THE BRODCAST

Michael Brodkorb and Billy Grant
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Politics
  • Weekly

THE BRODCAST is a weekly podcast with Michael Brodkorb and Billy Grant exploring politics, power, and the people shaping what happens next in Minnesota and across the country. Expect candid conversations, sharp analysis, spirited disagreement, and interviews that go beyond the headlines. michaelbrodkorb.substack.com

Episodes

  1. 1d ago

    The Final Days: What Good Campaigns Do Before Election Day

    Welcome back to THE BRODCAST. With Election Day days away, Michael Brodkorb and Billy Grant get into the weeds on what good campaigns do in the final days, and what bad ones do instead. Billy calls it a nerd episode. Michael calls it a preview of the post-election shows. First, a word on our bonus episode with Zack Filipovich, the DFL-endorsed candidate for state auditor. Billy came away impressed and calls the auditor race one of the cycle's sleeper statewide races. Michael opens with the conventional wisdom: by now the ads are bought, the mail is out, and the last days are about turnout, not persuasion. Billy pushes back. Good campaigns do both. In the Senate and governor races, where millions have been spent, most voters have made up their minds. In lower-profile races like Secretary of State and state auditor, voters still don't know the candidates, so persuasion still matters. Billy's frame is that a consultant is a general contractor and every tool has a job. TV and mail persuade. Rallies turn out. Swing voters aren't at a 2 p.m. rally in Bemidji. That leads to surrogates. When Bernie Sanders and Barack Obama show up for DFL candidates, some Republicans online call it desperation. Michael says it's the opposite: midterms run on enthusiasm, and good campaigns pull every lever to fire up their base. Billy agrees and goes further. Republicans aren't doing enough of it. He's on a bus tour in Ohio drawing hundreds of people at every stop, and says what he's seen of Minnesota's version in past cycles is junior varsity. Then come the bus tour war stories: the 1998 GOP bus that pulled off Highway 52 on the way to Red Wing because the driver was drunk, and the 2002 tour where someone (probably Michael) put Dumb and Dumber on the VCR in front of a busload of statewide candidates. Michael also flags Michele Tafoya doing a Fox News interview from home about the New York Times poll as the GOP bus tour got rolling. Billy says he would have done that interview from the road. The second half is tough love. Michael asks a sports question: if the Vikings hired a head coach with a losing record, fans would revolt, so why does politics get a pass? Billy says a tough national environment doesn't excuse bad fundamentals, starting with the Minnesota GOP's "kitchen cabinet": ten advisors, nobody accountable. He calls it a scarcity mindset: local operatives who won't collaborate, won't bring in national talent, and won't learn from other states. In the New York Times/Siena poll, Peggy Flanagan led Tafoya by 14, and Amy Klobuchar was comfortably ahead of Lisa Demuth. Neither host buys those margins. Michael has Klobuchar winning by close to double digits and Flanagan by five or six. Billy has Flanagan closer to two or three. Both agree the trend is consistent and the cake is baked at the top of the ticket, and the real opportunities are down ballot. They also go after Republicans who are already blaming the President for a loss while calling these campaigns well run. Billy explains what losing campaigns should learn, and he has a blunt verdict for anyone who calls these campaigns flawless. In From the Stands, the 6-0 Vikings head to Detroit while Billy takes THE BRODCAST to Pittsburgh for Browns-Steelers. They argue over whether Minnesota needs a workhorse running back, Billy compares Sam Darnold to Brad Johnson, and Michael begs him to stop bringing up Vikings quarterbacks who won Super Bowls somewhere else. They wrap with the Brewers' World Series win and a little trolling of a friend who took it hard. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3. Polls are open until 8 p.m., and if you're in line by 8, you can vote. Minnesota lets you register at your polling place. Find your polling place and voter information at mnvotes.gov. IN THIS EPISODE 00:00 Opening 00:30 This week on THE BRODCAST 00:59 Welcome to THE BRODCAST 01:09 Our bonus episode with Zack Filipovich 02:39 What good campaigns do in the final days 04:31 Persuasion vs. turnout 08:13 The consultant as general contractor 10:53 Bernie, Obama, and the surrogate playbook 13:28 Speak to your base and the middle 15:08 Republicans aren't doing enough 16:47 Why bus tours matter 20:04 Bus tour war stories 24:39 Energy, enthusiasm, and social media 26:05 Tafoya stays home 27:24 Tough love 29:17 The Vikings coaching test 31:09 The Minnesota GOP's kitchen cabinet 33:53 The scarcity mindset 35:32 The New York Times polls 39:03 The cake is baked 40:50 What losing campaigns teach 44:35 Previewing our post-election shows 45:27 From the Stands: Vikings at Detroit 46:10 Billy heads to Pittsburgh 48:44 Sam Darnold, Brad Johnson, and Vikings trauma 51:04 The Brewers win the World Series 54:05 Election Day reminders 54:51 Closing Watch the full episode on YouTube. Michael Brodkorb and Billy Grant host THE BRODCAST. Politics. Power. What's next? Subscribe to THE BRODCAST wherever you get your podcasts, and on YouTube, for new episodes, clips, and conversations. Get full access to On The Record with Michael Brodkorb at michaelbrodkorb.substack.com/subscribe

