Jacob Frey: Civic Soul - Leading a city in real time

In this soulful and unfiltered episode, Mayor Jacob Frey pulls up to the table to talk about what it really takes to lead a city like Minneapolis ... in real time, under real pressure. From protests to policy shifts, family dinners to cultural milestones, Mayor Frey gets candid about the weight of public service, the healing power of the arts, and why food, music, and identity are central to his vision for the city’s future.

We dig into his upbringing, his final run for mayor, and his hopes for the next generation of civic leaders; all while keeping it raw, rhythmic, and deeply rooted in community.

Keywords: Jacob Frey interview, Minneapolis Mayor, Taste Music Hear Food Podcast Show, Ed Porter podcast, food, music and culture podcast, political leadership, civic identity, Minneapolis music, affordable housing, public service, arts in government, mayoral legacy, Twin Cities podcast

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
You know what takes a special track to do this?
My Mama BS and QS Super sauce. It's just the flu with this
chef. I need to remind y'all I'm sick
with it. My name is.
It's ubiquitous, meaning it's one of the same.
Simple and plain. I'm all about my paper, the
bacon, cheddar and paint. I've got these lanes running for
the border. The talents and Mr. Porter keep
it flowing like it's water. But here we go.

(00:24):
Here we go creep into a low speed.
Is it him and his friend sittingin the nose?
Please play it cool. He is just because he's on TV.
Everybody's hands up acting likethey know we welcome, welcome,
welcome, welcome to another episode of the Taste Music Here
food podcast show. I am your host, Ed Porter, and

(00:44):
this is the destination for food, music and culture and how
they all connect today. We have a very, very special
guest in the building today and I'm just ecstatic to to have him
here. So I'm going to give him his
flowers that he so graciously deserves, and I'm going to try
to do that with this intro. All right?

(01:06):
Today's guest is a man who doesn't just move through a
city. He runs it literally and
politically, from marathon podiums to mayoral briefings.
He is the rare kind of public servant who blends athletic
hustle, legal muscle in a deep respect for community and
culture. He's LED Minneapolis through
moments of historic transformation, from civil

(01:26):
unrest to charter reform, all while raising a family, dodging
Twitter wars and trying to make space for justice, joy and juicy
loosies. But behind the title and the
headlines is a man raised on movement, the son of ballet
dancers shaped by rhythm and discipline, now navigating a
city rich in music, food and complex identities.

(01:48):
Please welcome to the show MayorJacob Frye.
We are going to forever cancel the introductions that I
normally get and use that one because that was about as cool
as it gets. Chef, I'm so honored to be here.
Thank you. Thank you for being here.
Now, honestly, it's this is yeah, I know, right.
We had a little briefing about the don't worry about it.

(02:09):
You'll see if you go and watch. I mean, I'm horrible like, so
you can't be as worse, as bad asI am.
But again, thank you for being here.
And so let's let's jump right in.
So I, I, you know, I dive into all things Jacob Fry to do this.
But you know, and there is, you said on many occasions that, you
know, marathons and running brought you to the city.

(02:32):
But like, we just talked about my happenstance.
What, what made you stay? What made you decide to be the
person that was going to fight for the city of Minneapolis?
Well, either we were born here or we've come here for a variety
of different reasons. And yeah, my first time in
Minneapolis was to run the Twin Cities Marathon.

(02:55):
I was a very serious distance runner.
I was using money that I got from running these marathons to
help pay for living expenses while I was going through law
school. And I remember running the Twin
Cities Marathon. I was around like mile 15 and I
remember thinking to myself, my God, this is like this beautiful

(03:17):
city in a park. I could totally see myself
living here. And then, lo and behold, I
qualified for the Pan American Games.
I was racing down there and I met a girl on the way from the
Olympic Village over to the training facility.
I get talking to her and she says my dad is an attorney out
in Minneapolis. And at the time I was looking

(03:38):
for jobs. So I said, yo, why don't you
give me your dad's number? And I got her number 2.
But but nothing, nothing never came of that.
People always assume that I'm going down that route.
But I got her. You got her dad's number.
I got an interview, I got a job.It was the best offer that I had
gotten. And I moved out to Minneapolis,

(04:00):
you know, and started my life here.
And now once you get here, as you know, it's a very different
vibe from the East Coast. And while there are
extraordinary things about Minneapolis when you first move
here, we can be real it. There are also difficult parts
as well. You know, you're at a bar on the

(04:21):
East Coast. The regular thing to do is to
introduce yourself to the personnext to you and get to know them
in the immediacy. That is not as normal thing to
do here. People kind of question it,
right? But once you breakthrough that,
you find these incredible people, you find these
spectacular communities and there is just this special kind

(04:42):
of vibe and mentality here that gets you to stay.
You know, I met my wife here. We have a 4 1/2 year old kid.
We're going to have another one any minute.
Might need to run out of this podcast to, you know, head over
to the hospital. But I love it, you know I'm.
She's gonna be born closer to your birthday.
Though, is that what you think? Yeah, I think like dead on your.

(05:03):
Birthday dead on to 23rd. That's, well, she'll be a Leo
then too, right? I have two in my life is that I
know, but I'm a Scorpio. So yes, it's a it's a thing the
I would say. And you came when the weather
was nice, so you kind of got gothoodwinked a little bit.
So so I came in December, December 18th, 1998.

(05:25):
I remember like it. Was yesterday.
How was it on that first day? It was, it was so cold and so
quiet that you could hear the electricity on Hippen Ave.
So I lived. My first place that I lived was
on 1150 Hennepin Ave., and whichwas all the rage at the time in
the cities, but it was, I just remember it being so cold.

(05:48):
Then I was like, OK, this is so.And I, I can't hear my New York
salary too. So like everything was like 1/4
the price. I'm for sure.
I love it. Yeah.
I'm like, yeah, I love it. Yeah, like this was good.
Not in the Bronx anymore. No, no, I lived on the 16th
floor. I had neighbors that worked at
all the local strip clubs. It was great.
I was 21. It was it was the the best time
of my life. But but then like the art scene
here was what really did it for me.

(06:10):
That's what did that you know, like where we are right now,
where we're filming that you know, just know this corner here
north, northeast, there's like 5or 6 James Beard award-winning
restaurant right here right around this I.
Mean 13th Ave. is one of the most magical streets in the
whole city. I mean, and as you walk by,
whether you're at the Ritz or you're, you know, 331 or you go

(06:33):
a little further down, you've got all these James Beard chefs.
It's really incredible. Absolutely.
You're the son of ballet dancers.
Yeah. So anybody that knows anything,
so being in New York, I have tons of friends that with, you
know, all of the major schools and the discipline that it takes
to be a, an elite or even tryingto get into that world of being

(06:56):
a ballet dancer takes a significant amount of focus and
discipline. How has I know that spelled off
into you as you know, when they were ringing you as a, as a
child? How has that benefited you into,
you know, doing what you do now,first as a lawyer but then as a
public servant? Well, I'm probably the only non

(07:17):
artist in my family. My parents were both
professional modern ballet dancers.
My mom grew up in Queens in New York City.
She went to the High School of Dance and Performing Arts, went
to LaGuardia. She went to the High School of
Fame was, it was about and met my dad while he was on stage and

(07:42):
she was in the audience and they've got this beautiful
story. You know, they moved in with
each other like a week later or something like that.
They've been together, They've been together ever since.
And actually they're moving out here like next month.
So big shift here, big shift, huge shift.
And, you know, they initially kinda had me dabble in dance,

(08:04):
but it never really took. You know, you learn the basics,
first position, second position kind of stuff.
But I was more interested in running.
But clearly there is a very intense discipline in the area
of dance, and some of it emanates artistically.
And for whatever reason, I didn't go down that route.
My brother and sister did. Other forms are, I mean, my mom

(08:28):
and dad very intense about posture, you know, and form and,
and grace, like, like how you move physically, you know, I, I
remember, you know, bringing a girlfriend home or something.
Brilliant girl, beautiful, smart, kind, all that my mom's
like. But did you see her posture
frumpy, you know, intense about it, you know, And so it's just,

(08:50):
yeah, of course, you, you take things, you learn things from,
you grow up. I mean look, I mean I, I
everything I am. I am because of my mom and
everything I want to be is my dad.
Yeah, so I, I take from that intentionality.
So it's one thing that you know,to be to have that level of
discipline. Your parents had a, a, a strong
sense of intention to to everything they do is that bodes

(09:15):
well. And it and it plays in every
every walk of life. All right, before we get too
deep in, we're going to play a little game called this or that,
OK. And so because I got a couple of
years on you, but we are in the same ballpark and because we're
both E coasters, we're going to play a little game called this
or that. It's going to be in the 90s

(09:35):
snack food edition. Wow.
All right. So we're we're not doing like
Biggie Tupac kind of stuff. We'll we'll get to that too.
We're going to do all of that. So little, little background
about the the show. So this show, in my humble
opinion, I believe that the arts, mainly food and music, are
the two most powerful universal languages on the planet.

(09:57):
I've been all over the world andI can talk to anybody about food
and I can appreciate anybody's culture from eating the food,
having a reference for the people that created the food and
experiencing the music, right? So the best way to dive into
any. Culture.
And you, you can't have biases when you have a reference for a

(10:17):
person and something they created.
That's right. It's going to be the, I think
the catalyst to help, you know, eradicate all of this VS and
minutiae. I couldn't agree more.
OK, but in this one, we don't gowith a.
Here we go. All right.
So Little Debbie. Zebra.
Zebra Cakes. Oh, my God.
Or Hostess honey buns. Don't worry about the jumbo.
Don't do the jumbo. You don't look like the jumbo

(10:38):
guy. Yeah, so.
Hostess honey bun. Hostess Honey Bun, No questions.
No questions. When's the last time you had one
of those? It's it's been at least a
decade. You know, I mean, it was
Hostess, but then he got a Little Debbie.
Yeah, yeah. And so there was a whole series
of him. You get him at on the East
Coast, you get him at a 711. Absolutely, Absolutely.
With the Slurpee. I used to go to the Hostess

(11:01):
thrift store, so they had like like a bakery depots, OK.
And it was like. You went to a like a deep like
an out, a Hostess outlet. Yeah, it was running from my
house and we bought our bread from from there when it wasn't
wonder if it wasn't wonder it was getting.
Hostess Bread. Yeah, Yeah.
Hostess and then all of the, allof the snacks, the Hostess, the
the Susie QS, you name it. I, we was getting them like by

(11:23):
the box load. Really super duper healthy.
Yeah. Anyway, thanks Mom.
Wonder Bread. You do the.
You do the wonder. Yeah.
You got to have Wonder Bread at home.
Pride those those East Coast breads.
OK, well they are East Coast breads, so that that was a very
non like Wonder Bread. Jews don't get Wonder Bread, you
know. You know, there are many
similarities between blacks and Jews.
Yeah, and Wonder Bread is not one of Wonder Bread.

(11:45):
I thought that was more of a gentile thing.
I guess. No, no.
Well, I'm in New York or something.
Yeah, yeah. I mean, most of my friends, you
know how many Baptist I've been to?
Yeah. Yeah, that's right.
You probably more than I was, more than I've.
Been and my daughter, my daughter's yours.
Is that right? There you go.
You know well. Yeah, there you go.
So all right, cry babies. Those are gums and now laters.
I don't care what. Flavors now laters are

(12:05):
disgusting. So, all right, so let's let's
OK. So.
And you got to pronounce them. It's definitely cry babies but
but now laters are like gross starbursts that are hard and you
can't really bite into them and they get stuck in your teeth for
the next 5 hours. Here's a little You'll be eating
a chicken sandwich the next day and you're still tasting crap.
Now I'll give you I'll give you the trick.

(12:27):
Yeah. So if you if you get like the
the apple, the sour apple or thewatermelon ones, if you should
so happen to leave it in your pocket.
Oh, really? Little body warmth.
It's chewy. Suddenly it's.
A It's chewy now, not a chewy. So now they went to start making
chewy. Now that is.
And nobody. They're called now in laters.
Nobody. Nobody.

(12:48):
I oh, and I thought about. That it's called now in laters.
And laters, it's the later that you got to go to because the now
is disgusting. Now it is, and nobody ever says
the end in it anyway, so OK, so crybaby gums.
And it it's a lie. It says now and later says
Chewy. So did they do have chewy ones?
Do they really? They do OK.
They figured out, they took out the lies, the maturation

(13:09):
process. They they, they, they speed it
up. Yeah, rather than chewy, they
should have said mortar. All right, let's go next.
OK. Are you a you a soda guy?
I'm not a soda guy. Have you ever been?
You know I like a good root beer.
Oh. I'm a root beer guy too.
What's your favorite root beer? You know, I mean the, the

(13:31):
classic is like A&W, but it is pretty damn.
I know it's simple and you know,I don't like barks all that
much. It's got the bite.
Oh you know what? I had a what was it called
19191919 the other day, which was flat out excellent. 1919 is
good. OK, so the my favorite root beer
of all time is Convergils I. Don't know if if I've ever had

(13:53):
that. So what'd you call it?
Virgils. Virgils.
I'll send you some. OK, so the logo is the Last
Supper in the clouds, drinking root beer.
That's how good this root beer is.
That is a good thing. It's delicious.
All right, so fago red pop or Tahitian treat, which is to me
the quintessential East Coast. It says fruit punch, but it
doesn't taste like fruit. Punch, yeah, I've seen Tahitian

(14:15):
Treat. I don't think I've ever had it
before. Definitely never had Fago.
Fago especially the red pop because it's not a flavour.
It's just like there's a pictureof a strawberry on there, but it
definitely doesn't taste like strawberry.
It's still like the apple Jacks,the apple and Apple Jacks.
There's no apple in there, or sauce cinnamon, but this is just
red #40 it's. Red flavour for sure.
This is so if you had to pick. At the moment, Oh yeah, I'm

(14:37):
going the punch, I'm going the. TC Treat.
Fun fact, TC Treat was made by Canada Dry.
Really. Yeah.
So if you find a label that has a Canada Dry logo on it, that's
worth big money. Just you have a that has a logo
on it. Yeah, so like like because they
they took the logo, the Canada Dry logo off of the bottle,
right? Probably the early 70s, like

(14:59):
when cans were still made out of10, right.
And and they were flat. Remember when cans were flat?
Anyway, yes, so if you find one of those, OK.
And I learned that by looking upall this stuff because I was
like, I got to find one. Now this is my hunt.
My memory about Canada Dry, specifically ginger ale, was
that on the rare occasion we getto go on a plane, I got ginger

(15:20):
ale. Like for some reason my mom
would say, OK, now you can have a ginger ale.
That was like a special treat. Now it's like with ginger.
Ale ginger Just in the black community, ginger ale was was
medicine. Well, yeah, you.
Use ginger ale for. Every.
Well, yeah, even though when youare feeling that, that was
actually in the juice, too. Ginger ale.
Do you have it when you're sick?Absolutely.

