August 19, 2009 - On this Midday program, MPR’s Gary Eichten talks with U.S. Representative Tim Walz, who represents Minnesota's 1st Congressional District. Walz is holding a town meeting on health care reform in Mankato. In advance of that meeting, he joins Midday to talk about healthcare reform and other issues facing Congress.
July 31, 2009 - Teddy Roosevelt: A "Wilderness Warrior".Douglas Brinkley, author of "The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America" joins Midday to discuss the first naturalist president, and what impact his appreciation for nature still has today.
June 24, 2009 - Thomas Friedman speaks about crowded planet.Pulitzer Prize-winning author, and Minnesota native, Thomas Friedman spoke at St. Paul RiverCentre about the big issues facing an interconnected global population, and the ways America can lead a green revolution in the 21st century.
June 18, 2009 - MPR medical commentator Dr. Jon Hallberg stops by Midday to discuss medical and health issues currently in the news. Hallberg is a family practice physician at Mill City Clinic, and assistant professor of family medicine at University of Minnesota. Topics include health care law and quality care.
June 2, 2009 - Best-selling author Michael Pollan, speaking at the Barnes & Noble at the Galleria in Edina about his book, "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto."
May 25, 2009 - Veteran Dr. John Linner from Edina kept diaries of the fighting he saw during World War II, but after the war he put them on a shelf for 50 years, until his daughters and wife pressed him to write about his experiences. The result is a book, "From Normandy to Okinawa," Linner's look back at his Navy service as a medical doctor tending to the wounded on D-Day and in the Pacific.
May 12, 2009 - Barbara Brown Taylor is an Episcopal priest, teacher, and author. She is widely recognized as one of America's most eloquent preachers. Ordained an Episcopal priest in 1984, she holds the Harry R. Butman Chair in Religion and Philosophy at Piedmont College in Georgia and is adjunct professor of Christian spirituality at Columbia Theological Seminary. She is the author of twelve books on faith and spirituality, including "Leaving Church" and "An Altar in the World." She lectures on preaching at Yale, Princeton, and Duke Universities and is a regular columnist for The Christian Century. She spoke before an audience at Westminster Presbyterian Church. Her speech was titled, "Downtime: The Sacred Art of Stopping."
May 8, 2009 - Is interfaith understanding possible? Eboo Patel speaks at the Westminster Town Hall Forum about his book, "Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation." Guest: Eboo Patel: Founder and director of the Chicago-based community service organization, Interfaith Youth Core.
April 21, 2009 - Two girls, Sabina Zimering and Lucy Smith, hid from the Nazis in Poland during World War II. They survived the Holocaust and live in Minnesota today. Zimering wrote her story in the book, "Hiding in the Open." Both women were interviewed by MPR's Dan Olson for the Voices of Minnesota series.
April 15, 2009 - As the Guthrie Theater kicks off its Kushner celebration this weekend, Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner speaks about his work. Kushner won a Pulitzer for his play "Angels in America," which dealt with AIDS and gay life in the 1980s. He's also won two Tony awards, an Emmy, and just about every other award a playwright can win. He wrote the book for the musical "Caroline, or Change" and the screenplay for Steven Spielberg's "Munich." The Guthrie's Kushner festival will run through June, and will feature several Kushner plays, including the premier of a work commissioned by the Guthrie, "The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism With a Key to the Scriptures." Kusher spoke earlier this year at the Hopkins Center for the Arts as part of the Pen Pals lecture series sponsored by the Library Foundation of Hennepin County.