🎙️ ON THE RADAR — A Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder Podcast
Where arts, culture, and community stories rise above the headlines.
From Twin Cities creatives shaping culture to voices expanding what it means to tell our stories, On the Radar brings you conversations that illuminate the people and moments making an impact right now.
Tune in for an inspiring conversation about resilience, craft, and why creativity always deserves a place on the radar. 🎧
Zantavious Graham came to the Twin Cities from a small town in Georgia to play football at Concordia University St. Paul. Four years later he has a college degree, a published book, and a growing wellness community reaching hundreds of people across Minneapolis. None of it was part of the original plan. Graham joins MSR Digital Editor Aaliyah Demry on MSR On the Radar to talk about FRM, Forever Remain Motivated, the wellness community he founded, what drove him to build it, and why he believ...
27 Aug 2026
On The Radar Podcast W Tommy Mcneal
Tommy McNeal spent years at the top of the corporate ladder, overseeing customer experience for a Fortune 50 company. He was good at it. He climbed by letting his work ethic speak for itself. But the feeling never left him. "In the back of my mind, like most of us in our Black community, there's this sense that we're all replaceable." In this episode of On the Radar from the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, host Aaliyah Demry sits down with McNeal, president and CEO of McNeal Management Inc., ...
27 Aug 2026
On The Radar w Crowned Kenn
"I don't want to be doing hair in three or four years... I want an empire." At just 24 years old, St. Paul braider and content creator Krowned Kenn is proving that hair was just the launching pad. In this episode of MSR On the Radar, digital host Aaliyah Demry sits down with Kenn to unpack her powerful story from starting in her mom's house, to surviving loss, launching a luxury raw hair bundle line, and laying the blueprint for multi-use commercial real estate in Minnesota.
27 Aug 2026
On The Radar w Devin Boeing
MSR On the Radar host Aaliyah Demry sits down with 26-year-old Devin Boeing to explore how he turned viral online tutorials into free, community-centered tech education across Minneapolis and why mastering AI is essential for Black economic power.
5 Jun 2026
iLLism - Building Community Through Music, Love, and Purpose
Twin Cities hip-hop and R&B duo iLLism have spent years blending music, storytelling, partnership, and purpose into a sound uniquely their own. On this episode of On the Radar, Emmanuel Duncan and Fancy Lanier-Duncan of iLLism share their journey through music, marriage, creativity, and community building. From performing on stages across the country to co-founding initiatives like The Legacy Building and Soul of the Southside, iLLism reflects on the experiences that have shaped their a...
3 Jun 2026
On The radar Podcast w Esther Callahan
On this episode of On the Radar, the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder's series highlighting Black Minnesota creatives, host Damenica Ellis sits down with Esther Callahan, a Minneapolis artivist, curator and co-founder of the BLK Collectors, whose work spans art direction, curation, consulting, activism and community building all in service of one mission: ensuring Black artists are seen, supported and paid. When Operation Metro Surge began and families across the Twin Cities were sheltering in p...
27 May 2026
On The Radar w Kprecia Ambers
On this episode of On the Radar, the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder's series highlighting Black Minnesota creatives, host Damenica Ellis sits down with Kprecia Ambers, a Minneapolis-based visual artist whose vibrant figurative work is built around a simple but powerful intention: putting love into the world. Ambers describes herself first as a child of God, and that foundation shapes everything she creates. Her work centers Black beauty, self-love and representation, drawing on a desire she fe...
27 May 2026
On The radar Podcast w Pavielle French
On this episode of On the Radar, the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder's series highlighting Black Minnesota creatives, host Damenica Ellis sits down with PaviElle French, an Emmy-winning interdisciplinary artist, musician, dancer, writer, composer and arts educator whose decades of work have made her one of the most celebrated and deeply rooted artists in the Twin Cities. French grew up in the Rondo neighborhood of St. Paul, where she began singing in the choir at Maxfield Magnet School under Ma...
7 May 2026
OTR Pod w Jametta Raspberry
29 Apr 2026
On the Radar: Sayge Carroll of Mudluk Pottery Studio
This episode of On the Radar features Sayge Carroll, co-founder of Mudluk Pottery Studio—a grassroots ceramics space redefining what it means to create in community. Rooted in South Minneapolis, Mudluk is more than a studio—it’s a sanctuary for expression, healing, and connection, built as a Black, queer, woman-owned space where artists of all backgrounds can come together. Sayge shares their journey as an interdisciplinary artist, blending clay, sound, and storytelling to honor ance...
16 Apr 2026
ON THE RADAR w Antione Jenkins
On this episode of On the Radar, we sit down with Minneapolis-based multidisciplinary artist Antione Jenkins, whose work spans from custom sneakers to large-scale community murals. From early beginnings doodling in school to creating powerful public art across the Twin Cities, Jenkins shares how he turned his passion into a full-time creative career. We talk about his journey building Skntones, collaborating with major brands and sports teams, and using art as a tool to highlight Black exce...
9 Apr 2026
Maxie Rockymore: Award-Winning Filmmaker on Black Storytelling, "Fresh Cut" & What Comes Next
In this episode of On the Radar — the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder's series highlighting Black Minnesota creatives — host Damenica Ellis sits down with writer, screenwriter, filmmaker, and playwright Maxie Rockymore to talk about her roots, her craft, and the stories she refuses to stop telling. Rockymore grew up in South Minneapolis, surrounded by Black families who had migrated north from Mississippi, Texas, and Alabama. She spent her childhood at Hosmer Library reading Langston Hughes and...
9 Apr 2026
On The Radar with Kevin Washington: Rhythm, Legacy, and the Sound of Community
On this episode of On The Radar, we sit down with Kevin Washington — a master drummer, educator, and genre-blending musician whose sound carries the spirit of Black music across generations. From his Detroit roots to his impact on the Twin Cities music scene, Kevin shares his journey, his approach to rhythm and storytelling, and how he’s using music to mentor, connect, and keep the culture alive.
26 Mar 2026
Tish Jones on 20 Years of True Art Speaks | On the Radar | MSR News
In this episode of On the Radar, the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder's series spotlighting Black Minnesota creatives, host Dominica Ellis sits down with poet, MC, cultural producer and educator Tish Jones. Jones is the founder of True Art Speaks, a Twin Cities arts organization now celebrating its 20th anniversary. Built on a mission to cultivate literacy, leadership and social justice through spoken word and hip-hop culture, True Art Speaks has spent two decades working with young people, prof...
24 Mar 2026
ON THE RADAR w Imani Moore
On this episode of On The Radar, we sit down with Twin Cities dancer and founder Imani Moore, the visionary behind Locomotive Dance Crew. What started as a lifelong passion has grown into a movement centered on inclusion, expression, and community. Moore shares how she built a space where dancers of all backgrounds can connect, perform, and grow—while also looking ahead to a future rooted in access, opportunity, and creative freedom. This conversation highlights the power of dance as a un...
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