December 23, 2016 - MPR’s Brandt Williams reports on Lyndale Community School’s Kwanzaa celebration. Twenty years ago, Titilayo Bediako, a Minneapolis public school teacher started telling her students about Kwanzaa - the week-long African centered celebration of black heritage and values which begins the day after Christmas. She discovered that the underlying principles of the non-religious holiday resonated with students from diverse backgrounds. Now that early classroom lesson has grown into an institution which hosts an annual musical Kwanzaa recognition.
January 17, 2017 - Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer interviews DFL U.S. Representative Tim Walz about President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for Secretary of Veterans Affairs, David Shulkin. Shulkin currently serves in the VA Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Health. He was appointed to that position by President Barack Obama in 2015.
January 19, 2017 - This MPR News with Tom Weber feature takes a look back to January 20th, 1977, when Minnesota’s Walter Mondale was sworn in as the Vice President of the United States. Segment includes interview excerpts, descriptions of Inauguration Day, and audio of the complete swearing in of Mondale.
February 3, 2017 - MPR’s Riham Feshir and Laura Yuen present reports on Iraqi and Somali immigrant families separated due to implementation of a U.S. travel ban from seven Muslim-majority countries. Segment includes interviews with family members.
February 21, 2017 - MPR’s Euan Kerr shares this profile of a Minnesota classical icon. Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Minnesota Orchestra Conductor Laureate, died at the age of 93 in St. Louis Park.
February 22, 2017 - MPR’s Dan Gunderson and Laura Yuen report on refugees who are attempting to cross Minnesota border into Canada over fears of deportation. Segment includes interviews with refugees, attorneys, and a U.S. border official.
February 24, 2017 - MPR’s Doualy Xaykaothao reports on an all-day event called "Success That Looks Like Me," a kind of career day in which students could meet and greet Hmong American professionals.
March 12, 2017 - MPR’s Laura Yuen talks with athlete Christina Ginther on why she is suing the Minnesota Vixen over discrimination against her for being transgender.
March 17, 2017 - Upon the announcement that Louise Erdrich’s novel ''LaRose” won the National Book Critics Circle Prize for Fiction, MPR’s Tom Crann presents an audio clip of Erdrich discussing book during a Thread live event. “LaRose” is set in an Ojibwe community in North Dakota and it opens with a brutal tragedy. A man shoots and kills his best friend's five-year-old son in a hunting accident. The guilt is so heavy that the man and his wife decide to give their own son, LaRose, to the bereaved couple.
April 14, 2017 - MPR’s Tim Nelson reports that the original deep fried cheese curd stand at the Minnesota State Fair is going away. The founder, who started the craze in 1975, says he's too old to keep it going and the State Fair decided not to let his family take it over. Fair officials say they're looking for something new.