A fresh RacketCast, out one day early due to Wolves Fever gripping the state. Is it unwise to keep calling our listeners "dummies"? Perhaps, but that's what we did with our Twins preview pod, and we're doing it again for this Timberwolves explainer featuring the great podcaster Dane Moore. Dane joined us Wednesday afternoon from L.A., where hours l…

We're still figuring out what types of conversations y'all wanna hear on RacketCast, and our first experiment with a newsier, shorter installment was a certified hit. So here's another bonus ep along those lines: our chat with veteran state Sen. John Marty (DFL-Roseville) about whether Minnesota should ban billboards. Marty's eye-catching new bill …

In this first episode I had a great chat with our new City Administrator, Matt Staehling. You get a chance to learn more about Matt, and what drew him to this role after nearly 30 years in St. Cloud. We talk about his first weeks on the job and his first takes as a new Duluthian. We also dive into that all-important topic: the difference between th…

Twin Cities burger freaks: This is the episode for you. The proprietors of two elite food trucks—Angry Line Cook (Jesse Hedman and Mona Negasi) and Burger Daddies (Nikki and Brian Podgorski)—dropped by our studio for a long conversation about cheeseburgers, building your business from scratch, and life in the trenches of the food industry. (FYI: Wh…

What's going on up there in Duluth? Plenty of stuff worth trying out ahead of your demise, that's for sure. Duluth News Tribune reporter Jay Gabler chronicled the exact number in his new book, 100 Things to Do In Duluth Before You Die. Jay, who you might remember from his time at 89.3 the Current, hopped on the pod to discuss the Zenith City's must…

On this latest episode of Attracted to Duluth, Caroline and Hailey are joined by journalist and friend of the pod, Jay Gabler. Tune in to hear all about his new book, 100 Things to Do in Duluth Before You Die, as well as his personal history with writing. This episode is packed with cool Duluth stuff, you'll certainly find something to add to your …

Late Tuesday, Gov. Tim Walz surprised around 40,000 state workers by announcing a mandatory 50% return-to-office policy for employees who live within 75 miles of their main work location. “This policy change supports the economic vitality of office districts like downtown St. Paul, bringing foot traffic back to businesses and public spaces,” the go…

In the early '00s Aaron Gleeman's U of M journalism professors suspected he was chronically hungover. In reality, the young blogger was chronically exhausted from writing about baseball literally all night long. That set Gleeman on a path that includes Aaron's Baseball Blog (cute!), NBC Sports, Baseball Prospectus, and, since 2019, the Athletic, wh…

Voters elected Mary Moriarty as Hennepin County's top prosecutor in 2022, which, given the sweeping sociopolitical changes since, feels like 1,000 years ago. Just over two full years into the job, how has Moriarty's progressive vision of restorative justice unfolded while Minneapolis remains under a national microscope? We asked the first openly LG…

A terrestrial radio DJ... on a podcast?! Believe it: We've got Dave Ryan, the 101.3 KDWB morning show host since 1993, on the pod to talk pranks, legacy, the evolving nature of Top 40 radio, and the ill-fated Booty Cruises. (Our conversation cold-opens with him dealing with a Colorado exterminator—how can you cut tape that good?) Be sure read Rache…

We've got a double-header for ya, folks. In the leadoff spot: Keith and Jay discuss Poised to Pop, Racket's annual predictions for the year's most exciting new local music acts. (It is very different from Picked to Click, thank you very much!) Hear Keith's scouting reports, then dive into some of the best rock, jazz, techno, rap, etc. sounds curren…

In the late 1880s, what winter sport craze swept through Duluth? In this episode of Attracted to Duluth, we embrace the cold and make the best of it! Without winter we wouldn’t have had goofy woolen uniforms, ice carnivals, or the opportunity to get frisky on a sled. Put on your snowshoes and pack your bags for St. Moritz, because this episode is t…

