Wedge LIVE!

John and co-host/producer Paula Chesley climb down a 90-year-old staircase to visit Longfellow Beach, an unsanctioned beach on the Mississippi River. Experts will advise you not to swim in it. It's full of agricultural runoff and bacteria -- and the currents might carry you off. Paula gets out the pH test strips to see how the river water compares to kimchi, a substance that is apparently safer to swim in than the river. Paula recounts some river beach history and reveals her rating system for beach quality. John denigrates Minneapolis beaches as places where you can hurt your feet on rocky sand and ingest dirty water. We're joined by Andrew From, a Longfellow neighborhood resident, who tells us more about this lowkey, out of the way, local beach. Andrew talks about his spouse from Montana who thinks it's just fine to get in the river as long as you don't submerge your head. We talk about City Council member Michael Rainville's racism (regarding his comments made a day before our recording). I question Andrew's fashion sense for wearing a "Mini Apple" t-shirt and ask if anyone from Minneapolis has ever called it that. Note: Camera guy Conrad tripped and fell backward over a log, but he's fine now.

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

The first in our Beachcast series of episodes. John and co-host/producer Paula Chesley are joined by Minneapolis Parks Commissioner Tom Olsen at his favorite beach: Hidden Beach on Cedar Lake. We discuss planned  improvements (including an amphitheater) and past changes to Hidden Beach -- and beach politics in the Kenwood neighborhood. We talk about  park issues, including bathroom availability, public drinking, nudity, crime, and mansion owners encroaching on the lakeshore (which is legally  park board property). We track down the mysterious Mudman and ask him  about the history of the Andrew J. Foss Memorial Mudhole, named for its first caretaker. The Mudman tells us about the benefits of submerging  your body in the mud: natural sunscreen and insect repellent. John suggests it's also a way to hide your heat signature from the Predator. Paula conducts a heartwarming child interview at the mudhole. We ponder the question: Is Minneapolis a beach city? 

Camera work and chauffeuring by the indispensable Conrad Zbikowski.  

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

What if instead of a dog grooming station or a cable TV subscription, your landlord or condo association provided you with free transportation? John's guest is Molly Burns-Hansen from Move Minnesota, who is seeking out tenants, landlords, condo associations, and neighborhood groups in order to sign buildings up for Metro Transit's residential transit pass program. It's just $14 per month to provide an unlimited ride transit pass to every unit in a building (or several buildings, with a minimum of 10 units per contract). We talk about how expensive and stressful car ownership is -- and how surprisingly cheap it is to provide transit. Molly has some early data on the program and how satisfied residents who've received the transit passes have been. We go off on tangents: Molly talks about how people with disabilities are disproportionately reliant on transit and expresses irritation that the "disabled" conversation has been hijacked to argue against transit improvements on Hennepin Avenue. John explains his philosophy that transit is freedom, how confused he is by Metro Transit's "downtown fare zone," attempts to interpret Molly's dream about Michael Rainville and the state of Ohio, and goes off on a tangent about how the pretend environmentalists suing to stop the city's 2040 Plan are the equivalent of climate deniers.

If you have interest in this transit pass program -- as a resident, building manager or otherwise -- contact Molly by email: [email protected]

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

Following the City of Minneapolis' recent loss in Hennepin County District Court, John is joined by Matthew Melewski -- a lawyer with experience in Minnesota land use and environmental law -- for a conversation about the ongoing four year legal battle over the Minneapolis 2040 Plan. We review the arguments, the law, the fake environmentalists behind this lawsuit, and anticipate the next 18 months of appeals. That's right, there could still be 18 more months of this. John takes issue with the district court judge assuming a full build out of the plan. Then wonders how a judge, in a case all about zoning, can put forward the "undisputed fact" (not actually a fact) that Minneapolis has abolished the construction of new single family homes (you actually can still build single-family homes in Minneapolis). Matthew explains why he doesn't think the city will respond to their setback in court by making an environmental case for the plan -- despite the eagerness of 2040 Plan proponents to engage in that debate. 

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

John is joined by Melody Hoffmann (@MelodySWV from https://southwestvoices.news) for a Saturday night special report on location from the streets of Uptown. All with a goal of answering the question: what is the relative  aliveness of Uptown these days? We start in LynLake and move west  towards Uptown proper. We visit local art such as the Uptown Trolley Ball, assess the 29th Street "shared street," climb a local parking  garage for a bird's eye view of Hennepin Avenue, endure an extended cameo from neighborhood board president Jason Garcia, we interview a  person on the street about the local dating scene, and much more. 

