# Bonus: How’d Lutsen Lodge Really Burn Down? Feat. Journalist Joe Friedrichs Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/racketcast-7015734/bonus-how-d-lutsen-lodge-really-burn-down-feat-journalist-joe-friedrichs Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/racketcast-7015734/bonus-how-d-lutsen-lodge-really-burn-down-feat-journalist-joe-friedrichs.md Podcast: [RacketCast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/racketcast-7015734) Published: 2025-07-29T20:20:33+00:00 Episode link: https://racketmn.com Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/66e37617547e9546dfc561ed/e/68892d11e0a86cc3ab50470f/media.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/racketcast-7015734/episodes/bonus-how-d-lutsen-lodge-really-burn-down-feat-journalist-joe-friedrichs Duration seconds: 1707 ## Resource For many Minnesotans, it wasn’t just another building on the North Shore—it was the beating heart of the North Shore. Over its 144-year history, Lutsen Resort had hosted countless weddings, family reunions, and friendly ski trips along the the intersection of Lake Superior and the Poplar River. So when the historic lodge burned down in early 2024, many folks were understandably heartbroken. Then, almost immediately, suspicion around the owner, Bryce Campbell, began brewing. Dire finances. Unresolved inspection violations. Contradictory whereabouts. The State Fire Marshal’s investigation  remains ongoing , but North Shore journalist/author Joe Friedrichs is already hard at work on a longform podcast series called  The Fire: A Lutsen Podcast . Friedrichs and his team have assembled almost 30 hours of audio, including interviews with ex-resort employees, fire investigators, Cook County residents, fellow journalists, and even Campbell. "It's such an important story, and not just for the North Shore—it needs to be treated with respect in terms of production quality," Friedrichs says. "I'm just so interested in it… it's time to do [this podcast]." You can support  The Fire , which is due out this fall,  via Kickstarter . Enjoy our conversation with Friedrichs. Subscribe  to  RacketCast  wherever you get your podcasts—Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, etc.  •  Wanna  advertise  on  RacketCast ? Email us at  advertise@racketmn.com .  •  Have a food/drink, event, or show recommendation? How about a civic hot take? General or specific question?  Call 619-RACKTIP  (619-722-5847) with your first name + city + 3-min.-maximum voicemail, and we might play it on a future episode.  •  Sp… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/racketcast-7015734/episodes/bonus-how-d-lutsen-lodge-really-burn-down-feat-journalist-joe-friedrichs/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/racketcast-7015734/bonus-how-d-lutsen-lodge-really-burn-down-feat-journalist-joe-friedrichs.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.