November 6, 2002 - MPR’s Michael Khoo breaks down the numbers of 2002’ election results. Republican House Majority Leader Tim Pawlenty won his bid to be Minnesota's next governor. With 96% of precincts reporting, unofficial returns show Pawlenty leading DFL rival Roger Moe 45% to 36%. Independence Party candidate Tim Penny was trailing a distant third with 16% of the vote. The Green Party's Ken Pentel finished with just over 2%.
November 6, 2002 - MPR's Mark Zdechlik reports on Republican Norm Coleman celebrating his election to the U.S. Senate. Coleman defeated former Vice President Walter Mondale, who entered the race less than a week prior, taking Senator Paul Wellstone's place on the ballot after Wellstone was killed in a plane crash.
November 12, 2002 - Wendy Wasserstein wrote several such very popular plays, including "The Heidi Chronicles," which won both a Tony award and the Pulitzer Prize in the original play category. She was the first woman to win in that category. She's also taught at Columbia, Princeton, and New York University, and has been a contributing editor to numerous magazines including "Harper's Bazaar." A couple of weeks ago, Wendy Wasserstein spoke at the Adath Jeshurun Congregation in Minnetonka.
November 25, 2002 - Westminster Town Hall Forum speech by Parker Palmer, best-selling author of "Let Your Life Speak," "The Courage to Teach," and "The Company of Strangers." He speaks on the country's increasing diversity, and how to welcome the new without losing the old.
December 3, 2002 - Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Elie Wiesel, speaking recently at the Mayo Clinic about terrorism and how 9/11 changed America. He now teaches at Boston University and is the President and Founder of the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity.
January 3, 2003 - MPR's Michael Khoo reports on what is likely to be Governor Jesse Ventura’s last news conference as Minnesota's chief executive. Ventura has had a sometimes difficult relationship with the reporters who cover him, and although event was cordial, it was in many ways characteristic of previous appearances before the men and women he knew as "jackals."
February 13, 2003 - William George, former Medtronic CEO, talks about his experiences while working in an industry in which the products themselves may have ethical ramifications. He discusses how an individual and a leader sets the standards for the work that is done around him. How much should be expected from the people who direct the company in terms of their responsibility to the community?
April 7, 2003 - MPR’ Brandt Williams reports on a Sunday evening worship service held in the State Theater in Minneapolis, where Black leaders told the crowd of nearly 500 that African Americans still face high rates of unemployment, poverty and health problems. They expressed hope that through church and community collaboration, those problems can be solved.
April 25, 2003 - A speech given Wednesday by historian Howard Zinn, at the University of St. Thomas, about the war in Iraq.
May 2, 2003 - Samantha Power, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, and executive director at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government spoke Wednesday at the University of Minnesota. Power says the United States should do more to try to stop genocide throughout the world. Her recent book is "A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide". The event was arranged by The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, and the College of Liberal Arts.