Cinematography by Conrad Zbikowski.

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

On the series finale of the Pedal Pod: There's an empty seat in the pod-mobile. John faces the prospect of podcasting without a partner in conversation. Increasingly desperate, he picks up Mike Norton, logistics tycoon and Lakewood cemetery tour guide. As we pedal up and down Lyndale Avenue, we talk about the disgruntled reaction to Mike taking on his new role as vice chair of the Minneapolis DFL, his 2021 attempt to unseat Ward 13 Council Member Linea Palmisano, and we disagree on how likely it is that Ward 13 will turn to a progressive. John makes a case that the one and only issue in Minneapolis politics for the foreseeable future will be police. We also talk about the unbearable heat of south Florida and Singapore. Wedge neighborhood board president Jason Garcia makes a cameo and gives us Mueller Park bathroom news. Uptown icon Ryan Brown splays himself out on the street in front of our vehicle (which you'll want to check out on YouTube about 13 minutes in). As usual, this episode includes all the live music, generator noises, squealy brakes, and interruptions you've come to know and love.

In a chance meeting, we ran into the man who built the Pod Mobile (it's quite a ride!). His website: https://blackbirdbikes.com/

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

"Pedal-Powered Podcast Week" does something we never intended: stretch into a second and final week (we promise). That's what happens when you record six hours of conversations at Open Streets on Lyndale Avenue. Today's guest is Commissioner Marion Green, who represents district 3 (which includes the Wedge, Southwest Minneapolis, Downtown, and St. Louis Park) on the Hennepin County Board. Some of our topics: Lyndale Avenue safety improvements that have been years in the making, the county's recent investments in affordable housing and addressing homelessness, whether the work of the county board is more collegial than the city council due to having fewer members spread across a much wider geography, the power of cities and counties to move much faster than our logjammed state legislature, Marion's life before moving to Minneapolis 23 years ago, and we agree there's nothing like going on a walk to de-stress and get your mind working. Marion summons the courage to become the first guest in Wedge LIVE podcast history to ask for the episode to end.

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

The pedal-pod rolls on. Before we have a chance to really get to know our first guest Brian Mitchell (@BrianMitchL), John decides he's found a better guest in J.D. Duggan (@JDugganMN). J.D. is a journalist with Finance & Commerce who bears a striking resemblance to Bill Lindeke. We talk about the state of local journalism, why it seems that the only jobs remaining are with local business magazines, whether J.D.'s friends think he's gone corporate, Mayor Frey's job performance and where he goes from here, an assessment of Ward 2 Council Member Robin Wonsley, rent control policy in the Twin Cities, J.D.'s hair, and the period in his life where he dressed up as a superhero to deliver pizzas in the greater Wedge metro area.

If you were disappointed to have the Brian Mitchell segment cut short, read the piece he wrote about giving up his car: https://streets.mn/2022/04/21/pandemic-for-good-how-i-was-able-to-sell-my-car/ 

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

We continue the Pedal-Pod series, recorded on location at Open Streets  on Lyndale Avenue -- everyone's favorite summer street festival in  Minneapolis. John boots failed Ward 13 candidate Mike Norton out of the  pod-mobile so he can pick up a winner: Aisha Chughtai, who represents  Ward 10 on the City Council. We talk about bike earrings, Aisha's status  as "the bus lady," whether she's able to summon optimism about the  future, the debate over Mayor Frey's pick to be city coordinator,  frustrations over the government structure "trump card," a look ahead to  the 2023 election, rent control. John asks Aisha to name her favorite  council colleague outside of her own progressive faction (the answer  just might surprise you). We look inward to reveal what's irritating  about ourselves. Finally, we end the conversation by saying hello to  Wedge neighborhood president Jason Garcia.

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

The first installment of a many part series recorded during the Lyndale Avenue edition of Open Streets Minneapolis on June 5, 2022. We haven't Open Streets on Lyndale in June since 2019. To mark the occasion, John has borrowed a four-wheeled recumbent bicycle with side-by-side seating, and transformed it into what he's calling "the world's first pedal-powered podcast." Our first two guests are Ash Narayanan, executive director of Our Streets Minneapolis, and Elissa Schufman, a transportation advocate and board member at Our Streets (the non-profit organization that organizes Open Streets Minneapolis events). We talk about the history and significance of Open Streets, how this event has shaped the way we think about street projects, the future of Hennepin and Lyndale Avenues, and much more.

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive