Repeatedly 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. This curation presents broadcasts over the decades of writer’s voices in form of speech, interview, and discussion.
September 18, 1973 - Vine Deloria Jr., a treaties expert and author of In Utmost Good Faith and We Talk, You Listen, talks with MPR’s Kevin McKiernan. Topics include religion, treaties, and Wounded Knee.
October 8, 1973 - Architect and theorist Richard Buckminster "Bucky" Fuller speaks on the discovery of the eternal pattern operative in the universe. Address was given at University of Minnesota’s Northup Auditorium.
October 17, 1973 - Part one of MPR’s Paul Gruchow interview with author Murray Bookchin. The social theorist explains his views on environmentalism versus and ecology. Bookchin compares the nuclear family and its isolation to communal settings, a preferable model.
October 18, 1973 - Part two of MPR’s Paul Gruchow interview with author Murray Bookchin. The social theorist discusses the need for more communal lifestyles. He hopes for a change in public thinking and eventually institutions.
November 19, 1973 - This MER Special presents a tribute to famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who passed away on September 23, 1973. Program contains various readings and commentary of Neruda’s work, performed by Robert Bly and others.
December 7, 1973 - Lucy Komisar, journalist and author, speaks about feminism and creativity via women in the literary tradition.
January 19, 1974 - In an interview with MPR’s Dennis Hamilton, author and human rights activist Dick Gregory talks about the Wounded Knee occupation and the similarities to the Civil Rights movement. Gregory says the cooling off on college campuses over past two years doesn't signify complacency about human rights. He also discusses school integration, racism, and women's role on campus.
March 13, 1974 - Arthur Schlesinger, historian and author, speaks at the University of Missouri. Schlesinger’s address is on topic from his book The Imperial Presidency.
April 4, 1974 - MPR’s Connie Goldman interviews Michael Novak, a philosopher and author, about his book Choosing Our King: Powerful Symbols in Presidential Politics.
April 25, 1974 - An interview with Pulitzer Prize winning author David Halberstam, who talks about how toxicity and imperialism in the executive branch perpetuated the Vietnam War. Halberstam says Secretary of State Robert McNamara based war decisions on faulty statistics.