If you’ve seen headlines about the media industry this year, chances are none of them have been very positive. According to Axios, we’ve already hit a record number of media job cuts in 2023 at more than 17,000 as of June 1, and seen digital media darlings like BuzzFeed News close and Vice Media file for bankruptcy.

But amidst that very bleak outlook, there are smaller, more niche outlets that are not only finding their way but succeeding.

That’s why I wanted to sit down with Em Cassel, a co-owner and editor at Racket, and the final editor-in-chief of its predecessor, City Pages, a beloved alt weekly newspaper right here in Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

We talk through Em’s career that brought her to Minneapolis, and chat about that fateful day in 2020 when the Star Tribune decided to fold City Pages entirely. We also discuss how Em and a few colleagues decided to start a publication from scratch, and nearly two years in how it’s going and what makes for a Racket story.

Along the way, we chat about Tay Zonday, Spam, rotisserie chickens, an anonymous commenter named Taco Mike, and why it’s important to listen to those pushes from the universe every now and then.

Stick with us until the rapid fire, where I grill Em on some of her favorite food and beverage spots in the Twin Cities right now, and force her to choose between Minnesota icons Bob Dylan and Prince. We go deep on both media and Minnesota, but I think there’s lots to be learned for all of us from the way she’s approached her career.

Articles referenced

• ‘Chocolate Rain’ at 15: A 4,000-word interview with Tay Zonday about…everything


• It’s time for Twin Cities chefs to embrace spam


• Local grocery store rotisserie chickens, ranked


• What the hell has been going on at MPR?


• Let’s take a ride with a Minneapolis bike bus


• The last good website (CJR)

Connect with Em

• Racket: https://racketmn.com/author/em-cassel


• Twitter: https://twitter.com/biketrouble

Connect with the show

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ConnectRequest


• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/connectionrequest/


• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@connectionrequest


• TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@connectionrequest


• Email: connect@shrugcontent.com

Connect with Joel

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/joelleeman


• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jleeman/


• Instagram: https://instagram.com/joelleeman

About Connection Request Connection Request is a podcast about career journeys, produced by Shrug Content. Hosted by Joel Leeman, a producer and strategist who has spent the past 10 years making media for the Internet, the show profiles a variety of fascinating people, digging into how they spend their waking hours, what they’ve learned along the way, how they make decisions, and why they do what they do. In Season 1 we hear from a drummer turned coffee entrepreneur, a journalist who popularized the term “doomscrolling,” an executive who’s plotting her next chapter, and much more. Listen wherever you get your podcasts: https://www.shrugcontent.com/connection-request