January 13, 1986 - MPR’s George Boosey reports on Potter v. LaSalle Court Sports & Health Club case being heard at the Minnesota Supreme Court. The case stems from a complaint by gay man that health club discriminated against him due to his sexuality. Report includes clips of arguments presented by attorneys.
January 18, 1986 - Minnesotan politicians LeClair Lambert and Don Fraser reflect on being present in D.C. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. The day included the famous Martin Luther King Jr. speech “I Have a Dream.”
January 20, 1986 - MPR Journal’s Gary Eichten gets multiple reports on the status of Hormel strike situation in Austin. Striking meatpackers have amassed at gates of Hormel plant in order to disrupt. The company and city have requested the National Guard.
February 17, 1986 - Alvin Poussaint, Harvard University psychiatry professor, speaking at Coffman Union as part of Black History Month at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Poussaint’s address was on the topic "The Psyche of a Racist Culture." In speech, Poussaint says racism is deeply rooted in American culture, and even extends to the way a person's race is defined. Dr. Poussaint has devoted much of his career to studying the psychological effects of racism on Black people. He has written two best-selling books, "Why Blacks Kill Blacks", and "Black Child Care".
March 24, 1986 - Faye Wattleton, national president of Planned Parenthood and pro-choice advocate, and John Willke, national president of "Right to Life" and leader of the pro-life movement debate the subject of abortion. Debaters were joined by St. Olaf seniors Erin Rasmussen and Cathryn Abresch. Moderator of the debate was Dr. Joan Gunderson, history professor at St. Olaf College in Northfield, where the debate took place.
March 26, 1986 - Dr. Kenneth Blanchard, author and chairman of the board of Blanchard Training and Development Inc, speaking at Minnesota Meeting in Bloomington. Blanchard addresses how to motivate people. He critiques social programs and promotes the idea of self-motivation. Blanchard is best known for the book, "The One Minute Manager", which he co-authored with Spencer Johnson. Minnesota Meeting is a non-profit corporation which hosts a wide range of public speakers. It is managed by the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.
April 11, 1986 - MPR Journal’s Gary Eichten catches up with MPR reporter Mike Mulcahy on the status at Austin Hormel plant after a day of brief violence between strikers and police. A demonstration blocking the road to plant devolved into a conflict between strikers, workers, and local police.
April 18, 1986 - MPR’s Loren Omoto interviews John Camp, Pioneer Press reporter, on his celebration of winning 1986 Pulitzer Prize in Feature Reporting. Camp’s report was a series on how one family was dealing with the farm crisis. John Camp would later become famous as mystery author, John Sanford.
May 1, 1986 - Poet, author and farmer Wendell Berry speaks at the College of Saint Benedict in Saint Joseph. The speech is entitled, "In Defense of the Family Farm."
May 12, 1986 - Father Robert Drinan, a lawyer, author and former congressman who has long been active in the anti-nuclear movement, gave an address in Minneapolis in honor of World Law Day. Speech was titled "Possibilities for Peace in the Nuclear Age." Father Drinan’s appearance was co-sponsored by the World Federalist Association of Minnesota, the Lawyers Alliance for Nuclear Arms Control and the United Nations Association of Minnesota. He was introduced by Minneapolis Mayor Don Fraser.