January 27, 2005 - Talking Volumes with author Tobias Wolf. Kerri Miller, host of Midmorning, for a conversation with author Tobias Wolff. They will discuss Wolff's new novel, "Old School." It tells the story a boy at an elite prep school in 1960, exploring deceptions and betrayals with an unblinking eye and a bottomless store of empathy. A teacher at Stanford University, Wolff has received the Rea Award for excellence in the short story, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award.
January 28, 2005 - MPR’s Jeff Horwich interviews Dr. Harry Hull, a state epidemiologist, about the State Department temporarily Hmong resettlement after a case of Tuberculosis was identified in one refugee already in Minnesota. Four more refugees are suspected of having TB and are undergoing more testing.
February 1, 2005 - American RadioWorks presents the documentary “Say it Plain - A Century of African American Oratory.” Spanning the 20th century, this audio speech collection is a vivid account of how African Americans sounded the charge against racial injustice, exhorting the country to live up to its democratic principles.
February 2, 2005 - MPR’s Marianne Combs profiles the Art Shanty Project, a collection of ice houses with an artistic flair. Visitors to Minnesota often stop and wonder at the strange collection of ice fishing shacks that appear on the lakes each winter. On this year, even the locals are stopping to stare at a group of shacks on Medicine Lake in Plymouth.
February 2, 2005 - Midday broadcasts A Writer's View program event at the Fitzgerald Theater for a discussion on true crime with Minnesota author Judith Guest. The writer is accompanied by pianist Dan Chouinard.
February 3, 2005 - Mainstreet Radio’s Dan Gunderson reports on the opera "One False Move" opening in Fargo, which focuses on the emotional pain of girls who are ostracized and bullied. The opera composer says it's a very serious subject that's too long been ignored.
February 7, 2005 - Say the word 'lobotomy' nowadays, and the reaction will likely be either revulsion or gallows humor. For decades the operation was widely used to in the U.S. Between 40 and 50 thousand people are believed to have had the operation. A psychiatrist, Dr Walter Freeman developed the technique. A lobotomy involves severing parts of a patient's brain to treat mental illness. Freeman performed the operation on almost 3500 people, many of them during an out-patient procedure. Minneapolis author Jack El-Hai just completed a biography of Freeman called "The Lobotomist." El-Hai told Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr the lobotomy seems brutal now, but in the first half of the 20th century doctors treating mental illness had few viable options. We should note, this conversation deals with some detailed descriptions of brain surgery.
February 8, 2005 - MPR’s Marianne Combs reports on Suzen Murakoshi’s play Slippery When Wet.
February 9, 2005 - Mainstreet Radio's Tom Robertson reports on a plan to build an interpretive center in the Big Bog State Recreation Area in northern Minnesota. The idea is making its way through the Legislature as the Senate has earmarked $1.4 million for the project. Supporters are hoping to get the project added to the House bonding bill in the coming weeks. The 9,000-acre Big Bog State Recreation Area was created by the Legislature five years ago.
February 9, 2005 - Mainstreet Radio's Tim Post reports that teachers in the Crosby-Ironton school district are on strike as of February 9th, 2005. They worked without a contract for 20 months and for the past year, teachers have negotiated with the district. The sticking points are salaries and health benefits for retired teachers.