July 29, 2022 - On this segment of North Star Journey, MPR’s Dan Kraker profiles individuals that identify as both of Native American and Scandinavian descent. They share how they are finding connections and surprising parallels between the cultures.
August 11, 2022 - A milestone victory Tuesday night could send the first transgender person to Minnesota’s Legislature. MPR’s Brian Bakst interviews Leigh Finke, a video production company owner, who prevailed in her DFL primary for an open House seat in the St. Paul area. She’ll be the favorite heading into November’s election.
August 23, 2022 - MPR’s Dan Kraker reports on a rare breed that has adapted to the forests along the Minnesota-Canadian border. It's called the Lac la Croix Pony, or the Ojibwe horse. A few decades ago there were only four of them left. Kraker interviews those dedicated to reviving the population and help Ojibwe people to reconnect with the horses.
September 13, 2022 - MPR’s Cathy Wurzer interviews Jessica Edwards on her new documentary, Skate Dreams. The documentary premiered in Minnesota at the end of September 2022 at the Duluth Superior Film Festival. Skate Dreams follows the rise of women’s skateboarding. It’s the first feature documentary to capture the story behind the rise of women’s skateboarding.
September 14, 2022 - On this segment of North Star Journey, MPR’s Simone Cazares profiles Tina Jackson and her soul line dancing class at Oxford Community Center in the heart of St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood.
September 30, 2022 - MPR’s Tim Nelson profiles jazz pioneer Oscar Pettiford. Born 100 years ago and raised in Minnesota, Pettiford changed the sound of American music. He got his start on the stages of the Twin Cities, helping create a "Minneapolis sound" long before Prince. Pettiford’s innovations made him one of the most influential bass players of the bebop era. A century after his birth, that legacy endures.
October 5, 2022 - MPR’s Matthew Holding Eagle III reports on items related to tribal life in North Dakota being returned digitally. Thousands of culturally significant photographs, wax cylinder recordings and journals recently returned to the place where they were created over a century ago among the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara tribes in North Dakota.
November 2, 2022 - MPR’s Elizabeth Shockman reports on how some Minnesota school board races have turned into a philosophical tug of war — a war that involves organized parent groups, teacher unions, networks of political donors, and families who fear school equity efforts are in jeopardy.
November 10, 2022 - As a powerful storm hits Duluth on the anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald tragedy, MPR’s Dan Kraker looks at what makes the gales of November on Lake Superior so memorable.
November 17, 2022 - MPR’s Tom Scheck reports that the lack of regulation of THC edibles in Minnesota is raising concerns. THC edibles surge in Minnesota, but safety rules are loose and regulators aren’t ready.