December 26, 1980 - A presentation of excerpts from 1980 Minnesota Writers Conference, held in Rochester. Part two features remarks by writers Michael Dennis-Browne, Carol Bly, Judith Guest, and John Judson. Beryl Byman was the writer, producer and director of program.
January 6, 1981 - Dr. Sol Gordon, professor of child and family studies and director of the Institute for Family Research and Education at Syracuse University in New York, speaking at North Dakota State University. Gordon’s address is titled, "Ten Heavy Facts about Sex that College Students Don't Know." Gordon is well-known as an author and public speaker and has lectured widely on topics concerning the family.
January 7, 1981 - MPR coverage of Governor Al Quie's 1981 State of the State address. Following speech, MPR’s Pat Kessler and Bob Potter get commentary and reaction from the floor of the House.
January 15, 1981 - Vice President Walter Mondale gives a farewell address before the Minnesota Legislature. Following speech, a rebroadcast of a previous news conference from the day.
January 27, 1981 - Governor Al Quie addressed a joint session of the Minnesota legislature on the state of the economy, broadcast live.
February 17, 1981 - Former Vice President Walter Mondale discusses the office of the Vice Presidency and his experience as Vice President in Northrop Auditorium at the University of Minnesota. This is the first of three speeches as part of the Mondale Lectures.
February 21, 1981 - On this edition of New Letters on the Air, poet Philip Levine is profiled. Levine reads his poems and discusses his childhood in Detroit, the setting of many of his poems, as well as his experience in post-Franco Spain.
March 4, 1981 - Former Vice President Walter Mondale discusses domestic policy and the current state of American liberalism in this lecture given at the College of Saint Thomas in St. Paul. This is the third (final) of three speeches as part of the Mondale Lectures.
March 11, 1981 - James Callaghan, former British prime minister, speaking at the Carlson Lecture Series, held at University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Callaghan’s address was on his late friend, Hubert Humphrey, and their similar politics. Callaghan was born in 1912. He entered the British Civil Service in 1929 as a tax officer. He was elected to Parliament in 1945 as a Labor Party member, and he has held a Parliamentary seat for 36 years. Callaghan has also served as Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Secretary of State for Home Affairs, and he played a key role in negotiating Britain's membership in the Common Market. He was elected Prime Minister in 1976. After leaving that office, he was reelected leader of Britain's Labor Party. He stepped down from that role in 1980.
March 13, 1981 - Don W. Larson, senior editor of Corporate Report magazine, speaking in Duluth. Larson’s shares his critical views on business in Minnesota and the United States.