The Karol Markowicz Show: From Youth Minister to Columnist with Dustin Grage

Summary

Summary of "The Karol Markowicz Show: From Youth Minister to Columnist with Dustin Greggy"

Release Date: July 23, 2025

In this engaging episode of "The Karol Markowicz Show," host Carol Markowitz sits down with Dustin Greggy, a prominent columnist for Townhall.com. Dustin shares his transformative journey from aspiring youth minister to influential political commentator, delving into his personal experiences, professional milestones, and the challenges he faces living in a predominantly blue state like Minnesota.

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1. Dustin Greggy's Journey to Columnist

From Youth Ministry to Political Activism

Dustin Greggy begins by recounting his early aspirations to become a youth minister, influenced heavily by his grandmother who envisioned him as a priest. His involvement in youth groups and mission trips, particularly to places like Juarez, Mexico, and Chicago, ignited his passion for mission-centric work.

"Youth group is where it kind of all started for me very early on in my life. My grandmother was like, 'You're going to be a priest.'" (03:41)

However, a significant shift occurred when a new leadership regime attempted to alter the youth program's focus, steering it towards Catholic retreats rather than mission work. This resistance led Dustin to explore other avenues, eventually immersing himself in politics. His role as a campaign manager for a local state representative marked the beginning of his political career.

"Tim Walls ran for governor and then ran for vice president. That is one of the options." (06:56)

As his political involvement deepened, Dustin's social media presence surged from 3,000 to 90,000 followers, propelling him into the national spotlight and securing his position at Townhall.com.

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2. Navigating the Political Landscape in Minnesota

Staying in a Blue State with Conservative Roots

Carol brings up the trend of individuals moving from blue to red states, prompting Dustin to discuss his reasons for staying in Minnesota, a traditionally blue state. Despite the state's political leaning, Dustin resides in Wright County, one of Minnesota's most conservative districts. This unique positioning allows him to engage deeply with Republican leadership and maintain a strong community presence.

"We have great leadership here. So we kind of live in a little bit of a bubble where something might happen and head up in Ramsey County, but it doesn't necessarily affect us as much because we have that little bit of a bubble here." (10:01)

Dustin expresses his optimism about the political climate, highlighting close statewide races as indicators of potential change. He believes that increased political engagement and visibility are essential for challenging entrenched figures like Tim Walls in upcoming elections.

"We have eyeballs in the state like we normally wouldn't have had. And there's things getting exposed that normally wouldn't get exposed." (10:01)

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3. Personal Life and Interests

Balancing Family, Music, and Fitness

Beyond his professional life, Dustin delves into his personal passions and family dynamics. An avid guitar player, he finds solace in music despite challenges like limited space and the responsibilities of parenthood.

"I try to keep up with it as much as I can, but I try to get as much private time as I can with my guitar or just trying to get some miles in on the road." (14:40)

Running is another significant aspect of Dustin's life. He reflects on his past as a competitive athlete, training for marathons, and how his dedication to fitness has resurfaced after years of balancing career and family.

"I'm kind of really back in fighting shape again. And I could just say like the day to day stuff of like balancing like, hey, we're doing this reporting, we're working with these candidates." (24:02)

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4. Concerns and Optimism for the Future

Focus on Family and Political Change

Dustin's primary concern revolves around his family's future, particularly his children's well-being and opportunities. He emphasizes a strong pro-life stance and the importance of creating a better tomorrow for the next generation.

"How do you break some of those cycles? While that's not a bad thing, like, we, we care about life and we want to, and we're extremely pro-life." (15:53)

Despite the challenges, Dustin remains a "hopeful optimist," believing that persistent political efforts can lead to meaningful change. He is committed to fighting for better policies and leadership within Minnesota, aiming to dethrone influential figures like Tim Walls in future elections.

"I am a hopeful optimist to a fault. And I will unfortunately, probably be here as long as I possibly can." (09:03)

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5. Advice to Listeners

Be Genuine and Consistent Amidst Adversity

In the latter part of the conversation, Dustin offers heartfelt advice to the audience. He underscores the importance of being authentic and remaining true to oneself, especially in the face of growing criticism and adversity.

