March 9, 2007 - Noted poet Nikki Giovanni speaks at the University of Minnesota about the poet's inquiry into the life of a civil rights icon.
April 13, 2007 - On this Midday program, a broadcast of speech by U.S. Representative Tim Walz, who represents Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District in the southern part of the state. Walz says America's foreign policy has become so focused on the goal of security that it has given short shrift to other important goals like human rights. He argues for a broader view of foreign policy and a departure from the "dichotomies" of American politics.
May 3, 2007 - MPR’s Toni Randolph reports on Graves Desecration Reconciliation Working Group, a St. Paul group that is working with U.S. diplomatic officials in Thailand to resolve an issue that has angered members of Minnesota's Hmong community. They're trying to figure out what to do with the disinterred remains of some of their relatives once buried near a Buddhist temple in Thailand.
May 7, 2007 - MPR’s Laura McCallum profiles the work coming out of the Black Box Theatre at St. Paul’s Central High School. Members of the Central Touring Theatre (CTT) are performing a play written earlier in the year, titled "I'll Take You There." The play addresses a number of controversial topics.
May 8, 2007 - Jim Koppel, executive director of the Children's Defense Fund Minnesota, discusses 2007 Kids Count Data Book, an annual report that measures the health and well-being of children and their families. Minnesota saw the steepest increase in child poverty rates in the nation this year, up 63% from the year past. What is behind that troubling statistic?
June 5, 2007 - MPR’s Toni Randolph reports on viewpoints in Hmong community about General Vang Pao and the support for him after his U.S. arrest. While he has been in the United States for about 30 years, and no longer a military leader, he's still an important figure in Hmong history in America.
June 18, 2007 - MPR’s Dan Gunderson reports on whether tough sex offender laws increase public safety or create a false sense of security.
June 19, 2007 - MPR’s Dan Gunderson reports on well-intentioned laws that aren't based on science but fear, and tend not to be very effective dealing with sex offenders.
June 20, 2007 - MPR’s Dan Gunderson reports on how better research and information can provide better sex offender laws and assist in prevention.
August 13, 2007 - Cultural change begins in small ways. Some Hmong women in St. Paul are starting with themselves. MPR's Roseanne Pereira reports on The Hmong Women Leadership Institute, which works to foster leadership skills in young Hmong women. It’s a small, but impactful, change to centuries' old Hmong social order.