November 26, 2007 - MPR’s Gary Eichten interviews Minnesota writer Jim Klobuchar about his book "Pieces of My Heart: Everyone has an Everest." Klobuchar, an award-winning former columnist for the Star Tribune, discusses collection of essays about the people on his travels who have inspired him.
November 28, 2007 - Misfits. Rebels. Anti-rock stars. Those are just some of the descriptions of one of Minnesota's most notorious and influential rock bands, The Replacements. The group became synonymous with the Twin Cities' music heyday of the 1980s. Now, more than 15-years after its break-up, the band has achieved near myth status among many fans and critics. Writer Jim Walsh has assembled an oral history entitled "The Replacements: All Over but the Shouting."
November 28, 2007 - Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer interviews author Carrol Henderson about his book “"Oology and Ralph's Talking Eggs” and bird history/conservation in North America. The book details new discoveries that have come from researching a collection of about 4,000 bird eggs gathered by an Iowa farmer named Ralph Handsaker.
December 3, 2007 - Arvonne Fraser recounts her life in politics.Arvonne Fraser has been a force in Minnesota's DFL Party for more than half a century. Fraser, who is married to former U.S. Rep. Don Fraser, disussed her new memoir "She's No Lady" recently with public radio icon Garrison Keillor.
December 6, 2007 - Dominic Papatola, Morning Edition arts commentator and St. Paul Pioneer Press theater critic, talks about the state of midsize theaters in the Twin Cities and the differing outlooks.
December 6, 2007 - On Minnesota Public Radio's News Cut blog today, Bob Collins talks with Duy Ngo, the Minneapolis police officer who settled a lawsuit against the city last week, five years after he was gunned down by Officer Charles Storlie with an M5 submachine gun. Ngo was working undercover at the time. He had called for help after being shot by a drug dealer. No officer was ever disciplined in the case and false rumors were leaked about Ngo in an effort to undermine his credibility as a victim. Here's a short segment of the interview in which News Cut's Bob Collins asked Ngo what ONE thing he's heard that made him feel better about his five-year struggle., and what he didn't hear which he wished he had.
December 7, 2007 - Pakou Hang was just days old when her family immigrated to the United States in 1976. They were part of the first wave of Hmong refugees to come to the United States. Now, the family has lived here far longer than they lived in Laos, and Pakou Hang fits in quite well in her community. She recently ran for a seat on the St. Paul City Council, but challenges still remain as an immigrant living in America, as demonstrated through this interview with her mother, Phoua Hang.
December 9, 2007 - In the second part of our series on a new generation of Evangelical leadership, I speak with Rick and Kay Warren. Rick wrote one of the best-selling books in the world and is pastor of one of the largest churches in the United States. Kay is his partner in global ventures to address poverty and AIDS.
December 12, 2007 - Minneapolis police chief Tim Dolan says the police department is at its highest diversity levels in the department's history. Dolan presented the figures to the city council this afternoon. He says the numbers are the result of successful recruiting efforts into the department's Community Service Officer program. Dolan says 30 percent of new hires and 18 percent of the city's 857 sworn officers are people of color.
December 14, 2007 - In a crowd, it's easy to overlook Mayda. But on stage, it is hard not to notice her. MPR’s Chris Roberts profiles the Korean songwriter and musician from St. Paul.