He wants journalism that creates a greater understanding of what's happening at city hall. We look at Logan's 6 month analysis of local news stories. Who is producing the most coverage? What gets talked about? Who gets quoted and who doesn't? Are local outlets following the money in the city budget? We talk about the value of deeply reported, labor intensive, expensive local news stories -- and how the market isn't producing them. We end the show with Logan's pitch for a deep-pocketed non-profit to fund an entity that fills the gap.

You can contact Logan at [email protected].

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

John is joined by an excessively large panel of pundits to analyze Tuesday's election results, the Democratic wave across Minnesota, Mary Moriarty's historic and crushing victory in the race to become Hennepin County's top prosecutor - and what it might mean for Minneapolis in 2023 and beyond. On the panel: Jason Garcia, Taylor Dahlin, Dianna E. Anderson, and Josh Martin at the results desk. You won't want to miss Taylor's live reports from the election night parties of all the losing candidates. Dianna talks about the significance of last night's results to the LGBTQ community. Mike Norton makes an appearance from Amsterdam, where he challenges the incoming DFL Senate majority to make good on the party's pledge to legalize cannabis. In addition to his role as Minneapolis DFL vice chair, Mike owns Baja Ontario, the company whose THC edibles fueled this episode.

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

This week on the Wedge LIVE podcast, John is joined by candidates for Minneapolis School Board At-Large: Collin Beachy, KerryJo Felder, and Sonya Emerick (We weren't successful in our attempts to contact candidate Lisa Skjefte). We talk about why they want this low pay/high stress job; the candidates' leadership experience; what they're looking for when they hire the next schools superintendent; what's behind declining enrollment numbers and how to reverse them; the Minneapolis Public Schools budget crisis; and more. We close each episode with three recommendations from the candidates.

More information on how to vote in Minneapolis: https://vote.minneapolismn.gov/

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

This week on the Wedge LIVE podcast, John is joined by candidates for Minneapolis School Board At-Large: Collin Beachy, KerryJo Felder, and Sonya Emerick (We weren't successful in our attempts to contact candidate Lisa Skjefte). We talk about why they want this low pay/high stress job; the candidates' leadership experience; what they're looking for when they hire the next schools superintendent; what's behind declining enrollment numbers and how to reverse them; the Minneapolis Public Schools budget crisis; and more. We close each episode with three recommendations from the candidates.

More information on how to vote in Minneapolis: https://vote.minneapolismn.gov/ 

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

This week on the Wedge LIVE podcast, John is joined by candidates for Minneapolis School Board At-Large: Collin Beachy, KerryJo Felder, and Sonya Emerick (We weren't successful in our attempts to contact candidate Lisa Skjefte). We talk about why they want this low pay/high stress job; the candidates' leadership experience; what they're looking for when they hire the next schools superintendent; what's behind declining enrollment numbers and how to reverse them; the Minneapolis Public Schools budget crisis; and more. We close each episode with three recommendations from the candidates.

More information on how to vote in Minneapolis: https://vote.minneapolismn.gov/ 

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

After getting laid-off from her job as a college professor during the great recession a decade ago, a Minneapolis woman with a fear of bikes and strangers, takes a 420-day bike trip around the perimeter of the country with her spouse, accepting invitations to stay in the homes of strangers along the way. I met Anne Winkler-Morey at Open Streets on Franklin Avenue several weeks ago and was taken by her story. Who doesn't fantasize about leaving it all behind, escaping the political despair, facing your fears, and having an adventure? Anne is the author of Allegiance to Winds and Waters: Bridging the Political Divides of the United States. We talk about the shallow culture war politics that divide our country, the hundreds of people she met, and the conversations that convinced her our divisions are manufactured. I ask if there's anything to be learned for Minneapolis in this moment. Anne describes how common it was to be invited into strangers' homes. She talks about the physical toll, the heat stroke, biking through rain, the importance of shelter. And what we owe to each other as it relates to the commons, public spaces, and food deserts. For answers to questions like "how did her spouse's bike end up dragged under a car?" and "why did Anne toss her bike in the woods?" you'll have to read the book.

From Anne's website:

"Allegiance to Winds and Waters mixes the angst and hilarious misadventures of an unlikely bicyclist, poignant stories of the strangers she meets, and acute observations of a historian and social activist." -https://annwinklermorey.com

Anne is also the founder of the Minneapolis Interview Project: https://turtleroad.org/ 

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

John is joined by Jason Garcia and Josh Martin for a reaction to the results of the 2022 Minneapolis primary election. Though this episode premieres two days after election day, Josh announces results as if in real time, accompanied by breaking news music. We ponder the meaning of Rep. Ilhan Omar's surprisingly small margin of victory; Mary Moriarty's comfortable first place finish in the Hennepin County Attorney's race; Don Samuels and Martha Holton-Dimick's failure to win in North Minneapolis, despite touting their community connections; and the geographic strengths and weaknesses of the candidates. John suggests Ryan Winkler's loss can be attributed to never finding a lane -- being neither the progressive choice nor a bomb throwing law and order type. Jason announces results from Meg Tuthill's front yard. John wonders if Don Samuels was making a Nixonian dog whistle on law and order by using the phrase "exhausted majority" during his triumphant concession speech. We take a fond look back at the video highlights from the Tad Jude campaign, aka Batman's police friend.

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

John and co-host/producer Paula Chesley begin by storming the main beach at Lake Nokomis doing "person on the beach" interviews. Then we're joined by local artist and activist Patrick Scully and his friend Wendy Morris for a conversation about a different beach: Twin Lake's hidden beach. For decades it's been unofficially a place where it's ok to swim naked -- until the police show up. Patrick tells a story of a 1977 police raid of the beach and how he barely escaped arrest (after a police officer maced himself). He talks about his 2012 legal battle with the City of Minneapolis for being naked on the beach. Wendy tells us about the time in 1998 -- enduring a hot summer, pregnant, and feeling the urge to swim naked -- that Patrick took her to visit Twin Lake. Two women warned her it would be dangerous to visit the "gay beach." We talk about the American cultural hostility to nudity on beaches compared to other countries and the Minneapolis Park Board's recent action to legalize toplessness for women. 

Camera work and chauffeuring by the indispensable Conrad Zbikowski.

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

John is joined by Melody Hoffmann from https://SouthwestVoices.news, who is finally off podcast probation, for our regular "Monthly with Melody" conversation. Topics include: a a very brief farmers market update from an unprepared Melody; Mayor Frey's choice for Community Safety Commissioner, Cedric Alexander; the burgeoning movement against 5G towers in the Kingfield neighborhood; and we dissect John's thesis that "Fear is ruining Minneapolis politics, mainstreaming offensive and/or oddball characters, attracting more context-free local TV news coverage, and causing more and more people to believe things that aren’t true."

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive