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

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 [https://news.gallup.com/poll/709772/americans-oppose-data-centers-area.aspx], yet tech giants continue to foist them on communities amid the current AI arms race. That negative sentiment isn't difficult to understand: They're noisy, energy-sucking IRL avatars for a product that's promising to eliminate your job. At least a dozen [https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2025/10/20/what-to-know-about-data-centers-in-minnesota] data center projects are at various stages of completion throughout Minnesota. Earlier this year, we brought you an in-depth look [https://racketmn.com/google-data-center-hermantown-minnesota-nda] at the battle to stop Google's "Project Loon" hyperscale proposal up in Hermantown, and for this week's episode we're headed south to chat with Aubree Derksen and Nicole Mills, two residents of Pine Island who are fighting like hell against Google's "Project Skyway." At the moment, they seem to be winning; earlier this week a judge ordered a temporary restraining order [https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/judge-grants-temporary-restraining-order-to-halt-construction-on-pine-island-data-center/89-3cf34684-46cf-4448-be89-2354e66eee60] that halts construction of the 3-million-square-foot behemoth. Before we have that conversation, however, we begin the pod with our usual segment, What I Learned in Racket. Here's what we learned: * Stillwater Is a Riverfront Parking Lot With Some Nice Restaurants Attached [http://stillwater%20is%20a%20riverfront%20parking%20lot%20with%20some%20nice%20restaurants%20attached/] * ‘Long Live Conrad!’: Musicians, Colleagues, and Loved Ones Remember the First Avenue Stage Manager [https://racketmn.com/long-live-conrad-musicians-colleagues-and-loved-ones-remember-the-first-avenue-stage-manager] * I Want My CRT: The ‘Insane’ Demand for Giant Old-School TVs, Explained [https://racketmn.com/crt-tv-minneapolis-mn-video-games-vhs-dvd-marketplace] Subscribe to RacketCast wherever you get your podcasts—Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, etc. • Wanna advertise [https://racketmn.com/advertise] on RacketCast? Email us at advertise@racketmn.com [advertise@racketmn.com]. • Have a food/drink, event, or show recommendation? How about a civic hot take? General or specific question? Call 619-RACKTIP (619-722-5847) with your first name + city + 3-min.-maximum voicemail, and we might play it on a future episode. • Special thanks to local band Van Stee [https://open.spotify.com/artist/4GDMgNwab1ODFfJyM5EfMq] for supplying our podcast music! ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

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 memoir, Girl Gone Wild, Kocak weaves together a series of essays that address "ambition, delusion, drugs, sex, and misogyny," plus selling merch on the extremely shady Girls Gone Wild porno bus. You can catch Kocak in conversation with author Kelly Foster Lundquist and Racket contributor [https://racketmn.com/author/deborah-copperud] Deborah Copperud this Friday at St. Paul's Acorn Bookshop (details here [https://www.eventbrite.com/e/from-minnesota-to-hollywood-courtney-kocak-girl-gone-wild-with-minnesota-tickets-1988661687641?aff=oddtdtcreator]). Or on May 19 at Troubadour Wine Bar with past RacketCast guest [https://racketmn.com/racketcast-ep-40-avoiding-death-getting-weirder-writing-memoirs-feat-mary-lucia] Mary Lucia author Angela Pelster (deets here [https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wine-words-book-reading-with-courtney-kocak-mary-lucia-angela-pelster-tickets-1988663012604?aff=oddtdtcreator]). But before quite literally any of that, Em and Jay go through a speed round of What I Learned in Racket. Here's what they learned... * A New Yorker’s Top 5 Pizzas by the Slice in the Twin Cities [https://racketmn.com/a-new-yorkers-top-5-pizzas-by-the-slice-in-the-twin-cities] * Viral Posts, No AI: Meet the Graphic Designer Wunderkind Behind the Timberwolves, Lynx [https://racketmn.com/viral-posts-no-ai-meet-the-graphic-designer-wunderkind-behind-the-timberwolves-lynx] --- This episode of RacketCast is sponsored by The Wild West Bank Sound: A Funky Flashback of Musical Memories [https://www.tpt.org/wild-west-bank-sound/?utm_source=The+Racket+&utm_medium=digital+ads&utm_campaign=The+Wild+West+Bank+Sound]. Subscribe to RacketCast wherever you get your podcasts—Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, etc. • Wanna advertise [https://racketmn.com/advertise] on RacketCast? Email us at advertise@racketmn.com [advertise@racketmn.com]. • Have a food/drink, event, or show recommendation? How about a civic hot take? General or specific question? Call 619-RACKTIP (619-722-5847) with your first name + city + 3-min.-maximum voicemail, and we might play it on a future episode. • Special thanks to local band Van Stee [https://open.spotify.com/artist/4GDMgNwab1ODFfJyM5EfMq] for supplying our podcast music! ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

