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.
December 6, 2005 - 2,600 Minnesota Army National Guard troops are in Camp Shelby training for deployment in Iraq. What is on the minds of Minnesota's military personnel? Midday explores that in report profiling the Minnesota Army National Guard's First Brigade Combat Team, followed by a conversation with MPR reporter Mark Zdechlik.
December 2, 2005 - While out of public office for almost 7 years, former Governor Arne Carlson still hasn't stopped thinking about how to improve government. Carlson has taken up the cause of civility in politics and responsibility in public finance and talks with MPR’s Gary Eichten about his efforts.
November 24, 2005 - This year's edition of "Giving Thanks" includes music, poetry, stories and much more. One highlight is a rare recording of Charles Laughton in which the actor connects his personal discovery of Chartres Cathedral with an excerpt from Jack Kerouac's "The Dharma Bums" and the 104th Psalm.
November 24, 2005 - Former Star Tribune columnist Jim Klobuchar talks about his book “Walking Briskly Toward the Sunset," which collects some of essays about Minnesota, Uganda, politics and courtship.
November 14, 2005 - Voices of Minnesota visits two prominent Native American Minnesotans: Helen Blue-Redner is the former chairwoman of the Upper Sioux Community, and Carl Gawboy is an artist.
November 11, 2005 - Judith Miller, the New York Times reporter whom journalists defended for protecting her anonymous sources and criticized for her reporting on weapons of mass destruction, has ended her 28 year career at the paper. What impact has the Miller affair had on the Times and on journalism in general?
November 10, 2005 - Salman Rushdie, the Indian-born British novelist who was forced into hiding after the Iranian government put out a death warrant on him in 1989, speaks Thursday at the Westminster Town Hall Forum in downtown Minneapolis.
November 9, 2005 - The citizens of Minnesota's two largest cities cast resounding votes in their mayoral elections, sweeping Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak to a second term and choosing Chris Coleman as the next St. Paul Mayor over incumbent Randy Kelly. What will the election mean for the Twin Cities?
November 1, 2005 - The death of civil rights icon Rosa Parks has reminded America of the racism in its not-so-distant past. During the days of the Jim Crow South, Minnesota was thought of as an island of tolerance…Was it? Midday’s Gary Eichten talks with W. Harry Davis and Janabelle Taylor, two well-known Black community figures in the Twin Cities.
October 19, 2005 - What do baseball great Lou Gehrig and the biblical history of the modern-day Middle East have in common? Well, admittedly, not much, except that two nationally renowned authors who wrote books on those subjects were in town Sunday to talk about their books.Jonathan Eig, author of "Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig," and Bruce Feiler, who wrote "Where God Was Born: A Journey By Land to the Roots of Religion."