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.
April 27, 2000 - A special Talk of Minnesota program, presenting views of MPR listeners on the legacy of the Vietnam War, 25 years after it ended. John Biewen, American RadioWorks correspondent, shares comments left from the American RadioWork’s Vietnam online scrapbook website page. Program begins with news from MPR’s Greta Cunningham.
April 27, 2000 - An American Radioworks documentary, "Vietnam - A Nation, Not a War." MPR’s Daniel Zwerdling and Deborah George traveled to Vietnam to report on how the country and its people have fared in the past 25 years. Program contains three segments: History and Reconciliation Americans continue to brood about the purpose and the toll of the war. In Vietnam, it's called "The American War," and the anniversary is a time for victory celebrations. Still, many Vietnamese are eager to accept Americans as friends - and business partners. And many Vietnamese who sided with the U.S. during the war continue to suffer. The Legacy of Agent Orange Thousands of Americans who served in Vietnam suffer from diseases they say were caused by exposure to the defoliant called Agent Orange. In Vietnam, the health and environmental damage caused by the chemical is easy to see. But scientists say the impact of Agent Orange in Vietnam has not been sufficiently studied, so the extent of harm is difficult to judge. Vietnam's MIA's While U.S. officials continue to search for the remains of some 1,500 American soldiers who never came home from the Vietnam war, the number of missing Vietnamese soldiers may be 300,000 or more. Some Vietnamese have employed psychics to search for their missing relatives - with surprising results.
April 26, 2000 - A new American Radioworks documentary "Twenty-Five Years From Vietnam." An hour of stories about the war as it fades into history but continues to shape the lives of many Americans.
April 26, 2000 - Eugene McCarthy, former Minnesota senator and former presidential candidate, visits MPR studios to talk with Gary Eichten about politics, journalism, and 25 years after the end of the Vietnam War. McCarthy also answers listener call-in questions.
April 21, 2000 - Authors and scientists Jill Schneiderman of Vassar College and Ed Buchwald of Carleton College will discuss their new book The Earth Around Us. The 30th anniversary of Earth Day is Saturday.
April 21, 2000 - A Twin Cities speech by the organizer of the original "Earth Day," Denis Hayes. His Hamline University speech was titled, "Clean Energy Now."
April 20, 2000 - Wyman Spano and Virginia Gray will be in the MPR studios to talk about the "political culture" of Minnesota and their new book, Minnesota Government and Politics.
April 10, 2000 - Mikhail Gorbachev, former Soviet President, speaking at the annual dinner of the Center of the American Experiment.
April 7, 2000 - Before he wrote Angela's Ashes, the Pulitzer Prize winning memoir of growing up poor in Ireland, Frank McCourt was a high school English teacher in New York city. 'Tis, the sequel to Angela's Ashes, has done well too. He gave a speech at the City Arts and Lectures Series in San Francisco about writing, education, and life in New York City.
April 3, 2000 - Local sports analyst Howard Sinker talks about the Minnesota Twins beginning their 40th season, in the midst of fan apathy and a decreasing interest in baseball, according to a Minnesota Poll.