December 23, 2016 - When Minnesota poet, author and musician Bill Holm sat down to write a Christmas letter, he sorted through a lifetime of memories. He was born in 1943 and died in 2009 at the age of 65. Holm put some of these memories in a book he wrote in 1997 called "Faces of Christmas Past." That same year Minnesota Public Radio produced this "Voices of Minnesota" special, with Bill Holm reading from his own book.
January 22, 2016 - A profile of Robert Treuer, who died at the age of 89. Treuer was a writer, activist, and a tree farmer near Bemidji. The story of his life intersects with some of the most important themes of world and regional history in the 20th century. Program presents MPR’s Dan Olson interviewing Robert Treuer, as part of our "Voices of Minnesota" series.
April 5, 2013 - MPR’s Dan Olson presents an episode of Minnesota Sounds and Voices with a profile of the langauge in the play “Spunk.”
March 9, 2012 - Two interviews from our Minnesota Voices series on the history of political protest in Minnesota. The program begins with a remembrance of anti-war protester and civil rights activist Marv Davidof who died recently. Reporter Dan Olson also interviews historian Rhoda Gilman, who's out with a new book, "Stand Up: the Story of Minnesota's Protest Tradition."
November 16, 2009 - This year marks a 30th anniversary in the United States' post-Vietnam War experience that's passing with little fanfare. 1979 was the year that the U.S. - led by Vice President Walter Mondale - convinced world leaders to come to the rescue of more than a million so-called "boat people." Thousands who risked the dangers of the South China Sea rather than face life under communism eventually settled in Minnesota. Two of those individuals, Connie Tran and Hung Phung, are interviewed by MPR’s Dan Olson.
April 21, 2009 - Two girls, Sabina Zimering and Lucy Smith, hid from the Nazis in Poland during World War II. They survived the Holocaust and live in Minnesota today. Zimering wrote her story in the book, "Hiding in the Open." Both women were interviewed by MPR's Dan Olson for the Voices of Minnesota series.
December 25, 2008 - Midday features three stories of the Christmas season. Garrison Keillor has a special Christmas Day edition of "the News from Lake Wobegon," MPR's Dan Olson reads the famous 1897 New York Sun letter, "Is there a Santa Claus?," and Truman Capote reads "A Christmas Memory."
December 5, 2008 - Midday presents a "Voices of Minnesota" interview with Dave Tilman and Deborah Swackhamer. The two University of Minnesota professors discuss climate change and other environmental issues.
September 30, 2008 - his episode of MPR's Voices of Minnesota features conversations with Art Aufderheide and Clarke Chambers, two detectives of sorts. Aufderheide is world famous for his study of mummies and the diseases that killed them. Chambers is a historian and the founder of a one-of-a-kind archive of social welfare history in this country.
August 1, 2008 - A Midday MPR Special coverage program of memorial service, one year after I-35W bridge collapse. From the Basilica of St. Mary in downtown Minneapolis, Tim Pawlenty, governor of Minnesota; R. T. Rybak, mayor of Minneapolis; Sally Dyck, United Methodist Church Bishop and president of the Minnesota Council of Churches; and Father John Bauer, co-pastor of Basilica of St. Mary speak in observance of the one-year anniversary of the I-35W bridge collapse. Hour long service also includes songs, prayers and reflection.