December 23, 2016 - When Minnesota poet, author and musician Bill Holm sat down to write a Christmas letter, he sorted through a lifetime of memories. He was born in 1943 and died in 2009 at the age of 65. Holm put some of these memories in a book he wrote in 1997 called "Faces of Christmas Past." That same year Minnesota Public Radio produced this "Voices of Minnesota" special, with Bill Holm reading from his own book.
December 22, 2016 - Andrew Carnegie, the 19th century Pittsburgh industrialist, was one of the richest Americans ever, and also a benevolent civic patron. David Nasaw, a self-described "lunatic researcher," wrote a biography simply titled "Andrew Carnegie." Early in December he shared what he learned at the Minnesota Historical Society's History Forum in St. Paul.
May 17, 2016 - MPR’s Kerri Miller talks with Minnesota author Louise Erdrich about her novel “LaRose” at a Fitzgerald Theater event.
March 17, 2016 - Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential biographer Jon Meacham has written about Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson, and President George H.W. Bush. Meacham says he writes biography rather than history, because history is shaped by individuals who, despite their flaws, do the right thing in moments of crisis.
January 8, 2016 - A discussion about the future of theater with Guthrie Theater's Joe Haj, Jungle Theater's Sarah Rasmussen, Penumbra Theatre's Sarah Bellamy, and Mu Performing Arts' Randy Reyes.
September 24, 2015 - Penumbra Theatre co-artistic director Sarah Bellamy moderated a discussion "On The Front Lines," featuring Nekima Levy-Pounds, University of St. Thomas professor and the president of the Minneapolis Chapter of the NAACP; John Harrington, Metro Transit Police chief and former State Senator; Signe Harriday, local artist and activist; and Dave Ellis, a consultant. The panelists talk about the racial tensions between police and community.
August 28, 2015 - MPR’s Cathy Wurzer and TPT's Eric Eskola co-host "Almanac" live at the MPR State Fair booth. Tom Scheck talks politics, Mark Seeley talks weather, Kevin Kling tells a Minnesota State Fair story, and Duluth musician Charlie Parr performs. There's presidential politics with professors Larry Jacobs, David Schultz and Kathryn Pearson; plus music and a baby lamb.
April 15, 2015 - Today marks the 150th anniversary of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. And this year is also the sesquicentennial of the end of the Civil War, which raged from 1861 to '65. Some 24-thousand Minnesotans were soldiers in the Civil War- a war that profoundly changed the nation and the state.
April 15, 2015 - A look back at how Minnesotans experienced the war and its aftermath through stories and song. "Civil War Homecoming" was presented at the Fitzgerald Theater to mark the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War.
April 14, 2015 - Today marks the 150th anniversary of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. And this year is also the sesquicentennial of the end of the Civil War, which raged from 1861 to '65. Some 24-thousand Minnesotans were soldiers in the Civil War- a war that profoundly changed the nation and the state.