July 15, 2004 - MPR’s Toni Randolph reports on shortage of Hmong funeral homes in the Twin Cities. A traditional Hmong funeral is a ceremony full of rituals, scheduled on weekends and lasting for days. Families now often have to wait weeks before burying their loved ones. A couple of new Hmong funeral homes will be opening, though they won't open for more than a year.
July 28, 2004 - Mainstreet Radio's Mark Steil profiles Harry Yang, a Hmong immigrant who decided to leave Twin Cities for Walnut Grove and Southwest Minnesota, home of "Little House on the Prairie." Yang says he finds more freedom and peace of mind here, though challenges remain.
August 2, 2004 - Minneapolis City Council members Don Samuels and Dean Zimmerman talk about their ideas to prevent crime in Minneapolis. The guests also answer listener questions.
August 9, 2004 - MPR’s Brandt Williams takes a look at probably the ugliest racial slur ever created. It is a word known primarily as a means to denigrate African Americans. The word packs such power to represent overt racial hatred, most people - regardless of race - will not even utter it. How can one word have such power?
August 11, 2004 - Carl Eller, who played for the Minnesota Vikings from 1964 to 1979, has been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Midday takes a look at his acceptance speech, followed by an interview with Eller about football and race. He also takes questions from MPR listeners.
August 19, 2004 - A group of Hmong refugees who left St. Paul in June arrived in Washington, D.C. on August 19th, 2004, many of them on foot. Some walked the entire 1100 miles journey; others joined en route. MPR’s David Molpus talks with two involved in march.
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 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.
August 26, 2004 - In a live Midday broadcast from the Minnesota State Fair, Susan Gaertner, district attorney for Ramsey County; and Amy Klobuchar, district attorney for Hennepin County, discuss trends and issues in Minnesota law enforcement.
August 26, 2004 - Mainstreet Radio’s Bob Reha reports that while schools aren't open yet, report cards are being released nonetheless. The reports won't go to students, but to their schools.