Voices of Minnesota, a long-running MPR series, highlights the many interesting voices that make up the people and history of Minnesota. It has appeared on Mid-Morning, MPR, Midday, and News Feature broadcasts in short form, and part of Midday hour programming in long form. Over the years, MPR’s Dan Olson, Gary Eichten, and numerous others, produced hundreds of fascinating interviews from the land of 10,000 Lakes.
April 21, 1997 - Bonnie Wallace says the way things worked on the Fond du Lac reservation when she was a teenager there 30 years ago is the Bureau of Indian Affairs told boys they'd be auto mechanics and the girls would be hair dressers. Today on our Voices of Minnesota interview we hear Bonnie Wallace talk about education for American Indians. Wallace left the reservation as a young adult. Now, she's back as chair of the board for the tribal college. She talked recently with Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson about attitudes toward American Indians when she was growing up.
April 21, 1997 - Bonnie Wallace says the way things worked on the Fond du Lac reservation when she was a teenager there 30 years ago is the Bureau of Indian Affairs told boys they'd be auto mechanics and the girls would be hair dressers. Today on our Voices of Minnesota interview we hear Bonnie Wallace talk about education for American Indians. Wallace left the reservation as a young adult. Now, she's back as chair of the board for the tribal college. She talked recently with Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson about attitudes toward American Indians when she was growing up.
April 28, 1997 - A Voices of Minnesota with Dr. Virginia Lupo of the Hennepin County Medical Center, a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology. An interview with the author of "Becoming the Parent You Want to Be"... early childhood educator Janice Keyser, who says parents need to follow their own values, rather than those found in a book. Also, Sasha Aslanian's "Odd Job" segment with a dialect coach.
May 5, 1997 - As part of the “Voices of Minnesota" series, this program features two interviews on personal stories of overcoming life struggles. MPR’s Laura McCallum speaks with Stanley Sahlstrom, retired educator. Sahlstrom focused his adult life in support of agriculture. MPR’s Dan Olson speaks with Giovanna "Mama D" D'Agostino, a philanthropist and restaurateur. Program ends with a call-in segment with Kathleen Maloney, the new executive director of the Minnesota Alliance for Arts in Education.
May 7, 1997 - Midday presents a special "Voices of Minnesota" program featuring the accounts of three Minnesotans during the Holocaust of World War Two. MPR reporter Dan Olson's conversations include the experience of Lucy Smith of St. Paul, who spent her childhood hiding from Nazis in Poland; the recollections of Reider Dittman, who was sent to a concentration camp; and a description of the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp by Twin Cities architect Leonard Parker.
May 19, 1997 - A Voices of Minnesota interview with retiring Augsburg College president, Charles Anderson. Also Israeli novelist Abraham B. Yehoshua is in the Twin Cities to speak on the topic of "Israeli Identity in a Time of Peace" and "Modern Democracy and the Novel". He has won numerous awards for his writing and is an activist in the Israeli Peace Movement, working for a compromise with the Palestinians.
May 26, 1997 - A Voices of Minnesota interview with Joe Gomer, one of the Tuskegee Airman during World War II. Also Walter Benjamin of Hamline University, author of "War & Reflection." He looks back on his experiences as a member of the Navy in World War II and the ongoing meaning it has in his life.
June 2, 1997 - As part of the “Voices of Minnesota" series, this program features two health related interviews. MPR’s John Biewen speaks with Dr. Ron Cranford of the Hennepin County Medical Center. Cranford is an ethicist and end-of-life specialist. Infertility specialist. MPR’s Stephanie Curtis speaks with Dr. Robert Jansen, author of "Overcoming Infertiity: A Compassionate Resource for Getting Pregnant." Program ends with MPR’s Brent Wolfe presenting a feature on new carousel in Kellogg, Minnesota.
June 9, 1997 - A Voices of Minnesota interview with Mary Beth Blegen for Mon, June 9, 1997. Mary Beth Blegen spent her school year traveling as the National Education Association's teacher of the year. In July, the Worthington educator takes a new job as a consultant in Washington D. C. at the Department of Education. Today on our Voices of Minnesota interview we'll hear Blegen talk about her life. She's been a writing, history and literature teacher for 30 years at Worthington High School. The 52-year-old South Dakota native is also well known to Worthington-area readers through her weekly newspaper column. Blegen told Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Steil her column often became a public expression of personal struggles.
June 9, 1997 - Two Voices of Minnesota interviews: Mary Beth Blegen, National Teacher of the Year from Worthington, Minnesota. And a conversation with Minnesota School Psychologist of the Year, Sally Gotelaere. She works for the Hermantown School District.