December 29, 1979 - Midday presents the documentary “Trampled Grass.” MPR’s Greg Barron accompanied a team of medical doctors and nurses from Minnesota as they worked in Cambodian refugee camps along Thailand's border with Kampuchea, the Khmer Rouge-controlled state that controlled Cambodia from 1975 until 1979.
January 7, 1980 - MPR’s Tom Meersman reports on Laotian refugees arriving in Minnesota. Meersman highlights struggles and adjustments the refugees face.
January 19, 1980 - Sonia Johnson, feminist and equal rights amendment (ERA) supporter, speaking at the University of Minnesota. Johnson was excommunicated from the Mormon church after she spoke out for ERA and against church political activities against ERA. Her address is part of a country tour in trying to rally renewed support for the Equal Rights Amendment. In her speech, she says she took on the political arm of the church and lost - a political arm that she says is actively campaigning against passage of the ERA and using deception as a key tool.
February 25, 1980 - MPR’s Nancy Fushan interviews poet and activist Marge Piercy. Segment also includes Piercy reading two of her poems.
February 26, 1980 - National Urban League director Vernon Jordan, Jr., National Urban League director, speaking at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. Jordon’s address was titled “The State of Black America,” and on the status of American blacks in the 1980's.
March 1, 1980 - On this Weekend program, Albrecht Thiemann, representing a German-based group called the Action Reconciliation Service for Peace, talks of the Holocaust and about insuring that such a thing does not again come to pass.
March 8, 1980 - MPR’s Nancy Fushan profiles and interviews poet and novelist Marge Piercy.
March 21, 1980 - Joseph Lowery, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, speaking at Macalester College as part of the Hubert Humphrey Endowed Lecture series. Lowery addressed the role of Blacks in the United States. Following speech, Lowery answered audience questions.
March 22, 1980 - Anthony Bouza, Minneapolis police chief, speaking before a Citizens League breakfast in Minneapolis. Bouza talked about first month in office and elaborated some on what he hopes to do in the next few years.
March 28, 1980 - MPR’s Tom Meersman reports on a conference about refugees resettling in Minnesota and how Laotian refugees are dealing with the many obstacles in adapting and thriving in United States. Economic, generational, and equality issues are topics highlighted in report.