March 30, 2018 - An MPR News Presents broadcast of New York University historian Thomas Sugrue speaking at the Minnesota Historical Society's History Forum. Sugrue, author of Sweet Land of Liberty: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North, a book exploring the stories of Northern activists who challenged racial inequality.
April 4, 2018 - MPR’s Marianne Combs reports on “Dead King Mother,” a composition created by local composer Davu Seru, who calls piece a "blues for chamber ensemble." The subject matter is a 1968 incident in which Clarence Underwood, a Minneapolis Black man, who upon hearing the news of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, told his wife, "My King is dead." He vowed to kill the first white man he found. Underwood went on to murder John F. Murray, a white man in neighborhood.
April 18, 2018 - MPR’s Laura Yuen joins Tom Crann on All Things Considered to discuss what MPR knew about Garrison Keillor’s behavior before sexual allegations came to light against the former A Prairie Home Companion creator and host.
May 14, 2018 - MPR’s Nina Moini reports on the chronic homeless population living on the Twin Cities light rail system. Police and homeless outreach coordinators say the number of people using the Green and Blue lines as a mobile shelter is increasing at an alarming rate.
May 29, 2018 - MPR’s Marianne Combs profiles Patrick’s Cabaret, a local Minneapolis creative venue that is closing its doors. Since 1986, Patrick’s Cabaret has provided a space for artists to develop new work. The queer-led organization has focused on supporting emerging artists of diverse backgrounds and artists whose work didn’t fit into more traditional molds. Now, with the institution closing, there is concern at what’s being lost and why.
July 12, 2018 - MPR’s Briana Bierschbach reports on the Pink Pistols, an LGBT gun rights group with chapters in dozens of cities across the nation. It's been around in Minnesota for nearly two decades, hosting meetings at the gun range roughly once a month.
July 25, 2018 - On this program of MPR News at 11, host Kerri Miller talks with DFL candidate Tim Walz. As governor, DFL candidate Tim Walz said he would support legalizing recreational marijuana, raising the gas tax to pay for transportation projects, and would help bridge the urban and rural divide in the state. Other topics in conversation include gun control, Polymet and Twin Metals copper nickel mining, refugees, and pipeline.
August 30, 2018 - MPR’s Marianne Combs reports on allegations of harrassment and abuse at Minnesota Renaissance Festival. Carr Hagerman, the fair’s entertainment director, is facing criminal sexual misconduct charges alleging he raped a freelance photographer on festival grounds in Shakopee.
August 31, 2018 - At MPR Day at the Minnesota State Fair, Politics Friday’s Mike Mulcahy hosts a gubernatorial debate at Dan Patch Park between U.S. Representative Tim Walz, the DFL candidate; and Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson, the GOP candidate. The two spar over President Trump, schools, gun control measures, and how to slow the rising cost of health care. The stakes are high for both parties. Republicans have complete control of the Legislature and could control all of state government if they win the governor's office this fall, but they haven't managed to win a statewide race in more than a decade.
September 11, 2018 - An MPR News Presents broadcast of the APM Reports education documentary “Still Rising - First Generation College Students a Decade Later.” A look back at two students ten years after their initial efforts to gain a higher education.