March 30, 2000 - Three years ago, creative writing teacher and children's author Jane Kurtz found herself a refugee. The Grand Forks resident was one of the many who lost their homes and neighborhoods in the Red River Flood of 1997. Kurtz said she didn't write about the experience right away, because it was too raw and too close. But as time went by, she collected her poems into a book for children called River Friendly, River Wild. It's dedicated to everyone who survived the flood, or helped its victims, and anyone anywhere who has had to pick up life after a natural disaster. I asked her about her most vivid memory of the flood.
April 1, 2000 - American culture has shaped powerful myths about the war - and some of the most powerful ones surround the Vietnam-era veteran. This American RadioWorks documentary, “Revisiting Vietnam: 25 Years From Vietnam,” presents various reports and interviews from an American perspective.
April 3, 2000 - Local sports analyst Howard Sinker talks about the Minnesota Twins beginning their 40th season, in the midst of fan apathy and a decreasing interest in baseball, according to a Minnesota Poll.
April 12, 2000 - MPR’s Lorna Benson interviews filmmaker Greg Stiever on his film Poles Apart. This documentary includes Ann Bancroft and her feelings during the expedition through the lens of her diary. [Content Warning: This audio discusses suicidal ideations]
April 14, 2000 - Tonight the Minnesota Book Awards will honor a St. Paul woman in recogntion of her lifelong love of reading. Jeanne Fischer will receive the Kay Sexton Award. At 90 years of age, Fischer still reads almost a book day. She gives book talks at clubs and churches, reviews books, writes poetry, reads to children and participates in her own book club. Fischer says her love of books began at an early age.
April 20, 2000 - Wyman Spano and Virginia Gray will be in the MPR studios to talk about the "political culture" of Minnesota and their new book, Minnesota Government and Politics.
April 21, 2000 - Authors and scientists Jill Schneiderman of Vassar College and Ed Buchwald of Carleton College will discuss their new book The Earth Around Us. The 30th anniversary of Earth Day is Saturday.
April 26, 2000 - Eugene McCarthy, former Minnesota senator and former presidential candidate, visits MPR studios to talk with Gary Eichten about politics, journalism, and 25 years after the end of the Vietnam War. McCarthy also answers listener call-in questions.
April 26, 2000 - MPR’s Bob Potter talks with Lee Pao Xiong, member of the Metropolitan Council, about what has changed in the past 25 years for the Hmong community. Xiong is the first Hmong appointed by the governor to a state policy-making body.
April 27, 2000 - An American Radioworks documentary, "Vietnam - A Nation, Not a War." MPR’s Daniel Zwerdling and Deborah George traveled to Vietnam to report on how the country and its people have fared in the past 25 years. Program contains three segments: History and Reconciliation Americans continue to brood about the purpose and the toll of the war. In Vietnam, it's called "The American War," and the anniversary is a time for victory celebrations. Still, many Vietnamese are eager to accept Americans as friends - and business partners. And many Vietnamese who sided with the U.S. during the war continue to suffer. The Legacy of Agent Orange Thousands of Americans who served in Vietnam suffer from diseases they say were caused by exposure to the defoliant called Agent Orange. In Vietnam, the health and environmental damage caused by the chemical is easy to see. But scientists say the impact of Agent Orange in Vietnam has not been sufficiently studied, so the extent of harm is difficult to judge. Vietnam's MIA's While U.S. officials continue to search for the remains of some 1,500 American soldiers who never came home from the Vietnam war, the number of missing Vietnamese soldiers may be 300,000 or more. Some Vietnamese have employed psychics to search for their missing relatives - with surprising results.