Voices of Minnesota, a long-running MPR series, highlights the many interesting voices that make up the people and history of Minnesota. It has appeared on Mid-Morning, MPR, Midday, and News Feature broadcasts in short form, and part of Midday hour programming in long form. Over the years, MPR’s Dan Olson, Gary Eichten, and numerous others, produced hundreds of fascinating interviews from the land of 10,000 Lakes.
May 18, 2007 - Two Minnesotans touched by World War II; two strikingly different stories. For Frank Ario, World War II was a scene of death and destruction. He fought through and survived the Battle of the Bulge, one of the war's major campaigns. For Rita Stallman, who joined the Signal Corps in Washington, it was an opportunity to broaden her horizons and experience life.
June 19, 2007 - Two Minnesotans who boarded buses for civil rights in the 1960's tell their stories. Forty-six years ago, seven white Minnesotans became part of civil rights history. The Freedom Riders rode buses through the deep South and pressured states to comply with a Supreme Court desegregation ruling. Voices of Minnesota profiles two of them: Marv Davidov and Claire O'Connor.
December 7, 2007 - Two lives changed by Pearl Harbor. Ken Deans was in the Army on the Island of Oahu on Dec. 7th, l941. His base was hit during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Carl Nomura was 19 at the time and living in Los Angeles. Not long after the attack, he and 120,000 other Japanese Americans were placed in internment camps.
April 9, 2008 - Five religious women speak about their views on social justice. Four of them are sisters, and also Catholic nuns. The Rev. Peg Chemberlin is president-elect of the National Council of Churches. Guests: Kate, Rita, Brigid & Jane McDonald: Sisters and Catholic nuns, Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, St. Paul. Rev. Peg Chemberlin: President-elect, National Council of Churches. Executive director, Minnesota Council of Churches.
June 11, 2008 - In this special music edition from MPR’s Voices of Minnesota series, the spotlight shines on Minnesota gospel singer Tom Tipton and Celtic music performer Laura MacKenzie, both musicians who have become famous beyond Minnesota's borders.
July 30, 2008 - Midday remembers Harrison Bud Tordoff, who died last week, with a special rebroadcast from MPR's "Voices of Minnesota" series. Tordoff was known as the man who saved the peregrine falcons in Minnesota. Before becoming an acclaimed ornithologist, Harrison Tordoff was a decorated fighter pilot during World War II. Also part of this series is an interview with Minnesota nature photographer Jim Brandenburg.
September 30, 2008 - his episode of MPR's Voices of Minnesota features conversations with Art Aufderheide and Clarke Chambers, two detectives of sorts. Aufderheide is world famous for his study of mummies and the diseases that killed them. Chambers is a historian and the founder of a one-of-a-kind archive of social welfare history in this country.
December 5, 2008 - Midday presents a "Voices of Minnesota" interview with Dave Tilman and Deborah Swackhamer. The two University of Minnesota professors discuss climate change and other environmental issues.
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.
March 10, 2010 - Midday features a rebroadcast of two Voices of Minnesota stories about women in World War II. Program includes the profiles, interviews, and a brief NPR report on Women Airforce Service Pilots.