December 18, 1989 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger reports from Dorset, Minnesota, a place with a plate full in the number of restaurants. Owners call it the “food capitol of the world.” Everyone is there to eat.
December 27, 1989 - A Mainstreet Radio special from southwestern Minnesota town of Madison. MPR’s John Biewen presents a documentary entitled, "We're Not Dying," which highlights how the town survived the 1980’s farm crisis.
March 27, 1990 - On this Midday program, a presentation of a Mainstreet Radio report on rural Minnesota and the debate on how it should be viewed and described. Following report, MPR’s Bob Potter has a conversation with Paul Gruchow, local author and reporter; and George Donohue, a rural sociologist at the University of Minnesota about the differences between rural and urban Minnesota and answer listener questions.
May 16, 1990 - As part of a series on Bemidji race relations, Mainstreet Radio reporter Leif Enger looks at difficulties Native Americans face in finding housing.
August 18, 1990 - MPR’s Mark Heistad talks with Evelyn Fairbanks, author of the book “Days of Rondo.” Fairbanks reflects on growing up in the Rondo neighborhood of St. Paul.
October 11, 1990 - Midday presents a Mainstreet Radio special broadcast on rural schools…both their problems and successes. John Biewan visits Rothsay, a small western Minnesota town. People in Rothsay say their school, far from being a dinosaur, should serve as a model for education reform.
October 22, 1990 - MPR’s William Wilcoxen visits St. Joseph a year after the abduction of Jacob Wetterling. Wilcoxen interviews local residents about what has changed in the community.
October 29, 1990 - On this Mainstreet Radio program, MPR’s Leif Enger reports on the attempts for a truce on the border of the BWCA since the 1978 Boundary Waters Wilderness Act.
November 8, 1990 - MPR’s Stephen Smith presents the documentary "Whom They Fear, They Hate," which explores the issue of hate crime in the U.S. by looking at two communities: Minneapolis/St. Paul and Portland, Oregon.
December 30, 1990 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger reports from the northern border town of International Falls, as Boise Cascade, the city's largest employer, finishes up a huge expansion of their papermill. The development, which utilized non-union workers, caused bitter feelings in the town. In 1989, 500 union supporters rioted in International Falls after Boise Cascade brought in the thousands of non-union workers to do it. The town was divided as local businesses flourished with increase of people, but union workers and their families were left feeling betrayed.