August 12, 2005 - MPR’s Dan Olson profiles Minneapolis big band saxophonist Charles Beasley. In interview with Olson, 80-year-old Beasley reflects on the change in race relations in this country and his experiences in big band.
September 9, 2005 - MPR’s Chris Roberts profiles West St. Paul jazz saxophonist Irv Williams, who at 86, still plays gigs and has CD releases. Roberts interviews Williams about his music style and longevity, and others in the music industry about Williams’ talent.
October 3, 2005 - Pulitzer Prize winning playwright August Wilson is being remembered today as a literary giant who did more to bring the African American experience to the stage than any other writer. Wilson died yesterday in Seattle from liver cancer. He was 60-years-old. As Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Roberts reports, Wilson's passing is being deeply felt in the Twin Cities, where he lived and wrote for nearly 12 years.
October 3, 2005 - Playwright August Wilson has died of cancer. The Pulitzer-Prize winner rose to national prominence while living in Saint Paul during the 1980's. Minnesota Public Radio's William Wilcoxen reports.
November 18, 2005 - MPR’s Karl Gehrke profiles The Bakken Trio, one of the oldest music chamber ensembles working in the Twin Cities. Gehrke interviews members of group and composer Jeffrey Brooks about the dedication and commitment it takes to keep chamber groups going.
December 7, 2005 - The Twin Cities are home to two of the nation's preeminent ethnic theaters. Voices of Minnesota profiles Lou Bellamy, director of the African American Penumbra Theatre in St. Paul; and Rick Shiomi, director of Minneapolis' Mu Performing Arts, which presents Asian-American theater and traditional Japanese Daiko drumming.
December 12, 2005 - A private burial is planned Wednesday in Woodville, Virginia, for former Minnesota Democratic Senator Eugene McCarthy, who died Saturday at age 89. A memorial service is also being planned early next year at St. John's University in Collegeville. McCarthy was one of the state's most distinguished politicians. He served two terms in the U.S. Senate, and before that five terms in the House of Representatives. McCarthy's political zenith came in 1968, when opposition to the Vietnam War turned into a crusade to capture the Democratic presidential nomination. McCarthy didn't win. But his candidacy, and the 1968 campaign, left lasting imprints on American politics.
March 30, 2006 - MPR’s Chris Roberts presents a compilation of interviews with three long time Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus members who talk about it’s importance in their lives.
May 12, 2006 - MPR’s Chris Roberts profiles Twin Cities rapper Omaur Bliss. Roberts interviews Bliss about the optimism in his music and on growing up in East St. Paul. Segment also includes comments from Steve McPherson, music editor of Pulse.
June 6, 2006 - There's a piece of paradise in northeastern Minnesota. It's called the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA). Admirers credit the book "The Singing Wilderness," published in 1956, as part of the inspiration for creating the wilderness area; and they credit author Sigurd Olson for putting into words the reasons humans need wilderness. However, his views inflamed critics who feared Olson and other wilderness advocates worried more about habitat than humans.