Wedge LIVE‪!‬ John Edwards

DJ and transportation activist Eric Moran takes John on a bicycle tour of North Minneapolis. We talk about the status of Northside streets and transit advocacy. We wonder why Ward 4 Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw (a former board chair of the Bicycle Coalition/Our Streets) is the Minneapolis City Council's biggest opponent of bike infrastructure. We talk about why Eric advocates for safer streets and the projects he's most excited about.

We also make a harrowing detour into neighboring Robbinsdale, Minnesota -- a place where many North Minneapolis residents, who lack options for grocery and drug stores, travel for daily essentials. Robbinsdale is also a place where opposition to a transit project is dominating a special election to fill a seat on their city council.

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A conversation with Michelle Phelps, author of The Minneapolis Reckoning, a book that puts the murder of George Floyd in the context of generations of Minneapolis police violence and abuse -- and activist efforts at both reform and abolition. We talk about why she felt compelled to write the book; how this project that began at the height of the BLM movement, and activism in response to police killings in the Twin Cities, became something different after Floyd's murder; how Minneapolis has grappled with our "ambivalence" and conflicted feelings about the future of police and public safety; how to understand the politics that led to the Minneapolis City Council declaring in 2021 they would dismantle MPD; how resistance to a new kind of public safety was more a generational divide than a racial one; how the defeat of the public safety charter amendment in 2021 wasn't the end of the story; how the killing of MPD officer Jamal Mitchell, four years and five days after Floyd's murder, is already affecting police politics; and how a rise in community violence, victimization and crime politics threatens to overshadow efforts to address police violence.

Buy the book: https://moonpalacebooks.com/item/6CvPe_CEu0Zi5VUiASXa9Q\

From the publisher:

"Phelps explains that the council’s pledge did not come out of a single moment of rage, but decades of organizing efforts. Yet the politics of transforming policing were more complex than they first appeared. Despite public outrage over police brutality, the council’s initiatives faced stiff opposition, including by Black community leaders who called for more police protection against crime as well as police reform. In 2021, voters ultimately rejected the ballot measure to end the department. Yet change continued on the ground, as state and federal investigations pushed police reform and city leaders and residents began to develop alternative models of safety.

"The Minneapolis Reckoning shows how the dualized meaning of the police—as both the promise of state protection and the threat of state violence—creates the complex politics of policing that thwart change. Phelps’s account of the city's struggles over what constitutes real accountability, justice, and safety offers a vivid picture of the possibilities and limits of challenging police power today."

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Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

A conversation with Aurin Chowdhury, who represents Ward 12 on the Minneapolis City Council. We talk about MPD's continued use of coaching as a way to hide misconduct; what she hopes to see from a new union contract; why she isn't sold on the idea of moving the city's election office into the old MPD 3rd Precinct; how budget conversations are proceeding with a $21 million budget gap looming for 2025; her hesitancy on the idea of adding more city council staff; the Uber/Lyft saga and how dad jokes are born; and the fate the Roof Depot/East Phillips Urban Farm now that the legislature has failed to pass a key piece of funding.

Note: Episode was recorded May 30, prior to the mass shooting in the Whittier neighborhood, where a gunman injured four people and killed MPD officer Jamal Mitchell.

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Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

A conversation about the chaotic end to the 2024 Minnesota state legislative session with Dan Thomas-Commins, the self-styled parliamentary rules nerd who you might have seen running your local DFL convention. We talk about GOP obstruction; what might explain the DFL's seeming lack of urgency; how literal last minute procedural mistakes cost tens of millions in vital public investments; how the rules are actually whatever these legislative bodies say they are; and why it's ok that the political party in control of the state house, senate and governor's office are able to enact their agenda.

For the second half of the episode we talk about Dan's experience chairing DFL conventions. John asks Dan to imagine if he were recruited by a shadowy US government agency to be part of an elite team of parliamentarians deployed overseas -- how would he weaponize the rules to create mayhem for the deliberative bodies of America's enemies?

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Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

It's the world's first half bike/half scooter mobile podcast episode, with Taylor Dahlin. We are patrolling the streets of Loring Park and downtown Minneapolis on the lookout for scooter scofflaws. We talk about the alleged connection between scooter ridership and crime; Taylor's transportation habits as a year-round, all-seasons scooter commuter; the state of bike and scooter infrastructure in Minneapolis; and so much more. You're won't want to miss the lovely scenery, so catch this episode on our YouTube channel.


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Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

John is joined by Josh Martin to talk about three proposals to amend the Minneapolis City Charter, including a plan to move from odd to even year city elections. Plus: Ilhan Omar's DFL convention win over an underwhelming Don Samuels; and how despite the city's 2040 Plan appeals court victory, only the legislature can save us from endless further litigation.


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Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee