August 21, 1996 - Midday examines The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). As President Clinton prepares to sign it, guests Jim Koppell, member of the Children's Defense Fund and a vice president at the MN Hospital and Health Care Partnership; and former U.S. Senator Dave Durenberger, discuss its impact on the public. Koppell and Durenberger also answer listener questions.
August 22, 1996 - Excerpt of former U.S. Senator Rudy Boschwitz stumping with constituents at the Minnesota State Fair. MPR’s John Rabe briefly interviews Boschwitz.
August 22, 1996 - Excerpt of U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone stumping with constituents at the Minnesota State Fair. MPR’s John Rabe briefly interviews Wellstone.
August 28, 1996 - MPR’s Bob Collins interviews Ben Frazier on finally becoming a Minnesota delegate for the Democratic National Convention. A mainstay in running the DFL booth at the Minnesota State Fair, Frazier is now in Chicago to participate in convention.
August 29, 1996 - Midday presents Walter Mondale, former vice president and U.S. ambassador to Japan, speaking at Minnesota Meeting held at Marriott Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. Mondale’s address focuses on America’s relationship with Japan and Asia as a whole. After speech, Mondale answers questions from the audience.
August 29, 1996 - U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone talks about his vote against a welfare bill in U.S. Senate that he sees as too harsh. Wellstone details his hope that changes will be made in coming year.
August 30, 1996 - MPR’s Gary Eicthen interviews Winona LaDuke, vice-presidential pick of Ralph Nader in the 1996 election. LaDuke, a Native American of the White Earth Reservation, is an environmentalist and writer.
September 2, 1996 - On this special Midday program, MPR’s Gary Eichten talks with political analysts Bob Meek and Tom Horner at the MPR Fair booth. They discuss politics at the traditional start of the campaign season. Meek and Horner also answer fairgoer questions.
September 18, 1996 - Midday features a Talk of Minnesota program on political debates. Listeners are asked what they want to hear from candidates and which candidates should be invited to participate.
September 19, 1996 - This election season Minnesota Public Radio is analyzing some of the television spots the U-S Senate candidates and their surrogates are using to influence voters. More than a dozen have aired since May...but only a few of those have come from the candidates themselves. Today Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Wareham looks at ads produced by the Boschwitz and Wellstone campaigns: Astute television viewers who read the "paid for" announcements at the end of political ads will notice ads produced by a candidate's own campaign have a softer tone than those coming from the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Minnesota DFL. Unlike the NRSC ads that call Paul Wellstone an 'ult