(15:40):
You have it when you're not. There's very little ginger in
upset stomach, for sure. Ginger ale.
That's right. That's crazy.
It's very little ginger. Well, ginger ale, little tussin.
Yeah, little Tussin, little Lea and some and you got to put some
Vicks on head to toe and then that that cures all.
All right, next hot fries. You do you remember hot fries?
I do remember fries, fries and. No, this is easy too.

(16:02):
And then and then so that's so OK.
So as soon as you passed Jersey Utz is a thing.
Yes, that's right. So which one which?
One, it's all the way, without adoubt.
Is it the crab? Yeah, flavor.
I don't know. I never did the.
Crab. So that's just it's just old
day. It's well, right.
Yeah, it's, it's fine. I mean, I could do a number of
different flavors of OTS, but I mean, I want the kind of OTS

(16:24):
where you put them on a napkin and then you can see through the
napkin. So much green sign.
Yeah, yeah, that's when that's when you're doing right.
If you're gonna eat a chip, clogthe arteries, that's what's
happening. Absolutely.
Yeah. This this Andy caps things OK
Chico sticks or lemonheads. Wow, do you remember Chico?
'S I do, yeah. It's lemon heads though.

(16:45):
Lemon Heads was Yeah. Lemon Heads you.
Know what? I forgot about them.
They don't have those anymore. So now they don't have them like
that anymore. You can have them in a in a in a
box and they're like the size ofthe little gob stoppers, little
tiny, right? The great thing about the
Lemonhead is that like you had like 2 treats in one because if
you can chew through that littleyellow layer, there's a, a white

(17:05):
center that we don't know what flavor that is, but let's just
say vanilla cuz it's whatever. Alexander the Grape was a good
one. Yeah, yeah, that's, that's a
good one. Producer Gabe talking about
Alexander the Grape. That was a great one.
Chico sticks. Here's the thing with Chico
sticks for me. So Chico stick is actually
almost identical to the inside of a Butterfinger, except it has

(17:26):
coconut in it. And that's what they did me
wrong. I don't do the coconuts.
You don't do. I don't like coconut.
I don't like coconut flakes. I like coconut flavor.
Like dried. Like you ever go to like
somebody's crappy a Easter partyand they have like a cake that's
covered in coconut? Right, right, right.
You don't do that. No, it just tastes horrible.
What about like an Almond Joy? That's my mother's candy bar.

(17:49):
Like like you gotta there's a certain.
Age group that comes with that, well, mine like, mind you Mao.
Mao Mao no nuts because. She liked the dark chocolate.
Yeah, I used to take the bus when I was like 10 from where I
lived over to George Mason to try to pretend like I could keep
up with the track athletes there.
They the best track runners in, like, the world at the time.
And on the way back, I would geta Mounds candy bar and give it

(18:14):
to my mom. Yeah.
And that was like, I thought I was such a good son.
My my mom, I'm enjoying mounds. She's that's her thing.
She loves you. Yeah.
That's that's funny. Yeah.
All right. So this has been this and that.
I love this. That's like pure nostalgia.
Yeah, it really is. So that's those things again.
Food is the ultimate, like unifier.

(18:34):
I don't care. Everybody's either.
You had it. You've seen it.
And here's the the other trick. None of that stuff's good for
you. Yeah, I know.
None of that stuff's good for you.
And unfortunately, I had everything on that.
Everything that we showed, I've had, unfortunately, many, many
times over. So it is what it is.
Let's talk about you being, you know, when you were sworn in in

(18:58):
2017, you were the second youngest mayor in Minneapolis
history. Do you know that?
Yeah, I had heard that, Yeah, yeah.
I'm not sure how second or third, No Al Al Hofsted is
definitely was definitely younger than me, but.
No, he was second. Yeah, for sure the 2nd.
And you were 36, right? I.
Believe so. And he was 34.

(19:19):
He had you about two years. I up in there you could you
wouldn't notice now, but in my career, I was always the
youngest person in the kitchen. And then I got to a point to
where I was, I got to be in charge.
I was the, the, you know, executive chef.
I was the head chef and I was still the youngest and when?
When did you become a head chef?My first my first chef head chef

(19:44):
job was at 18. Wow.
And as a head chef. Yeah.
So this happened when were you kind of when?
Were you laying out plates that were actually served?
I mean, when were you actually cooking?
Not as a prep chef, but like actually cooking up the plates
that were served out. Oh yeah, that like. 18/17/18.
That is unbelievable. Yeah, 1718 and that's it was
just so and again I I didn't really get serious about food to

(20:07):
probably I want to say about 20 really so just I, I got into
food to pay for studio time, right so I.
I got into food to pay for rent.I was a server.
I was a prep chef for a while. I never graduated to doing
anything technical or that tastegood.

(20:28):
But you know the grind. Though I know the Oh yeah, yeah.
Slicing green Peppers and onionsand tomatoes.
And I made sausage at a kind of shitty Italian restaurant in
Williamsburg, VA. And then I I, I worked in a
restaurant in Detroit, north of Detroit and, and in DC area.
Same idea. Yeah.
Very cool. So in your when you, when you

(20:48):
when you came on your first term, did you ever deal with any
backlash or doubt from constituents because of it's
surely because of your age, you being the youngest?
I did and I thought it was pretty unfair.
And now in retrospect, you know there is some naivete, not
necessarily because of age, but just because I was new.

(21:13):
Like any position, you learn with experience.
There are lessons that I learnedthat have made me a better
person, a better mayor, a betterleader.
And yeah, I use those lessons every day.
And so while at the time I was really pissed off when I thought
that somebody was undermining mebecause either of my age or lack

(21:36):
of experience, there was a bit of truth to it.
Right. And that's not.
Here's the thing. I do also believe there's a fine
line in this because with youth and just not knowing what you
don't know, there's a lot of innocent hubris that you have

(21:56):
and just trying to do the right thing for the right, the right
reasons, right? And so that enthusiasm, I
believe is why you were elected anyway.
So the fact that you you'll learn what you need to learn,
you'll get that. Without a doubt.
And so, but you got to start with the ideal.
And the idea is that you got to keep those ideals and those
values, but then you gain the know how to get it done.

(22:19):
Absolutely, yeah. And this is, look, being in
public office, anything in the public office, specifically as a
politician, you know, you can please some of the people some
of the time. You'll never please all the
people all the time and things. This is one of those things
we're talking about being a comedian.
Like people, everybody thinks they can be a comedian.