Did you know the Star Tribune recently launched its very first episodic, narratively driven podcast series, Ghost of a Chance? Over six episodes, reporter Eric Roper and producer Melissa Townsend explore the lives Harry and Clementine Robinson, a Black Minneapolis family who owned Roper's south Minneapolis home in the early 20th century. "The Robin…

Mitch Hedberg conceived his jokes with a deliberate eye toward timelessness. The Minnesota-launched comedy great’s widow, Lynn Shawcroft, confirmed as much during a 2013 episode of WTF with Marc Maron. And for about 15 years, the timeless comedy of Hedberg—surreal one-liners, musings, and wordplay delivered in his unmistakable stoner drawl—attracte…

It's the first RacketCast episode of 2025! Before '24 ended, we reviewed the year in music, bozos, politics, and movies, though we didn't have time to bite off a biggie: food 'n' drink. So, for this ep, we recruited two great dining writer/reporters—James Norton (Heavy Table) and Justine Jones (formerly of Eater Twin Cities)—to hashbrown out the ye…

Did you that co-owner/editor Keith Harris is the only regularly published movie critic in all of Minnesota? Sounds wild, but we believe it to be true! As such, movies are a big part of the equation over here, though we've never addressed them via the podcast medium. To remedy that, we enlisted a silver-screen freak you know and love: Racket super-c…

A special bonus episode of our biweekly RacketCast? Believe it. Happy Lizz Winstead Day! Minnesota comedy great Lizz Winstead is a legend of lefty media, having co-created Comedy Central's Daily Show as well as Air America Radio. Every holiday season, Winstead returns home for a show that recaps the year that was. And folks? Good god... what a year…

This time on Attracted to Duluth, Hailey and Caroline are joined by Boubville representatives Annmarie Geniusz and Daniel Benoit. Located in Duluth's central hillside neighborhood, this immersive DIY holiday event flips everything you think you know about a Duluth Christmas event on its head! With art installations, music, and smoked turkey legs, t…

What were the biggest, strangest, buzziest, most important, least important, and/or riffiest Minneapolis politics stories of 2024? Glad you asked! Because that's more or less what we posed to John Edwards, Taylor Dahlin, and Jason Garcia of Wedge Live!, a collection of folks who pay as close attention to such matters as anyone in town. They teed up…

A sincere and gratitude-stuffed "gobble, gobble" to all our RacketCast listeners ahead of this, the final episode before Thanksgiving. As such, we're talkin' turkey—local folks deserving of our unenviable "Biggest MN Turkeys of 2024" designation, that is. (How did we possibly come up with this idea?) Em, Keith, and Jay go around the horn, picking t…

A special bonus episode of our biweekly RacketCast? Believe it! When Minnesota Public Radio's Cathy Wurzer reached out about the new TPT documentary she's co-executive producing, Broadcast Wars, we figured: hey, nice opportunity to run a Q&A about the doc, which explores the pioneering and often cutthroat world of Twin Cities TV news from the 1950s…

In this edition of RacketCast, get to know Racket’s first-ever Picked to Click winner: Papa Mbye! A terrific new album, Parcelles 16, helped vault the Senegal-born, Minneapolis-based musician to the top of the poll, and deservedly so. The music he makes—drawing from rap, electronic music, and indie rock—would have been unthinkable when the original…

There's no disputing it: This is the spookiest episode in RacketCast history. First up, we've got Dan Suitor, winner of last year's skyway-themed flash-fiction horror contest, doing a bone-chilling reading of his spooktacular winning story, Skyway Hungers. Then Em and Jay chitchat about their gun bingo and bigfoot conference stories (what a website…

What baseball hall of famer spent time on Minnesota’s Iron Range, and was even a witness in a Virginia murder trial? This time on Attracted to Duluth, Hailey and Caroline tackle the stranger than fiction story of Rube Waddell, the left-handed pitcher who loved fire trucks, fishing, and baseball… in that order. Tune in to hear the story of how he en…

