November 27, 1990 - Martin Sampson, of the University of Minnesota Political Science Department and International Relations Program; and Noha Ismail, member of Middle East Peace Now and Women Against Military Madness; discuss the events in the Persian Gulf. Topics include the U.N. resolution regarding Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, and chemical weapons. Sampson and Ismail also answer listener questions.
November 20, 1990 - John Chubb, senior fellow in government studies at the Brookings Institution; Robert Maddox, the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State; Nelson Smith of the U.S. Department of Education; and Ray Marshall, former Secretary of Labor in the Carter Administration and now a Professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, speaking at an education reform conference sponsored by The Center of the American Experiment. The group provide varying views about education reform. Chubb has written a new book called "Politics, Markets and American Schools", and argued that our system of public education is so dysfunctional that we need to start all over again. Maddox is part of group that opposes using vouchers as a tool for school reform, and that taxpayers should not be required to support specific religious values and beliefs as they are conveyed through parochial schools. Marshall stated the future of our country depends on what we do to improve education for minority students and argued that the U.S. will only be able to compete internationally if we make sure that all our children are well educated. Smith discussed social problems such as fatherless households, drugs and poverty that some people think prevent the public-school system from meeting the educational needs of all children.
November 5, 1990 - Midday rebroadcasts an MPR Special broadcast of Focus on the Issues program, where DFL incumbent Governor Rudy Perpich and his Independent-Republican challenger Arne Carlson answered questions from listening audience and from special guests in MPR studios all around the state. Topics included education, state finances, health care, the environment, taxes, abortion and more.
October 23, 1990 - Debate between the candidates for United States Senate: Rudy Boschwitz and Paul Wellstone. Boschwitz and Wellstone will participate in a wide-ranging discussion of the issues, moderated by Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Potter.
October 23, 1990 - MPR presents a Minnesota Senate debate with Rudy Boschwitz, U.S. Minnesota Senator (I-R); and Paul Wellstone, DFL challenger. The candidates participate in a wide-ranging discussion of the issues. Debate was moderated by MPR’s Bob Potter.
October 11, 1990 - Midday presents a Mainstreet Radio special broadcast on rural schools…both their problems and successes. John Biewan visits Rothsay, a small western Minnesota town. People in Rothsay say their school, far from being a dinosaur, should serve as a model for education reform.
October 10, 1990 - Jon Grunseth, I-R candidate for governor; and Rudy Perpich, incumbent DFL governor of Minnesota, speaking to the endorsing convention of the SHOW Minnesota Education Association. Grunseth and Perpich shared their differing views on education issues and answered audience questions. Following debate, program presents a Mainstreet Radio education report.
September 15, 1990 - DFL Senate primary candidates Paul Wellstone, professor of political science at Carleton College; and Jim Nichols, Minnesota Commissioner of Agriculture and a former state senator, debate and answer listener questions.
June 20, 1990 - This Midday program begins with an MPR documentary "Season of Discontent: Migrants in the Red River Valley", about migrant farm workers in the sugar beet fields of northwestern Minnesota, and relations between the workers and year-round residents. Reporters Dan Gunderson and John Biewen produced the half-hour documentary. Afterwards Midday host Bob Potter talks with Minnesota Human Rights Commissioner Stephen Cooper.
June 20, 1990 - A presentation of the MPR documentary "Season of Discontent: Migrants in the Red River Valley," which highlights Hispanic migrant farm workers who work the sugar beet fields. Following documentary, Stephen Cooper, Minnesota Human Rights Commissioner, discusses the issues migrant workers face in the state.