(22:40):
Everybody's funny. Like, oh, I can tell a joke.
Everybody thinks that, you know,governing or, or making a policy
and trying to be a fair representative for the people is
A1 size fits all type of thing. It doesn't work that way.
I listen, I have 6 kids, right? My, my kids think I'm the most

(23:03):
unfair person. First off, the baby's the
favorite. Like she kind of is, but that's
not the point. The point is, the point is this,
and it's and it's only because. I appreciate you got the guts to
say no. Here's this is really what it
is. So any job that you do for any
length of time, you should get better at it.
Of course. So my son, who was the first, he

(23:24):
didn't get the same dad that November got.
Oh, right, because I'm better atit.
And hopefully your financial situation changed.
That's true. You get to be better at it and
and you deserve that grace for that.
And as long as you can remember the mindset and the why, why you
got into it in the first place and just take their your
experience with you and your know how now you're the you know

(23:46):
best of both worlds, but people.That's a dead on mentality.
Absolutely. A lot of people forget forget
that you lead a city that is renowned for its musical
history. It's in my opinion, especially
I'm well travelled, very underrated food scene here.

(24:09):
And I always ask people this. I mean, Minneapolis isn't, is a
is a food Mecca, but on a low, alot of people just don't know
about it. In a powerful arts community,
the Fine Arts sector of the world of any city of any place,
is usually the first thing that suffers under, you know, unrest

(24:31):
and the last thing thought aboutto bring it back to where it was
or hopefully make it better. How important do you see the
arts as far as the lifeblood andlifeline of a city?
How? How important of a role do you
think it plays? Critical.
It's critical to the lifeblood. It's critical to an economic

(24:53):
comeback. Artists have long been the
impetus and the driving force for progress, for change and for
economic development. And we've seen, I mean, we're
sitting in Northeast right now, you know, And so I mean, look at
the history. You had a whole lot of artists
that were hanging out in these kind of vacant warehouses in

(25:13):
North Loop. And what happened?
Well, they made the neighborhoodbetter.
A coffee shop pops up, a mural goes in an area that was
particularly kind of Gray and bland, suddenly has some pop.
Next thing you know, the values go up, the rents go through the
roof, and they get displaced from some of the neighborhoods
that they made wonderful to begin with.

(25:34):
And where did they move? They moved to Northeast,
Exactly, you know. And then what happens?
Now it's happening. Here, yeah.
And so, look, not only are the arts not cut over this last year
that we just passed, we funded art more and more because we

(25:56):
recognize that if we're looking for a big Minneapolis comeback,
which by the way is happening, artists are going to be the
galvanizing force. And that is the case with paint.
That is the case with food, which is also art.
That is the case with dance. And by the way, we're about to
announce some great stuff involving the dance world as

(26:18):
well. Because there is a we are a
mainstay for so many of these different practices in our city
and we often don't give ourselves enough credit for it
because we stand out worldwide for our music scene here.
There is the Minneapolis Sound. It's why I knew where

(26:42):
Minneapolis was. Of course, I mean, it's
Minneapolis now, it's Prince, it's Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
I mean, it's Soul Asylum. You know, there are so many
world class bands and artists that have come right through
here and there are more coming through right now.
And so yes, it's absolutely critical and I am just excited

(27:05):
to see where this next phase brings us.
Yeah. They also, I think another huge
thing that I think that your administration has done and is
currently doing aside from funding there is the, the, the
fact of serious and true honest support that's, that's
understated. So most people, yes, if you fund

(27:27):
certain things, that's good to get certain things funded, but
being supportive and a participant of these events and
being seen and and just not for the sake of a photo op, but just
for the. Fact that.
Exactly. That's where the rubber meets
the road I believe. Yes, for sure.
You're right, you're right and well, and that that is the thing
that gets harder, if I'm real honest at times as as mayor,

(27:51):
because to just be there and to just experience as a.
It's gotta be hard, yeah. Sometimes it's doable if you can
get the right spot and you wear a hat or whatever and you just
kind of be there. Other times it's hard because
you get there and you wanna listen to the Giggle Planet's
performance. So I was at the show she was at.

(28:13):
So I I learned I'm like, I was at that show.
I didn't, you know, I didn't bump into the mayor, but that's
OK. I'm like you.
You probably have way better seats than I did or standing
room only. That's right, that's right.
We were at the back and up. But that was that.
Was which was great seats actually, that was a that was an
opportunity where I just got to kind of hang and listen to some

(28:37):
nostalgic old school beautiful music.
Very cool, very cool. All right, so be honest.
What is what is the coolest, most unexpected perk that was
not in any of the drafts that comes to being mayor?
What is the coolest thing that you found out that that one of
the perks for being mayor that you didn't know before you was

(28:59):
campaigning? The perks.
I'm gonna go to me, so I would think I'm.
Going to I'm going to think of it while you talk.
I would so I would think just mebeing me, like you got to, I'm
pretty sure right now if I called on behalf of you, I can
get a seat in any restaurant in the city.
I'm pretty sure there's not a restaurant that you can't get a

(29:21):
Primo. Matter of fact we should call
already booked restaurant just to just to try it.
Out reservations, they get easier even if you're not
dropping names or anything that I will admit that at times
you'll say, I'd like to, you know, get a spot.
So of course, what's, what's your name?
That's the first thing. And then so you, it may happen
without me even knowing about itat times.

(29:41):
And so that could be, could be perhaps, you know, I'll tell you
another one, which is really worldly and kind of cool.
And by the way, the political thing to do is just say, Oh, the
people, the people, the people of the perk, of course, the
people of the perk. You know, I'm a very extroverted
person. I love people.
I love engaging with people. I love talking to people, but

(30:02):
that's such an obvious politicalanswer.
So we have sister cities around the world.
I think we've got like 12 of them or something.
And I had never been on an official sister city trip, but
there is this kind of worldly camaraderie that you have with

(30:24):
these sister cities. And they were set up
intentionally back in like the 40s or 50s, I believe was
Eisenhower. And the whole idea was even when
two nations are at war, while you might not have a
relationship between the federalgovernments, perhaps the cities
would still be a source of humanity where you're

(30:46):
recognizing your opponent as a person.
And maybe that would be a sourceto create peace.
It's a brilliant idea. And so we've got, you know,
Cornavaca, Mexico, is a sister city in Finland.
Corpio, Finland is a sister city.
And Bosaso, Somalia is we got a whole ton of them.

(31:06):
And there's kind of this companionship, which is really
cool. And if you get a chance to go on
a trip and visit, you get to seea city in a very different
culture in a way that you'd almost never get to experience
even if you were to go there in normal terms, right?
So that's something pretty special.
That's actually really cool and I had no idea.

(31:28):
I didn't know that there were multiple so like sister city for
San Francisco is I was just there too since Spain and how I
knew I was asking questions. So they the whoever the the
dictator was there before, like he just like it's picking up
landmarks and like build one of those here.

