August 26, 2004 — In a live broadcast from the Minnesota State Fair, district attorneys of Ramsey County, Susan Gaertner; and Hennepin County, Amy Klobuchar; join Gary Eichten to discuss trends and issues in Minnesota law enforcement.
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 new Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ad that claims Kerry "dishonored his country and more importantly the people he served with." We play the ad alongside Kerry's testimony, and then we open the phone lines to get listeners' reactions.
August 20, 2004 — Minnesota is losing one of its lifelong public servants to the sandy beaches and highly selective public universities of Southern California. Sandra Gardebring has chaired the Metropolitan Council, headed up the Department of Human Services, served as commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, sat on the state Supreme Court and currently holds the post of vice president for university relations at the U of M. She has announced that she's leaving Minnesota's flagship university to take a similar position at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. She talks about her decision and her long and varied career in public service.
August 11, 2004 — Carl Eller, who played for the Minnesota Vikings from 1964 to 1979, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Sunday. "What can I do with this great honor?" he asked in his acceptence speech. "I can use it to help young African-American males to participate fully in this society. I can give a message that will lead them toward the great colleges and universities of our nation, not to prisons and jail cells." Eller, who was one of the first African-Americans to play for the Minnesota Gophers back in 1961, talks about football and race with Gary Eichten. He also takes questions from MPR listeners.
August 2, 2004 — Members of the Minneapolis City Council, Don Samuels and Dean Zimmerman, talk about their ideas to prevent crime in Minneapolis.
June 15, 2004 — Methamphetamine is one of the most addictive, most abused and most readily available drugs in America. Experts are calling it an epidemic, and Minnesota is anything but sheltered from it. Mainstreet Radio has compiled a series of stories on meth and the effect it is having on the state for the first half of this two-hour special report.
June 15, 2004 — Mainstreet Radio is live from Collegeville for the second hour of this special report. Rachel Reabe hosts a call-in discussion about Minnesota's methampetamine epidemic with three experts.
June 10, 2004 — Mainstreet Radio's Rachel Raebe explores the history of the Great American Think-Off, held annually in New York Mills, Minn. The Think-Off is now in its twelfth year, and its organizers bill it as an opportunity for regular people to engage in serious discourse. This year, the amateur philosophers will address the question of same-sex marriage.
May 20, 2004 — Everyone's talking about marriage these days. The debate rages from pulpits to the legislature. Most of the discussion centers on who can get married - whether gays and lesbians should have that right. We wanted to back up a step and ask, What is marriage? MPR's Chris Julin presents a discussion among several gay and straight couples about the meaning of marriage.
March 26, 2004 — Host Gary Eichten and Suzanna Sherry, law professor at Vanderbilt University, discuss "judicial activism," and how judges decide what is constitutional.