March 27, 2001 - Mark Broderson and a few other ice climbers built their own ice waterfall. It is 42-feet high and three telephone poles are supporting the structure. They are also able to control the safety of the ice structure.
March 27, 2001 - Elton John's latest musical hit -AIDA- opens its national tour in Minneapolis tonight. Based on a Verdi opera -the musical tells the story of a captain in the Egyptian Army who falls in love with a slave from the neighboring country of Nubia. Patrick Cassidy stars as the Egyptian Captian, named Radames (Rah-dah-mays). He told Minnesota Public Radio's Stephanie Curtis that he jumped at the chance to take on the role:
March 29, 2001 - Mainstreet Radio’s Chris Julin talks with Lee Murdock, a folk singer who sings about Lake Superior and the Great Lakes. Murdock has made his career singing songs of the Lakes, from 200-year-old sailors' work songs, to his own compositions based on Great Lakes folklore.
March 30, 2001 - A new way to fight Napster has been developed by the recording industry is through encoding, causing the disc to be invisible in the computer.
March 30, 2001 - A look at putting on a theater production and Minnesota theater composers. Creating music for the theater is a different kind of composing.
April 2, 2001 - Many Americans hold a special place in their heart for Paris and nearly all things French from inspiring architecture to picturesque boulevards and tiny cafes. Long-time "New Yorker" writer Adam Gopnick shared this romantic perspective with his wife and together they dreamed of the day when they would run away to Paris. Their dream became reality after the birth of their first child in 1995. In his new book "Paris to the Moon," Gopnick reflects on his five year personal pilgrimage that confirmed many of his Parisian fantasies while injecting a good dose of French reality.
April 2, 2001 - The Guthrie Theater has chosen French architect Jean Nouvel to design its new complex on the Mississippi waterfront in Minneapolis. The Guthrie's board chose the 55-year-old Parisian because he has a record of blending innovative design with a site's historical context. Minnesota Public Radio's Andrew Haeg reports.
April 3, 2001 - In the first half of the 20th century, the union movement in Minneapolis grew with the city. Minneapolis was the flour milling capitol of the country, and OTHER industries that supported flour milling, like banking and machine tools were growing as well. Unions were trying organize the workers, but were opposed by a coalition of employers that came to be known as the Citizens Alliance. The story of how these employers blunted the union movement in Minneapolis is the subject of a new book titled "A Union Against Unions." Author William Millikan says at the turn of the century, employers in Minneapolis didn't really have to worry about unions. But in 1902, the Teamsters went on strike, and employers had to change.
April 5, 2001 - Napster is still as popular as ever, even after the legal problems. Many companies are stepping in to fill a post-Napster void.
April 5, 2001 - The Walker Art Center has unveiled a conceptual design for its upcoming expansion. Swiss Architecture firm Herzog de Meuron has designed a new building and a surrounding park that it hopes will become an artistic landmark ... and a magnet for civic activity. Minnesota Public Radio's Andrew Haeg reports.