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.
January 21, 2019 - MPR’s Tim Nelson reports on the Minnesota State Fair’s biggest expansion since the West End Market opened in 2014. A new exhibit hall and entrance plaza will greet fairgoers in August, when the $16,000,000 project is scheduled to open.
March 6, 2019 - On this episode of Appetites, MPR’s Tom Crann talks with chef Yia Vang about Hmong food and his latest project in a residency at Sociable Cider Werks in northeast Minneapolis. Historically, Hmong people as an indigenous group moved around Southeast Asia to find quality farmlands. Vang says that aspect of the culture and history of the Hmong people is why the food can't be tied to a specific product, technique or style.
June 12, 2019 - On this episode of New Classical Tracks, Classical Host Julie Amacher talks with Israeli violinist Itamar Zorman. The two discuss the release of “Evocation.” Two works recorded here for the first time, by Israeli composer Paul Ben-Haim, provide the framework for this release. They also demonstrate the evolution of Ben-Haim’s composing style.