October 25, 2012 - Minnesotans are involved in a passionate debate about marriage during 2012 election season. The two sides began squaring off more than 40 years ago. This project draws from MPR's extensive audio archive to explore the origins of this election day showdown over same-sex marriage.
November 7, 2012 - MPR’s Laura Yuen reports on Minnesotans rejection of a proposed constitutional amendment that would have made marriage only between a man and a woman. It also made the state the only one in the nation to defeat a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
November 9, 2012 - All Things Considered presents MPR’s Sasha Aslanian report on how the Minnesotans United for All Families campaign brought down a seemingly unbeatable amendment that would have added a definition to the state constitution that marriage is only between a man and a woman (which is already state law). The defeat of the marriage amendment was a victory that was surprising, historic, and extremely calculated by gay rights supporters.
November 13, 2012 - MPR’s Dan Kraker visits Grand Marais, as lake herring season on Lake Superior crests. For about six weeks every October and November, thousands of the silvery fish, also called cisco, are pulled from the Lake's icy waters. The harvest supports a small but thriving fishing industry along the North Shore that caters to the growing market for local and sustainable food.
November 15, 2012 - Minnesota author Louise Erdrich won a big literary prize last night. She was given the National Book Award for fiction for her newest novel, "Roundhouse." In an interview excerpt, Erdrich talks about the need for solitude as she develops her characters. Segment also includes hosts discussing listener email and feedback about various news items.
November 21, 2012 - The National Book Awards were announced last week and today we'll hear Kerri Miller's conversations with two of the winners. Guests: Katherine Boo: Author and staff writer at The New Yorker and a former reporter and editor for The Washington Post. Louise Erdrich: Author of thirteen novels as well as volumes of poetry, short stories, children's books, and a memoir of early motherhood.
November 25, 2012 - Kevin Kling / Mason Jennings
November 28, 2012 - With the fiscal negotiations in Washington D.C. and other issues facing Congress in this lame duck term, MPR’s Tom Crann speaks with Congressman Tim Walz. The DFL-er represents Minnesota's 1st Congressional District, and was re-elected to his 4th term on November 6th, 2012.
November 30, 2012 - MPR’s David Cazares profiles all-Black jazz group Mother of Masks, a group that blends spoken word, poetry and improvised music in a blues-based fountain of black creative consciousness.
November 30, 2012 - This week on the Friday Roundtable, our panelists will look at the controversy over Susan Rice, the ethics of drones and other foreign policy challenges facing President Obama as he prepares for his second term. Today, a special Roundtable on foreign policy: Egypt, Russia, Iran, and Israel. We'll also talk about drones and human rights. And I want to ask the Roundtablers about the countries that aren't, but should be, higher on the American foreign policy agenda.