April 9, 2010 - The world of smackdowns and body slams is being transported from the ring to the stage in a new production that's opening at Mixed Blood Theatre. The play, called "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity" is a local playwright's exploration of the underbelly of a sport he loves- professional wrestling.
April 12, 2010 - This is National Library Week, and one of the people out talking about the importance of libraries is Neil Gaiman. He's the award-winning author of "Coraline", "The Graveyard Book", several film scripts, and the Sandman comic book. Gaiman, who lives just outside the Twin Cities metro, is serving as honorary chair for the event. He told Euan Kerr he knows through personal experience libraries are more vital now than ever.
April 13, 2010 - MPR’s Chris Roberts reports on Duluth band Trampled by Turtles and their album “Palomino.” The band features banjo, mandolin and fiddle players but no drummer. It's built like a traditional bluegrass band, but presents a distinctly hybrid version based on a frenetic sound.
April 13, 2010 - After nearly three decades inside the Metrodome, the Twins move outdoors and beat the Boston Red Sox 5-2 behind hometown star Joe Mauer in the first regular-season game at their new ballpark, Target Field.
April 14, 2010 - Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer inteviews Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl, a food writer for Minnesota Monthly, about Hmong food. Grumdahl discusses Hmongtown Marketplace and Hmong BBQ.
April 15, 2010 - Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is brushing off criticism of her voting record from an environmental group. The League of Conservation Voters says Bachmann achieved a two-percent rating -- nearly the lowest possible -- and the group plans to work against her re-election. Bachmann campaign director Gina Countryman says it's a fringe group that won't influence Minnesota voters.
April 19, 2010 - MPR’s Gary Eichten talks with Justice Alan Page, and wife Diane Sims Page, about the importance of educational achievement. The two co-founded the Page Education Foundation to help students of color.
April 21, 2010 - MPR’s Cathy Wurzer takes a walking tour with historian Annette Atkins of Harriett Island to check out the pavilion, a building created by noted St. Paul architect Clarence W. "Cap" Wigington. The African American architect left his mark throughout the city.
April 26, 2010 - Brian McLaren, featured speaker at the Westminster Town Hall Forum in downtown Minneapolis, discusses how to be a person of faith in today's world. McLaren is the founding pastor of a nondenominational church in the Baltimore area and the author of several books, including his latest, "A New Kind of Christianity."
April 27, 2010 - Star Tribune editorial writer and columnist Lori Sturdevant was awarded the David Graven Award at the 2010 Frank Premack Public Affairs Journalism Awards Program and joins Midday to talk about her 35 years of political reporting and editorial writing.