October 17, 1996 - MPR’s Chris Roberts reports on growing political involvement in Hmong community. 20+ years after the first Hmong refugees arrived in Minnesota, Hmong voter ranks have grown steadily, and more are involved in politics than ever before.
October 18, 1996 - MPR’s Lorna Benson profiles Pua Xiong, a first-year resident who works at St. Joseph's Hospital in St. Paul. Xiong describes how her quest for a medical degree has forced her to confront a multitude of cultural barriers.
November 15, 1996 - This Midday program presents two parts: Part 1 a discussion with studio guest Minnesota's attorney General Hubert H. Humphrey III, who answers listener questions about the prevention of violence. Part 2 is an excerpt from a 1982 interview with writer Meridel Le Sueur, who died at the age of 96 on November 14th, 1996.
November 25, 1996 - Midday presents a Westminster Town Hall Forum with former St. Paul resident Gordon Parks. The writer, photographer, and artist address is titled A Life of Art. Parks recalls his family, time in St. Paul, and his art. Following the speech, Parks answers audience questions.
December 12, 1996 - MPR’s Elizabeth Stawicki reports on Minnesota Supreme Court decision that State can commit convicted sex offender Dennis Linehan to a state hospital. The Court had to decide whether the government can lock up a person based on what the person may commit in the future. The ruling upholds Minnesota's Sexually Dangerous Person's law, a law that incarcerates sexual predators who've served their prison terms but who the court considers too dangerous to set free.
December 16, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Catherine Winter reports from a Grand Rapids food bank. While some charities around Minnesota are doing well during the holiday season, many food shelves in rural Minnesota and North Dakota are struggling to feed all the hungry people asking for help.
December 23, 1996 - Midday presents a Voices of Minnesota program, highlighting conversations with businessman Fred Myers, who started a St. Paul company that employs chronic alcoholics; and Roberta Davis, one of Minnesota's foremost jazz vocalists.
December 26, 1996 - MPR’s Mary Losure created this report for National Public Radio detailing the efforts to save Native American language by teaching it to next generation. Losure interviews both language teachers and students at Nay Ah Shing school in Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.
December 30, 1996 - A year-in-review Midday program about key issues in the field of biomedical ethics. Guest Arthur Caplan, former University of Minnesota bioethicist and now director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, discusses assisted suicide and answers listener questions.
January 13, 1997 - As part of a series on poverty, MPR’s John Biewen looks at the growth of so-called 'fringe banks'…pawnbrokers and check-cashing shops. A growing number of low-income Americans are relying on 'fringe banks' in place of traditional banking services.