January 21, 2002 - As a young boy growing up in Duluth, Minnesota Public Radio's Classical Music Director Rex Levang listened to broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera and dreamed of being a contestant on the Opera's Quiz. Well, his dream came true, as Rex was part of a panel of opera fans who answered questions sent in by listeners and crafted by the Quiz Master. He recounts his experience with MPR’s Greta Cunningham.
January 21, 2002 - A Twin Cities speech by Taylor Branch, the Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of Martin Luther King. He spoke Thursday at the Dorsey & Whitney Law firm in Minneapolis. Mr. Branch is completing the 3rd volume in his America in the King Years trilogy. The first book is Parting the Waters, which won the Pulitzer Prize, and the 2nd book is Pillar of Fire.
January 23, 2002 - Word of Mouth host Chris Roberts talks with members of the local band Kangaroo. The group boasts three teachers and one playwright in its ranks. They discuss the desire to create happiness in their music. Segment includes music clips.
January 25, 2002 - MPR Classical Music Host John Birge interviews Bruce Ford, a tenor playing the title role of the Emperor Titus of Mozart's "La clemenza di Tito." The Minnesota Opera production is Ford's first appearance in the part.
January 30, 2002 - MPR’s William Wilcoxen reports voters on St. Paul's East Side having elected the world's first Hmong American legislator. Thirty-two year old Mee Moua won special election to fill the state Senate seat vacated by Randy Kelly, who was elected mayor.
January 30, 2002 - That was Minnesota DFL Senator Paul Wellstone.
January 30, 2002 - Mee Moua made history last night when the voters on St. Paul's East Side elected her to the state Senate. Moua is the first Hmong American in the country to win a seat in a state legislature. Florida represenative Phillip Brutus understands well the excitement surrounding Moua's victory. In 2000, the Democrat received similar attention when he became the first Haitian elected to the Florida state Legislature. Brutus says his election has meant a lot to the Haitian community.
January 31, 2002 - MPR’s Mark Zdechlik takes a look at the background of Donald Watkins, the Alabama businessman who says he wants to buy the Minnesota Twins.
January 31, 2002 - Mainstreet Radio's Tom Robertson interviews and reports on two Bemidji sisters, Kari Erickson and Stacey Liapis, as they prepare to compete in the Olympics as curlers. The two, coached by their dad, will compete in Salt Lake City for Olympic gold.
January 31, 2002 - Long-time St. Paul newspaper columnist Don Boxmeyer is retiring tomorrow, after 36 years with Pioneer Press. The guy friends simply call "Box" has covered nearly every aspect of the city during his career, but is best known for his columns about regular St. Paul people. Boxmeyer says when he was younger, his father was not thrilled with his decision study journalism.