April 26, 2013 - Minnesota writer Patricia Hampl presents a staged performance of "The Big Time: F. Scott Fitzgerald." Commissioned by MPR in 2010 for the 100th anniversary of the Fitzgerald Theater, Patricia Hampl and Dan Chouinard perform a literary and musical story about Fitzgerald's version of making it big.
August 30, 2013 - The Minnesota State Fair is one of the few places where fish and falcons, lambs and llamas are all within a short stroll of each other. That inspired a reflection on the ancient relationships between humans and animals from playwright and storyteller Kevin Kling.
September 6, 2013 - With votes on authorizing military strikes against Syria on the possible horizon, members of Congress are getting a lot of pressure from many directions. MPR’s Mark Zdechlik reports that during a public lunch meeting, DFL 1st District Congressman Tim Walz got an earful from more than 100 of his constituents in St. Peter.
January 24, 2014 - It's a Friday in Minnesota, and that means tonight's a good time for a meat raffle.It may be a part of Minnesota culture, but to newcomers and out-of-towners, the meat raffle baffles. As "Eat, Pray, Love" author Elizabeth Gilbert observed in the New York Times after visiting a Brainerd meat raffle in 2006, "You know you're an outsider when something that seems perfectly normal to everyone else is impenetrably bizarre to you."Meat raffles are considered a form of legal gambling, and they're regulated in this state by the Minnesota Gambling Control Board. They are common in Minnesota and Wisconsin, as well as in Canada and England.
June 3, 2014 - For more than 20 years Bemidji writer Kent Nerburn has walked a fine line. He's tried to respectfully explore Native American culture as a white author.His books "Neither Wolf nor Dog" and "Wolf at Twilight," tell of his complex relationship with a Lakota elder named Dan. He's now completed the trilogy with "The Girl Who Sang to the Buffalo" which delves into Native spirituality. Nerburn says it was also the most difficult of the trilogy to write. "In my own way, with such talents or such spiritual capabilities as I had, I prayed for guidance on this."As in the others in the series the new book tells of a road trip Nerburn takes with his friend Dan. Dan is a real person, a Lakota elder approaching the end of his life. Like all the characters in Nerburn's trilogy, though, Dan is not his real name. Nerburn has renamed everyone except himself.Dan is surrounded by a group of very protective friends and relatives. They regularly warn off Nerburn if they think he is getting too close, telling him he has no place in the native community. "The Girl Who Sang to the Buffalo" Courtesy New World LibraryHowever, for reasons Nerburn doesn't understand, Dan keeps pulling him back. The man needs to resolve some questions before he dies -- most importantly, what happened to his sister. She was taken to a boarding school and never returned. Dan wants Nerburn's help to find out what happened.In the first half of the 20th century the U.S. government placed thousands of native children in such schools. They were often far from their homes and families, and the experience scarred entire generations. In the new book, Nerburn writes about a place that may have been worse.
September 18, 2014 - The Daily Circuit presents a transgender panel discussion moderated by MPR’s Marrianne Combs. The group discuss that for many whose gender doesn’t conform to the traditional image of male or female, the barriers to success…and sometimes even to basic survival, are everywhere.
September 26, 2014 - Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer gets sports commentator Howard Sinker’s take on yet another disappointing Minnesota Twins season, losing 90 or more games for the fourth season in a row. Sinker says there is blame to go around and sees personal changes on the horizon.
January 9, 2015 - On this The Daily Circuit program, MPR’s Tom Weber talks with Lee Pao Xiong and Chia Youyee Vang about the history of the Hmong migration to the U.S…a history that some are unaware of 40 years after the first arrivals.
March 5, 2015 - MPR News with Tom Weber presents a commentary and interview with Pai Yang, a Hmong woman who used to live in St. Paul. Yang shares her thoughts of Hmong family and perceptions of Hmong in society.
August 28, 2015 - MPR’s Cathy Wurzer and TPT's Eric Eskola co-host "Almanac" live at the MPR State Fair booth. Tom Scheck talks politics, Mark Seeley talks weather, Kevin Kling tells a Minnesota State Fair story, and Duluth musician Charlie Parr performs. There's presidential politics with professors Larry Jacobs, David Schultz and Kathryn Pearson; plus music and a baby lamb.