October 30, 2009 - MPR’s Michael Barone reflects on the musical importance of local organist and composer Paul Otto Manz, who passed away on Ocotober 28th, 2009. Manz’s organ arrangements and hymn improvisations are favorites among choir directors, organists and churchgoers.
November 26, 2009 - Giving Thanks: A Celebration of Fall, Food and Gratitude. MPR's John Birge presents Thanksgiving music, stories and poems from writers John Updike and Kevin Kling. Giving Thanks comes in two versions: The original two-hour program maintains the high proportion of music compatible with a classical format. The one-hour version is geared towards news/talk formats, with less music but all the special readings. This version keeps the spirit of the original program, while offering greater scheduling flexibility. For 2009, Giving Thanks remembers the great John Updike, who passed away this year. Updike shares November reflections, including a Thanksgiving verse he wrote for his children. From his book Americana, he'll read a poem of gratitude to a skylark. Also, writer and All Things Considered commentator Kevin Kling reads a Thanksgiving story from his new book "Holiday Inn."
November 26, 2009 - Giving Thanks: A Celebration of Fall, Food and Gratitude. MPR's John Birge presents Thanksgiving music, stories and poems from writers John Updike and Kevin Kling. 12:00 p.m. Giving Thanks comes in two versions: The original two-hour program maintains the high proportion of music compatible with a classical format. The one-hour version is geared towards news/talk formats, with less music but all the special readings. This version keeps the spirit of the original program, while offering greater scheduling flexibility. For 2009, Giving Thanks remembers the great John Updike, who passed away this year. Updike shares November reflections, including a Thanksgiving verse he wrote for his children. From his book Americana, he'll read a poem of gratitude to a skylark. Also, writer and All Things Considered commentator Kevin Kling reads a Thanksgiving story from his new book "Holiday Inn."
November 26, 2009 - With music and stories for Thanksgiving, it's Giving Thanks: a Celebration of Fall, Food, and Gratitude. This year, we remember the great American writer John Updike. From his 2002 Giving Thanks visit, Updike shares November reflections and holiday memories, including a Thanksgiving verse he wrote for his children. From his book Americana, he'll read a soaring poem of gratitude, "To a Skylark."
December 8, 2009 - With a major blizzard bearing down on us, it's time for motorists across the state to pause and review their cold weather driving techniques. Essayist Peter Smith designed this refresher course.
December 14, 2009 - Minnesotans know it's not nice to call someone "Minnesota nice..." It's a synonym for phoniness and passive aggression. And Minnesota playwright Syl Jones says he's uncovered the roots of Minnesota nice. He traces it all back to the Scandinavian immigrants who settled here more than a century ago. Jones argues his discovery goes a long way toward explaining all kinds of strange Minnesota phenomena.
December 15, 2009 - Santa Claus is making his list and checking it twice. But essayist Peter Smith says when he was growing up, it didn't matter if he was naughty or nice. Smith came from a huge family, and even Santa had to be practical.
December 22, 2009 - Say what you will about the frivolity of the holiday buying season, Minneapolis poet Todd Boss has discovered a new reason to indulge in mechanical marble-tumble toys.
December 22, 2009 - Essayist Peter Smith shares a story about one of his favorite Christmas memories… about a man named Mr. Dinklenberg.
January 5, 2010 - January's arrival has some of us thinking about New Year's resolutions.... or cursing the cold. But it has essayist Peter Smith contemplating his own mortality. Mortality, and an old sofa.