Episode #1 of #MPLSNICE — the podcast where residents of Minneapolis celebrate the city’s strengths and its potential. In each episode, we do a little SWOT — Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats — all from a resident’s point of view. Yep, real talk from real residents, who care about this city and are optimistic about its future. On our very first episode, we sit down with a 47-year-old transplant — not from across the country, but just across the river. After two decades in St. Paul, he’s planted new roots in Minneapolis and has some thoughts about what sets the two cities apart. We talk about affordability, the underrated power of working city services, the magic of our arts and sports culture, and the quiet strength of our economic engine. But we also get into the tensions: economic gaps between neighborhoods, political homogeneity, and how we might unlock more opportunity across the board.
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Introduction By Ipalibo ‘Marvel’ Da-Wariboko, Host of the #MPLSNICE Podcast
When I first started paying close attention to Minneapolis politics and policy, I was struck by something that felt both strange and deeply familiar: for a city so rich in ideas, creativity, and civic engagement, it often felt like there wasn’t a safe space to talk. I don’t mean the kind of space where everyone agrees. I mean the kind where people can share their thoughts openly, across perspectives, without fear of being immediately criticized or cast out of the conversation.
That’s what I’m hoping to create with #MPLSNice, a new podcast on the Minneapolis Times platform.
This city is full of people who care deeply about its future. From every corner and community, folks have ideas about what’s working, what’s not, and what could be. But too often, these ideas stay siloed – or worse, shouted down. What if we had a space where we could just talk? A space where curiosity came before critique? Where the conversation wasn’t a battlefield, but a front porch?
That’s the heart of #MLPSNICE: a place for real conversations about what makes this city great, what makes it challenges, and ultimately what makes it ours. A place where leaders, neighbors, and everyday citizens can speak freely about their experiences, their hopes, and the changes they want to see.
But more than that, this podcast is also about something simple: I just love talking to people. I love hearing what makes them tick. I love hearing what they’ve lived through, what they’ve learned, and what they dream of. We don’t have nearly enough platforms that celebrate those stories, and I think we should. Because behind every big policy debate or planning decision, there are people. And when you hear those people out, when you really listen, something powerful happens: connection, understanding, maybe even a little progress.
So that’s what this is. A podcast rooted in love of conversation, story, and our city.
I hope you’ll join me each episode for #MPLSNice. It’s going to be honest. It’s going to be hopeful. And it’s going to be, well… nice.