(31:48):
So like this. There's a bridge that looks just
like the Golden Gate Bridge. There's he has like I forgot
what the statue is the crystal one in in Brazil.
He has one of those and like andeven like the landscape looks a
lot like San Francisco. That's right.
So it's. Well, great culture often gets
copied. Very true, very true, very true.
That's a that's a great point. And to it's sort of like the

(32:12):
student exchange program, just all like steroids.
Yeah. Like like having the sister
cities like that. Well, you know, it's, it's an
interesting topic around. Like I'm going to transition
just slightly to culture that issucceeding is copied.
And then there's also cultural appropriation.
You know, for sure Jews are thrilled usually when their

(32:35):
culture gets copied. You know, I remember, you know,
bagels, at least outside of New York City, were not really a
thing, you know, very true. You didn't have bagel stores
everywhere. And I remember in DC, in
Northern Virginia, when those first bagel stores started to
pop up, I remember my mom said to me something like, we're

(32:59):
winning this thing. You know, there are people that
are leaving church and going to grab bagels.
Absolutely. Now the bagels were garbage.
Yeah, that's not that was they were not.
Good you know, it was like a step above lenders bagels, but
they were boiling them you know they.
Got to import the water they gotto import.
They got to import the water outof out of Yeah, from Bagel

(33:20):
Oasis. That was their they that was
their spot in Queens. They're always bagel.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, bagels are one of those
things. I, you know, there's nothing
like I tell people all the time,if you anything that touches the
water in New York City is just better.
I don't care what anybody says. Well, the water in your city is
excellent. Yes, the water here is very
good. The water here is very is, is
really good. We are, we are broadly
recognized as having some reallygreat water, at least as it

(33:42):
applies to Minnesota. We get a guy in it works for the
city. All he cares about is the taste
of the water. He knows if it's a leafy taste
why, and if it's a chlorine he taste why and then he makes
works to make it better. It's kind of cool.
That is actually, I would the magic like that passion.
I love that. And and you can use that for
other things. So as a chef, I would love to
that like, oh, and water tastes completely different.

(34:03):
Like, it really does have a, it really does have a taste.
And it's a, it's a, it's a viscosity too.
Well, New York water is also good for your hair.
Absolutely. You know, your, your, your hair
just feels, I mean, softer. And that's, you know what?
Me leaving New York is the reason why I'm bald.
There you go. Now I'm follically challenged to
stave my ass in New York. Look, I was long and luxurious

(34:25):
when I when I came here. When I came here.
Yeah. Curious.
When I when I came here, I was good, you know?
But then, you know. Yeah.
All of it. Mississippi River.
Water. Yeah, that's right.
Oh my goodness. So let's let's talk about some
of your accolades because there's there's this is it's a
tough gig, right? And so anytime that you get a

(34:48):
chance to be recognized for somethings that it's not so much
about the accolade itself, it's more such about what's more so
about what it represents. So the the MLK junior award and
the first to receive that. Tell me about what that
represents for you. Not not for the office, just for

(35:09):
personally, what that meant to you to be the recipient of.
Such a procedure, that was a huge deal for me at the time.
I think I told everybody you would not be able to have met me
at the time and not hear about that within the 1st 5 minutes of
a conversation. Rightfully so.
I mean, big head, big ego. I thought it was.

(35:31):
I was, I was really honored. And it was due to we had, I had
done a lot of work in support ofmarriage equality as we were
fighting off a very hateful state constitutional amendment
that would have defined marriages between a man and a
woman. I had done or I was doing work
on the North Side following thattornado that had ripped through,

(35:53):
providing free legal service forpeople that had literally lost
their homes. And yeah, to get an award like
that, I mean, just fully honoredand excited.
And who knows, maybe it wasn't even deserved.
But I certainly was thrilled to have gotten.

(36:15):
Him absolutely no there's there's I think that there's a
sense of very it's a it's a realness to an approach when
something is authentic and something's just us, right Like
there's there's going through the motions and then there's
showing up and being present right.

(36:37):
And that award in my personal opinion is is for the person
that that is showing up. You know it's not something that
yeah, you did what you're supposed to do.
That's the you know all the right things is the the
politically correct thing to do.But the though the reason for
doing it was more so about the people than anything else.
And, you know, and then that's just, you know, the climate

(37:00):
awards and then this the, the, the historical forms that are
past this. I mean, it's a slew of great
things that have happened. Rent policy, another great 1.
So I just think that award to mewas sort of like from the
people. So I would think it would be a
great, you know, especially having MLK's name on it because

(37:23):
of what he represented to, you know, the American people.
If you my point for asking is because if you didn't receive it
that way, I think you should because that's that's one of
those it's a very, very thank you, good and deep thing.
You've been one of those people.The reason why I gravitate

(37:45):
towards you because it's a very East Coast mindset to take, but
very steadfast in the face of, you know, protesters and, you
know, adversity and, you know, willing to to die on a hill
because of just standing up for what you believe is right and is
the right difficult to decision to make at the time.

(38:08):
None of these decisions are easy, right?
They're they're all going to be difficult.
There's going to be some people that are not going to be happy,
but the goal is to make the bestdecision for the long term, not
for today or down the road. That to me, I think you, you do
grace and I know you get, you know, you've taken some shots,

(38:29):
you know, but you keep showing up.
And so that to me, you know, youknow, why did you decide to even
to run for the third term? Like what was what?
What made that something that you had to do is, you know?
Is to get a job done. Yeah, absolutely.
Our city has been through a whole lot over these last five

(38:51):
years and we have faced those challenges head on.
We've gone hand in hand with ourcommunity members facing some of
the most difficult issues that this world could offer, and our
city's coming back. It really is in fine form.
And I want to be able to hand the reins off to the next mayor

(39:13):
with a city that is in excellentshape, that is realizing its
potential, and in an office of mayor where that next person has
the ability to fully and efficiently run the government
on behalf of people. And we've had some major changes
over the last several years, major changes that are external,

(39:36):
substantive policy changes. We've had an entire shift to the
structure of government, which some people don't recognize is
arguably the most important thing that I'll ever do as
mayor. And I want to make sure that
that system is set up for the next person so that they don't
need to have some of the fights that I've had.

(39:57):
They can do it smoothly. Right.
How do you feel, and you kind oftouched on This is why I'm going
here. How you know the current
president's policies or lack of thereof is does it make your job
here harder or, or obviously it makes it harder, but how does

(40:20):
how is how is navigating those things because there's there's
when stuff is happening on the federal level.
And changes to things that have been systematically put in place
to benefit us from now until tomorrow when things are being
rolled back. It's it's got to be super duper
frustrating, but it is. It also changes how things are

(40:43):
done on the ground here. And I don't think people
understand that those decisions that are made in Washington have
dire. We pick up the pieces.
Absolutely. We are facing some of the
decisions that other levels of government don't want to touch
with a 20 foot pole, and that's just in general.

(41:04):
That's without even Donald Trumpin office.
Now with Donald Trump in office,it's not as if these horrible
cuts that he's making to healthcare, for instance, for
people that need it and can't afford it will save money.
It won't. It just means that cities are
going to have to deal with the consequences, because what

(41:28):
happens if someone can't go to the doctor when something is
ailing them? It gets worse.
And when it gets worse, they might get sick in a way that
makes them lose time at work foran extended period.
They might lose their job because of it.
Because they lose their job, they might not be able to pay

(41:48):
the rent or their mortgage. They go homeless, next thing you
know, they've got all sorts of other issues that are associated
and like we are left to pick up the pieces.
And sometimes that means that Hennepin County or our social
workers are going out there to do this work and suddenly they

(42:09):
got a whole lot more work to do.Sometimes it's our police that
are dealing with the repercussions that go in the way
of violence or crime. But the bottom line is we are
having to see the consequences of it.
And, you know, every time there's a new election, every
time a new president comes in, you expect there to be changes,
especially if it's a change in party.

