Twin Cities radio legend turned podcaster Tom Barnard has revealed he’ll leave his show with Hubbard Radio next year and hand it to his children.
The Tom Barnard Podcast, which is produced by Hubbard Radio, will be without the host who spend nearly 40 years in morning drive at KQRS in Minneapolis when Barnard steps away in November 2026.
“The listener support is great, but I don’t get a lot of other support for the podcast,” Barnard told the Star Tribune. “The newspaper and local TV businesses are in the same boat. The segue from radio to podcasting has gotten better, but it’s still uncomfortable for me. I just don’t have the same enthusiasm for it. But I’ve been told by 8 billion people this past weekend that there’s no way I can leave. They say there’s not anything else to listen to.”
Tom Barnard joined Hubbard Radio in January 2023 to produce the daily podcast alongside his children, Andy and Alex. They will take over the program upon his departure next year.
As for what he’ll do after stepping away? Barnard says he isn’t completely sure but that he isn’t done, either.
“I will never retire. But I don’t know where I would go,” he said. “Maybe I could go to KFAN, do one or two hours a week. So many good people over there. But I don’t see where there would be room for me.”
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