On the Ground in Minneapolis: Operation Metro Surge Is Far From Over

Pantsuit Politics

Lemonada Media

News, Politics, Society & Culture, News Commentary

4.5 • 4.9K Ratings

🗓️ 20 February 2026

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

There’s a theme in today’s episode of holding the breath, which is something I’ve been doing about unrest and possible US military action in Iran. Sarah and I discuss reporting that the administration seems increasingly likely to take what they term “kinetic” action (and what Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie and Senators Tim Kaine and Rand Paul would call acts of war). Then there’s the way that our guest and friend Natalia Terfa describes holding her breath in Minneapolis. Even as Operation Metro Surge “winds down,” there are still agents and agitators. There is still fear and tension. There is damage left to repair after “it’s over,” and a sense that it’s not really over yet. We’re grateful to Natalia for her leadership on the ground and her willingness to discuss it with us today. We often talk about outside of politics as an exhale, and we hope it is today. We talk about our very-non-sports-y Winter Olympics takes, with a special shout out to all of you who participated in the Spice Cabinet Opening Ceremonies. If you’ve listened for a long time, you know that I love yoga. One of my favorite parts of a yoga class is taking a collective breath. It reminds me that we’re here. We’re alive, right now, and that’s its own form of miracle. It reminds me that we’re not alone. I hope this episode gives you that sense, too. -Beth Topics Discussed: Unrest in Iran and Potential Military Action On the Ground in Minneapolis with Natalia Terfa Outside of Politics: The Winter Olympics Ready to go deeper? Visit our website for complete show notes, exclusive premium content, chats, and more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Lemonada.
0:02.7	This is Sarah Stewart Holland.
0:16.6	This is Beth Silver.
0:17.4	You're listening to Pantsuit Politics.
0:18.9	Today we're going to talk about the increasing intensity happening with respect to Iran and the United States government.
0:27.2	Then we are going to have a conversation much closer to home with Natalia Turfa, who has been on the ground in Minneapolis, organizing, observing, providing pastoral care to people. She's going to take us through what this
0:39.3	experience has been like and what it continues to be like as Operation Metro Surge ramps down,
0:45.2	but is far from over. And outside of politics, we're going to take and exhale ourselves with the
0:51.1	Winter Olympics. They're wrapping up. We have absorbed a little bit of
0:55.2	the controversy, a little bit of the sports. We're going to chat about our observations coming out
1:00.7	of these games. You'll hear us talk with Natalia about our upcoming visit to Minneapolis at the end
1:05.8	of August. We're going to do our only live show of the year on Saturday, August 29th. Premium
1:10.0	members have already had access
1:11.4	to tickets to the Spice Conference surrounding that live event, but tickets to the public will go
1:17.2	on sale probably in early March. So keep an eye out for that and save the date to come see us
1:23.1	live on Saturday, August 29. Next up, we are bracing ourselves with every headline we read about Iran.
1:29.7	We'll talk about it.
1:30.9	You know the moment when you open the trash can and get hit with that smell?
1:34.8	It's always food scraps.
1:36.7	Scary old leftovers, wilted greens, stuff that just sits there waiting to go to a landfill.
1:41.7	That's why I want to tell you about Mill.
1:43.8	Mill is the odorless,
	...

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