January 31, 2018 - MPR’s Marianne Combs reports on the latest production of Twenty Percent Theater Company’s "The Naked I." The show brings together the stories and experiences of people who self-identify as trans, queer, or otherwise gender non-conforming.
February 26, 2018 - MPR's Marianne Combs interviews poet Bao Phi and illustrator Thi Bui about their children's book, "A Different Pond," a 2018 Caldecott Honor Book. The book depicts a father and son going on early morning fishing trips to a pond in Minneapolis, and a father's story about a different pond in their homeland of Vietnam. Combs also interviews Dr. Sarah Park Dahlen, Professor of Library and Information Science of St. Catherine University, regarding diversity in children's literature. In the latter half of the segment, Dr. Dahlen also answers listener questions.
March 30, 2018 - An MPR News Presents broadcast of New York University historian Thomas Sugrue speaking at the Minnesota Historical Society's History Forum. Sugrue, author of Sweet Land of Liberty: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North, a book exploring the stories of Northern activists who challenged racial inequality.
April 4, 2018 - MPR’s Marianne Combs reports on “Dead King Mother,” a composition created by local composer Davu Seru, who calls piece a "blues for chamber ensemble." The subject matter is a 1968 incident in which Clarence Underwood, a Minneapolis Black man, who upon hearing the news of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, told his wife, "My King is dead." He vowed to kill the first white man he found. Underwood went on to murder John F. Murray, a white man in neighborhood.
April 23, 2018 - Morning Edition takes a look at Minneapolis musician James "Cornbread" Harris who turned 91 on this day. In 2017, Harris stopped by MPR studios and spoke with Tom Weber and Andrea Swensson. While he was here he played a song called "Cool Rider." Harris says he wrote it about the aspirations he had for his son, who would become the highly successful record producer Jimmy Jam Harris.
May 29, 2018 - MPR’s Marianne Combs profiles Patrick’s Cabaret, a local Minneapolis creative venue that is closing its doors. Since 1986, Patrick’s Cabaret has provided a space for artists to develop new work. The queer-led organization has focused on supporting emerging artists of diverse backgrounds and artists whose work didn’t fit into more traditional molds. Now, with the institution closing, there is concern at what’s being lost and why.
September 14, 2018 - In the stage adaption of Mary Shelley’s classic story, the monster and his creator wrestle with timeless questions at the Guthrie Theater.
December 5, 2018 - MPR’s John Enger profiles Tom Petrie, who works full-time as a sergeant in the Beltrami County Sheriff's Office…but has second job that happens in the shed. He's an expert in a type of trophy taxidermy known as the European mount.
December 24, 2018 - MPR Host Angela Davis talks with Minnesota chef Yia Vang about food traditions. Vang describes his "Hmong Hot Dish."
January 11, 2019 - MPR’s Marianne Combs talks with Susan Kimberly about her play "When Superman Became Lois Lane." At its heart, the play is a conversation between the person she was and the person she is. Kimberly is transgender and transitioned from male to female in 1983 before serving as deputy mayor of St. Paul under Norm Coleman in the mid-90s.