(42:30):
So absolutely free and fair election, you expect that.
But the kind of things that Trump is doing now is not just
about a shift of policy. I am now concerned about the
endurance of our Republic. Sure.
Because when you're questioning a court order, when you are

(42:53):
challenging the result of a freeand fair election, which of
course he did, then the sustenance, the long term
maintenance of our democracy is at risk and it is right now.
Anybody who says otherwise, I don't know.
You're lying to yourself. It's very concerning.
Absolutely. Absolutely.

(43:14):
When? When Freda is old enough to
vote. What type of Minnesota or
Minneapolis do you want her to inherit?
A loving one, broadly speaking. It is a kind, loving place.

(43:34):
And I could expound on that. But like, you know, times
change, people change, ideas shift.
I want her to live in a place where people are treat each
other with a common humanity. They embrace both similarities

(43:56):
and differences. They're not taking themselves
too seriously where you can't have a laugh, where it's not so
based in the words you're saying, but in the intention
behind them. And I just see so much potential

(44:16):
and hope and love here, especially in the face of all
the chaos that's happening nationwide and worldwide.
And so I am optimistic. I fully expect her to love to be
here when in fact, she's 18 years old and can vote.
I don't know what the hell I'm going to be.
Doing to that point, you know, you, you said again, this is

(44:40):
going to be your last term that you run, right?
What do you want people to say about the version of Minneapolis
that you intend to leave? And what part of yourself do you
hope to gain back from stepping away from public office?
Because that's going to be a huge shift for you.

(45:02):
And probably you'll be able to go to you probably still won't
be able to go to many places. You know you can't change your
face. The part that you gain back I, I
think to a certain extent is there is a very necessary
tension in that on any given night you could get waken up,

(45:29):
woken up at one in the two in the morning to something really
bad that just happened. And, you know, I know if I'm
getting a call at 1:00 in the morning and it's not from a
drunk friend, if it's from our, you know, our chief, right, or a
state official or my chief of staff, I know that I'm about to

(45:50):
hear something really hard, right?
Often times it's a little kid that just got killed.
Sometimes this was an assassination.
Yeah, that was. And there is a tension
associated with that, a necessary one, where you're
prepared to get up and deal withthe situation in the immediacy.

(46:15):
And you have to deal with it no matter the mental state of mind
that you're presently in personally.
And so to a certain extent, you almost need to temporarily
divorce yourself from that and deal with the issue at hand.
And that is it's hard. And so to just sleep.
Yeah. And, and it took put down my

(46:35):
phone. That's a big one, you know, to
be able to put down my phone foran extended period of time and
not worry about what might happen.
Yeah, that is, that would be something super special too, you
know, and I'm sure anybody wouldappreciate that.
And at the same time, I love this work.
I love this job, I love this city.

(46:56):
And it is so fulfilling. And so it's one of those things
like running, which is, you know, why I came out here, it's
both incredibly difficult and the most fulfilling thing that
you could possibly do. As well said, we have some

(47:17):
producer gay. We have some questions from the
audience, I believe. Yeah, we do.
Let's see. So I got, well, this one's for
me. But what's the dumbest thing
you've ever done as mayor? Like if you had a Mulligan or
whatever. Is there something you guys
have? Look, I've done this.

(47:38):
I mean, I've done so many dumb things.
I join the club. I mean, I mean, I think the ones
that are just most apparent and coming to mind are, are
instances where I was assuming that people would understand

(47:58):
that I was joking around, but maybe the people in the room
took it that way. Those damn jokes.
Yeah, the people in the room will take it as a that way, but
maybe the people online did not take it the same way.
And I've I've come to the assumption that I'm not remotely
funny. You gotta have a stab joke,

(48:21):
right? I know a guy.
I got a guy. I always say this like I've
never texted a woman anything that would sound good at a press
conference 10 years later, You know what I mean?
Like, you just can't feel like it's hard to have your jokes put
in print, you know, or. Sarcasm or whatever.
They never read white. That's for.
Sure, right. So this is from listener Nate

(48:43):
Greenlaw. He says what is the difference
between Mayor Fry first term andthird term?
Like are you way better? Or every so much.
I mean, look, you maintain the same values.
The policy largely has not dramatically shifted.

(49:06):
I mean, truthfully, the policy never totally shifts.
I mean, if you look back at the work that Hubert Humphrey was
doing, what was he focused on? He was focused on housing and
crime and safety and economic development.
I mean, it's the same stuff, right?
And certainly over time you bendthat arc towards justice.
Over time you make progress. And so not drastic changes in

(49:31):
terms of those pieces, there aredrastic shifts in my ability to
execute on them and carry them out.
A big part of mayor is also not just executing a plan, but
responding to circumstances thatyou don't anticipate.
That's a huge part of the job. I mean, I don't think I said the

(49:53):
word pandemic. I don't think anybody said the
word pandemic a single time whenI was campaigning for my first
term in office. To say that we were ill prepared
collectively to understand how to deal with a pandemic would be
pretty freaking accurate. We're not anymore.

(50:14):
We are prepared now. You know, you learn and you
adjust. You gain thicker skin.
That's a big one. I mean, things used to bother me
when I was first elected mayor. They really got to me.
You know, people had a misunderstanding about why I did

(50:35):
something or there was an assumption made that I didn't
care about someone who I deeply cared for.
And I call you names. Sometimes you get bashed by the
exact opposite side for the samething, but they're coming at it
from a different perspective. You know, I used to joke with

(50:57):
Mayor Carter. You know, the most popular, most
likely feedback number was one, and two was not enough cops and
too many cops. And so, yeah, but over time, you
gain that thicker skin. You have more confidence because

(51:20):
decisions that used to take the better part of a day now take 10
minutes because you've seen it before.
You know how to handle the issue.
And yes, I am a dramatically better mayor than I was when I
took office. No question in my mind.
Absolutely. So this is from listener Chris
Sealing. He says, let's eat.

(51:43):
Oh, hang on. OK, It says.
Do you remember your first time getting confronted in a
restaurant by an angry constituent or just, you know, I
guess anywhere but first time get, you know, I assume that
happens. Oh God, yeah.
Yeah, that's got to be a miserable part of the job, I
would think just there's days you just want to beat you and.
Yeah, I mean, Sarah and I joke about a 19 for 20 rule.

(52:06):
In other words, we'll get 19 positive interactions, or at
least neutral ones where someone's asking a fair
question. And then if you get much beyond
that, much beyond 19, something bad is happening.
Yeah, yeah, something from the horizon.
So first I'll start out by saying here's the truth.
I have no problem at all with people coming up to me and

(52:27):
asking me a tough question or noting something that they don't
like. That is fair game.
I'm the mayor. I signed up for that.
Of course, sometimes I'd like tohave some time with my family
where I get to hang out with my wife and my kid.
But look, you see me out, you say, hey, I've got a question

(52:49):
about this pothole that hasn't been fixed or the housing that
we're waiting on getting built or whatever issue it may be.
That is fair. What I find completely pointless
is FU Yeah, and a drive by. I don't know whether you're a
Democrat or Republican. I don't know if you what you

(53:11):
don't like. That's not constructive.
It's not constructive because what people don't realize is
about, you know, about half the feedback you get is from one
side of the spectrum and about the other half of the feedback
you get is from the other half. Genuinely right.
And so I have no idea. I mean, that's your contribution
to the world in that day. That's a pretty pathetic

(53:33):
contribution. I would say it would be a.
Very positive I would. Say it's a very positive
contribution to say, hey, here'ssomething that have an issue and
having the courage. To.
Have a conversation, have the courage to, and that's always
what I will tell people. It's the same thing every time.
Hey, you're going to say that? Do you have the courage to have
a conversation? And most people don't.

