War
September 26, 2002 - The Mainstreet Radio documentary “An Uncivil War” examines The US-Dakota War of 1862, a war fought in the Minnesota River valley back in 1862 that still leaves scars today. On one side were the Dakota Indians. On the other, settlers and the U.S. government. Hundreds of people died on both sides of the five-week long war. It lead to the largest mass execution in U.S. history, when 38 Dakota were hanged in Mankato.
December 10, 2002 - MPR’s Lorna Benson interviews Jen Randolph Reise, co-director of Women Against Military Madness, on group’s efforts to find peace solutions as an Iraqi War possibility looms. Reise says WAMM's most visible activities has been its weekly protests on the Lake Street Bridge in Minneapolis.
April 1, 2003 - All Things Considered’s Lorna Benson interviews local peace activist Steve Clemens about of efforts of the Chicago-based group Voices in the Wilderness while in Iraq. Clemens was there during December 2002 and says about a dozen of the group's members remain in the country. He says all of the peace workers in Baghdad are doing important work.
April 2, 2003 - All Things Considered’s Lorna Benson speaks with Richfield resident Kenny Hanson, who was held in a POW camp in 1953, during the Korean War. Henson recounts the experience and comments on the Jessica Lynch, the first rescued American POW from the war in Iraq.
April 7, 2003 - MPR’ Brandt Williams reports on a Sunday evening worship service held in the State Theater in Minneapolis, where Black leaders told the crowd of nearly 500 that African Americans still face high rates of unemployment, poverty and health problems. They expressed hope that through church and community collaboration, those problems can be solved.
April 8, 2003 - All Things Considered’s Lorna Benson talks with Professor Ronald Glossop, vice-president of the National World Federalist Association, about establishing a democratic world federation that would function much like the United States, but on a global level.
April 10, 2003 - All Things Considered’s Lorna Benson interviews Peter Thompson about his views on the Iraq War. He spent three weeks in Iraq during December 2002 as part of a delegation from Chicago-based Voices in the Wilderness.
April 1, 2004 - “The Few Who Stayed: Defying Genocide in Rwanda,” an American RadioWorks documentary produced in cooperation with the PBS program FRONTLINE, profiles individuals that resisted the forces of genocide by presents their haunting stories.
August 24, 2004 - In April of 1971, John Kerry gave a speech before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations about war crimes that other soldiers serving in Vietnam allegedly committed. That testimony is the focus of a Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ad that claims Kerry "dishonored his country and more importantly the people he served with." On this Talk of Minnesota, Midday plays the ad alongside Kerry's testimony, and opens the phone lines to get listeners' reaction.
March 2, 2005 - Mainstreet Radio's Mark Steil reports on how the Minnesota town of Appleton honors fallen soldiers. Funeral services for Sergeant Jesse Lhotka will be held in his hometown of Appleton. A roadside bomb killed Lhotka and two other Minnesota National Guard soldiers in Iraq. Lhotka is the most recent in a long line of Appleton residents to die in battle and reminders of the town's service are everywhere.