MPR News editor-at-large and retired host Gary Eichten has worn many hats during his 40-plus-year career at Minnesota Public Radio, including news director, special events producer and station manager. He has served as host for Minnesota Public Radio's live, special events news coverage, and has hosted all of the major news programs on Minnesota Public Radio, including Midday, which he hosted for more than 20 years.
A graduate of St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, Eichten began his career at Minnesota Public Radio as a student announcer at KSJR (Minnesota Public Radio's first station). Among the honors Eichten has received during his career is the Corporation for Public Broadcasting award for best local news program. He also assisted in the development of two Peabody award-winning documentaries. In 2007, he was inducted into the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting's Hall of Fame. Eichten has also been awarded the prestigious 2011 Graven Award by the Premack Public Affairs Journalism Awards Board for his contribution to excellence in the journalism profession.
February 25, 2005 - By the time you finish this sentence, you may very well have decided whether or not to listen to Malcolm Gladwell's speech at the Commonwealth Club of California. Gladwell's book "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking" is about these kinds of split-second decisions: how they are made, why they are often surprisingly good and why they are sometimes tragically bad. Part 2
February 25, 2005 - By the time you finish this sentence, you may very well have decided whether or not to listen to Malcolm Gladwell's speech at the Commonwealth Club of California. Gladwell's book "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking" is about these kinds of split-second decisions: how they are made, why they are often surprisingly good and why they are sometimes tragically bad. Part 1
February 17, 2005 - Author Mary Pipher is out with a new book that details what happened when her hometown of Lincoln, Neb. became an official refugee resettlement community. Pipher talks about writing "The Middle of Everywhere" in this live speech from the Westminster Town Hall Forum in Minneapolis.
February 16, 2005 - Minnesota author Judith Guest is drawn to the dark side of life. She loves reading the most lurid tales from the daily newspapers: the kidnappings and the murders. Her latest novel, "The Tarnished Eye," is based on the real-life unsolved killings of a father, mother and their four children.
February 1, 2005 - Voices of Minnesota: Robert Pepin. University of Minnesota Physicist Robert Pepin, who served as science adviser for Apollo lunar missions 14 through 17, is confident that there is another earth-like planet somewhere that may be capable of supporting life. Voices of Minnesota pays a visit to Pepin as he recounts his remarkable career, exploring the cosmos without ever leaving the planet earth.
January 20, 2005 - Highlights of the Bush inauguration ceremony events. This program aired 9pm on 1/20, not repeated on next day Midday.
January 8, 2005 - {It's Weekend America on MPR--I'm GC...The last match-up of these teams threatened to disrupt Christmas Eve church services and family holiday meals. Yes, the fabled rivalry between the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers continues during tomorrow's {sun} wild card game on Lambeau Field. The governors of Minnesota and Wisconsin have a wager going on the game. If the Vikings win, Governor Tim Pawlenty will dine on sausage and cheese. And if the Packers win, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle will enjoy a feast of walleye Wellington and wild rice soup. We have to admit two of our colleagues in the Minnesota Public Radio Newsroom have a history of waging their own bets. It usually involves the wearing of a spongy team hat! Midday Host Gary Eichten is a Minnesota Viking fan and has been known to sport a "cheese-head" hat when his team loses. Our Web Editor Melanie Sommer is a Packer Backer. She is the owner of the afore-mentioned cheese head hat--and has, on occasion, been forced by Mr. Eichten to wear a Vikings Helga hat complete with horns and braids. }
January 3, 2005 - Voices of Minnesota talks business. Voices of Minnesota goes in-depth with two of the state's most prominent business leaders: Marilyn Carlson Nelson, the head of Carlson Companies, and Dr. Hugh Smith, the chair of the Mayo Clinic's board of governors in Rochester.
December 10, 2004 - MPR’s Gary Eichten talks with Carl Eller, former Viking and Pro Football Hall of Famer. Eller’s Hall of Fame speech focused on the future of young African American men.
December 3, 2004 - Amy Tan, author of the bestselling novel "The Joy Luck Club," paid a visit to the Commonwealth Club of California this fall to discuss the relationship between her life and her work. She talked about the lessons she learned from her Chinese-American mother, her best friend's murder and her more recent battle with Lyme disease.