(53:54):
Often times they don't. Sometimes I'll give them credit,
they do, and maybe sometimes there was a misunderstanding and
now that they realize the full context, they actually grieve.
Usually is. Sometimes, sometimes someone
just wants to be angry, you know?
And you know, again, I'm a mayor, but I'm also a human

(54:17):
being. Absolutely.
Yeah. What?
What is? So this is mine.
And I'm not trying to sound likea whatever weirdo here, but too
late. One of the things we're finding
out. Well, that's true.
One of the things we're finding out is that there's a lot of
blackmail in politics. And I'm not saying you've, but
have you ever sensed any? Black male or black male?

(54:38):
Is it black male words or gay word?
OK, so. Black male, one word.
One word. OK, alright, good.
Alright. Yeah, yes.
Like what city you in? Going with this.
Yeah, yeah, no, that there's like political dirty tricks.
Have you ever felt like anyones been trying to do anything?
Like set you up for anything or?Sensitive on this?

(55:00):
You sure can, of course. Fucking constantly, yeah.
Really. Constantly, yeah.
What's an example of that? Oh my God.
That's crazy. I I did not expect you to.
Say constantly, I mean, even thelast two days there are people
that are they're they're literally trying to get in a
fight with me. I mean, I, I don't even disagree

(55:20):
with you. I don't even know what this
fight is about. They are trying to fight when
there is no disagreement. We're just trying to get the
work done and and do a job. I got I have had here's the
other frustrating thing. I've had people come into my
office, council members, and they'll literally say to me, I

(55:43):
know what you're doing is the right thing here, but I'm going
to vote against you and come outagainst you because, because,
because, because I'm scared or I'm worried or I don't want to
get torn apart. And I don't give any names out,
you know, but like, why are we in these jobs if you know what

(56:04):
the right thing is to do, but you won't do it because you're
fearful? I mean, I've got certainly many
flaws, but if I know what the right thing is to do, I will not
back down under pressure. And that was harder initially

(56:25):
because my skin wasn't as thick.My skin is pretty damn thick
now. And I think if there's anything
that people can take away from it is, yeah, you want to come at
me? Come at me.
But there could be 2000 people outside my home demanding that I
defund the police. This happened and this happened.
And I will tell you the truth, which is, yes, we need

(56:47):
significant culture shift and real reform.
But am I going to defund the police?
No. You can shame me.
You can spit on me and throw things at me, but I won't back
down. And now that position is held by
virtually every single politician in the Democratic
Party. Yes, they're running from many

(57:08):
are running from the positions that they previously took.
And in my mind, the quality of that elected officials, not
necessarily in the position thatthey took or didn't take, but
it's in the fact that you had the courage and the conviction
to stand by what was right and the thing you believe to be
true. Absolutely, absolutely.

(57:31):
All right, so before I let you get out of here, we're going to
play it one more game. It's the Lightning round.
So in this round I want to give you a word or a phrase and don't
think, just feel. First thing that pops.
This is dangerous to talk about.One of the stupidest things that
you've. Done.
This might be on the already. This is going to be on the list

(57:51):
now. This is on the list all right,
so favorite hip hop artist or group?
Digable Planets. Digable Planets.
OK, spiciest thing you have evereaten.
I'm sure it's some sort of ghostpepper.
I don't know that I've eaten thewhole thing.

(58:11):
Like had a little bite and then my entire face burns off.
What was it in you just? I remember actually just having
the pepper itself. I don't remember if it was a
ghost doing that something else,but like I had like a bite of it
was. It a dare or Wednesday?
A dare or a dare, Mosley. No, I just remember being like,

(58:42):
are you a pepper head watering? No, I'm not a pepper head.
So what the hell? No.
I mean, I think I was just messing around when I was like
in high school or something likethat and trying to show off and
show how so some. Girls were involved, Heard,
Heard. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
How strong I was. Hey.
And she, I never saw her again. Here's the secret.
Goes in hot, comes out of hot. Yeah, correct.

(59:03):
All right, so last thing you ordered on Uber Eats.
Oh God, let's. And this is not sponsored so
this could be any any delivery service.
I mean cuz. This is 2 of so frequent though.
Yeah, this is so frequent. Look, love tea house Chinese
food. I love y'all.

(59:24):
Yeah, yeah. I've got AI got a regular order
that we hit over there. You know, I try to, I work
virtually every night. I try to take Friday nights off,
OK. And so often times, Sarah will,
you know, we hit the couch with the kid, We do Shabbat, OK,
Light the candles. We watch a little.
Speaking of old school, remembergummy bears?

(59:45):
The. Cartoons bouncing, bouncing.
Gear in everywhere. That is the best theme song of
any. Cartoon.
Yeah, I know the whole thing. Yeah, yeah, me too.
I. I promise I will not sing it.
I love this. Speaking of 80s.
I was just, I just watched an episode of Gummy Bears like 2
nights ago. I'm getting my 10 year old.
Yeah. Like you don't know cartoons.
Yeah, you know. Gummy knows you can still get
it. You can still get it on.

(01:00:05):
Like was it an HBO or something like that?
It's on. No, it's not Disney.
Yes. It's not Disney.
Yeah, I love it. Now it's doesn't look as good
but still the song sounds. Brilliant.
Oh, it's great. Magic Mystery.
I loved it, I loved it, love it.OK, go to go to karaoke tracks
now since you're singing already.

(01:00:27):
All right, first thing that comes to mind is Macy Gray.
I try. I try to say goodbye and I
trust. That's a good for you to sing.
Yeah, that's for him to sing. Yeah.
Macy Gray is kind of a she's kind of a baritone anyway.
Like yeah, I can. Hit, I can do some ACDC too.
OK, this is kind of opposite side of the the spectrum of
music, but yeah, I can nail someACDC.

(01:00:51):
OK, all right, all right, you're.
Tiffany. I could do Tiffany.
Oh, that's you. That's hell Yeah.
That's a good one. All right.
You're hosting a dinner party. You have 3 guests that are
alive. No politics allowed.
Who's at the table? Give me the rules again. 3
guests dinner party dead or alive, no politics allowed.

(01:01:12):
Who's at the table for your dinner party?
Dead or alive, no politics allowed.
My wife safe? Yes, we're about to have a.
Face no politics worried. That she's going to call me.
So let's let's, let's maintain that.
Relief, Yeah. Absolutely.

(01:01:32):
Some more you know, Steve Prefontaine, which you may or
may not know about. This is a he's a distance.
Run a mile right. Yeah, he will.
He he died in a car crash when he was like 2425 or something
like that, but has always been ahero of mine.

(01:01:55):
And the third one. The third one would probably be
like to get some sort of historic answer that nobody
knows yet. You know what I mean?

(01:02:17):
Like I got really into this whole concept of did Jesus have
kids or not? That's a deep 1 he.
Just had a kid. I want to meet with this kid.
I I got to talk to this kid. Yeah.
I mean, I mean, well, technically they say I don't
know I what do. What do they say?
Technically? I don't know.

