I interviewed LJ Rader, the savant who created my favorite high culture/low culture meme account, @artbutmakeitsports , ahead of his book tour stop at @artsmia on Sunday. We talked about his penchant for pattern recognition and his eureka moment, his empathy for Minnesota sports fans, his favorite sports photographers, and the impact of his 16 month old baby on his work. I’m excited to come along on his gallery tour on Sunday, hopefully before the Wolves play game 7. (I choose to be a knight of infinite faith.) Link in bio!
My @mspmag interview with @nixtampls ’ Kate and Gustavo Romero is up. We discussed who and what was lost to Project Metro Surge, its impact on their restaurant family and their nuclear family, but we also got into their deep interest in corn, how they express themselves in the kitchen, “front of house face” and “fusion confusion.” And they told me their family’s immigration stories. My family’s Northeast Minneapolis story is a Polish immigrant story, Gustavo & Kate’s is a Mexican one and a Polish one, respectively. I love what they’re bringing to our neighborhood with their restaurant and their tortillas. Link in bio to the full convo.
📸: @caitabrams
The latest @mspmag Twin Citian is the @twins big lefty Kody Funderburk. He’s pitched for the Saints too, so he’s a true Twin Citian. He buys records at @electricfetusmpls . I should’ve asked him what he bought last. He’s from Texas, so I bet it was either lonesome, ornery, or mean. Link in bio.
Man, it’s been 10 years since Minneapolis woke up to the worst news possible—the elevator had brought Prince down way too early, at the age of 57. The seven days of public mourning will never be forgotten, and I tried to document it all for @mspmag in a jumble of thoughts between detox smoothies: the street parties, the all night dance parties, the purple flood lights, the impromptu public shrines, the oceans of ink spilled on beautiful obituaries all over the world, talking to all my friends about what he meant to them, holding Lizzo’s hand in the Entry’s basement. Some of the links are still live ten years later, some are long cold (I’d love to read @runofplay ’s obit on mtv.com again, alas). The photos by @caitabrams and @bowman.studio taken that week are more haunting than ever. In so many ways, Minneapolis is not over the trauma of his loss. Link in bio if you’re in the mood to revisit that time.
The Minnesota Wild just started the Stanley Cup playoffs yet, and Bill Guerin’s 2025–26 will already go down as one of the most extraordinary seasons a Minnesota sports executive will ever have. It started last summer, when the Wild GM signed Russian superstar Kirill Kaprizov to the richest contract in NHL history. It continued over Christmas, when he made a stunning trade for Quinn Hughes, the best American defenseman alive. And it all culminated in the new year, when, in Guerin’s role as GM for Team USA, he led the country to our first gold medal in men’s ice hockey in 46 years.
And, of course, in our hyperactive, everything-everywhere-all-at-once era, things got weird. Seemingly five minutes after Team USA beat Team Canada with a pulse-pounding “golden goal” in sudden-death overtime, Guerin’s buddy, FBI director Kash Patel—invited into the winning locker room by Guerin—got President Trump on speakerphone. Trump proceeded to invite the beer-soaked gold medalists to his State of the Union speech and then tagged on a dumb sexist joke to own the libs: “You know, we’re going to have to invite the women’s team,” the president said as Team USA laughed. Otherwise, “I’d probably be impeached.”
Link to my @mspmag interview with Guerin in bio. 📸: @nateryanphoto
On Tuesday it will be a full decade since we lost Prince. The nature and timing of his death will always be traumatic, but he left us with so much incredible art. So this week I spent some time talking to DJ Dudley D, Prince’s longtime DJ, and his friend and fellow Prince superfan Mark Bonde. They’re the co-hosts of the Purple Highs podcast, where they recount their time as “the Pringle Boys”—all of their pilgrimages to Chanhassen to see Prince late night at Paisley, high on nothing but stackable sour cream and onion potato-based chips. They’re throwing a Purple Highs party at Steady Pour on Saturday night, and we talked about their new website, my10princesongs.com. Their new site is a pretty ingenious way to re-frame this whole situation—picking your top 10 makes you think of your personal connection to his music. I’ve included their top 10 as well as my own and I’ve linked the article in my bio.
I’ve always been fascinated with Joybubbles, the chosen name of Joe Engressia, a blind phone phreaker and really, a pioneering-podcast artist who spent the last 25 years of his life here in Minneapolis. I came so close to meeting him, just a few weeks before he passed, back in 2007, when I was doing CHASING WINDMILLS with Juan Antonio & Cristina. The filmmaker @rachaeljmorrison1 made a documentary, JOYBUBBLES, that will be making its local premiere at the MSP international film festival this Sunday. Rachael did well with his story, which had to be challenging because Joybubbles’ world is so audio-centric. Go see @joybubblesmovie ! I spoke to Rachael and her co-producer Will Butler about their film. Link in bio.
I interviewed legend god genius @mariabamfordcomedy about @juddapatow ’s new documentary, PARALYZED BY HOPE: THE MARIA BAMFORD STORY. We talked about why Judd’s movie has the potential to make her a better person, why she prefers clown to standup, how her Target lady character put her over the edge, and why she stopped doing her impression of her older sister after their parents died. I love Maria so much. She’s so brilliant. Took my wife to see her at @acmecomedyco for our first date. Link in bio. And maybe I’ll see you tomorrow night at @themaincinema for the premiere? Maria will be there.
I feel so sad for the Irish soccer team. They lost a heartbreaker in Prague yesterday and won’t be joining us at the World Cup. I hope momo with some green pandan ice cream is a small consolation. 🦜☘️
