November 15, 1999 - In an essay on flyfishing, the novelist Thomas McGuane writes, "What is most emphatic in angling is made so by the long silences...the unproductive periods" That essay is called "The Longest Silence". It's also the title of McGuane's new collection of 33 essays, in which he charts a lifetime with a flyrod pursuing trout, salmon and saltwater game fish. Thomas McGuane talked to Minnesota Public Radio's Mike Edgerly about his new book and his life in fishing
November 16, 1999 - A Carleton College speech by Washington Post syndicated political columnist and author George Will. he is also contributing editor of Newsweek magazine.
November 16, 1999 - New York poet Molly Peacock reads on the issue of privacy.
November 16, 1999 - MPR’s Shirley Idelson profiles Minnesota's grape growers, who are experiencing a boom. Producers say 1999 season has resulted in a record harvest. While grapes are still a tiny portion of the state's agricultural economy, high prices and a strong market for wine means expansion for this cottage industry.
November 17, 1999 - A proposal to temporarily halt mergers in agribusiness, put forth on the Senate floor by Minnesota's Democratic Senator Paul Wellstone, went down in clear defeat today. But the issue is far from dead on Capitol Hill. Emily Harris reports from Washington.
November 18, 1999 - Live broadcast of the Westminster Town Hall Forum, featuring Oregon family therapist Robin Karr-Morse. Her speech is titled, "Tracing the Roots of Violence." She is the author of Ghosts from the Nursery: Tracing the Roots of Violence.
November 18, 1999 - Walter Kirn lives in Montana where he works as a book critic. But he grew up in Minnesota, and so its not surpring his new novel "Thumbsucker" is set in the St Croix River Valley. Although it's probably not going to please the Minnesota Tourist board. Kirn's satirical view of rural Minnesota in the 1980's is a turbulant world of Miami Vice, Izod shirts and Mormons. In a town gone suburban, 14-year-old Justin, gives up thumbsucking his long-time security blanket, only to replace it with girls, cigarettes, booze and drugs. With adults too self-absored to care, Justin is forced to navigate the bizarre waters of adolesence alone.
November 22, 1999 - For more on the design of the Lindbergh terminal, we turn to Michael Schrock. He's a Minneapolis architect who's done some recent work at the terminal, and is also president-elect of the Minneapolis chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
November 25, 1999 - A Thanksgiving Day special, "Giving Thanks: A Celebration of Fall, Food and Gratitude." Produced by MPR's John Birge, it includes a rare recording of actor Charles Laughton, essays by Bill Moyers, Donald Hall and Garrison Keillor, and the music of Aaron Copeland, Vivaldi and more.
November 25, 1999 - It's the time of year for pausing to consider what we are thankful for, which as commentator Nanci Olesen found out, can evoke a range of emotions.