This collection encompasses 50-plus years of interviews, readings, speeches, and reports on the vibrant literary scene in Minnesota. Not only home to giants F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sinclair Lewis, our state has an array of incredible contemporary poets, novelists, and playwrights. Their words make up majority of this collection.
Repeatedly being named the “Most Literate City in the United States,” the Twin Cities has played host to numerous visiting national writers via book tours, festivals, and lectures. Many recordings of these are also included.
This project was funded by the National Historical Publications & Records Commission.
May 8, 2006 - The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Monday in a case that will decide whether public school districts can assign students to schools based on race. Hundreds of districts across the nation try to enforce diversity because they worry schools will become segregated if they don't. Education reformer Jonathan Kozol talked about the increasing segregation of America's schools in May at Carleton College. Jonathan Kozol, the former teacher who has written about race, poverty and education for nearly four decades, spoke about what he calls the "restoration of apartheid schooling in America"
May 17, 2006 - In the weeks following Hurricane Katrina, President Bush acknowledged that the disaster laid bare the persistent racial inequalities in America, but Bush strongly rejected the idea that the federal government's response to Katrina was somehow racist. Social critic Michael Eric Dyson was not convinced. Michael Eric Dyson: Professor of humanities at the University of Pennsylvania, in the keynote address of The Blake School's annual Diversity Symposium on May 3 in Minneapolis. Dyson's latest book is "Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster."
May 30, 2006 - Finding the time and money to go to the theater can be hard. If you're living below the poverty line, the obstacles to attending theater are far greater. But several organizations argue that seeing great theater is sometimes as important as food and shelter. In this first installment of a three part series on providing theater for the poor, Minnesota Public Radio's Marianne Combs takes a look at how Project Success is helping to make Twin Cities theaters more accessible to everyone. To learn more about Project Success or to see other stories in our ongoing Poverty series, visit our Web site at minnesota public radio-dot-org. Tomorrow Marianne Combs continues our series with a look at Ten Thousand Things Theater company, which takes performances on the road to homeless shelters, church basements, public housing and prisons.
June 6, 2006 - There's a piece of paradise in northeastern Minnesota. It's called the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA). Admirers credit the book "The Singing Wilderness," published in 1956, as part of the inspiration for creating the wilderness area; and they credit author Sigurd Olson for putting into words the reasons humans need wilderness. However, his views inflamed critics who feared Olson and other wilderness advocates worried more about habitat than humans.
June 14, 2006 - As Minnesotans prepare to say farewell to spring, Minnesota Public Radio's favorite weatherman stops by to discuss Minnesota's weather, past and present. Part 1 of 2Mark Seeley: Meteorologist and climatologist at the University of Minnesota. Seeley is the author of the "Minnesota Weather Almanac."
June 14, 2006 - As Minnesotans prepare to say farewell to spring, Minnesota Public Radio's favorite weatherman stops by to discuss Minnesota's weather, past and present. Part 2 of 2Mark Seeley: Meteorologist and climatologist at the University of Minnesota. Seeley is the author of the "Minnesota Weather Almanac."
June 18, 2006 - An Ely legend has died. "Jackpine" Bob Cary is dead at the age of 84. Cary is a long time writer with the Ely Echo newspaper. He was a talented illustrator and author of 17 books. Duluth News Tribune outdoor writer, Sam Cook, worked beside Cary at the Echo. Cook recalls Cary always working on the next book. He says Cary's writings were as diverse as his interests.
June 18, 2006 - "Jackpine" Bob Cary of Ely has died. Cary died at the age of 84 after a long fight with cancer. Sam Cook is now an outdoor writer for the Duluth News Tribune. Cook remembers Bob Cary from the days when Cook was the new reporter at the Ely Echo and Bob Cary was the Managing Editor.
June 19, 2006 - A giant figure is gone from Ely. Bob Cary lost his battle with cancer. To some, Cary was better known as "Jackpine" Bob - editor, author, columnist and story teller.
June 20, 2006 - Historian Robert Dallek says it's not so much a president's actions that make him memorable, it's his words. Dallek discussed the power of John F. Kennedy's words in a recent appearance at the Kennedy Library in Boston.