January 22, 1981 - Dr. Bevan French, National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s discipline scientist for planetary materials, discusses the space program. Topics include data from Voyager and Pioneer spacecraft, and the new space shuttle program. French also answers listener questions. Dr. French analyzed rocks brought back from the moon. He also helped train NASA Apollo astronauts in geology.
February 7, 1981 - On this Weekend program, Robert Dunn, of the Minnesota Waste Management Control Board, discusses waste and hazardous waste sites control in Minnesota. Topics include burial of waste and recycling options. Dunn also answer listener questions.
February 17, 1981 - Former Vice President Walter Mondale discusses the office of the Vice Presidency and his experience as Vice President in Northrop Auditorium at the University of Minnesota. This is the first of three speeches as part of the Mondale Lectures.
February 24, 1981 - Former Vice President Walter Mondale discusses foreign policy options in this address at Macalester College in Saint Paul. This is the second of three speeches as part of the Mondale Lectures.
March 4, 1981 - Former Vice President Walter Mondale discusses domestic policy and the current state of American liberalism in this lecture given at the College of Saint Thomas in St. Paul. This is the third (final) of three speeches as part of the Mondale Lectures.
March 11, 1981 - James Callaghan, former British prime minister, speaking at the Carlson Lecture Series, held at University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Callaghan’s address was on his late friend, Hubert Humphrey, and their similar politics. Callaghan was born in 1912. He entered the British Civil Service in 1929 as a tax officer. He was elected to Parliament in 1945 as a Labor Party member, and he has held a Parliamentary seat for 36 years. Callaghan has also served as Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Secretary of State for Home Affairs, and he played a key role in negotiating Britain's membership in the Common Market. He was elected Prime Minister in 1976. After leaving that office, he was reelected leader of Britain's Labor Party. He stepped down from that role in 1980.
April 3, 1981 - MPR’s Bob Potter reports on Minnesota State Capital commitee discussion of gay rights bill in effort to add sexual orientation to the list of protected statuses in the Minnesota Human Rights Act.
April 3, 1981 - The Minnesota human rights law currently forbids discrimination on the basis of faces, sex, age, marital status among other things. Repeal of the gay rights in the city of St. Paul left Minneapolis as the only community in the state that protects homosexuals. DFL Representative Karen Clark of Minneapolis led a parade of witnesses before the House Law Reform Subcommittee. She stated that 10 percent of the population is homosexual and that the biggest single area of discrimination is employment. Clark is satisfied with the hearing results for the time being.
April 11, 1981 - Peter G. Peterson, former United States secretary of commerce speaking at the Women's Economic Roundtable. Peterson’s address is on the Reagan consensus.
April 16, 1981 - MPR’s Bob Potter and Gary Eichten take a look at Minnesota Governor Al Quie’s budget and tax proposal. An incorrect state forecast has left the administration looking for a tax increase.