    The Final Days: What Good Campaigns Do Before Election Day

  2. 1d ago ·  Bonus

    Who Keeps the Books? Zack Filipovich on the State Auditor’s Race

    Election Day is Tuesday, and THE BRODCAST has a bonus episode. Billy is off for this one. Michael sits down one-on-one with Zack Filipovich, the DFL-endorsed candidate for Minnesota State Auditor. With this conversation, THE BRODCAST has now interviewed every candidate in the race. Filipovich is a former Duluth city councilor and a certified management accountant, and he says he’s the only accountant running. He has driven 50,000 miles in his car and once campaigned in five congressional districts in a single day. Michael has a personal connection here: his late father was a CPA and forensic accountant. Filipovich’s own path started with his dad, too. As a kid, he wanted his father to play a board game, but his father had bookwork to do for his small business. So he sat Zack on his knee and walked him through the income and expenses on green ledger paper. From that point on, he was hooked. Next, Michael asks a question many voters have: what does the state auditor actually do, and how is it different from the legislative auditor? Filipovich’s explanation is simple. The state auditor oversees what he puts at $56 billion in local government taxes and spending, the money closest to all of us. Turn on the faucet and clean water comes out. That’s your public works department, and the auditor’s job is to make sure the money set aside for it actually gets there. The Legislature hires the Office of the Legislative Auditor to review state agencies. His pitch hasn’t changed since before the May convention: hire an accountant. He chaired Duluth’s finance committee for three of his eight years on the council and sat across the table from auditors during their entrance interviews and exit debriefs. With fraud making headlines at the state level, he wants to protect local governments from fraud, bad actors, and accounting errors. Rising costs make that more urgent. Gas prices go up for a city’s police cars and fire trucks, too, so every local dollar counts. The best part of the conversation is what most people never see: how an accountant reads a city budget. Filipovich describes going through Duluth’s budget line by line and asking the administration why each number rose or fell. Then he makes a case for reserve funds that have nothing to do with rainy days. Bond rating agencies like Moody’s look at reserves. A stronger bond rating means lower borrowing costs, so when it’s time to buy a new fire truck, taxpayers save money. Then comes the problem nobody else is talking about. Filipovich says 75 percent of CPAs are of retirement age. He tells the story of Janet, a township treasurer outside Le Sueur who retired at the end of 2025. When he asked who was replacing her and who she was training to file reports with the state auditor’s office, she didn’t know. He sees that as a real risk for small communities, especially in Greater Minnesota. Michael also asks the hard practical question: how does an accountant break through when the governor and Senate races are taking up all the oxygen? Filipovich’s answer is to connect the job to people’s everyday lives, cover as many miles as possible, and hold roundtables after the election with local finance staff on where tax dollars go. Michael ends with something his dad used to say: numbers are our common language. Filipovich gets the last laugh. He wears “nerd” with pride, and both agree state government could use a few more. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3. Polls are open until 8 p.m., and if you’re in line by 8, you can vote. Minnesota lets you register at your polling place. Find your polling place and voter information at mnvotes.gov. IN THIS EPISODE 00:00 This week on THE BRODCAST 00:21 Welcome to THE BRODCAST 00:37 Meet Zack Filipovich 01:05 Where the race stands 01:47 Two accountants’ sons 02:51 State auditor vs. legislative auditor 04:39 The pitch: hire an accountant 06:00 Fraud and rising local costs 07:12 Reading a city budget line by line 08:54 Reserves, bond ratings, and taxpayer savings 09:45 Getting into the weeds at the door 11:21 Facts first and the accountant shortage 12:45 Breaking through the noise at the top of the ticket 15:19 Numbers are our common language 16:18 The final days and the bus tour 17:04 A few more nerds 18:01 Closing Watch the full episode on YouTube. Michael Brodkorb and Billy Grant host THE BRODCAST. Politics. Power. What’s next? Subscribe to THE BRODCAST wherever you get your podcasts, and on YouTube, for new episodes, clips, and conversations. Get full access to On The Record with Michael Brodkorb at michaelbrodkorb.substack.com/subscribe

