August 19, 2008 - Minnesota native L. Bruce Laingen was charge d'affaires of the American Embassy in Iran when radicals took over the building and held 52 Americans hostage from November 1979 to January 1981. Laingen is back in Minnesota to donate artifacts from that experience to the Minnesota Historical Society, and he joins Midday to talk about his experience during the hostage crisis.
August 21, 2008 - MPR’s Tom Crann talks with Lou Bellamy, artistic director at Penumbra Theatre, about the production of Fences by August Wilson.
August 25, 2008 - All Things Considered’s Tom Crann interviews Congressman Tim Walz, of Minnesota's 1st Congressional District, about his views on bi-partisan approach to energy policy and offshore drilling strategies, including royalty payments that would then be used to alternative energy research and environmental protection.
August 25, 2008 - As a DNC spotlight interview, Midmorning host Kerri Miller speaks with former U.S. Vice President, U.S. Senator and Ambassador Walter Mondale about the civil rights struggle of Democratic national conventions past, and his experience as a Democratic presidential nominee.
August 25, 2008 - Minnesota U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar speech at 2008 Democratic National Convention supporting Barack Obama and Joe Biden presidential ticket.
August 26, 2008 - Democratic National Convention - Day 2: U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar gives a brief speech, mentioning memories of ore-digging grandfather and highlighting the need for income growth of middle class in push for Obama and Biden presidential ticket.
August 28, 2008 - MPR’s Curtis Gilbert talks with civil rights activist Josie Johnson about the speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. and Barack Obama.
August 28, 2008 - MPR’s Mike Mulcahy interviews Congressman Tim Walz at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Walz is from the 1st Congressional District in southern Minnesota. Walz was elected back in 2006 in a surprise upset of a longtime Republican incumbent. He thinks Barack Obama's message will play well in rural areas, but he acknowledges there's still work to be done
September 4, 2008 - As part of MPR special convention coverage, Gary Eichten broadcasts live from the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, the site of the 2008 Republican National Convention. As the RNC comes to a close, Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., prepares to accept his party's nomination. Eichten is joined by Todd Rapp, a Democrat political analyst; and Tom Horner, a Republican political analyst.
September 17, 2008 - With Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, AIG, and other financial institutions in turmoil on Wall Street, an unemployment rate at 6.1 percent (a five-year high), and a housing market still slumping, experts Chris Farrell and Louis Johnston join Midday to discuss the current economic crisis.