May 25, 2009 - Veteran Dr. John Linner from Edina kept diaries of the fighting he saw during World War II, but after the war he put them on a shelf for 50 years, until his daughters and wife pressed him to write about his experiences. The result is a book, "From Normandy to Okinawa," Linner's look back at his Navy service as a medical doctor tending to the wounded on D-Day and in the Pacific.
May 26, 2009 - St. Paul architecture critic Larry Millett is out with TWO new guides to the Twin Cities this spring. They're pocket-sized guides that concentrate on two of Minnesota's most distinguished neighborhoods, the Lake District in Minneapolis and Summit Avenue in St. Paul.
May 29, 2009 - MPR’s Laura Yuen reports on the multiple killings of young Somali men in the Twin Cities, and the fight to stop the violence. The slayings represent a tragic irony for a community that escaped the bloodshed and clan warfare of its home country.
June 1, 2009 - There are over 50,000 Hmong people in Minnesota, but very few Hmong restaurants and no mainstream Hmong cookbooks... until now. The University of Minnesota Press has just published "Cooking from the Heart: the Hmong Kitchen in America."
June 2, 2009 - Minnesota 5th District’s Keith Ellison, America's first Muslim member of Congress, reflects on his recent trips to the Mideast and previews President Obama's speech in Egypt. Ellison comments on how to rebuild U.S. relations with Muslim world and answers listener questions.
June 3, 2009 - Gov. Tim Pawlenty's decision to forego running for a third term is sending ripples through the political scene, on both the state and national levels. Midday's regular political analysts discuss the possible scenarios.
June 5, 2009 - MPR’s Sanden Totten reports that while legalized gay marriage is a topic of some states, many in the gay and lesbian community have another issue on their mind - what to do when they get old.
June 5, 2009 - Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher joins Midday to talk about the state's budget deficit, the unallotment process, her leadership of the just concluded 2009 legislative session, and a possible run for governor.
June 8, 2009 - Jeff Hanson, local singer-songwriter known for a delicate falsetto voice, was found dead this weekend, after an apparent fall in his concrete floored St Paul apartment. MPR’s Tom Crann presents an interview and music clip in remembering the artist.
June 8, 2009 - Author Jane Hamilton is best known for books that depict tragedy and human frailty. She departs from that formula in her new novel, "Laura Rider's Masterpiece," a dark comedy about a bored wife with literary aspirations and her attempts to create art from life.