January 3, 2008 - A spokesman for the Central Intelligence Agency confirms that agents met with then-Governor Jesse Ventura in 1999. But former Minnesota Senator Dave Durenberger, who spent eight years on the Senate Intelligence Committee, says Ventura's account is hard to believe.
January 7, 2008 - Walter Mondale, former vice president, U.S. senator, ambassador to Japan, and presidential nominee in 1984, celebrates 80 years and looks to the future. Mondale chats with Midday host Gary Eichten on various topics.
January 16, 2008 - MPR’s Marriane Combs interviews poet Robery Bly and actor Mark Rylance about Guthrie Theater’s “Peer Gynt” production.
January 17, 2008 - Midmorning’s Kerri Miller speaks with Minnesota lawmakers Tim Walz and Michele Bachmann, who both spent time in Afghanistan and Iraq this winter, surveying Minnesota's role in war. Walz and Bachmann share their different experiences and takeaways.
January 21, 2008 - As part of MPR's coverage of Minnesota's sesquicentennial, Midday asks who was living in Minnesota 150 years ago? Who's come since, and where did they come from? What brought people to Minnesota? Everyone's got a story. Here's your chance to ask historian Annette Atkins and Minnesota State Demographer Tom Gillaspy about your ancestors.
January 23, 2008 - Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Al Franken takes listener questions for Midday's "Meet the Candidates" series. Franken, 55, was born in New York City, but grew up in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.
January 24, 2008 - MPR's Gary Eichten interviews Louis Johnston, an economics professor at St. John's University and the College of St. Benedict, to discuss the tumultuous economy. Eichten also talks to MPR’s chief economics correspondent Chris Farrell to analyze the situation.
January 30, 2008 - Members of St. Paul’s House of Mercy Band think there's nothing hypocritical about parking on a bar stool on a Saturday night and then sliding into a church pew the following Sunday morning. MPR’s Chris Roberts talks with founder C.P. Larson, who says they're comfortable in both worlds.
January 31, 2008 - MPR’s Marianne Combs looks at the growing representation of transgender storytelling in local theater community. Combs highlights the play “Looking for Normal.” It's just one of several stories reaching Twin Cities stages about being transgender.
February 5, 2008 - MPR’s Laura Yuen visits International Market, a no-frills Asian shopping bazaar in St. Paul, which attracts thousands of customers a day. Now, the owner of International Market wants to expand his business into a tourist destination. He's asking the city of St. Paul for 2-million-dollars in tax breaks to complete his dream. But first, he may need to improve his reputation with city inspectors and some tenants.