Minneapolis man @whstancil.bsky.social says all that internet bullshit is secondary to what he is doing now. He’s too busy following feds, for as many as 30 hours per week, as they try to abduct his neighbors.

Another week, another running list of updates on the federal invasion of Minnesota.

Alex Pretti was a colleague at the VA. We hired him to recruit for our trial. He became an ICU nurse- I lover working with him. He was a good kind person who lived to help and these fuckers executed him. White. Hot. Rage.

genuinely stunning image

Solidarity forever.

NO GODS NO MASTERS NO PAYWALL LET'S GET THIS STRIKE GOING

Hi, this is what I've been working on this week.

Adam Platt, tromping from one closed store in Minneapolis to another in double-digit below zero weather on Friday, desperately trying to save capitalism, falling to his knees and crying "I just want to participate in the economy!"

over the weekend, i was like, "maybe we should maintain a list of places that are closing for the strike." after a few days, i was like, "maybe it would be easier to maintain a list of the restaurants that *aren't* closing for the strike."

Email us! Final day to submit your story.

I don’t think people quite understand that the occupation by ICE in the Twin Cities has more or less erased non-white people from public life. They cannot safely exist in any space accessible to the public and moving between private places leaves folks vulnerable to kidnapping by armed masked goons.

Racket wants to hear from you, Minnesota. We want to hear how the ICE occupation has changed your life, and we want the world outside of Minnesota to know as well.

I've been maintaining this now-massive running blog of news, links, commentary, videos, etc. all week. Hopefully readers find it useful:

pow wow grounds, moona moono, briar bar, a bar of their own—i spoke with these folks and many more about their role in this ongoing federal invasion, and about the "overwhelming support" and "massive" scale of donations that are flooding in to support immigrants, organizers, and ICE observers.

Today's updates are filling up fast...

As some of you know, I've switched roles from covering Minnesota to hosting ProPublica's forthcoming podcast (launch date TBD). It gives me great, great, great, GREAT pleasure to announce that my replacement is none other than the inimitable Andy Mannix: www.propublica.org/atpropublica...

A new ongoing feature we hope we don't have to keep doing for too long.

An outline of the multitudinal crises (fraud, ICE, killing, general chaos incited by the fascist MAGA movement) gripping our great state, via @biketrouble.bsky.social and Hans Buetow of @neverpo.st.

This is what our government has sent into cities across the country to arrest normal, nonviolent working people. Insanity.

With the first full year of RacketCast in the books, let's revisit some hit eps from '25. And we beg you: Subscribe so you don't miss new episodes next year.

What do Racket readers actually read from Racket? Glad you asked.

Are they the *best* Racket stories of 2025? Impossible to say. But they are our favorites!

Lotta great stuff here!

A full hour of Looch!

my favorite (now annual!) racketcast episode of the year is here:

Did you make the cut? 😬

Brush up on the ballot with @naomikritzer.bsky.social !

Podcasting through paternity leave!

more and more people are coming to minnesota for reproductive or gender-affirming care. i talked to some of the pilots who can help 'em get here.

My first @racketmn.com article is LIVE AF!!! I am famously Racket-pilled and insist you all subscribe to their esteemed press.

Wild scoop from the Minnesota Star Tribune, which includes a high-ranking Homeland Security official calling Kash Patel a “giant douche canoe” www.startribune.com/trump-offici...

The messages show high-level officials in the Trump administration discussing the possible deployment of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, an infantry force that has dropped into combat zones in both World Wars, Vietnam and Afghanistan.

I watched the whole thing (huge pain tolerance for ingesting bad media), and every "solution" involves lower corporate tax rates, deregulation, and punching left. It's the same old project, nothing new here.

Who exactly is paying for all this vague scaremongering?

The University of Minnesota’s efforts to breed a hardy hop could help local growers and breweries. Here’s why we don’t have it yet. racketmn.com/would-the-ho...

As you know, it's International Podcast Day. Celebrate by liking + subscribing to RacketCast, our year-old pod that's only interesting to Minnesotans. racketmn.com/category/pod...

My favorite part of the Sibling Rivalry that @moreneighbors.org and @sustainstpaul.bsky.social hosted at @blackhartstp.com tonight was when the @racketmn.com editors were forced to talk about Saint Paul & they mentioned the survey in which I chastised them about not talking about Saint Paul enough.

a while ago i became obsessed with the 2013 mayoral race in mpls: 35 candidates, yes, but also the city’s first real test of ranked-choice voting, + the race set up our current political landscape in both predictable and surprising ways. jay & i interviewed lots of people about it—here’s a 🎁 link!

Thirty-five candidates. Three dozen debates. Two unrelated pirate-centric elements. The first real test of ranked-choice voting and, finally, a new mayor.

Nobody ASKED for a 6,000-word oral history on the wildest mayoral election in city history, but here it is:

C'mon...

Fun times talking about the importance of altweeklies with the crew of @racketmn.com @coyotemedia.org and @emmaruthless.bsky.social and @usefulnoise.bsky.social we talk about the good, bad, and the ugly of them and I tell the story of one of my favorite and most notorious columns.

I went to gas station Flavortown.

HUGE TEAM MINNEAPOLIS ANNOUNCEMENT! 📣 Saint Paul better prepare for trouble! Team N4MN is excited to announce that Jessica Armbruster, Jay Boller, and Keith Harris aka Team Racket will be repping us on the mic one week from today at Sibling Rivalry! Tickets: actionnetwork.org/ticketed_eve...

and here's my Rilo Kiley review again, for the daytime crew

Some are calling it the deal of the century—it's certainly the deal of the month. Now through the end of September (er, Sept-member), sign up for Racket for a single dollar!

We ordered 60, about 30 left. This run is LIMITED.

Get your premium, super-soft hoodies while they last! shorturl.at/170u1

Come on, man.

i will shut up about the ann kim stuff now, but my colleague @jayboller.bsky.social wrote a really thoughtful, nuanced version of this story back before her whole labor fiasco even happened, which i would encourage you to read!