February 15, 1999 - Novelist T.C. Boyle, author of "The Road to Wellville" and "Riven Rock" amongst other books, had a strange experience recently. His high-school aged son, who he describes as a 'tech-head who doesn't read much and who came out of the womb connected to a modem', was assigned two of his books for English class. Boyle found out when he caught his son sneaking a copy of "Tortilla Flats" out of the house. Luckily for the younger Boyle, he doesn't have to read his dad's new volume simply called "Stories". It's a seven-hundred page doorstep of a book... which collects many of Boyle's short stories from the last quarter century. Boyle told Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr the wide range of subjects for his story shouldn't really come as a surprise.
February 15, 1999 - MPR’s Gretchen Lehmann reports that after years battling severe weather, scab and low crop prices, many farmers in western Minnesota and the Dakotas are looking for a new way to make money off the land. Farmers along Interstate-29 believe they've found the answer... join forces with your neighbors and invest in a dairy.
February 17, 1999 - The February edition of our Voices of Minnesota series, featuring three pioneering Minnesota doctors: Dr. John Wild, who developed ultrasound for detecting breast cancer; Dr. Arne Anderson, a founder of the Minneapolis Children's Medical Center; and Dr. Betty Jerome, the first director of Teenage Medical Service in Minneapolis.
February 17, 1999 - MPR's Kathryn Herzog has this Mainstreet report on concerns of nuclear power plants and Y2K. Of all the alarming scenarios related to possible computer failures in the year 2000, perhaps most critical to public health is the safety of America's 103 nuclear power plants. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says the Y2K computer bug poses little threat to safety systems at nuclear reactors, but some nuclear power opponents say the utilities back-up plans for Y2K are not good enough to ensure the public's safety.
February 18, 1999 - Baseball analyst Kevin Hennessy says it doesn't bode well for a good season for the Minnesota Twins as pitchers and catchers reported to baseball spring training. The team has slashed its payroll by $10 million in the hopes of breaking even after several seasons of losing money. They're total team payroll is almost what New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens, alone, makes in a year.
February 19, 1999 - Jody Williams, winner of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize discusses her international campaign to ban landmines. She is in the Twin Cities to speak at the annual Peace Prize Forum, held this year at Augsburg College in Minneapolis. Williams also answers listener questions.
February 19, 1999 - MPR’s Katherine Lanpher talks with poets Robert Bly and William Duffy about their adventures in poetry - both then and now.
February 23, 1999 - Doug Johnson, co-director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the U of M's Carlson School of Management; and Karl Egge, Director of the Entrepreneurship Program at Macalester College, discuss entrepreneurs and the characteristics of people who are successful in business. Program includes a rememberance of Curt Carlson. Johnson and Egge also answer listener questions.
February 23, 1999 - A presentation of the MPR documentary "The Positive Life," about teens with AIDS. Following documentary, Dr. Gary Remafedi; and Patricia Bassing, of the University of Minnesota Youth and Aids Project, answer listener quesetions.
February 23, 1999 - MPR’s Amy Radil reports on ‘green design’ taking place on the North Shore. The idea of building a cabin using old hoses and pickle barrels may seem fantastic, but that's exactly what is happening along the shore of Lake Superior near Tofte. The unconventional materials are being used to fulfill the mission of Medora Woods, a Twin Cities-based psychologist, to build the most earth-friendly home possible.