(01:02:37):
You tell me. That's the whole thing.
Does he now I got to go down. That's the.
Show. Thanks for that.
Now I'm that that's I know I'm spending my week.
Gabe, does Jesus have kids? It's like the Da Vinci Code type
stuff, you know, I. Don't know about that but I
heard that the Knights Templars have his bones and they're
getting him tested now in the next year.
Till there you go and then they recreate through DNA.

(01:02:58):
Yeah, let's make, let's make. Jurassic Park with Jesus, right?
Oh my God. All right.
And finally, Minneapolis in one word.
Minneapolis Oh, you want me to tell it say like, what would it
be 1? Word for Yeah for Minneapolis.
For me, it's heaven. Awesome, awesome.
OK, before I let you go again, Ineed you to tell everybody where

(01:03:25):
they can find you and, and, and and learn about the things you
got going on outside of the stuff they see in the headlines.
Give them your social because you're you're active on social.
I follow you and you post a little bit about everything
which I think is so cool. I mean, you, you could follow me
on all the platforms and stuff like that.

(01:03:45):
You know, you'll, you'll see me at meetings and stuff.
I, I, I'll tell you the I love talking to people.
Yeah, if you see me at the bar, come say hello, ask the question
that you've been wanting to ask.You know, as long as you do it
with integrity and and love, bring it on.

(01:04:06):
It could be something that maybeis not so loving and that's OK.
But like, you know, come up to me, have a drink with me, hang
out, have some food, talk about,you know, who you are, where you
from, what you like to do. And, and I mean, I truly do love
people. And so I mean, maybe you'll find
me over it. Clifton norms, you know, maybe,

(01:04:29):
maybe you'll find me nearby my, my home at over at Whitey's.
I'm there a lot, you know. But regardless, I you know you
can learn about stuff online, but that's not a connection.
No, it's not a real connection. What would one thing you could
say to to our listeners that youurge them to do?

(01:04:52):
To be a, you know, a better neighbor, a better citizen, just
a damn near just a better human like.
You know, a better citizen, a better human being.

(01:05:13):
I would say take a beat to firstrecognize a person's common
humanity, whoever that may be. You know, we're we're at a time
right now where people are villainized based on their
background, their race, their sexuality, their gender, their
where they're from, their documentation status, especially

(01:05:35):
right now. And people could use a whole lot
of love. And so I think entering a
conversation with the willingness to see that person
as a human being, no matter who they are, would go a really long
way, you know? And that doesn't mean that
there's understanding immediately because often times

(01:05:57):
there's not, right? You know, and sometimes that's
just based on, again, where you may have come from, you know,
like, I mean, let's just be real.
It's very real here. You know, we've got a very blue
Twin Cities. You got a very red Greater
Minnesota and other portions. And look, it's not like

(01:06:18):
everybody from Greater Minnesotais is awful.
It's not everybody from the TwinCities is awful.
You know, you grow up and with having met different people
being learning things from different mentalities.
And if you can kind of embrace that difference and take the

(01:06:40):
time to understand and not hold somebody accountable for what
they don't know yet, right, I think that would go a really
long way. No, that's a great point.
I always say that even the most fascist person, most racist
person, this one time for sure every day is not thinking about

(01:07:02):
segregation. That's when it comes to the
stomach. So many times a day they're
eating foods from people and cultures that they deem to be
inferior. That's a.
Beautiful. Way of putting it.
And if they placed a face and a name to that dish, they'd have a
whole different outlook on it. That is A and there are so many
commonalities. Absolutely every culture has a

(01:07:24):
chicken dish. Every culture has a rice dish.
Well, brisket, yeah. I mean, there's the there's a
there's a black way of cooking brisket and there's a Jew way of
cooking brisket. I mean, there's.
Probably we just call it. We just call it just the New
York way to. The New York way.
There's a New York way, Yeah. And this is the right way, which
is the New York way of cooking. Brisket.
Absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Everywhere else, I don't know. There's water involved.

(01:07:47):
I don't know what to tell you. Let's tell you.
But yeah. And what you're.
You're 100% right. The things that change are the
method of cooking and the the the objects that are readily
available for the area. But at the end of the day, it's
all about substance and it's thegreatest form of reverence and
love you can get share with a person.

(01:08:08):
And the end, it's one, it's one of the few times, two times that
you have blind faith with a person that you probably don't
never met when you go to a restaurant and when you board a
plane. So you put in your life in into
these people's hands and you're,you know, you're entrusting that
their skill set is on a certain level.

(01:08:29):
But yeah. Well, give me your best bridging
of a gap story through food. I so I've, I, I managed a, a
restaurant chain, I'm sorry, hotel chain and we had a Pacific
Rim steakhouse a part of the hotel as as the lead in that I,

(01:08:54):
I knew that optics are important.
Now I trained with one of the top sushi makers in in the
world. I also know that it just doesn't
look good for me to be making the sushi.
It just doesn't. It just does, you know, it just
doesn't look good, right. And so I had a a moment to where
so I trained. We they're going to, they're

(01:09:15):
going to walk out of the restaurant and go to another one
where the Japanese guy is makingthis.
Or the Mexican guy, Sure. Or the land guy.
Somebody just closer in resemblance to what they think.
OK. OK, right.
OK. Sure.
Now, so I had, we had this customer come up and he was
raving about the sushi, right. And then for some reason, I had

(01:09:36):
one of one of my servers, a black kid, he had an issue with
him, whatever the case may be. And basically he was just very,
very much super duper off putting about inferiority and
him being knowledgeable about what he was doing and
everything. And so I went to him and I saw
this happening in real time. And just because I'm also super

(01:09:57):
petty. So I go up to him.
I'm like, hey, how do you enjoy your meal?
Yeah, OK, Yeah, I saw you. There's obviously a
misunderstanding you had with with the with the server, but
you know, oh, yeah, the sushi chef is is amazing, amazing man.
So I called away. Come on, come over here.

(01:10:17):
Like, tell tell him who who showed you how to make sushi?
Tell you. Oh, chef here is there.
He's the he's the, he's the guy.He just saw his face because he
was, he was reeling about and wewere not.
When I approached him and told him who I was, it was still like
underling type of vibes. And my whole thing is I, I'm a

(01:10:38):
firm believer in killing with kindness because at the, the you
can't, you can't. You're not going to alter my I'm
not going to change who I am or how I would normally do things
because of a response from someone else.
There's no greater joy I get than walking away.
I just fucked his whole world. His whole world is shattered.
Used to call it greening down the bear.

(01:11:00):
Yeah, killing with kindness, grinning down the bear.
I like that. I like that.
Well, again, thank you so much for thank you.
I owe you a fun. I got you an album coming soon.
I love it again, follow Mayor Jacob Frye.
Please follow him. Make sure you go out and get in
the polls. Do what you need to do to make

(01:11:22):
this city the best city it possibly can be.
I believe this gentleman has allof those things in mind and we
will see you at the polls and this has been the taste music
here food podcast show. I am Ed Porter to later peace do
this. I'm on my PS and QS.
Shoot the sauce. It's just the fluid.
It's the chef I need to remind y'all.
I'm sick with it. My name is Doctor Hot.

(01:11:44):
It's ubiquitous, meaning it's one of the same.
Simple and plain. I'm all about my paper, the
thinking. Channel the.
Pain. I've got these lanes running for
the border. The talents and Mr. Porter keep
it flowing like it's water. NBC Our relation to NBC.