July 5, 2004 - On this Fourth of July weekend, MPR listeners are asked to call in with their stories about coming to America. Caller comments are interspersed between an interview with guest Senator Mee Moua, the first Hmong American elected to State Legislator. She speaks of living in refugee camps in Laos and resettling in the U.S.
July 6, 2004 - MPR's Jeff Horwich looks at the employment scene awaiting the state's new job seekers. After the struggles in a refugee camp and a 8,000-mile trip from Thailand, this wave of Hmong refugees will find a tight job market and a challenging U.S. economy.
July 8, 2004 - Classical musicians from across the Twin Cities have come together to perform the premiere of a new orchestral work called “Mosaic: Cedar and Lake.” The piece attempts to capture the cultural diversity of Minneapolis.
July 9, 2004 - MPR’s Chris Roberts profiles St. Paul musician Greg Paulus. In interview, Paulus discusses his music influences, his current jazz work, and goal of playing with the best musicians.
July 13, 2004 - Expectations have always been high for Joe Mauer. Long before the Twins chose the St. Paul native as their top draft pick in 2001, Mauer was considered a sports phenom. If his rookie season is any indication, the Minnesota Twins catcher will be rubbing elbows with the league's other top talents in a not-too-distant All-Star game.
July 15, 2004 - In 1998, the Minneapolis rock band Semisonic soared to international stardom on the wings of its smash single, "Closing Time." Three years later, the band was dropped from its record contract and left contemplating an uncertain future. Semisonic drummer Jacob Slichter has written a memoir retracing the band's beginnings, its meteoric rise to fame and fall from major label grace. The book is called "So You Wana Be a Rock and Roll Star: How I Machine-Gunned a Roomful of Record Executives and Other True Tales From a Drummer's Life."
July 15, 2004 - MPR’s Toni Randolph reports on shortage of Hmong funeral homes in the Twin Cities. A traditional Hmong funeral is a ceremony full of rituals, scheduled on weekends and lasting for days. Families now often have to wait weeks before burying their loved ones. A couple of new Hmong funeral homes will be opening, though they won't open for more than a year.
July 22, 2004 - Many teenagers can tell horror stories of what goes on in on-line chat rooms. In recent years there have been a number of cases of older adults seeking out children for not just conversation, but for sex. In response the FBI has mounted sting operations to capture likely offenders before they have a chance to strike. A new play examines the ethics of such methods. "Sexsting" gets its first reading at the Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis tomorrow.
July 28, 2004 - Mainstreet Radio's Mark Steil profiles Harry Yang, a Hmong immigrant who decided to leave Twin Cities for Walnut Grove and Southwest Minnesota, home of "Little House on the Prairie." Yang says he finds more freedom and peace of mind here, though challenges remain.
August 2, 2004 - Minneapolis City Council members Don Samuels and Dean Zimmerman talk about their ideas to prevent crime in Minneapolis. The guests also answer listener questions.