"Be yourself, your genuine self and life will find its way after that. God will give you a path." (26:44)

Dustin shares his own experiences of coping with setbacks, such as his running injury and balancing family life, to illustrate the value of consistency and resilience.

"Whenever I look back and see like, oh, when did I make kind of those big pushes and jumps into the next thing? Because life's like this. It's up and down." (25:09)

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6. Conclusion

The episode concludes with Carol expressing her appreciation for Dustin's insights and encouraging listeners to explore his columns on Townhall.com. Dustin's journey from youth ministry to political journalism serves as an inspiring narrative of dedication, adaptability, and unwavering commitment to personal and societal betterment.

"Be yourself, your genuine self and life will find its way after that. God will give you a path." (26:44)

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Notable Quotes:

• "Youth group is where it kind of all started for me very early on in my life. My grandmother was like, 'You're going to be a priest.'" – Dustin Greggy (03:41)

• "Tim Walls ran for governor and then ran for vice president. That is one of the options." – Dustin Greggy (06:56)

• "We have great leadership here. So we kind of live in a little bit of a bubble..." – Dustin Greggy (10:01)

• "Be yourself, your genuine self and life will find its way after that. God will give you a path." – Dustin Greggy (26:44)

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Timestamp References:

• 03:41 – Dustin discusses his early involvement in youth ministry.
• 06:56 – Dustin talks about his political career and rise.
• 10:01 – Insights into Minnesota's political landscape.
• 14:40 – Dustin shares about his personal interests.
• 15:53 – Concerns about family and political influence.
• 24:02 – Balancing fitness with professional duties.
• 25:09 – Advice on consistency and resilience.
• 26:44 – Final advice on authenticity and life path.

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This comprehensive summary encapsulates the essence of Dustin Greggy's conversation on "The Karol Markowicz Show," providing listeners with valuable insights into his life, career, and perspectives on politics and personal growth.

Transcript

[Carol Markowitz]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[Carol Markowitz]

Hi and welcome back to the Carol markowitz show on iheartradio. My guest today is Dustin Greggi, columnist with townhall.com hi Dustin. So nice to have you on.

[Dustin Greggy]

Thanks for having me, Carol. Excited.

[Carol Markowitz]

So how did you get into writing and being a columnist with Town Hall?

[Dustin Greggy]

That is a long journey, but I suppose it kind of all started, you know, kind of, you know, our upbrings and where we kind of come with that. For me personally, youth group is where it kind of all started for me very early on in my life. My grandmother was like, you're going to be a priest. So I went to youth group and that's kind of where a lot.

[Carol Markowitz]

Where did you grow up?

[Dustin Greggy]

Just oh, Minnesota, here in Wright County. So we border Minneapolis. I'm about a 35, 40 minute trip from Minneapolis, so a little bit on the suburbs, exurbs of Minneapolis. But that's kind of where that all started. I very early in life I got involved in youth group and I was on track to be a youth minister for the longest time. Where that ultimately kind of broke off a little bit was when I was in that we were very mission trip oriented. So like we went to like Juarez, Mexico, Chicago, Illinois, probably a dozen different locations. That was kind of my big thing I was really into and I feel.

[Carol Markowitz]

Like I was gonna make a, I was gonna make a war torn area joke there. But Juarez, I don't want to insult them, you know. Chicago. Yes.

[Dustin Greggy]

