November 8, 1996 - MPR’s John Rabe interviews Walter Mondale about his decision to set down as U.S. ambassador to Japan. Mondale reflects on his tenure, and what lies ahead for next ambassador.
November 12, 1996 - A Midday discussion with the man who has been nominated to be the new Speaker of the Minnesota House…Phil Carruthers, DFL state representative of Brooklyn Center. Listeners call in with questions.
November 13, 1996 - Members of the Sierra Club say the Saint Croix River should be closed to boat traffic from the Mississippi, in order to prevent the further spread of the exotic zebra mussel.
November 15, 1996 - MPR’s Dan Olson profiles Fredrik Melius Christiansen, a Norwegian-born violinist and choral conductor in the Lutheran choral tradition. Christiansen founded the choir at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Olson interviews St. Olaf choral conductor Anton Armstrong about Christiansen.
November 15, 1996 - This Midday program presents two parts: Part 1 a discussion with studio guest Minnesota's attorney General Hubert H. Humphrey III, who answers listener questions about the prevention of violence. Part 2 is an excerpt from a 1982 interview with writer Meridel Le Sueur, who died at the age of 96 on November 14th, 1996.
November 15, 1996 - Voices from the Heartland presents poet Diane Glancy reading "Snow," which is a reflection on the Halloween blizzard of 1991.
November 16, 1996 - Hour 2 of Midmorning, featuring Voices of Minnesota with Ulysses S. Seal, conservationist and Larry Long on Smithsonian project.
November 16, 1996 -
November 18, 1996 - MPR’s Chris Roberts reports on the troubling year for the music industry, and the fallout among local labels. After years of double-digit growth, record sales have flattened out and the consumer base for music appears to be shrinking. Part of the problem is an explosion in the number of retail outlets that sell CDs and tapes, creating a situation in which supply far exceeds demand. As a result, distributors and record labels are getting huge numbers of returns, and some are even going out of business. Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Roberts has this report on the fallout among local labels. Roberts interviews Bob Feldman, Red House Records founder; Rob Simons, Rykodisc co-founder; Paul Stark, president of Twin/Tone Record Group; and John Michael, a Best Buy merchandise manager (who says music retailers need an industry-wide advertising campaign, similar to "Got Milk?").
November 18, 1996 - Hour 2 of Midmorning featuring Voices of Minnesota, an interview from the MPR archives with Meridel Le Sueur, who died at the age of 96. Le Sueur was a writer, stuntwoman, social activist and much more. Also featured is Rita Mae Brown, author of Rubyfruit Jungle and other bestselling novels about women of the South, is out with her fifth mystery novel co-written with her cat, Sneaky Pie Brown. "Murder, She Meowed " probes the depths of human depravity and the heights of feline genius."