March 4, 2015 - On this episode of Appetites, Pakou Hang, co-founder and executive director of the Hmong American Farmers Association, shares five things you might not have known about Hmong food and farming in Minnesota.
March 8, 2015 - MPR’s Euan Kerr reports on a group of internationally acclaimed rock artists visiting St. Paul for a unique new music collaboration sponsored by Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Liquid Music Series. The musicians are coming to perform with Helado Negro, an electronic music group led by Roberto Carlos Lange.
April 13, 2015 - For the 40th anniversary since the first Hmong family settled in Minnesota, MPR’s Tom Weber interviews three Hmong American artists: spoken word and hip hop artist Tou Saiko Lee, painter Cy Thao, and writer Kao Kalia Yang. They discuss the value of the arts, through which personal and cultural pasts are melded with their present lives.
April 17, 2015 - MPR’s Marianne Combs reports on Internationally acclaimed author Louise Erdrich’s first-ever show of visual art, titled "Asynchronous Reading." Combs interviews Erdrich about items in the exhibit.
April 23, 2015 - On MPR News with Tom Weber, Kao Choua Vue previews Quia Dab Neeg Film Festival, held at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul. The sixth-annual Hmong film festival showcases films produced by Hmong artists from Minnesota, around the country, and from Laos.
April 23, 2015 -
May 18, 2015 - As members of the Minnesota Orchestra returned tired and triumphant from their whirlwind tour of Cuba Sunday night, MPR’s Euan Kerr reflects on the significant concert performance.
June 10, 2015 - MPR’s Marianne Combs profiles One Voice Mixed Chorus of Unity Church Unitarian in St. Paul. The chorus bills itself as the largest LGBT and Allies chorus in the nation, with more than 125 singers and an additional 50 volunteers. For years the chorus has explored issues surrounding gender.
June 17, 2015 - Garrison Keillor, the host of A Prairie Home Companion, suggests 16 things that would improve the country while speaking at the National Press Club.
July 2, 2015 - On MPR News with Tom Weber, Tzianeng Vang shares details on The Hmong Freedom Celebration, also known as J4. The annual event at Como Park features a soccer tournament, as well as other sports, activities, traditional Hmong goods for sale, and food. This year the festival holds a little more significance because it was 40 years ago this year that the first Hmong arrived in Minnesota.