All Things Considered is a comprehensive source for afternoon news and information provided by various MPR hosts in St. Paul and NPR hosts in Washington over the decades. The program contains interviews, reports, speeches and breaking coverage.
June 7, 2004 - Mainstreet Radio's Annie Baxter reports that for thirty years, St. Cloud has had an ordinance on its books that forbids immigrants from driving taxis. It wasn't enforced; in fact, most people had forgotten about it. City officials were embarrassed to learn of the ordinance recently, and promptly swore they'd get rid of it. The matter is under consideration in the city council, but even so, Somalis say they can't get jobs as taxi drivers...and they're wondering why.
July 8, 2004 - Classical musicians from across the Twin Cities have come together to perform the premiere of a new orchestral work called “Mosaic: Cedar and Lake.” The piece attempts to capture the cultural diversity of Minneapolis.
August 9, 2004 - MPR’s Brandt Williams takes a look at probably the ugliest racial slur ever created. It is a word known primarily as a means to denigrate African Americans. The word packs such power to represent overt racial hatred, most people - regardless of race - will not even utter it. How can one word have such power?
August 19, 2004 - A group of Hmong refugees who left St. Paul in June arrived in Washington, D.C. on August 19th, 2004, many of them on foot. Some walked the entire 1100 miles journey; others joined en route. MPR’s David Molpus talks with two involved in march.
August 25, 2004 - A conversation with Minnesota Twins physician Dr. Jon Hallberg about second opinions. Hallberg uses the example of Twins rookie catcher Joe Mauer, who has had his share of health problems over the past few months.
August 27, 2004 - Digital technology has allowed artists to go much, much further in drawing inspiration from nature. One Minneapolis artist uses digitally generated sound designs to create a kind of hypnosis on headphones. The source of the sound?…Water. MPR’s Chris Roberts dives in.
August 30, 2004 - Mainstreet Radio's Tom Robertson reports that Minnesota court records show Native Americans living in some northern counties are arrested at a rate far higher than any other race. That's got the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.
September 27, 2004 - Mainstreet Radios Dan Gunderson reports that Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty wants to double the amount of ethanol required in gasoline sold in the state. The Governor also expects state government to cut gasoline consumption in half in the next decade. Those proposals are part of a renewable fuels initiative announced by the governor.
September 28, 2004 - Commercial fisherman Walter Sve recounts story about the dangers of being a commercial herring fisherman on the North Shore of Lake Superior. He's been at the job for decades. We talked with him while he was cleaning fish in his fish-house.
September 28, 2004 - All Thing’s Considered’s David Molpus interviews Pat Harvey, St. Paul School District Superintendent, about incoming Hmong students. School officials are asking the state for more time to enroll new Hmong students coming from a refugee camp in Thailand.