Depending on who ask, St. Paul educator/social media star Mandi Jung is either "the fun teacher" who cares deeply for her middle school students (that's according to HBO's John Oliver). Or she's the "anti-capitalist teacher [who] promotes anarchy" (that's according to Fox News). We absolutely loved chatting with Jung, who regularly shares her funny…

Exactly 20 years ago, Twin Cities hip-hop greats Heiruspecs got their shot at the big time with A Tiger Dancer. On this episode of RacketCast, MC Chris "Felix" Wilbourn and bassist Sean "Twinkie Jiggles" McPherson reflect with us about the highs (giant shows, Harold & Kumar soundtrack) and lows (label expectations, snubbed Euro tour) that coincided…

It's the first-ever episode of RacketCast, the new podcast experiment from Twin Cities news/arts/culture website Racket. In this installment, we recap the week that was at our reader-funded publication, debate whether failing restaurants should seek crowdfunding life support, tease what we're working on next, and ask you, the gracious reader-turned…

What temporary event in 1893 attracted more than 27 million visitors? On this installment of Attracted to Duluth, Hailey and Caroline are talking all about the Chicago World's Fair! Chicago wanted to show the world that they were a major city of the world, and Duluth was eager to prove the same. Tune in to learn all about the local angles we could …

For this episode of Attracted to Duluth we're joined by two representatives from Minnesota Ballet, a husband and wife team, Karl von Rabenau and Jennifer Miller. We talk about their journeys to becoming professional ballerinas, their work with Minnesota Ballet, and how they first met through dance. Don't miss this installment, because you'll fall i…

Attracted to Duluth is back for another episode and this time Caroline and Hailey met up with Shawn Roos, the owner of The Main Club. This LGBT+ bar and club has been a beloved space in the Twin Ports community since 1983. It's survived a change in location, a change in ownership, and even the changing of the felt on the pool tables. Tune in to hea…

This time on Attracted to Duluth, let your hair down as Caroline and Hailey meet up with Bee Golding, the owner of Deep Cuts. Tune in to hear about how Bee first discovered Duluth, how she opening up her punk-rock barbershop, and what it means to be part of the LGBTQIA+ community in The Twin Ports. We also talk about her musical duo, Campfire Trana…

On the latest installment of Attracted to Duluth, we're joined by Alice O'Callaghan of Zenith City Horror. For more than 15 years Zenith City Horror has been The Twin Ports' premier queer production company, and we sat down with Alice to hear all about the history of the group and some exciting things coming soon. Of course, we still had time to ta…

On this episode of Attracted to Duluth, we're talking all things Duluth Superior Pride Festival with Public Relations chair, Josh Miller. This summer will be the festival's 38th year in the Twin Ports, and Josh takes us through his history with the festival, a major personal highlight, and a unique event hosted by The North Shore Scenic Rail that's…

On this episode of Attracted to Duluth, Caroline and Hailey sit down with Michele Halti to learn about the annual and upcoming car show events in the Twin Ports. Tune in as we talk about some of Michele's beloved antique cars, the great stuff to do at these shows, and how you can get involved.

Who was Frank N. Foster? In the latest episode of "Attracted to Duluth" we dive into the mysterious Minnesotan who scammed his way from coast to coast taking photographs of "spirits" all along the way. Tune in as Caroline and Hailey dig into the story of a man who defied the laws of nature and also the laws that say you can't lie to people about ho…

What Broadway musical is named after Duluth Minnesota? On the latest episode of "Attracted to Duluth", we're joined by Cal Metts of the Lyric Opera of the North and filmmaker Mike Scholtz to talk about The Duke of Duluth, the short-lived musical that one New York review called "a painful jumble of nonsense." But is the show actually as bad as they …

What historic home located on the shores of Lake Superior offers surprises all year long? In this installment of Attracted to Duluth, we chat with Glensheen director Dustin Heckman about all things history. With topics like local cemeteries, museum conferences, and mysterious discoveries on the grounds of Glensheen, this episode is basically chicke…

