Star Tribune Layoffs, Prince's Secret Cookie, and Indie Music Venues

The Minnesota Star Tribune announced that they would be laying off about 15% of their work force, or 65 people. After Racket published the leaked layoff memo from Star Tribune CEO Steve Grove, Sean is joined by Racket co-owners Em Cassel and Jay Boller to talk about what we know so far. Renowned Prince Historian Andrea Swensson also joins the show to share some facts you probably didn't know about the superstar as Sunday marks what would have been his 68th birthday, and local venue operators James Taylor and Josh Cragun talk about the challenges of running an independent music venue in the Twin Cities in the big '26.

In a bonus segment only for City Cast Twin Cities Neighbors, the entire city cast staff joins to play a game of "Hot Dish Hush," where they try to get each other to guess common Twin Cities landmarks without saying certain prohibited words. To get bonus segments like this, ad-free listening, and exclusive invites to members-only events, you can sign up to become a Neighbor today.

Learn more about the topics discussed in today's episode:

• Read Star Tribune Publisher Steve Grove's Leaked Memo Announcing Dramatic Job Cuts, Updated 'Vision' (Racket)
• Minnesota Star Tribune cuts jobs and pursues nonprofit ownership structure (Star Tribune)  
• Star Tribune planning job cuts, exploring new ownership model (MPR News) 
• Mpls Police Chief's Epic Downfall. Plus, Sing Purple Rain With 1,000 Strangers (City Cast Twin Cities)
• Prince Singalong (Paisley Park) 
• NIVA Conference June 7-10 Minneapolis
• The Cedar Cultural Center
• Gobo Tickets
  

Learn more about the sponsors of this June 5th episode:

• Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

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