    Who Keeps the Books? Zack Filipovich on the State Auditor’s Race

  3. Oct 24

    Why the Klobuchar-Demuth Debate Won’t Change the Race

    Welcome back to THE BRODCAST. Eleven days out, Michael Brodkorb and Billy Grant break down what was likely the final debate between Senator Amy Klobuchar and Speaker Lisa Demuth, held Wednesday night in Rochester and hosted by FOX 9 and Gray Media. It followed a more collegial business forum in Brainerd on Monday. Both campaigns came in with a frame. Demuth cast Klobuchar as “Walz’s third term.” Klobuchar cast Demuth as a Trump “rubber stamp.” Billy says neither landed hard, and that a third-term attack struggles against a candidate with a brand as distinct as Klobuchar’s. Then he and Michael split on a bigger question: would Tim Walz have won a third term? Michael thinks Walz would have been favored. Billy says no, and argues Walz’s numbers held up only because of years of friendly local coverage. On abortion, Billy’s advice to Republicans is blunt: get out of the defensive crouch and go on offense. The pair also credit both candidates for the debate’s most human moment, when Klobuchar and Demuth each spoke about surviving cancer. The verdict: the debate didn’t move the race. Demuth needed a moment to close a roughly nine-point gap. She didn’t get one. Michael and Billy then go inside debate prep: briefing books, mock debates, attack lines and counters, and the three goals every campaign brings to the stage—no new negative story, one clip, and a closing that matches the paid media. The front-runner preps to avoid a mistake. The challenger preps to force one. Billy explains why there’s no cookie-cutter playbook, delivers a hot take on why candidates should debate standing up (sorry, Almanac couch), and both agree female candidates face a double standard in how their debate performances are judged. The final segment covers what happened 24 hours after the debate. Jackie Flavin and Mike Moyski, whose 10-year-old daughter Harper was killed in the August 2025 shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and School, endorsed Klobuchar and appeared in a new ad accusing Demuth of breaking a promise to allow a floor vote on gun legislation. Demuth says she kept her word. Michael, a Second Amendment supporter with a carry permit, argues the story isn’t about guns. It’s about character. Billy says the Demuth campaign could have built the same kind of closing argument months ago and never did. They close with what they’re watching in the final 11 days: closing messages, late spending, and what comes next. IN THIS EPISODE 00:00 Opening 00:25 Welcome to THE BRODCAST 00:38 Eleven days out: the last debate 02:58 Walz’s third term vs. Trump rubber stamp 08:45 Would Walz have won a third term? 10:25 Abortion: go on offense 17:00 A human moment on the debate stage 21:20 Did the debate move the race? 26:40 Inside debate prep 30:00 No cookie-cutter playbook 33:55 Stand up and burn the couch 37:00 Klobuchar hasn’t lost a step 38:00 The double standard for female candidates 44:15 The Annunciation endorsement 48:45 What the Demuth campaign missed 53:20 It’s not about guns. It’s about character. 55:00 What we’re watching in the final 11 days 57:00 Closing Watch the full episode on YouTube. Michael Brodkorb and Billy Grant host THE BRODCAST. Politics. Power. What’s next? Subscribe to THE BRODCAST wherever you get your podcasts, and on YouTube, for new episodes, clips, and conversations. Get full access to On The Record with Michael Brodkorb at michaelbrodkorb.substack.com/subscribe

