Streets.mn Podcast #11 – Janne Flisrand Explains the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition

Yours truly failing to press ‘record’

This episode is a conversation with Janne Flisrand about the state of bicycling in Minneapolis in general, and the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition in particular. Janne is a long-time bicycle advocate in Minneapolis and one of the key organizers with the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition. I caught Janne, at her suggestion, during last week’s Park(ing) Day event, easily my favorite annual public space slash public art slash urban design hybrid moments. We were parked at a table along Washington Avenue, handing out coffee and conversation to the few passers by that downtown Minneapolis has to offer. (We also put in a plug for this weekend’s Lowry Avenue Open Streets event, coming up on Saturday.)

One final caveat: I made a promise a few weeks back that the audio problems I’d been having were behind us, that I’d finally cracked the sound barrier and figured out how to use the microphones that I own. Well, that was a lie. It’s kinda true, in that I figured out how to connect my Samson Meteor mic to my computer. But when it comes to the Zoom H-2, I haven’t quite figured out how to use the ‘record’ button properly. I forget what the acronymn is for computer tech people when they joke about how the problem exists between keyboard and chair, but that’s the issue here. Anyway, I didn’t turn my mic on, and so I did my best with the half of the audio that came out. The good news is that the mic that isn’t working is the one that I was speaking into, so at least you don’t have to listen to me deep breathing the whole time. Plus, Janne is far more interesting than I am!

Audio link is here. Subscribe to the whole series on iTunes.

Bill Lindeke

About Bill Lindeke

Pronouns: he/him

Bill Lindeke has writing blogging about sidewalks and cities since 2005, ever since he read Jane Jacobs. He is a lecturer in Urban Studies at the University of Minnesota Geography Department, the Cityscape columnist at Minnpost, and has written multiple books on local urban history. He was born in Minneapolis, but has spent most of his time in St Paul. Check out Twitter @BillLindeke or on Facebook.