Well, Minneapolis has definitely upped the ante a little bit recently here in the last four and a half years. Yeah, even more recently we're still going with it. But no, I mean, I've seen some, some crazy stuff and even when those riots hit in Minneapolis, it was pretty crazy Compared to even Juarez where like, I mean some of these places you go to, you're like, man, we're just in a completely different world. But when those buildings come down burning, I mean, it's also a completely different world when you just go down, you drive to see the aftermath of how that all comes very similar in many regards. I mean granted, or as wasn't constantly burning, but the buildings were completely demolished and there's retaining walls built out of rubber tires. And you're just so resourceful in how you're actually living day to day in that type of a situation. But that was kind of my calling early on. But one thing that kind of brought me out of that, we actually had this massive regime change in our youth program. We had a new convert kind of come in and they had a new program and we kind of rebelled at that point. We're like, no, we won't have any of this. We don't want to change this program. We want to be mission centric. We want to do this versus this new regime was kind of more like we want to do like Catholic retreats and kind of keep us in our own bubble. And we're like, no, we have to go out. We have to be outside this bubble and go out and evangelize. And then at that point I kind of had this breakout of where I found myself jumping church to church. At one point I was going to three or four different services a week just trying to explore a little bit and figure out what happens out there, how we find that more mission driven focus and which ultimately led me to politics. We ended up breaking off from this and we started a youth group and it turns out that one of the kids we brought on ended up being the son of someone who was running to be our local state representative that cycle. And literally just the rest is history. Ended up becoming that rep's campaign manager for her campaign. Ended up working for the state party here in Minnesota for the Republicans, Worked on some congressional and statewide campaigns, had a lot of success in those. Ultimately then this guy Tim Walls ran for gut for ran for vice president.

[Carol Markowitz]

I've heard of him.

[Dustin Greggy]

Then from there, it kind of gets a little crazy. Your 3,000 followers on Twitter becomes 90,000 really quickly. Yeah, millions of people all of a sudden care about your opinion and your analysts on everything. You know, that's kind of how we got here today with town hall.

[Carol Markowitz]

It's amazing. So you made the jump to journalism around that time when Tim Walls became a national figure?

[Dustin Greggy]

Yes.

[Carol Markowitz]

What was the first story you wrote.

[Dustin Greggy]

The very first story I wrote. It was out now, I do recall it is about how Tim Walls came to rise to be Kamala Harris's running mate. And ultimately, the issue that really drove them to meet each other was abortion driven. Minnesota was going to be pushing the most insane abortion law in the country, and that was known as the pro act. Kamala Harris, as vice president, actually came to visit an abortion clinic in Minnesota, the first vice president in US History to ever visit one, ever. And there is Tim Walls. And they had a shared press conference. They really hit it off from there, and they could be getting close. Sure enough, within six months of that meeting, he ended up becoming the pick. So that's ultimately where their rise kind of started. And, you know, just kind of being in Minnesota politics as an operative, I just kind of had that knowledge. And I think the first moment it kind of hit me was Molly Hemingway, like, texts, like, ask for my number and text me. She's like, man, I just. You're reporting so good. And like, she used that word.

[Carol Markowitz]

Amazing.

[Dustin Greggy]

And I'm just like, Molly Hemingway just appreciates my reporting.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right? You're like, I'm. Yeah, right.

[Dustin Greggy]

And that's honestly that where it start took off.

[Carol Markowitz]

I love that. You know, I talk to a lot of people on this show who, especially in the last five years, have left blue states to move to red states. It's been a very common theme on this show. A lot of people moved in the last five years. You know, the great migration. But you are in Minnesota. It is a blue state. You're, you know, on the right. Why are you sticking it out and are you hopeful?

[Dustin Greggy]

I am a hopeful optimist to a fault. And I will unfortunately, probably be here as long as I possibly can. I mean, me and my wife, we just had a family trip to Florida, over to the great Gulf of America this last couple years of couple months.

[Carol Markowitz]

I live on the other side, but I went to the Gulf a few times recently, and I really loved it.

[Dustin Greggy]

No, it's fantastic. And, like, I was around DeSantis guy in the primary, like, and I appreciate Trump and all he's ever done and greatly side with him for all these battles. And I'm happy to be a happy warrior in that manner, but I really do appreciate, like, leadership, like Governor DeSantis and all that. And, yeah, it's on our list. It's on the escape list. That is one of the options.

[Carol Markowitz]

But you're not escaping yet.

[Dustin Greggy]

But I'm not escaping. The thankful good part about where I live in Particular is Wright County, Minnesota. At one point, my congressional district was listed as one of the top 10 most conservative districts in the country when Michelle.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah.

