July 11, 2019 - MPR’s Brian Bakst reports on how taxpayers helped fund 'Tonight Show' Super Bowl broadcast from Minnesota via Snowbate program, which aims at luring productions and fostering local industry talent. Segment includes various interviews.
July 31, 2019 - On this episode of New Classical Tracks, Classical Host Julie Amacher talks with classical pianist Anna Shelest. The two discuss the release of “Donna Voce,” which in Italian, means 'woman's voice.' Shelest expresses a newfound freedom in playing serious work by a woman composer.
August 16, 2019 - MPR’s Tarkor Zehn reports on Because Black Life Conference, which entails about a dozen workshops that explore an array of issues impacting black life. Examples of topics include being black and Muslim in the current political climate and reparations. The underlying common thread in most of the workshops is healing.
August 30, 2019 - The Minnesota State Fair broke with long tradition in 2019. After asking artists like Harry Potter book cover illustrator Mary Grandpre and muralist Tacoumba Aiken to portray the fair, a photographer was selected for this year’s commemorative art for the first time.
March 9, 2020 - MPR’s John Enger interviews Native American author Dennis Staples about his first novel, "This Town Sleeps." The story depicts the struggle of a gay Ojibwe man to accept a Native tradition where he rarely felt at home, while escaping a reservation he could never quite leave. It is told through the eyes of a twenty-something narrator, who bears a striking resemblance to Staples himself.
August 15, 2020 - When a flying saucer circled over Washington, DC, in the classic 1951 sci-fi film The Day the Earth Stood Still, it did so to music played on an electronic instrument known as the “Theremin.” On this episode of Composer’s Datebook, a look back at its Russian inventor, Leon Theremin.
October 14, 2020 - MPR’s Nina Moini spent an evening walking with a Minneapolis violence prevention group, called “violence interrupters.” Members of group share purpose behind efforts and the challenges they face.
April 29, 2021 - Morning Edition presents a conversation with beloved Minneapolis blues musician as he rehearses for an upcoming concert at the Hook and Ladder in Minneapolis to celebrate his 94th birthday.
August 27, 2021 - MPR’s Vicki Adame profiles Gustavo Romero, chef and owner of Nixta in northeast Minneapolis. Romero opened the tortilleria in July 2020 because he saw a necessity to bring a better tortilla to Minneapolis and the state. He stays close to tradition to produce authentic flavors.
February 15, 2022 - All Things Considered’s Tom Crann interviews Minneapolis activist and writer Junauda Petrus about her book “The Stars and the Blackness Between Them” being placed on a potenial banned books list in Texas. The book is the story of two black girls from very different backgrounds finding love and happiness in a world that seems determined to deny them both.