Will Bachman is the Co-Founder of Umbrex, a collection of independent consultants who are mainly McKinsey, Bain, or BCG alumni. I occasionally work on projects through Umbrex (I am a McKinsey alum).

Will was kind enough to consider doing one of his weekly podcasts on Start Reading Now, and he gave me over a half-hour to talk about my favorite topic. 

If you've never heard me talk about it at length, here's your chance - right? (There's a bit of a joke there, which you'll have to listen to the podcast to discover!)

You can listen here, or click on the file below.

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I was on the radio with Justice and Drew on behalf of the Center of the American Experiment, talking about the Minneapolis 2040 plan. The plan seeks to drive wholesale changes in the housing stock of the city, in pursuit of "reducing disparities" and addressing climate change. 

But a funny thing happened on the way to the socialist party - citizen activists from both North Minneapolis and Southwest Minneapolis rose up in collective opposition to the plan. Now, any plan that can bring together the poorest and wealthiest parts the city together in opposition must have a few problems with it. 

Perhaps my favorite "highlight" of the plan is the following statement: 

"In Minneapolis, 9 out of 10 trips are taken in personal automobiles, accounting for approximately 24 percent of the the annual greenhouse gas emissions in the city. Achieving the City's goal of an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 requires reducing the number of daily car trips by 37%." 

The hubris of this "city planning" approach is startling. Thirty-two years ago, the internet did not exist, the Soviet Union did, and South Korea was run by what amounted to a form of military regime. Trying to dial in society to bring about a 37% reduction in the number of car trips, 32 years from now, is absurd. 

​My segment starts at 20:00.

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The guys at KTLK, Justice and Drew, were once again kind enough to let me talk about the non-profit that I chair, Start Reading Now. We will serve 5,500 kids this year, at the 30 highest poverty elementary schools in Minneapolis Public Schools.

​In addition to the details on the program, you'll discover just what sort of reader I was in 6th grade...My segment starts at 19:15.