RacketCast

How Labor Wins Feat. Workday Magazine Journalists Sarah Lazare & Amie Stager

Happy Labor Day! To celebrate the only legit holiday, we invite labor journalists Sarah Lazare and Amie Stager of Workday Magazine on the pod to discuss their brand-new

Emergency 2026 MN State Fair New Food/Drink Roundtable!

No time for extensive show notes—this is an emergency! Listen to all four Racket owner/editors gab for an hour-plus about all the Minnesota State Fair official new foods

IRL CSI Feat. Forensic Scientist Melissa Loren

Since 2000, American TV viewers have gobbled up 838 episodes spanning the broader CSI universe—folks love seeing crime scenes investigated. Since 2010, Melissa Loren has

Understanding MN Wildfires Feat. Fire Behavior Analyst Art Gonzales

All month long wildfires have wreaked havoc in northern Minnesota. The Boundary Waters are shut down until October, tourist-starved Ely businesses are trying to stay aflo

BookCast Vol. 2 Feat. Writer/Podcaster Deborah Copperud

Books! We love those papery, bound little bastards. And we're guessing you, a supporter of local independent media, might also be a certified bookworm. As such, we're co

Investigating Crimes + City Pages Times Feat. ProPublica Reporters Jessica Lussenhop & Andy Mannix

For 15 months our friends Jessica Lussenhop and Andy Mannix have been hard at work revealing sex crimes hidden within the Old Apostolic Lutheran Church. The ProPublica r

The Art of Airfare Feat. Thrifty Traveler's Kyle Potter & Gunnar Olson

You there, dummy with some degree of affluence and PTO to spare: You don't know diddly squat about travel. But Kyle Potter and Gunnar Olson, the team behind The Thrifty

Fighting Google's Data Center Feat. Pine Island Residents Aubree Derksen & Nicole Mills

We're halfway through the Year of Data Center Backlash. Americans hate the massive AI factories, yet tech giants continue to foist them on communities amid the current AI

Girl Gone HOW Wild? Feat. Author/Comic/Actor Courtney Kocak

Right after high school Courtney Kocak left sleepy Jackson, Minnesota, to chase her dreams in Hollywood. Did everything go as planned? Sure didn't! And in her brand-new m

Weather, Climate, and Getting Ripped Feat. Meteorologist Sven Sundgaard

We've had investigative reporters, sportswriters, food critics, and music writers on RacketCast, but never anyone working the beat every Minnesotan actually cares about:

2026 Timberwolves Playoffs Explainer for Dummies Feat. Podcaster Dane Moore

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

2026 MN Twins Preview for Dummies Feat. The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman

🎶 Take me out to the ball game 🎶 🎶 Take me out with the crowd 🎶 🎶 Buy me some peanuts and RacketCast (?!) 🎶 Calm down! RacketCast will remain free of charge for this (

Celebrate Fancy Ray Day Feat. Local Comedy Legend Fancy Ray

Happy Fancy Ray Day! Well, actually, that honorary calendar date—as previously decreed by the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul—isn't until March 28. But we wanted to g

Mapping MN's Hidden City Feat. YouTuber Chris Parr

What the hell is going on in North Oaks, Minnesota? That's the question Minneapolis-based videographer/YouTuber Chris Parr set out to answer. In a video from last month

Livestreaming a Crisis Feat. Unicorn Riot

Ever read this week's Racket feature story and think to yourself: "Boy, I'd sure love to hear an entire hour-long conversation about how Niko Georgiades helped launch Uni

Covering the MN ICE Invasion Feat. Reporters Madison McVan & Max Nesterak

Small but mighty, the Minnesota Reformer continues to deliver some of the best Operation Metro Surge coverage in the state. We're fans, we suspect you're fans, so we figu

Bonus: Life In Occupied MN Feat. Pod Damn America

You've heard Racket's Jay Boller co-hosting RacketCast, certainly. But have you ever heard him guesting on another podcast entirely? That's the not-so-rare opportunity p

No Work, School, or Spending This Fri. Feat. Local Labor Leaders

Summoning our best Jocko Conlan voice: Steeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-rike! You won't hear our guests—Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation President Chelsie Glaubitz Gabiou and

Bonus: What’s Going on in MN? Feat. Never Post

You've heard Racket's Em Cassel co-hosting RacketCast, certainly. But have you ever heard her guesting on another podcast entirely? That's the not-so-rare opportunity pr

2025 MN Food/Drink Trends, Triumphs, Catastrophes, and Curiosities Feat. Critic Kirstie Kimball

It's our last podcast ep of 2025! As such, we invited new Racket dining correspondent Kirstie Kimball of beyond beurre blanc to join fellow critic Em Cassel of Racket to