December 12, 2001 - A Midmorning broadcast of Talking Volumes event with Minnesota poet Robert Bly and MPR’s Katherine Lanpher, held at the Woman's Club of Minneapolis.
December 13, 2001 - As part of Mainstreet Radio’s “Our Town” project, Chris Julin profiles the Olsons, a family who have found “home” in the small town of Moose Lake.
December 13, 2001 - All over Sweden, Norway, and parts of the United States people welcome the beginning of the holiday season with Santa Lucia Day. The celebration has become an important family tradition for commentator Nanci Olesen.
December 13, 2001 - As part of Mainstreet Radio’s “Our Town” project, Laurel Druley looks at what community means to long-time residents and new comers of Plainview, Minnesota.
December 14, 2001 - Mainstreet Radio’s Chris Julin profiles the reigning national champion Bulldogs, University of Minnesota-Duluth women’s hockey team. But they're a bit confused about their identity this season, as the team's roster changes from game to game. Several of the team's stars are taking off a week here and there to train for the Olympics…and they're playing with four different national teams.
December 14, 2001 - MPR sports commentator Jay Weiner speaks on why University of Minnesota merging men's and women's athletic departments is a mistake.
December 17, 2001 - Stephen Sondheim, award-winning composer and lyricist, gives a speech at the Guthrie Theater's "Global Voices" series.
December 17, 2001 - Gwendolyn Cates was 11 when her father first took her to visit a Navajo reservation. Her father had set out to learn the local language, and made friends on the reservation. Gwendolyn continued to visit as she grew older. Later she became a professional photographer. It was almost a natural when she was asked by the Men's Journal to travel to ten reservations around the country to document Indian Country. A book "Indian Country" grew from the assignment. It contains dozens of portraits, including many from Minnesota, the Dakotas, and Wisconsin. Cates told Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr she wanted to dispel misconceptions about native people. The book includes pictures of many well known and not so well known Indians. One is a portrait of Leonard Peltier who is serving a life sentence for murder at the Federal Prison in Leavenworth, Kansas.
December 18, 2001 - The U.S. Senate is trying to wrap up its work on a number of bills before the holiday recess. President Bush's education bill passed the Senate overwhelmingly today. The bill calls for annual math and reading tests for (m) millions of students. Only ten senators voted against the bill--including Minnesota D-F-L Senators Paul Wellstone and Mark Dayton. While work on the education bill appears to be finished--the farm bill is stalled. Republicans refused for the second time in as many weeks to allow a vote on the bill. Republicans say the bill would stimulate excess production and hold down commodity prices. Democrats--including Senator Paul Wellstone--say they will keep trying to get approval before lawmakers head home for the year. Wellstone says the farm bill is not perfect but it should pass:
December 18, 2001 - MPR’s Tasya Rosenfeld talks with David Fey about affordable housing in Minneapolis. Mayor-elect R.T. Rybak today introduced his 90-day plan to increase affordable housing in Minneapolis. Rybak says he wants to change development codes and regulations to encourage renovation. He also hopes to use four million dollars of Neighborhood Redevelopment funds to pay for more housing. Rybak has chosen David Fey, a long-time affordable housing advocate to be his deputy mayor. Fey was the vice chairman of a task force which recommended in 1999 that the city council spend fifty million dollars to create more affordable housing. Fey says one of Rybak's approaches to the housing crisis is to reduce the existing sea of red tape.