December 23, 1996 - Midday presents a Voices of Minnesota program, highlighting conversations with businessman Fred Myers, who started a St. Paul company that employs chronic alcoholics; and Roberta Davis, one of Minnesota's foremost jazz vocalists.
December 24, 1996 - MPR’s Eric Friesen interviews local composer Stephen Paulus and poet Kevin Crossley-Holland about carols. They have collaborated on the creating the piece “Pilgrim Jesus” for the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King's College, Cambridge.
December 24, 1996 - MPR’s Chris Roberts interviews local singer/songwriter Stuart Davis on his unique holiday show "Break from the Relatives."
December 30, 1996 - Hour 2 of Midmorning, featuring Voices of Minnesota with Nathaniel Khaliq, the president of St. Paul's NAACP. He's a longtime community activist and anti-drug crusader.
January 6, 1997 - Hour 2 of Midmorning, a Voices of Minnesota with the Director of St. Paul's Ordway Musical Theatre, Kevin McCollum. The current production is "Rent". Fiction writer Rick Moody who has written "The Ring of Brightest Angels Around Heaven," a collection of short stories about strange and perverted people. The title story is set in the East Village of New York and populated by on-the-edge young people. His previous books are "The Ice Storm" and "Garden State."
January 7, 1997 - Grammy nominations came out today, but a record producer -- not a singer or band -- got the most nominations. Kenneth Baby Face Edmonds, who produced the soundtrack for "Waiting to Exhale", got an even dozen. Music critic Jim DeRogatis is not a fan of the Grammies, and he was not surprised by the list unveiled today. No big Minnesota names are nominated for pop music Grammys this year -- no Bob Dylan, Prince, or Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. But Garrison Keillor is nominated in the spoken word or nonmusical album, for "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn;" and former "Saturday Night Live" funnyman Al Franken, a Twin Cities native, is up for a Grammy.
January 8, 1997 - MPR’s Chris Roberts talks with Chris Dorn, founder and frontman of Minneapolis band The Beatifics. Dorn discusses songwriting, the band’s album “How I Learned to Stop Worrying,” and the “power pop” genre.
January 9, 1997 - Women in the Directors Chair, an annual film festival, is underway at the Walker Art Center is Minneapolis. The series includes films by female directors from Minnesota, movies made by girls between 7-and-19, and local premieres. Julie Swenson's film, The Fairy Gardener, shows tomorrow evening at the Walker. Swenson started making The Fairy Gardener a few years ago in New York. She now lives in the Twin Cities. The Fairy Gardener -- shot in one day -- is a very short film, with narration only at the beginning and end, with lyrical oboe music in between. I sat down with Swenson and a copy of her film yesterday. Twin Cities filmmaker Julie Swenson. The short film The Fairy Gard
January 10, 1997 - With the resurgence of the Hennepin Avenue theater district in Minneapolis and the strength of the Ordway theater in St. Paul, broadway-style entertainment in the twin cities would appear to be healthier than ever. But some wonder whether the local appetite for broadway is big enough to support the three major broadway venues in town. While there's agreement on both sides of the river that the local music theater industry needs a metro strategy, officials haven't been able to work out the details. Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Roberts reports.
January 13, 1997 - A Voices of Minnesota interview with Tom Webber, Director of Planned Parenthood of Minnesota and South Dakota. Webber discusses his work on women's reproductive health issues. Also, a recorded interview with Margaret Atwood, author of "Alias Grace".