April 13, 2009 - Governor Tim Pawlenty joins Gary Eichten in the MPR studio to answer questions about the state's $4.6 billion budget shortfall, and other key issues being debated in the 2009 legislative session.
April 14, 2009 - Margaret Anderson Kelliher, speaker of the Minnesota House; and Larry Pogemiller, the Minnesota Senate majority leader, discuss the $4.6 billion budget shortfall and other key issues being negotiated in the final five weeks of the 2009 Legislative session.
April 15, 2009 - Ahmed Samatar, dean of the Institute for Global Citizenship at Macalester College in St. Paul; and Hussein Samatar, founder and executive director of the African Development Center in Minneapolis, discuss the major concerns of Somalis living in Minnesota, including whether young men are being recruited to fight with terrorists. The two Somali men who are longtime Minnesota residents and U.S. citizens.
May 6, 2009 - MPR’s Stephanie Hemphill reports on some Indian activists that will fight a planned oil pipeline that would cross the Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota. Segment includes clip of commentary from Native American environmentalist Winonna LaDuke.
June 1, 2009 - MPR’s Elizabeth Stawicki reports on arguments to the Supreme Court over Senate seat.. Minnesota's long-running U.S. Senate race is in the hands of the Minnesota Supreme Court. Justices grilled attorneys for Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken during oral arguments. Coleman is appealing a three-judge panel's decision that put Franken ahead by 312 votes.
June 2, 2009 - Minnesota 5th District’s Keith Ellison, America's first Muslim member of Congress, reflects on his recent trips to the Mideast and previews President Obama's speech in Egypt. Ellison comments on how to rebuild U.S. relations with Muslim world and answers listener questions.
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 19, 2009 - As friends and colleagues mark the 25th anniversary of Joan Growe's 19-ballot DFL endorsement for the U.S. Senate in 1984, Growe joins Midday to talk about her career in politics. Growe also answers listener questions.
July 1, 2009 - MPR’s Euan Kerr talks with Garrison Keillor, who reflects on the early days of A Prairie Home Companion as the show reaches it’s 35-year anniversary.
July 23, 2009 - All Things Considered’s Tom Crann talks with Democratic U.S. Representative Tim Walz, of Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District, about his and Mayo Clinic’s push for Medicare reform in health bill.