Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
LIB? More Like LAB... or Issues!
We've got a Love Is Blind local angle, and we're not talking about the fact that the upcoming season was filmed here: The National Labor Relations Board has issued a complaint against the hit Netflix reality TV series, and the filing came from regional director of the board in Minneapolis, Jennifer Hadsall.
The complaint against Kinetic Content and its subsidiary Delirium TV "could open the door to widespread unionization in the unscripted television world, hastening a reality reckoning," reports Deadline's Peter White. It follows complaints to the NLRB from past contestants Renee Poche (Season 5, currently suing Netflix after allegations that she was penalized $4 million after breaching the terms of her NDA) and Nick Thompson (Season 2, who has said the show "ruined" his life and led to near-homelessness).
The most recent filing demands that producers reclassify all "participants" since January 19, 2023, as employees, according to Deadline. But the folks behind the show, faced with criticism in the past, have been adamant that those who appear on LIB are doing so not as employees but as volunteers who are able to leave whenever they want. “We document the independent choices of adults who volunteer to participate in a social experiment,” creator Chris Coelen said in a statement to People last year.
Eager to make more hay of this LIB local angle, Racket has already reached out to the NLRB's Hadsall for additional deets—stay tuned!
New Laws A-Comin'!
You know those “health and wellness” fees that unexpectedly add a couple percentage points to your bill when you go out to dinner? As of January 1, they’re history in Minnesota, as part of a new state law banning “junk fees.” Expect menu items to go up a bit in cost, though of course you should end up paying the same in the end.
Similarly, a new state law will require Ticketmaster and other sellers to disclose how much a ticket to a show costs upfront. Under yet another law, employment ads must disclose a salary range, along with a description of benefits. Also, college campuses with receive additional polling places come election time. Newly banned items include guns with “binary triggers” (those that fire one round when a trigger in pulled and another when it’s released) and lightbulbs containing mercury. And finally renters are now permitted to create renters associations to represent their interests. All in all, not a bad batch of laws.
Chicago Mix Popcorn Is… One of Us?
Yes! Technically, in a U.S. trademark sense.
Reporter Lisa Ryan explores the origin of this sweet ‘n’ salty treat, which mixes caramel, cheddar, and plain popcorn, in this fun article for MPR. Though the mix's origins trace back to Chicago’s Garrett Popcorn Shop in 1977, Twin Cities-based Candyland actually trademarked the “Chicago Mix” name in 1992. And yes, the company will send you a cease and desist if you use the name on any popcorn product; Garrett’s renamed its version “Garrett Mix” after a 2014 lawsuit. (You can read more about the enduring and beloved—and apparently legally bulldoggish!—Candyland in this recent story from Racket.)
Ultimately, Ryan concludes, Chicago Mix was invented by the people, not the companies: “It officially started in 1977 after customers started asking for an extra, empty bag so they could mix the cheese and caramel popcorns together."
Electric Fetus Reveals Top-Selling Albums of 2024
It's impossible to learn much from Spotify's Minneapolis-specific charts for 2024. Shaboozey, Benson Boone, Post Malone, Zach Bryan, and Noah Kahan (fuckin' yikes man, what a list…) charted like nuts all over the country, we're guessing.
The top-selling albums at the Electric Fetus, however? That list, which the treasured ol' record shop shared earlier today with Racket, boasts some locally interesting intel. Famously Midwestern pop star Chappell Roan ruled the year, though a certain lil purple fella was nipping at the Missourian's stiletto heels. And right behind Purple Rain? The Hippos themselves at No. 3: St. Paul pop-rockers Hippo Campus, whose frontman Jake Luppen helped produce one of our favorite albums of the year (Forever by Charly Bliss). Elsewhere on the list, Minneapolis indie rock band Bad Bad Hats appear, appear at No. 14.
Fetus music buyer Jim Novak says about 75% of these sales involved vinyl records, though CD numbers were factored in, too.
“We love to look back at the top sellers of the year to see which artists really connected with our customers,” Novak adds. “This year’s list emphasizes the varied tastes of Twin Cities music fans, and it’s great to see so many local artists measuring up with the big-name pop stars and classic rock juggernauts. This list proves how strong our local music scene is here in the Cities.”
- Chappell Roan – Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
- Prince & The Revolution – Purple Rain
- Hippo Campus – Flood
- Taylor Swift – Tortured Poets Department
- Charli XCX – Brat
- Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft
- St. Vincent – All Born Screaming
- Brigitte Calls Me Baby – The Future is Our Way Out
- Noah Kahan – Stick Season
- Hozier – Hozier
- Green Day – Saviors
- Jack White – No Name
- Gracie Abrams – Secret of Us
- Bad Bad Hats – Bad Bad Hats
- Decemberists – As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again
- Jeff Buckley – Grace
- Waxahatchee – Tigers Blood
- Radiohead – In Rainbows
- Melanie Martinez – Portals
- Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