    Why the Klobuchar-Demuth Debate Won’t Change the Race

  4. Oct 17

    Strategy or Costume? New Polls and Tafoya’s Pro-Choice Pivot

    Welcome back to THE BRODCAST. With less than three weeks until Election Day, Michael Brodkorb and Billy Grant dig into a week of new Minnesota polling from KSTP, the Star Tribune, and Morning Consult. In the governor’s race, the polls tell the same story: Senator Amy Klobuchar leads Speaker Lisa Demuth by seven to nine points. The Senate race is tighter, with Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan ahead of Michele Tafoya by three to four. Down the ballot, the attorney general’s race is within a point, and the state auditor’s race has flipped since September. Billy argues that the auditor result is the purest read on the political environment. His rule for listeners: follow the trend lines, not the single poll. The segment, Spot Check, takes on the question of the week: Is Michele Tafoya’s “pro-choice Republican” ad a strategy or a costume? Billy says Tafoya grabbed a “fence issue” Republicans can’t win on, and he wants Minnesota Republicans to retire the “independent voice” line for good. Michael, a pro-choice “homeless Republican,” says the problem isn’t her position but the timing and authenticity behind it. He explains why her “muddled” stance on abortion leaves her trusted by neither side. Both agree her ad featuring Democrats voting for her is the stronger spot. In the final segment, Michael and Billy explain what campaigns actually do in the last weeks: find your voters, bank them, move the few you can, and avoid the late mistake. They cover the intensity gap, why Billy would run on “crime, crime, crime, public safety,” whether lawn signs vote, and Billy’s best opposition-research yard sign story from Arizona. They also condemn the disruption at the Minnesota GOP’s Lincoln Reagan Dinner, though they disagree on whether to call it a protest or a riot. IN THIS EPISODE 00:00 Opening 00:22 Welcome to THE BRODCAST 00:54 Governor’s race: Klobuchar vs. Demuth 03:08 Senate race: Flanagan vs. Tafoya 04:49 Attorney general’s race 06:06 State auditor: the purest read on the environment 07:31 Star Tribune and Morning Consult polls 10:04 Follow the trends, not one poll 12:09 Why polling has gotten harder 15:11 What bad polls do to a campaign 17:01 Spot Check: Tafoya’s pro-choice ad 21:31 Apollo 13 and campaign sequencing 25:09 The Democrats-for-Tafoya ad 26:22 Tafoya’s muddled position on abortion 36:08 The four jobs of the final weeks 40:05 The intensity gap 42:55 Crime, crime, crime, public safety 44:01 Emotions, sleep, and silly season 46:52 Do lawn signs vote? 50:47 The Lincoln Reagan Dinner protest 51:58 Billy’s Arizona yard sign story 53:33 Political violence has to stop 55:33 Vote early Watch the full episode on YouTube. Michael Brodkorb and Billy Grant host THE BRODCAST. Politics. Power. What’s next? Subscribe to THE BRODCAST wherever you get your podcasts, and on YouTube, for new episodes, clips, and conversations. Get full access to On The Record with Michael Brodkorb at michaelbrodkorb.substack.com/subscribe

