February 21, 2003 - Word of Mouth
February 21, 2003 - MPR’s Chris Julin caught up with Haley Bonar in Duluth. The 19-year-old quit college to write songs and is preparing for CD release and national tour. Julin interviews Bonar about the dark subject matter of her songs. Bonar also performs during segment.
February 24, 2003 - MPR’s Brandt Williams reports on local storyteller Nothando Zulu, and her work during Black History Month. February is the month when all Americans are encouraged to learn more about the culture and history of African Americans. Schools, libraries and other organizations ask African American scholars, artists and professionals to be part of their Black History Month events. Nothando Zulu, hasn't had a day off all month.
March 12, 2003 - Minneapolis writer Alison McGhee describes her new novel as, "very sad". Her novel is titled, "Was it Beautiful?" It's the story of William T. Jones, a man struggling with the suicide of his son, his divorce, and the loss of his job. McGhee based the new book on the biblical story of Job, the man who lost everything as God tested his faith. Allison McGhee told Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr that she set the story in the Adirondacks, at the turn of the 20th century. She grew up there, and wanted to set the story among the characters who lived back in the woods.
March 12, 2003 - A rebroadcast of Talking Volumes event with author Robert Alexander, known locally as R.D. Zimmerman, talking with Katherine Lanpher about his novel The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar. The book is based on historical research and suggests what might have happened before and after the assassination of Russia's ruling Romanov family in Siberia in 1918.
March 13, 2003 - Mainstreet Radio's Dan Gunderson profiles four North Dakota State University students competing in Salt Lake City for a national championship. The NDSU Saxophone Quartet won a six-state competition to reach the national contest and hope to bring home top honors in the National Collegiate Chamber Music Competition.
March 17, 2003 - The Guthrie Theater announced its 2003-2004 season today. It's an ambitious mixture of classics and modern works, which artistic director Joe Dowling says is intended to reach and serve a broader audience. There will be three Shakespeare productions, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, and Othello, which will also tour nationally. Dowling told Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr the season opens with Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice' on the Mainstage. Shortly after the Guthrie Lab will present a stage version of Barbera Ehrenreich's exploration of minimum wage America "Nickel and Dimed" . Gutrhrie Artistic Director Joe Dowling. Also includes in the 2003-2004 season will be productions of Tennessee Williams "Night of the Iguana", David Mamet's "Boston Marriage", and a visiting production of "Twelfth Night" by London's Globe Theater.
March 18, 2003 - A performance Friday in St. Cloud brings together a Korean folksinger, a Cuban drummer, and a quartet performing beat poetry. "Earth Springs" is the latest in a series of world music showcases in the city. The music the events bring to St. Cloud is far from typical -- and so is the 10-year-old boy who puts them together. Vaji Tomas VA-gee toe-MAHS is slightly more driven than your typical fifth grader. Mainstreet Radio's Jeff Horwich talked with him about his latest concert.
March 25, 2003 - The war with Iraq could threaten some of humanity's oldest artifacts and archaeological sites. The region includes the ancient land of Mesopotamia -- the birthplace of writing, the wheel, the plow, and the first code of law. Eva Von Dassow A-vuh vaughn-DASS-oh is a professor of ancient Near Eastern history at the University of Minnesota. She says that if the 1991 Gulf War is any indication, the area's cultural history may be threatened as much by looters as it is by bombs.
March 27, 2003 - As we try to understand what's happening in Iraq right now, one Minnesotan watches and listens with a unique perspective. John Hartnett is a veteran of the first Gulf War. He was a Military Police Platoon Commander with the Marines. His job was to round up prisoners on the battlefield and take them to POW compounds in Saudi Arabia. John Hartnett has written a book about his experiences. He says the job was sometimes very stressful.