September 28, 2020 - As part of MPR’s “Portraits of Valor” series, MPR’s Evan Frost profiles Minnesotan Joe Stephes, who enlisted in the Navy before the United States officially entered World War II.
October 14, 2020 - MPR’s Nina Moini spent an evening walking with a Minneapolis violence prevention group, called “violence interrupters.” Members of group share purpose behind efforts and the challenges they face.
December 28, 2020 - MPR’s Catharine Richert profiles Jeanette Rupert, a South Minneapolis nurse who spends her days between ICU and neighborhood health effort as pandemic ravages communities of color.
December 30, 2020 - As part of MPR’s “Portraits of Valor” series, MPR’s Evan Frost profiles Minnesota’s Doris and Richard Edge. The farthest away Doris and Richard Edge lived from each other was during the middle of World War II. They didn’t know each other yet, but they both grew up east St. Paul before being called to join the war effort, voluntarily for Doris and through the draft for Richard.
February 23, 2021 - On this MPR News Presents program, a broadcast of local 2020 Habitat for Humanity event in with longtime civil rights activist Josie Johnson and her granddaughter Josie Duffy Rice. The two talk about the importance of "passing the activism torch." Johnson says that not only do we need more justice, fairness, and opportunity...but we need a commitment to believing that social justice work matters and is long-lasting.
April 29, 2021 - Morning Edition presents a conversation with beloved Minneapolis blues musician as he rehearses for an upcoming concert at the Hook and Ladder in Minneapolis to celebrate his 94th birthday.
April 30, 2021 - MPR’s Hannah Yang reports on how school community members have grieved the loss of a first grader at Park Side Elementary School in Marshall. The student died from complications due to COVID-19. Yang explores how families have navigated the loss and helped their children try to make sense of it.
May 14, 2021 - Kao Ly Ilean Her, a pioneering leader in Minnesota's Hmong community and the first Hmong person to serve on the University of Minnesota Board of Regents, died Thursday at the age of 52. MPR’s Steven John interviews Dr. MayKao Hang, Her’s longtime friend. Hang says Her helped pave the way for young Hmong American women.
May 24, 2021 - On this MPR Special Report, Host Angela Davis explores how George Floyd changed us in a collection of personal interviews and commentary.
June 30, 2021 - Many Minnesota school districts are launching equity programs in an attempt to correct Minnesota’s well-documented and long-standing racial inequalities. But in numerous places, groups of parents, and sometimes students, are combating those programs. Education reporter Elizabeth Shockman followed just such a battle over SEED program in the rural, mostly white district of Pequot Lakes in north-central Minnesota.