    Strategy or Costume? New Polls and Tafoya’s Pro-Choice Pivot

  5. Oct 9

    Mall of America Terror Plot and Minnesota’s 2026 Election

    Welcome back to THE BRODCAST. Episode three brings the show’s first guest, and it was recorded on a day when the news would not wait. Hours before Michael Brodkorb and Billy Grant sat down with State Rep. Max Rymer (R-North Branch), the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota announced charges against an 18-year-old accused of planning a mass shooting at the Mall of America. The arrest followed a week of gang-related gunfire in Edina, Eden Prairie, and Bloomington, including a shooting outside the Eden Prairie homecoming game. That sets up the question now hanging over every Minnesota race: Does public safety change the dynamics less than a month before the election? Rymer, a first-term legislator from Chisago County who ran Scott Jensen’s 2022 campaign for governor, describes what the 67-67 House looked like from the inside. He explains how the DFL’s position on fraud shifted from denial to “it happens everywhere” to “we always cared,” why his bill on local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement hit a wall, and why he thinks Minnesota may be heading toward a “blue state revolt.” After the interview, Michael and Billy walk through the criminal complaint, the FBI’s 21-month investigation, and the parents who rebuffed agents’ warnings while their son was still a minor. They debate how candidates should confront Somali gang violence without painting an entire community, why Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty’s December video has become a political liability, and why Michael gave Amy Klobuchar’s campaign an A+ for how fast it responded. But they don’t fully agree. Michael, a self-described “homeless Republican” who has never voted for Donald Trump and plans to split his ticket, makes the case for divided government. Billy says Republican candidates should talk only about public safety for the final four weeks. IN THIS EPISODE 00:00 Opening 00:27 Welcome to THE BRODCAST 00:56 Our first guest: Rep. Max Rymer 01:55 The Mall of America plot and what it means 27 days out 04:20 What Republican candidates are missing 07:10 Has Minnesota’s compassion made us soft? 11:19 Fraud: from denial to “we always cared” 14:50 Taxes, HF 16, and hitting a brick wall in a tied House 21:11 A “blue state revolt” in Minnesota? 26:13 Billy: run the ads 29:35 Debrief on our first interview 31:27 Homeless Republican vs. Mr. MAGA on divided government 32:44 Inside the Mall of America criminal complaint 42:56 The FBI’s warning to parents 45:56 A week of shootings in Edina, Eden Prairie, and Bloomington 47:22 Mary Moriarty’s video and “a masterclass in gaslighting” 49:18 How Trump broke brains on the left 56:09 Klobuchar’s fast response 57:04 How Billy would run this race 59:11 What we’re watching Michael Brodkorb and Billy Grant host THE BRODCAST. Politics. Power. What’s next? Subscribe to THE BRODCAST wherever you get your podcasts and follow the show for new episodes, clips, and conversations. Get full access to On The Record with Michael Brodkorb at michaelbrodkorb.substack.com/subscribe

    Mall of America Terror Plot and Minnesota’s 2026 Election

  6. Oct 2

    Spot Check Is Here. Why Do Republicans Fumble the Trump Question?

    Welcome back to THE BRODCAST. In Episode 2, Michael Brodkorb and Billy Grant take on a Star Tribune report about more Minnesota Republican candidates distancing themselves from Donald Trump, sparked by GOP governor nominee Lisa Demuth’s break with the president over the war in Iran. Billy, from the MAGA lane, rejects the premise that candidates should abandon ship when the polls get tough. Michael, a self-described homeless Republican, presses on what that strategy costs in a statewide race. Then they land on the question every candidate gets asked: Where do you disagree with your party? They break down why that question should never be a gotcha, why failing to answer it is a bigger fumble than the answer itself, and how a convention lit piece casting the Demuth campaign as the race’s MAGA enforcer is now showing up in Democratic attacks. Then the debut of SPOT CHECK, THE BRODCAST’s new campaign ad review. Michael and Billy grade Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s “Brad” welfare ad, which drew its loudest backlash from the right, and debate whether the real mistake was the casting or the decision to double down. They also review the Minnesota DFL’s new Short on Demuth, and Michael explains why GOP influencers posting convention literature online handed opposition researchers a gift. Finally, a new segment: FROM THE STANDS. Billy reports from the Dawg Pound for the Browns’ 21-18 win over Carolina, Michael previews the 3-0 Vikings hosting Miami on Sunday, and the two talk Vikings quarterbacks. IN THIS EPISODE 00:00 Cold open 00:29 Welcome to THE BRODCAST 01:00 The big question: Minnesota Republicans and Trump 02:07 Abandon ship or stay on message? 05:37 Operation Metro Surge and the immigration balancing act 06:17 The “MAGA cop” convention play 10:03 “Where do you disagree with your party?” 12:46 Demuth’s fumble 14:06 SPOT CHECK debuts: Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s “Brad” ad 16:00 Why “Brad” backfired with the right 24:28 The real mistake: doubling down 25:56 The DFL’s ad on Lisa Demuth 28:35 Should we grade campaign ads? 29:27 What the convention lit piece reveals 35:06 Opposition research gold 37:08 Way too online 38:26 FROM THE STANDS: Billy in the Dawg Pound 41:43 Vikings 3-0, Dolphins on deck 42:15 The JJ McCarthy question 45:24 What’s next for THE BRODCAST Michael Brodkorb and Billy Grant host THE BRODCAST. Politics. Power. What’s next? Subscribe to THE BRODCAST wherever you get your podcasts and follow the show for new episodes, clips, and conversations. Got a campaign ad you want graded on SPOT CHECK? Send it our way. Get full access to On The Record with Michael Brodkorb at michaelbrodkorb.substack.com/subscribe