[Dustin Greggy]

Bachman was our congresswoman. Now it's Tom Emmer who's the majority whip. But it's a very conservative area. I mean, just I know the sheriff by first name. My wife and his wife have had like a three year snap streak. At this point. We know all hardcore red meat Republican. Our catchphrase here is raised right with a W. Because just everything's Republican out here. It's 80, 20, 70, 30 districts all across the board. So we have great leadership here. So we kind of live in a little bit of a bubble where something might happen and head up in Ramsey county, but it doesn't necessarily affect us as much because we have that little bit of a bubble here.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right.

[Dustin Greggy]

So that is. But ultimately, like I am Minnesota, I do love Minnesota. I just hate where our politics have gone. And that's the unfortunate part. We're pushing back in that regard. And I guess one final piece on that. I'm like the hope of it. You know, we only had a couple statewide races come within 1 percentage point of winning last cycle. And I, throughout all this, you know, kind of adventure of Tim Walls kind of having this national attention is we do have eyeballs in the state like we normally wouldn't have had. And there's things getting exposed that normally wouldn't get exposed. And I just have to think that that little bit of push is enough to push over, you know, the attorney general and the state auditor races last cycle and hopefully we can dethrone tim Walls in 2026. So that's my hope and that's what we're fighting for.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, that would be amazing. You know, it never made sense to me that Minnesota is a blue state, although it is very long time blue state. Actually for the young people listening, the piece of trivia is Reagan won 49 states and the 50th state that he didn't win was Minnesota. You know, I think people refer to living in a bubble in a bad way. But I am very pro bubble. I think that living in a bubble is a very good thing. I. Especially when kids are concerned. I love living in my Florida bubble. I love living in somewhere where. Yeah, where it's safe. And you know, when we travel and they see homeless people, it's like jarring to them. I love that. I. Why, why would I want them to get used to, you know, the kind of things that I got used to growing up in Brooklyn that I don't think are necessarily good for kids. So I'm very pro bubble. I'm glad you have that bubble for yourself in the blue state, as my.

[Dustin Greggy]

Wife likes to say. She wants to have a cornfield next to her and be surrounded by one, but she wants to be within seven minutes of a target.

[Carol Markowitz]

That's kind of our little understanding.

[Dustin Greggy]

You don't have those problems out in an area like this where it's conservative leadership, but also just it's that exurb living and you know, it's safe. You can bring your kids to the park and not worry.

[Carol Markowitz]

That's all people want. Right. It's not that much to ask for. So would you have been a priest? Is that. Would that have been the plan B, if, you know, journalism didn't work out or something?

[Dustin Greggy]

So, like I am imagining my great grandmother who is in her 90s. My great grandfather, 98, when he passed 99, I should say, actually. And she would tell me how she would. Because this used to be really long hair. I was, I was a skateboarder in middle school. Yeah. And she'd come over and be like, I'm gonna chop your hair off. I mean, her house was directly across the street from the Catholic church, like our archdiocese. And my priests would be like, you know, you'd make a really cool priest and you don't have to be one of those boring ones. You could be really cool, like Father Schmitz, which is the famous one who does the year round Bible podcast.

[Carol Markowitz]

Oh, okay.

[Dustin Greggy]

Yeah, you could be a cool priest like him. And I give it a little bit of a thought for a while, but ultimately at the end of the day, like, kids and marriage were on my mind, on my calling. Yeah. You know, we kind of don't expect to fall into, you know, these different areas that we kind of expected. My mom had always been on council and she even served as mayor of our local town here for a while. She always told me, you know, you're gonna be the politician of the family. I'm like, no, that's not. I will never do what you are doing. I will never do that.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right. And now, now here we are.

[Dustin Greggy]

But, you know, I always thought it was going to be youth ministry. At the end of the day, that was kind of. And if I, if I didn't end up doing this, it would be probably youth ministry or it'd be some type of music, like working, doing some type of prison worship band stuff that probably would have been more my route is what I would have went but, you know, I'm thankful for this because now we have a platform and we can do good things with it. You know, we just got to be smart about it and how we go about everything.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right. Do you play an instrument?

