Minnesota plays a unique role in the arena of health, with impactful political/cultural moments, and important contributions from institutions such as Mayo Clinic, Hazelden, UCare, among others. Over the decades, MPR News and American RadioWorks have produced a breadth of reports and programming specifically dedicated to the subject of health. This collection includes interviews, debates, speeches, and documentaries that provide greater detail to the many facets of healthcare, from both a local and national perspective.
November 11, 1978 - Dr. Lois Phillips Hudson, author and English professor at University of Washington, Tacoma, describes how rape and fear of being raped work to drain women of energy and assurance they might use to be creative.
January 18, 1979 - Excerpt of Dr. V. Elving Anderson, director of the Dwight Institute at the University of Minnesota, speaking on the topic of genetic engineering and human values.
January 25, 1979 - MPR’s Dan Olson interviews Isabel Wolf, University of Minnesota extension nutrition specialist, who comments on current nutrition news and answers listener questions on a variety of issues related to food, nutrition, and health.
February 6, 1979 - MPR's John Ydstie interviews Charles Lutz, the director of the World Hunger Program for the American Luther Church. Lutz speaks on the irony of hunger in a time of world food surpluses.
March 12, 1979 - Dr. Margaret Olwen Sanderson, of the University of Minnesota Human Sexuality Program, talks with Dan Olson about human sexuality. Sanderson specializes in study of sexual physiology.
March 31, 1979 - Nationally syndicated Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman speaks at the 86th Minnesota Association of Social Services Conference in Minneapolis.
March 31, 1979 - Dr. Max Fine, director of the National Institute Committee for National Health Insurance, speaking at a health care costs symposium in Ames, Iowa. Fine’s topic is "The Health Problems of the Elderly."
April 28, 1979 - On this special regional public affairs program, MPR’s Rich Dietman interviews Dale Simonson of the Mental Health Association of Minnesota; Judge Susanne Sedgwick of Hennepin County District Court, Family Division; and Reverend Jay Croft, director of the Minnesota State Council for the Handicapped, who discuss mental health resources in the community. Highlighted topics include a definition of mental health, child abuse, and coping with special frustrations of being handicapped.
May 16, 1979 - MPR’s Dan Olson interviews Kathleen Dineen, of the University of Minnesota School of Nursing; and Bonnie Stickles of St. Paul-Ramsey Hospital, who discuss the history and practices of midwifery and midwives today.
May 26, 1979 - Dr. William Nolen of Litchfield, speaking at 9th Annual Health Alert Symposium held at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Nolen addresses securing good health care and patients advocating competent and compassionate care.