    Spot Check Is Here. Why Do Republicans Fumble the Trump Question?

  7. Sep 25

    THE BRODCAST Is Here. Is Minnesota Really Different?

    Welcome to THE BRODCAST. In the first episode, Michael Brodkorb and Billy Grant introduce the show, explain why two people who don’t always agree politically sat down together, and make the case for something increasingly rare in politics: honest disagreement without personal confrontation. Then they get to the big question: Is Minnesota immune from the national political environment? Michael and Billy examine the forces shaping the upcoming election, from voter enthusiasm and turnout operations to fundraising, campaign spending, messaging, affordability, fraud, and how national politics influences Minnesota races. They also discuss how campaigns identify vulnerabilities, respond to misinformation, and “inoculate” candidates before attacks take hold, and why the fundamentals of campaigning still matter even in an increasingly nationalized political environment. It’s the first conversation in what THE BRODCAST is designed to become: candid discussions about politics, campaigns, power, and the people and decisions shaping what happens next. IN THIS EPISODE 00:00 — Welcome to THE BRODCAST01:19 — Who are Michael and Billy?06:55 — Why do a podcast with someone you disagree with?09:24 — Respectful disagreement in modern politics12:50 — The stakes of the upcoming election14:37 — National political trends vs. Minnesota17:09 — Reading election trends19:57 — Campaign messaging and the issues that matter23:55 — Is Minnesota immune from the national environment?29:55 — Turnout operations and campaign infrastructure35:29 — Fraud, misinformation, and campaign strategy43:20 — Media narratives, fundraising, and campaign spending48:32 — What’s next for THE BRODCAST Michael Brodkorb and Billy Grant host THE BRODCAST. Politics. Power. What’s next? Subscribe to THE BRODCAST wherever you get your podcasts and follow the show for new episodes, clips, and conversations. Get full access to On The Record with Michael Brodkorb at michaelbrodkorb.substack.com/subscribe

    THE BRODCAST Is Here. Is Minnesota Really Different?

  8. Season 1 Trailer

    THE BRODCAST — Official Trailer

    Something new is coming. Welcome to THE BRODCAST, a new podcast with Michael Brodkorb and Billy Grant about politics, power, and what’s next. From Minnesota to Washington, we’ll go beyond the headlines to talk about the people, campaigns, decisions, and dynamics shaping politics — what happened, why it matters, and what comes next. Expect candid conversations, different perspectives, sharp analysis, and the occasional disagreement. This is THE BRODCAST. Politics. Power. What’s next? Episode 1 premieres Friday, September 25. Subscribe now. Get full access to On The Record with Michael Brodkorb at michaelbrodkorb.substack.com/subscribe

    THE BRODCAST — Official Trailer
  • 1 Trailer
    7 Episodes

Trailer

About

THE BRODCAST is a weekly podcast with Michael Brodkorb and Billy Grant exploring politics, power, and the people shaping what happens next in Minnesota and across the country. Expect candid conversations, sharp analysis, spirited disagreement, and interviews that go beyond the headlines. michaelbrodkorb.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Michael Brodkorb and Billy Grant
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    8
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Michael Brodkorb
  • Show Website
    THE BRODCAST

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