[Dustin Greggy]

I am an avid guitar player. I meddle with drums, but my wife does not like drums. So we do not do drums right now.

[Carol Markowitz]

No.

[Dustin Greggy]

At least until we can go get a private music drum. And sound.

[Carol Markowitz]

There's no such thing as a wife who likes drums.

[Dustin Greggy]

No. Even pulling out the guitar every once in a while is kind of challenging, especially when you run out of room and start to have kids. Yeah. And then you're out of time because all this stuff is busy too. But, you know, I try to keep up with it as much as I can, but I try to get as much private time as I can with my guitar or just trying to get some miles in on the road. An avid runner as well. So those are kind of my two escapes there. But yeah, those that would probably end up being my calling if that ended up going. But priesthood there was a little bit there, but at the end of the day, youth ministry was definitely there.

[Carol Markowitz]

What do you worry about?

[Dustin Greggy]

I definitely. Everything that surrounds my life that I worry about is without a doubt my family and my kids. How do you give them the life that, you know, while I had a great childhood and a great life, especially with my wife, who didn't necessarily have the greatest childhood growing up, our entire focus and livelihood is on giving them what we didn't have and how we can always do better and kind of, duh, you know, eliminate some of those generational things that you don't want to carry over to the next generation sample. I've said, like her grandmother, I mean, she had kids when she was 18. Her mom had her when she was 18.

[Carol Markowitz]

Wow.

[Dustin Greggy]

You know, how do you break some of those cycles? While that's not a bad thing, like, we, we care about life and we want to, and we're extremely pro life. We never consider anything like that. We do everything we can to push the battle of pro life. But you also want to try to do things as responsibly as you can to give your kids the best opportunities you possibly can. But everything I whether it's the policies of this state, you know, or something else nationally, everything surrounds about, like, how do we give our kids a better tomorrow than we had growing up? That's definitely the one thing I worry about. And in this state, that's why we continue to fight. I mean, my family's all here. I mean, I have a lot of family in Alabama as well, and they have a little bit more gifts down there in terms of leadership. But, you know, we try to fight as much as we can here. And think of it, because a lot of people can't escape. In many cases, you're kind of forced here. Many cases you bought your house 25 years ago and you're stuck in that mortgage. Like you can't leave. For many people, escape isn't an option while it's on our. It's like we rent right now and have that option to do that at any point. But, you know, we're trying to hold out as much as we can because you don't want to just move grandparents away from kids and all that. Try to fight for everything.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right? We just did it. And it's, it's, it's very hard. I mean, my, my, the grandparents do come visit a lot. They kind of, you know, it's pretty close. It's like two and a half, three hours away from New York. But still, it used to be like, my mom was in my house every single day. She'd let herself in at six in the morning and like take the kids to school. And it just, it's very tough to make that move. So when people online are like, oh, just move. Like, you live in a blue state, just move. It's not quite so easy. And I get that. But so you talk about giving kids, you know, a better world. Are you optimistic about that?

[Dustin Greggy]

Like I said, I am a gross optimist to a fault, granted. Like, there's some good data points in there to point out that this is all very possible and, you know, we're finding as much as we can to do give those opportunities to them. You do worry sometimes when you see kind of this, you know, inner city growth coming out, even to us in Wright county, which is just a river, separates us from the craziness, and that's pretty much it. But you do have that little bit of a bubble, and that's kind of why we're here. And maybe if we do end up moving, maybe it's just further west versus out of a different straight out to start things out. But you just try to hold out as much hope as you can and you fight as much as you can to kind of create those better scenarios. But at the end of the day, it all comes down to the kids. That that's the only thing I truly worry about today. But at least in my individual life, that's what my focus is. But there's, you know, there's a greater good you want to fight for, too. Granted, I experience it firsthand in Minnesota because we are a lab of craziness. We are, we, we are cold. California is a really good way to describe. It's like, wow, there's these horrible policies and all these people are just fleeing California. Beautiful.

