December 20, 2012 - On this Daily Circuit segment, MPR’s Mark Zdechlik interviews U.S. Representative Tim Walz, who says he thinks Congress could act relatively soon on legislation aimed at preventing gun violence following the horrific school shooting in Connecticut. Walz, a gun owner, hopes there will be an attempt to solve gun issue and find balance between personal liberties and safety.
December 21, 2012 - MPR’s Nikki Tundel reports on the CrossRoads Panorama's production "Scrooge in tha Hood," a modern take on the classic tale "A Christmas Carol." Actors portray the struggling Scratchit family, a twist on Charles Dickens's Cratchit family.
December 27, 2012 - On this Daily Circuit segment, MPR’s Marianne Combs presents a collections of interviews from local Latino artists who share their views and creative experiences in Minnesota. Interviewees are Susana DeLeon, lawyer and director of an Aztec cultural troupe that performs traditional dances connected to the environment; recording artist Maria Isa; author Sandra Benitez; and photographer Xavier Tavera.
December 30, 2012 - Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer interviews Annette Atkins, history professor at the College of St. Benedict and St. John's University, who provides a history primer of the Split Rock Lighthouse.
January 4, 2013 - Journalist and humor writer Calvin Trillin speaks in Minneapolis at the Talk of the Stacks series about his new book "Dogfight: An Occasionally Interrupted Narrative Poem About the Presidential Campaign."
January 8, 2013 - MPR’s Sasha Aslanian reports that with the defeat of the marriage amendment and the Republican majorities that sponsored it, DFLers who favor marriage rights for same-sex couples see their opening in new legislative session. But opponents say the defeat of the amendment defining marriage as one man and one woman does not necessarily add up to support for same sex marriage.
January 11, 2013 - MPR’s Laura Yuen reports on local police, health, county attorney, and resource officials working together to find juvenile runaways and help the teens access social services or health care.
January 15, 2013 - A man beset with the problem of an overfull fishpond, a student who has to face a grinning skull as he eats his Froot Loops, and a young girl preparing for the Rapture which is due to begin in a couple of hours. These are all characters in Minnesota writer Scott Dominic Carpenter's new collection of short stories "This Jealous Earth." Carpenter claims the stories came about as a distraction from other writing.
January 29, 2013 - Budgets for many theater companies are tight these days. But culturally specific organizations -- African-American theaters, Latino theaters, Asian theaters -- face unique challenges when it comes to securing support.
January 31, 2013 - Arthur Phillips speaks in Hopkins at the Pen Pals Lecture Series about his latest best-selling book, "The Tragedy of Arthur," a contemporary novel that contains an Elizabethan play.