April 3, 2019 - MPR’s Marianne Combs presents a profile of Josie Johnson, renowned local civil rights activist. Feature includes interview with Johnson about her life and book, and comments from Vernon Jordan and Walter Mondale, amongst others. Johnson’s memoir is titled "Hope in the Struggle."
March 8, 2019 - MPR’s Dan Kraker visits an area about a quarter-mile offshore from Duluth's Leif Erikson Park, where a hearty band of volunteers have carved a skating rink unlike any other on the frozen surface of Lake Superior. It is an increasing rarity, as warmer winters over the past few decades have resulted in substantially less ice cover.
March 6, 2019 - On this episode of Appetites, MPR’s Tom Crann talks with chef Yia Vang about Hmong food and his latest project in a residency at Sociable Cider Werks in northeast Minneapolis. Historically, Hmong people as an indigenous group moved around Southeast Asia to find quality farmlands. Vang says that aspect of the culture and history of the Hmong people is why the food can't be tied to a specific product, technique or style.
March 5, 2019 - MPR’s Tim Pugmire reports that DFL Governor Tim Walz signed his first two bills, and he suggested the bipartisan agreements could be a model for the rest of the session. Despite frequent calls for “early wins,” lawmakers took two months to put legislation on the new governor’s desk. Neither Walz nor top legislative leaders were sounding disappointed.
February 7, 2019 - All Things Considered’s Tom Crann talks with data journalist Tony Webster about police departments asking judges to approve what are called “reverse location” search warrants, which allow police to collect cellphone data near crime scenes.
January 30, 2019 - MPR’s Matt Sepic reports on the various ways Minnesotans are dealing with the brutal cold snap that hit the state. Amid some of the coldest weather in a generation, the Postal Service stopped delivering mail, schools closed, homeless sought shelter, a rail on the Blue Line cracked, Twin Cities hospitals saw a jump in frostbite cases, and there were broken water mains. Report is followed by an interview with John Storkamp, a runner in the Arrowhead 135 race.
January 21, 2019 - MPR’s Tim Nelson reports on the Minnesota State Fair’s biggest expansion since the West End Market opened in 2014. A new exhibit hall and entrance plaza will greet fairgoers in August, when the $16,000,000 project is scheduled to open.
January 11, 2019 - MPR’s Marianne Combs talks with Susan Kimberly about her play "When Superman Became Lois Lane." At its heart, the play is a conversation between the person she was and the person she is. Kimberly is transgender and transitioned from male to female in 1983 before serving as deputy mayor of St. Paul under Norm Coleman in the mid-90s.
January 7, 2019 - MPR Special Coverage presents live broadcast of Governor Tim Walz inauguration, along with other constitutional officers, in an event held at the Fitzgerald Theater in downtown St. Paul.
January 4, 2019 - All Things Considered’s Host Tom Crann and MPR’s Briana Bierschbach discuss further picks for Gov.-elect Tim Walz's administration. Walz announced department commissioners for employment and economic development, commerce, revenue, and labor and industry, as well as three others agencies.