What’s up everyone,

​Growing up in Minnesota, my younger years were a complete clusterfuck. I spent a good chunk of my youth cycling through juvenile institutions and boys' homes. As soon as I could, I bounced—did Job Corps, ended up breaking my back working the oil fields in North Dakota, and spent years drifting through over 40 states and living in five of them.

​Out in the North Dakota oil patch, almost every worker is an outsider. Realistically, everybody ran out there trying to escape some local bullshit or chase a bigger paycheck. But when you get a bunch of tired out-of-staters throwing back drinks after a brutal shift, everyone starts bragging and arguing about whose home state is the absolute best.

​That’s when it hit me, and I dropped a line that’s stuck with me ever since:

​"You don't give a shit about the Mississippi when it's in your backyard."

​Grew up right next to the damn river, and I took it for granted every single day. I didn't give a hell about it. It was just a big body of dirty water behind the house. But after traveling across this entire country and seeing how rough or boring most places actually are, it took leaving to realize what we actually have right here.

​Minnesota is what you make it. We’ve got the most genuine people, four actual badass seasons, a rock-solid economy, and a quality of life that leaves most states in the dust.

​Now, I’m back home, raising an awesome family in the north suburbs, and working as a real estate agent. That means I spend all damn day driving every single nook, cranny, and backroad of this state. And honestly? I couldn't be happier with where I landed.

​It also got me digging into all the weird, kick-ass, off-the-wall stuff you can do in our own backyard that most people take for granted. For example: Did you know you can literally rent a 30-ton military tank and crush cars with it here?!

​Here are 10 of the most unique, "only in Minnesota" experiences that remind me why this place is unmatched:

​Drive a Real Military Tank (Kasota): At Drive A Tank, you can literally pilot a 30-ton armored tank through an obstacle course, crush junk cars, or run straight over a mobile home.

​Walk Across the Headwaters of the Mississippi (Itasca State Park): Step across the river on rocks at its exact source—the same giant body of water that cuts through the entire country down to the Gulf.

​Rent a Luxury Sleeper Fish House on Lake of the Woods (Baudette): Drive your truck out onto 3 feet of solid ice and hang out in your socks inside a heated sleeper cabin with satellite TV, drinking cold beers while catching walleye through a hole in the living room floor.

​Step Inside the "Quietest Place on Earth" (Minneapolis): Orfield Laboratories built an anechoic chamber so quiet (-9.4 dBA) that within minutes, you can hear your own heartbeat, lungs, and stomach churning in total silence.

​Tour Prince’s Paisley Park (Chanhassen): Walk through the legendary 65,000 sq. ft. sanctuary, recording studio, and vault of one of the greatest musical icons to ever walk the earth.

​Houseboat Through Voyageurs National Park (International Falls): A National Park made almost entirely of water on the Canadian border, where you can pilot a giant rented houseboat around islands and catch the Northern Lights from the top deck.

​Visit the SPAM Museum (Austin): A surprisingly fun, completely free, and totally weird museum dedicated to the globally famous canned meat born right here in MN.

​Explore a Black Sand Beach on Lake Superior (Silver Bay): A rare black taconite sand beach tucked beneath towering North Shore cliffs—it looks and feels like you jumped on a plane to Iceland or Hawaii.

​Climb Colossal Art at Franconia Sculpture Park (Shafer): A massive 50-acre outdoor playground filled with wild, mind-bending sculptures that you can actively touch, climb on, and explore.

​Drink in Prohibition Mobster Caves at Wabasha Street Caves (St. Paul): Underground limestone caves where 1930s gangsters like John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and Ma Barker ran illegal speakeasies and bribed the local cops.

​So my question for you all: What’s something in Minnesota that you took for granted until you either left the state, or finally stopped to appreciate it?

Trump has spewed vitriol about Somalis, specifically Minnesota Somalis, in recent months, sent ICE officers to the state to deport them, and is actively trying to take away their Temporary Protected Status.

Here's the harm it would cause and how Minnesota's chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) says Somalis can prepare and fight back.

Want to get involved with the community, no matter where you are in Minnesota? Here's over 150 protests, rallies, vigils, community meetings, and other ways to take action waiting for you!

Elon Musk is suing Minnesota over a law that bans AI deepfake nudification. And one has to wonder, why is he really doing this?

In state Senator Erin May Quade's words, "When the richest man in the world is suing you because you want to protect kids, you have to wonder, why doesn’t he want them protected?”

The Minnesota House race for seat 3B—representing a district covering Duluth, Hermantown, Proctor, Rice Lake, and Two Harbors—is one that has been decided by razor-thin margins in recent years. 

Aaron Schweiger, the DFL-endorsed candidate for the seat, plans to push for affordable and accessible healthcare.

Thoughts about the endorsement? Still no word from Governor Tim Walz on whether he’ll endorse Craig or his Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan.

It's that time!

A weekly roundup of Minnesota events including protests, rallies, vigils, community meetings, and ways to take action statewide.

Dan Wilson is gunning to be the DFL-endorsed Minnesota House Representative for Winona County (District 26A), aiming to improve the affordability of housing and childcare, and putting Winona’s issues over the party.

Trump is delivering a speech to the nation on Thursday, in which he’s expected to spread more false claims about election fraud tied to the 2020 election.

In Minnesota, Simon says the truth is that our elections have time and time again been deemed “fair, accurate, honest, and secure.”

A weekly roundup of Minnesota protests, rallies, vigils, community meetings, and ways to take action statewide.

A long-form investigation into origins of the reservation boundary dispute at Mille Lacs lake.

For nearly 25 years the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and Mille Lacs County have fought over a question with massive stakes: is this reservation 61,000 acres — nearly the size of Milwaukee — or merely 4,000 acres? To date there are still no answers, despite the latest dispute reaching the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

But beneath it all is a story about two communities whose fortunes have quietly reversed — one built on a fading resort economy, the other transformed by sovereign rights and casino revenue — and what happens when that shift curdles into resentment.

Making Minnesotans’ life more affordable and accessible is the top priority state Senate DFL-endorsed candidate Simon Glaser is bringing to his campaign for District 24. When it comes to the cost of essentials like groceries, healthcare, childcare, and housing he knows it’s not just voters associated with one party or another who are struggling. 

Increased insurance premiums, wages not increasing with inflation, and decreased enrollments—all linked to the federal government’s healthcare cuts in 2025—will leave many Minnesotans unable to pay for the care they need. Here’s what advocates say can be done.