November 26, 1996 - Midday’s Gary Eichten speaks with newly re-elected U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone, whose in the studio to answer questions about issues that will come up in the next session of Congress. Wellstone also answers listener call-in questions.
November 27, 1996 - Midday looks at car safety devices and good winter driving techniques. Studio guests are Sergeant Randy Slinger of the Minnesota State Patrol; and Nancy Frank Skala, safety program coordinator for the Department of Public Safety's Office of Traffic Safety. Slinger and Skala discuss air bags, seatbelts, speeding, and ice. They also answer listeners questions.
November 27, 1996 - MPR’s Leif Enger interviews Mary McGowan, owner of Trocano’s restaurant, about opening the doors to local community for Thanksgiving.
December 2, 1996 - Economist Dean Ramos comments on the business health of Dayton’s department store and the possibility of being sold.
December 2, 1996 - Healthcare's newest trend is decidedly low tech and low cost. In the past five years, over 300 Minnesotans have been trained as parish nurses...health care professionals working within the church to promote physical and spiritual wellness. Mainstreet Radio’s Rachel Reabe visits Crosslake Lutheran Church in northern Minnesota and looks into the nurse movement.
December 4, 1996 - The Minnesota Twins say their financial losses continued to mount in 1996, reinforcing the need for a new ballpark. Team officials revealed their latest figures while renewing their pitch for a stadium before the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission.
December 4, 1996 - A mediation committee has failed to reach agreement on a plan to revise management of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area wilderness. The committee negotiating the best uses for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area struggled to find any consensus after a proposal once considered a possible compromise was rejected by some Ely area residents and those who want to expand the wilderness.
December 4, 1996 - MPR’s Chris Roberts interviews Jane Anfinson, electric violinist and vocalist of Own, a Minneapolis art rock band that combines classical and jazz influences with traditional pop song structures. Anfinson discusses redefining instrumentation and abstract lyrics.
December 5, 1996 - Midday discusses the various changes being proposed for Minnesota's education system with guest Joe Nathan, the director of the Center for School Change at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute. Nathan also answers listener call-in questions.
December 5, 1996 - Novelist Umberto Eco's latest book "The Island of the Day Before" tells the strange tale of a 17th century Italian adventurer who is marooned on a ship straddling the international dateline. As with his other novels, "The Name of the Rose" and "Foucault Pendulum" Eco entwines an intricate story with musings on history philosophy and what he calls "lunatic science." Eco is in the Twin Cities to read from his book. Tomorrow he travels to the St John's University in Collegeville to speak, and to visit the monastic library. He told Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr he researched "The Island of the Day Before" for five years and even went to remote Pacific islands to experience life on the international dateline.