June 9, 2017 - MPR’s Nancy Yang profiles Sunisa Lee, the 14-year-old St. Paul gymnast, who is believed to be the first Hmong American to make the national gymnastics team. Suni, as many people call her, is focused on making the 2020 Olympic Gymnastics Team. It’s a goal supported by her parents, coach…and community.
July 13, 2017 - MPR’s Doualy Xaykaothao profiles Mai Neng Moua, an immigration attorney working in the Twin Cities. Moua was born in a Thai refugee camp called Ban Vinai and arrived in the U.S. in 1982. She recalls the hardships she overcame while caring for family, facing racism, and achieving her professional goals.
July 19, 2017 - MPR’s Marianne Combs profiles artist Joe Sinness and his exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Art that explores - and celebrates - facets of gay male sexuality with lovingly detailed drawings. The exhibit is called "The Flowers."
August 8, 2017 - MPR’s Brandt Williams looks back at Janeé Harteau's groundbreaking tenure as the first woman to serve as Minneapolis police chief…and the first openly gay chief.
August 23, 2017 - MPR News host Tom Weber talks with Art Blakey, Minnesota State Fair police chief, as he prepares to retire. For 37 years, Blakey has overseen it all as chief of police on the fairgrounds.
August 29, 2017 - MPR’s Marianne Combs profiles J. Otis Powell‽, a well-respected local poet, playwright, and performer, who died on August 28th, 2017. Those who knew him say he was an uncompromising artist, a provocateur and — perhaps most importantly — a mentor to generations of other writers and performers.
October 20, 2017 - MPR’s Euan Kerr profiles Ojibwe writer Linda LeGarde Grover. The two talk about her collection of essays titled "Onigamiising," the Ojibwe name for the place she has always considered home: Duluth. There are themes running through the writing, like the Ojibwe concept of living a good life.
October 27, 2017 - MPR’s Tim Nelson takes a look at Dai Thao, a St. Paul city council member and a former Hmong refugee, who is running for mayor. Thao shares his personal history and political platform.
April 23, 2018 - Morning Edition takes a look at Minneapolis musician James "Cornbread" Harris who turned 91 on this day. In 2017, Harris stopped by MPR studios and spoke with Tom Weber and Andrea Swensson. While he was here he played a song called "Cool Rider." Harris says he wrote it about the aspirations he had for his son, who would become the highly successful record producer Jimmy Jam Harris.
October 16, 2018 - MPR’s Brian Bakst takes a look at the congressional career of U.S. Representative Tim Walz, who is seen as playing a bi-partisan role by some fellow legislators. Bakst highlights items such as Walz’s efforts on the Stock Act and Suicide Prevention Act.