February 26, 2004 - Hour 2 of Midday: Robert Janssen is one of Minnesota's best known birders. The 71-year-old Chanhassen resident is an author and co-author of several books about birds, including Birds In Minnesota. Janssen is the former president of the Minnesota Ornithologists Union. He talked recently with Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson.
March 10, 2004 - On this Midmorning, MPR’s Christopher Lyden interviews Minnesota poet Bill Holm about his book "Playing the Black Piano." The cafe in town, the disorientation of travel, and the power of music are all part of this collected work.
March 12, 2004 - Jerry Battle, the central character in Chang-rae Lee's new novel "Aloft," loves to fly alone. It's the way Jerry gets away from his problems, and he's got a lot of those. He's nearing 60, and neither his dad, nor his grown children are doing well. His long-term girlfriend left him. He's worried a co-worker may be suicidal. Somehow he manages to maintain his emotional distance, but as the story progresses that gets harder and harder. Lee's first two novels "Native Speaker" and "A Gesture Life" were about immigrants. Jerry Battle is an Italian-American living on Long Island. Chang-rae Lee told Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr he began writing the book because he was intrigued by Jerry's character.
March 15, 2004 - MPR’s Cathy Wurzer interviews Bill Banfield, St. Thomas music professor, about the induction of Prince Rogers Nelson into the Rock Hall of Fame. Banfield breaks down many of the elements that make Prince a musical genius in the composition and performance.
March 18, 2004 - Mainstreet Radio’s Annie Baxter reports on a Long Prairie radio program that is reaching out to the town's burgeoning Hispanic population.
March 24, 2004 - MPR’s Chris Roberts interviews Honeydogs founder and songwriter Adam Levy about bands’ CD “10,000 Years," a concept album which tells a futuristic story while examining society's ills. Levy says the main inspiration came from his day job. He's a social worker in St. Paul.
March 26, 2004 - A new play at the Children's Theatre Company (CTC) portrays the tension and occasional conflict between Somali immigrants and Black-Americans. "Snapshot Silhouette" examines this cultural clash through the eyes of two 12-year-old girls, one Somali, one Black-American. One of the CTC's goals is to help launch a dialogue between the two communities in the Twin Cities. Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Roberts reports.
April 5, 2004 - A Voices of Minnesota broadcast with two businessmen. Edger Hetteen is one of the inventors of the snowmobile, and at 83 he's still developing new products for his northern Minnesota company. Banker Jim Campbell is the retired chief executive officer of Wells Fargo Bank Minnesota and now co-chair of a major Twin Cities study group made up of other CEO's.
April 15, 2004 - Immigrants to the U.S. often arrive with a tremendous hope for a new life as well as a deep sense of loss for the one left behind. Those themes, plus culture clash and the resilience of youth, are at the center of the play "Snapshot Silhouette." A product of the Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis, the play has for the past month been providing Twin Cities students a glimpse of what life is like for some of the region's newest immigrants. It is built around two twelve year old girls, one Somali and one African-American who, as circumstances have it, find themselves living together in the same Minnesota home.
April 16, 2004 - Hour 2 of Midday: A Voices of Minnesota broadcast with two remarkable women. Sabina Zimering, a Polish Jew, survived the Holocaust during World War II while literally working under the noses of the Gestapo. She wrote a book about her experiences, and now it's a play at the Great American History Theatre in St. Paul. Also, Hyun Sook Han, who survived the Japanese occupation of Korea during World War II and lived through the Korean War as well. She's a retired children's home society social worker, and she'll be honored on April 29th and May 1st for her work.