February 10, 1997 - Minnesota storyteller, playwright and actor Kevin Kling says his storytelling is from personal experience. The stories use humor because Kling says humor is a solvent that helps us accept the difficulty of our lives. In our Voices of Minnesota interview, Kevin Kling talks about storytelling. Riding the 21A bus line between St. Paul and Minneapolis was the source for one of Kling's best known works. "Fear and Loving" is a new collection of Kling stories about growing up. He was recently on stage at the Jungle Theatre in Minneapolis playing one of the leads in "Waiting for Godot". Kling was born in Missouri and grew up in the Twin Cities suburbs of Brooklyn Center and Maple Grove. Minnesota Public Radio's John Rabe talked with Kling about his work.
February 10, 1997 - Master potter Richard Bresnahan wages a one-man campaign from his central Minnesota studio to tout the beauty and usefulness of clay pottery. Today in our Odd Jobs segment, we talk to the Collegeville potter who designed and built the nation's largest wood-fired kiln at Saint John's University, and the pottery studio on the edge of campus. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum visited Bresnahan in his earth-toned studio rich with the smell of indiginous clays, where he was starting his day preparing slip, the watery clay mixture vital for throwing good pots.
February 10, 1997 - Storyteller and playwright Kevin Kling talks with MPR'S John Rabe about life in Minnesota as material for his work.
February 12, 1997 - David Foster Wallace is best known for the giant novel "Infinite Jest", which, despite its daunting length, was apparently popular enough to be released in paperback recently. Wallace has also been writing non-fiction essays, which are now collected in a much less-imposing book.
February 13, 1997 - Midday rebroadcasts award-winning MPR documentary Song Catcher, Frances Densmore of Red Wing. Following documentary, MPR’s Gary Eichten holds a discussion with guests Marcia Anderson, chief curator and head of the Museum Collections Department at the Minnesota Historical Society; and Faith Bad Bear, assistant curator of Ethnology at the Science Museum of Minnesota.
February 13, 1997 - The cultural paradoxes and misunderstandings of the Australian outback have found their way to St Cloud in the latest production at the New Tradition Theatre Company. Tonight the company premieres "Diddgitty-Doo" a play inspired by the real life story of a Wisconsin woman who finds herself in a remote aboriginal community. As Minnesota Public Radio's Gretchen Lehmann reports, "Diddgitty Doo" is a classic fish-out-of-water story with frustrating miscommunications and humorous bumblings, but it is also a serious story about the struggle of two people trying to relate to one another.
February 14, 1997 - In this age dominated by electronic communication, many people say telling and listening to stories is a meaningful way to connect with other people. They say storytelling is a simple pleasure in an often hectic world. Minnesota Public Radio's Holly Nelson has this report.
February 14, 1997 - Of course today is Valentine's Day...and love seems to be in the air. If you'd like to continue your celebration into tomorrow night...you might want to check out the Walker Art Center's 4th Annual LOVE BASH. This year the show features performers all over the age of 40. This fact is the inspiration behind the show's title--"Mid-life Love Bash!" Leslie Ball hosts this ecletic evening. She proudly reveals she is over 40--42 to be exact. She says she's happier in this new decade and also has a new outlook on love.... Leslie Ball sat down with Minnesota Public Radio's Greta Cunningham at the Walker Art Center's GALLERY 8 RESTAURANT to chat about--LOVE... | D-CART ITEM: 7581 | TIME: 5:26 | OUTCUE: "..math in a while.
February 14, 1997 - Strike the flint of holocaust revisionism, the belief the Holocaust never happened, against the steel of the free speech rights guaranteed by the first amendment, and you set off the sparks that fly in the Illusion Theater's latest production. "Denial" is a play written by former Minneapolis resident and Jerome Fellowship winner Peter Sagal to explore his own Jewish identity and the limitations of the first amendment. Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Roberts has more.
February 17, 1997 - If you're the type of person who enjoys the spotlight, then maybe you wouldn't mind being Lincoln or Washington or Jefferson, all of whom are being scrutinized this week. But if you're a shy person, it might be better to be Millard Fillmore. Safe to say you could walk down the street in any major city without being recognized. Millard Fillmore was President of the United States from 1850 to 1853, serving the remainder of Zachary Taylor's term after Taylor died in office. As President, he served without distinction, and without stain. But Fillmore is not forgotten. If memory serves, the Brady Bunch went to a school named after Fillmore, and his qualities are remembered in a punk song. The group Showdown Showcase, from the Boston area, has a minute-long song called "Last of the Whigs."