[Carol Markowitz]

Try those.

[Dustin Greggy]

Yeah, but you're choosing to stay in the cold version of that, like isolated, you know, but, you know, you just do as much as you can. You fight for the future and.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, yeah, amazing. We're going to take a quick break and be right back on the Carol Markowitz Show.

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[Dustin Greggy]

That's a really great question and I thought about that one a little bit. One I obviously just say keep being yourself and just do all of that but keep the rocker hair and your your health. Prioritize that more. Like I think back like especially going to like college, like I was a very competitive track and cross country athlete. Like I could break a 5 minute mile, I could break a 19 minute 5k. I put a lot of work and effort into that. Then I actually in college trained for my first marathon. I ended up slashing my foot on chicken wire. It was a horrible experience. Just before I think maybe a month, month and a half before the actual race. I put like a thousand miles in at that point and I pretty much stopped running after that. Then kids come along, marriage comes along, you lose track of time and you lose your health a little bit. And 34, you know, probably a decade later I'm really starting to get back into it again. Yeah, and you realize like all of that loss because you just don't sleep as well anymore, you're not moving around as efficiently. All that lost energy you could have had in some of these scenarios and how it could have just dramatically changed things. But yeah, when you come into adversity, I guess I should say is to just keep being consistent and push on. Because I mean that was a really Rough time in life when I reflect on and I'm like, dang, you know, I had that mental fortitude at one point and then I just kind of lost it at some point. Thankfully I'm, I'm there again.

[Carol Markowitz]

I think 34 is not too late, you know, it's not too late.

[Dustin Greggy]

I mean, I, I act like I'm old and I'm dying. I'm still pretty dang young. But.

[Carol Markowitz]

No, but I hear you. When you take a long break from something, it's very, very hard to get back in.

[Dustin Greggy]

Yeah, but you know, the, the greater message there, be consistent and you're going to run into adversity. But despite that adversity, you just gotta keep going. But that's the one thing I in particular think about is like my running. Like there was at one point, you know, I'd put in close to 60, 70 mile weeks, just running 120 pounds later, basically a lot of lost energy and like, but once you have those kids and they start running around, you realize truly like how much energy and thankfully, you know, that's, that's taken a dramatically different turn in the last like 12 months. And I'm kind of really back in fighting shape again. And I could just say like the day to day stuff of like balancing like, hey, we're doing this reporting, we're working with these candidates. Like I've got my hand in like five different things right now, but then maybe that's a little bit of the ADHD still working that I really just figured that out the last couple years that I have that. But you just kind of learn that if you had had that energy, you'd be able to do so much more and you'd be even this much further. And that's one thing I definitely look back on.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, I totally hear you. I think for anything. It doesn't even just have to be like, you know, a sports thing or anything. I think anything you take a break from for that long, it's tough to come back. But 34 is still very young and you, you have a lot of time to figure it out. I like that answer. So I've loved this conversation. I love your columns. Leave us here with your best tip for my listeners on how they can.

[Dustin Greggy]

Improve their lives to a degree. I kind of, I guess think I answered it. But one thing that just generally comes back that, and I think I mentioned it briefly is just be yourself, especially in this world of all of these outside voices just screaming in each of your ears like, oh no, you got to do it this way. You got to do it this way. Whenever I look back and see like, oh, when did I make kind of those big pushes and jumps into the next thing? Because life's like this. It's up and down. But those real moments where you really just shoot up, it's just because you're your genuine self and you're putting yourself out there. At the end of the day, that's what people want. They want you to be genuine whether they like you or not. And I guarantee I found this out the hard way because I love to people peas and be liked by everyone. As your platform grows and as you get more successful, you're only going to grow more haters. You will only grow more haters over time.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah.

[Dustin Greggy]

And just embrace it. Be yourself, your genuine self and life will find its way after that. God will give you a path.

[Carol Markowitz]

I love it. Be yourself. Be genuine. He is Dustin Greggy. Check him [e-mail] thank you so much for coming on, Dustin.

[Dustin Greggy]

Thank you, Carol.

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