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.
June 23, 1977 - University of North Dakota medical professor Theodore Reiff at the annual Governor's Citizens Council on Aging Conference at Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter. Reiff spoke on how to prolong life. He began his remarks with a technical description of four theories of why we age. Later in his speech he focuses on what our culture has not done to prolong life.
July 8, 1977 - Doctor Jerome Bach, family psychiatrist and medical director of the Bach Institute in Minneapolis, describes his research findings on how the birth position one holds in the family affects a person.
July 12, 1977 - MPR’s Rich Dietman presents “Wisdom of the Children,” which explores the thoughts, mindsets, and wisdom of children battling cancer and terminal conditions. Dietman interviews Dr. Lawrence Singher, who describes what he has witnessed from young patients.
July 13, 1977 - MPR’s Neal St. Anthony presents a report and taped excerpts from yesterday's Senate hearings on the controversial drug, Laetrile.
July 16, 1977 - On this regional public affairs program, Bev Blindy of the Southside Nursery School; Deb Anderson of the Hennepin County Sex Abuse Team; and Ann Elwood, who works with parents, discuss the subject of parenting, child abuse and the family.
October 1, 1977 - Dr. Phyllis Fleming, assistant professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota, speaking at Annual Conference of the Minnesota Health Association. Speech was titled "Nutrition and Lifestyle: How to Change Behavior.”
October 10, 1977 - Dr. Jean Houston, Director of the Foundation for Mind Research with her husband Dr. Robert Masters, speaking at symposium on human potential sponsored by the Science Museum of the Minnesota. Houston discussed altered modes of thinking, human consciousness, and the effects of technology on the human personality.
October 15, 1977 - On this regional public affairs program, MPR’s Neal St. Anthony presents report on aspects of Little League football. Program contains sound portrait and various interviews with administrators, coaches, psychologists, parents, and trainers. Topic of helmet safety concerns is addressed.
November 5, 1977 - The following edition of The Poet's Perspective is on the subject of teenage pregnancy. The program features Southwest Minnesota regional poets Joe and Nancy Paddock.
November 29, 1977 - Rabbi Seymour Siegel, professor of ethics at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, speaking at a forum on biomedical ethics organized by the Minnesota Inter-religious Committee for Biomedical Ethics, and sponsored by a grant from the Minnesota Humanities Commission in cooperation with the National Endowment for the Humanities. Siegel’s speech was entitled, "Human Experimentation and Informed Consent". To what lengths should researchers go to gather data using humans as subjects? How much should a potential human subject be told about the experiment he or she is to take part in? These and related questions were topics of speech.