Which prohibition playboy tormented the Twin Ports and lived rent-free in the mind of Ripsaw editor John Morrison? On the latest episode of Attracted to Duluth, Hailey and Caroline dig into the story of one Superior citizen who was persecuted for being a small business owner...That business happened to be running an illegal speak-easy during prohib…

What once-condemned building is now on track to soon welcome the community back inside? On this episode of Attracted to Duluth we're joined by Michelle of the Armory Arts & Music Center as she talks us through the history of The Armory, the fight to save the building, and the path ahead. You've heard about the day the music died, but we're here to …

On this episode of Attracted to Duluth, Caroline and Hailey share some highlights from historic Duluth newspapers originally published during the holiday season. Grab a hot cocoa, crack open some oysters, and prepare to be visited by three ghosts sent by The Labor World newspaper to make you a better person. Brought to you by Daddy's Pancake Mix.…

What do Gordon Lightfoot, Hozier, Regis Philbin, and Florence Welch all have in common? On this installment of Attracted to Duluth, we're joined by Kaylee Matuszak and Ian Wallin to talk about the most famous vessel to wrestle with the witch of November, the Edmund Fitzgerald. Tune in as we learn about the mysterious unit of measurement known as a …

Are you ready to fall in love? Because in this episode, we're giving Attracted to Duluth a whole other meaning! Jay Gabler joins us for our steamiest and most controversial episode yet as we discuss Laura Ashcroft's Duluth-based romance novel, Heart of Fire. You might not associate spiciness and Scandinavians, but we promise this novel has both in …

Which women's undergarment did the state of Minnesota attempt to ban? This time on Attracted to Duluth, we compare Taylor Swift to the Chicago World Fair, discuss strategies for ladies hoping to avoid exposing themselves to insult, and one doughy little lawyer from Minneapolis. Put on your farthingale and headphones, because this is an episode you …

What off-broadway play written by Will Arbery is coming to The Depot Theatre? On this episode of Attracted To Duluth, Depot Director Mary Tennis is subbing in for Kristin as we're joined by Director, Mark Armstrong as he talks about his production of "Heroes of the Fourth Turning." Tune in to hear all about his journey from Duluth to New York, his …

What's the coolest web-based Minnesota documentary series coming out of Duluth? On this installment of Attracted to Duluth, you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be recruited to join an all-clown marching band. We're joined by local documentary filmmaker and weird history enjoyer, Mike Scholtz, as he tells us all about his recent PBS North series Minnes…

Attracted to Duluth is kicking off Pride month with our friends at Trans Northland! In this installment, we chat with Trans Joy Fest organizers Sean Hayes and Joe Murphy to talk all about their upcoming second annual event, as well as hear ways that we can support our transgender friends and neighbors all year long!…

We Love Our Block! This week on Attracted to Duluth, we're joined by Sarah and Annika from The City of Duluth's Love Your Block program. The Love Your Block model encourages innovation and experimentation to reduce blight through resident and government partnerships. Together we talk about our city's history and hone in on the Central Hillside, the…

What defunct Duluth amusement park once sat on Park Point? This time on Attracted To Duluth we explore the largely-forgotten amusement park that once boasted rides, attractions, and some absolutely wild live stunts and performances that are a miracle anyone survived! Step right up and listen to the greatest show on earth... or at least the greatest…

What Duluth attraction is home to North America's largest sturgeon touchpool? This week we're joined by Jay Walker of the Great Lakes Aquarium as he dives into the story of how the organization came to be, and how he came to join it. Be sure to tuna-in!

Why are lighthouses the setting for so many spooky stories? This week we're joined by Ian Wallin, a lighthouse enthusiast and TikTok micro-influencer, as they drop some serious lighthouse knowledge on us. From Edgar Allen Poe to Willem Dafoe, horror media has loved lighthouses for over 100 years, but why? Tune in as Ian tells us about the wonderful…