October 28, 1997 - Midday offers live two-hour coverage of the legislative Special Session with a debate on the Twins ballpark/stadium in the Minnesota Senate. Debate includes gambling as a funding source. MPR reporter Martin Kaste joins Gary Eichten to provide analysis as debate plays out.
October 29, 1997 - Midday features a discussion with candidates for mayor of Minneapolis…current Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton; and her challenger, former Minneapolis council member Barbara Carlson. Topics include crime, city investment, education, and local economy. Belton and Carlson also answer listener call-in questions.
October 30, 1997 - As part of a collection of profile reports on candidates for Minneapolis mayor, MPR’s Dan Olson looks at incumbent Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton and her political tenure in the city.
October 31, 1997 - With a mandolin revival underway in the music world, MPR’s Dan Olson profiles the University of Minnesota Mandolin Orchestra.
November 2, 1997 - Female vocal ensemble Anonymous 4 bring the music of Hildegard of Bingen to Saint Paul Sunday. Anonymous 4 perform the festal chants Hildegard composed to honor Ursula, a fifth-century saint who, along with the 11,000 women she inspired, chose martyrdom over forced pagan marriage.
November 2, 1997 - Minneapolis, Taos, and Europe and are among the locations captured in Natalie Goldberg's new book "Living Color: A Writer Paints Her World". The book contains more than 60 full color paintings and explores Goldberg's symbiotic relationship between painting and writing. Goldberg says she began painting at 26--when she used a cheap children's water-color set and crayons to make her art. But she credits bad teeth and frequent trips to the dentist office as the beginning of her artistic spark.
November 5, 1997 - MPR’s Lorna Benson interviews Philip Blackburn and Chris Strouth about the creative world of electronic music. Blackburn is with the American Composers Forum in St. Paul, which promotes the work of avant-garde, jazz, classical and new age composers. Strouth works for Twin/Tone records, the label associated with Minneapolis' most famous rock bands, like The Replacements and Soul Asylum. Strouth also runs his own experimental electronica label, called "Ultramodern."
November 5, 1997 - Midday discusses 1998 election results with political analysts Bob Meek, a Democrat; and Nancy Longley, a Republican, to get their perspectives. Topics include Twin Cities mayoral races. Listeners call in with questions.
November 10, 1997 - MPR’s Mary Stucky profiles The Minnesota Klezmer Band. Stucky interviews band members Joseph Vass and Jerry Gotler, who describe what’s behind the music of klezmer.
November 12, 1997 - Midday’s Gary Eichten speaks with U.S. Senator Rod Grams about the situation in Iraq and the involvement of the United Nations. Senator Grams chairs the International Operations Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Listeners call in with questions.