March 25, 2002 - Singer/songwriter Greg Brown says his life on the road and in the studio doesn't feel like a real career until he looks back on the body of work he's produced. The Midwestern folk-rocker has released nearly twenty CD's in the last twenty years. His latest C-D, "Milk of the Moon" is a collection of stripped down songs that address one of his favorite topics- love. Brown took what he calls a year long hiatis from touring to write and record the C-D. He says the time away from his routine had a positive affect on the new record:
March 27, 2002 - Perhaps now more than ever before, landmark buildings by famous architects are being seen as catalysts for economic development and, in some cases, urban renaissance. In the Twin Cities, several cultural organizations, including the Guthrie, the Children's Theater and the Minnesapolis Institute of Arts are in the process of building expensive new buildings designed by world-renowned architects. But the drive to build landmark buildings raises some fundamental questions about the business of culture, and the culture of cities. Minnesota Public Radio's Andrew Haeg reports.
March 29, 2002 - The March edition of MPR's "Voices of Minnesota" series, featuring Amal Yusuf of the Somalian Women's Association, Sister Gabrielle Herber and Rabbi Marcia Zimmerman.
April 1, 2002 - MPR’s Art Hughes reports that Minnesota Public Radio has announced plans to expand its programming by creating a third statewide network to compliment its existing news and music channels. The new network will be all silent…and in stereo!
April 3, 2002 - MPR’s Tasha Rosenfeld interviews Minneapolis hip-hop and spoken word artist Desdamona. They discuss First Avenue spoken word event. Desdamona also performs a piece.
April 5, 2002 - The University of Minnesota has announced that the U of M Press will be the subject of an external review to make sure that its publishing criteria and processes meet industry standards. The announcement comes in the wake of controversy over a book that the press will publish next month called "Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex." The book, which was written by New York journalist Judith Levine, concludes not all sexual interaction between adults and minors is bad. Christine Maziar, Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School will oversee the review. She says the review will evaluate the Press's procedures against two standards.
April 11, 2002 - The 16th annual American Craft Council show gets underway in St. Paul tomorrow. More than 250 artists will display their work, and that includes glass artists Jim and Renee Engebretson. They work as a team-- Jim blows the glass and Renee etches a variety of patterns and designs into the glass. I visited the couple at their home studio in Hudson, Wisconsin. Jim Engebretson says he started working with glass back in 1968.
April 11, 2002 - MPR’s Chris Julin has this Mainstreet Radio reports on something a little different…a Geek Prom being held in Duluth. Organizers believe It's a chance for adults who don't fit in to have a night out with their own kind.
April 12, 2002 - Tonight Minnesota's literary community will gather at the Fitzgerald Theater in St Paul to celebrate the years's top books. The 14th annual Minnesota Book Awards identifies the best in popular fiction, anthology, and children's literature among others. Minnesota book critic and independent book seller Brad Zellar says it says a lot about the state that so many small presses are competing.
April 16, 2002 - The central character of Australian novelist Richard Flanagan's book "Gould's Book of Fish" is a convict who paints fish. Or maybe he's not. Flanagan leaves the reader to wonder whether his story is a free-wheeling tale of life which set in a British penal colony in Tasmania, or perhaps a figment of the imagination of a modern lowlife faking antiques to sell to the tourist trade. The book has been described as a modern masterpiece in Australia, part "Papillion", part "Baron Munchausen".. It is already selling well in the US. Flanagan told Minesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr the novel grew from a single experience.