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: the weather. Remedying that is this week's guest Sven Sundgaard, a 23-year veteran of Minnesota's meteorology scene. We get into a little Sven lore, remember some storms, dive deep into climate change, address the state of local meteorology, gab about his real estate side hustle, and even fact check MSP Mag's 2022 claim [https://mspmag.com/arts-and-culture/sven-sundgaard/] that Sundgaard is our state's "most physically ripped" weatherman. And, as a cherry on top for those who make it 60+ minutes in: a pleasant reading of the weekend forecast—no quicker way to get that information! Before any of that, however, your hosts go 'round the horn in a thrilling installment of our regular intro feature, What I Learned In Racket... * I Tried the Minneapolis-Made Camera So You Don’t Have To [https://racketmn.com/i-tried-the-minneapolis-made-camera-so-you-dont-have-to] * How Did Black Music Take Over the World? Ask Melvin Gibbs. [https://racketmn.com/how-did-black-music-take-over-the-world-ask-melvin-gibbs] * ‘Minnesota Hardcore’ Producer David Roth Is the Ken Burns of Twin Cities Punk [https://racketmn.com/minnesota-hardcore-producer-david-roth-is-the-ken-burns-of-twin-cities-punk] * Cover Me Impressed: Are We Living Through a Twin Cities Cover-Band Boom? [https://racketmn.com/cover-tribute-bands-minnesota-twin-cities-mn] This episode of RacketCast is sponsored by The Wild West Bank Sound: A Funky Flashback of Musical Memories [https://www.tpt.org/wild-west-bank-sound/?utm_source=The+Racket+&utm_medium=digital+ads&utm_campaign=The+Wild+West+Bank+Sound]. The latest documentary from Twin Cities PBS takes viewers on a sensory trip to a corner of Minneapolis that shaped Minnesota music. From the early 1960s, Minneapolis’ West Bank neighborhood was an epicenter of the music world and proved an irresistible draw for artists from far and wide, an ever-evolving cauldron of creativity and cultures. This film bursts at the seams with memories, all visualized with rare and rich archival photography, footage, and ephemera. Stream on the free PBS App starting April 21. Subscribe to RacketCast wherever you get your podcasts—Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, etc. • Wanna advertise [https://racketmn.com/advertise] on RacketCast? Email us at advertise@racketmn.com [advertise@racketmn.com]. • Have a food/drink, event, or show recommendation? How about a civic hot take? General or specific question? Call 619-RACKTIP (619-722-5847) with your first name + city + 3-min.-maximum voicemail, and we might play it on a future episode. • Special thanks to local band Van Stee [https://open.spotify.com/artist/4GDMgNwab1ODFfJyM5EfMq] for supplying our podcast music! ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

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, [https://racketmn.com/racketcast-ep-49-2026-mn-twins-preview-for-dummies-feat-the-athletics-aaron-gleeman] and we're doing it again for this Timberwolves explainer featuring the great podcaster Dane Moore. Just as he did last year, Dane joined us ahead of the T-Wolves postseason, right as casual fans begin hopping aboard the hoops bandwagon. The host of The Dane Moore NBA Podcast [https://flow.page/danemoorenba] equips listeners with the requisite knowledge to (hopefully) root deep into the playoffs, including a roster breakdown, season recap, long-view look at the franchise, and even a therapy session centered around our host's paranoid speculation that superstar Anthony Edwards might want outta town. Enjoy, dummies! The Wolves tip off against the Denver Nuggets for Game 1 of the first round of the NBA playoffs at 2:30 p.m. Saturday; you can watch via Amazon Prime. Before any of that, though, we chatted for 30 minutes during a regular installment of What I Learned In Racket... * As Food Giant Sysco Tightens Its Hold, We Asked Local Chefs and Restaurateurs How Much to Worry [https://racketmn.com/as-food-giant-sysco-tightens-its-hold-we-asked-local-chefs-and-restaurateurs-how-much-to-worry] * An Educated Guesser’s Guide to the 2026 Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival [https://racketmn.com/an-educated-guessers-guide-2026-minneapolis-st-paul-international-film-festival] * Grading the 2026 Minnesota Twins Walk-Up Songs [https://racketmn.com/grading-the-2026-minnesota-twins-walk-up-songs] This episode of RacketCast is sponsored by TPT's The Wild West Bank Sound: A Funky Flashback of Musical Memories [https://www.tpt.org/wild-west-bank-sound/?utm_source=The+Racket+&utm_medium=digital+ads&utm_campaign=The+Wild+West+Bank+Sound]. Subscribe to RacketCast wherever you get your podcasts—Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, etc. • Wanna advertise [https://racketmn.com/advertise] on RacketCast? Email us at advertise@racketmn.com [advertise@racketmn.com]. • Have a food/drink, event, or show recommendation? How about a civic hot take? General or specific question? Call 619-RACKTIP (619-722-5847) with your first name + city + 3-min.-maximum voicemail, and we might play it on a future episode. • Special thanks to local band Van Stee [https://open.spotify.com/artist/4GDMgNwab1ODFfJyM5EfMq] for supplying our podcast music! ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

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 (slightly delayed) season preview of your reportedly hopeless [https://racketmn.com/why-have-fares-at-minneapolis-st-paul-international-airport-gotten-so-damn-expensive] 2026 Minnesota Twins. As always, for no reason in particular, we'll be framing it through the "for dummies" lens, though our guest is no dummy: He's Aaron Gleeman, the best damn baseball writer/reporter in town. You can—and should!—subscribe to and support his Gleeman & the Geek Twins podcast, featuring co-host John Bonnes, here [https://www.patreon.com/Gleeman]; you can read all of his writing via the Athletic here [https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/author/aaron-gleeman/]. And for the What I Learned in Racket enthusiasts out there, tough luck! We're short-staffed this week, so our usual hoopla-loaded gabbing up top won't hit—very '26 Twins-like, when you think about it—your ears this week. No crying in baseball and podcasting. Subscribe to RacketCast wherever you get your podcasts—Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, etc. • Wanna advertise [https://racketmn.com/advertise] on RacketCast? Email us at advertise@racketmn.com [advertise@racketmn.com]. • Have a food/drink, event, or show recommendation? How about a civic hot take? General or specific question? Call 619-RACKTIP (619-722-5847) with your first name + city + 3-min.-maximum voicemail, and we might play it on a future episode. • Special thanks to local band Van Stee [https://open.spotify.com/artist/4GDMgNwab1ODFfJyM5EfMq] for supplying our podcast music! ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.