February 5, 2007 - In this installment from The Bookshelf series, MPR’s Cathy Wurzer talks with State Senator Mee Moua about books that are important to her. Moua came to the United States as a Hmong refugee when she was nine years old, and she said that even though she never read books when she was young, stories were a big part of her childhood, particularly when she lived in a refugee camp in Thailand.
January 18, 2007 - And I'm Cathy Wurzer. Here's a question for you... What does a play about a girl born with a kangaroo-like pouch... and one about Minnesota's first Chinese-American immigrant have to do with each other? Both are opening this weekend at theaters in Minneapolis and St. Paul. World premieres aren't unusual in Twin Cities theater -- local audiences can see new work on the largest stages... the smallest... and just about everywhere in between. Minnesota Public Radio arts commentator and St. Paul Pioneer Press theater critic Dominic Papatola is with us this morning to help explain why.
January 17, 2007 - Ali Selim, the creator of Minnesota-based film Sweetland, which opened last fall and is still showing in theaters. The movie was written and directed by local filmmaker Ali Selim and shot on location in southern Minnesota. It's drawn critical acclaim from The New York Times and the Village Voice, and it's also been nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards, including Best First Feature and Best Female Lead. Writer / director Ali Selim is with us in studio this morning to talk about this remarkable success story.
January 15, 2007 - In this installment of MPR series The Bookshelf, Lou Bellamy, founder and artistic director of St. Paul's Penumbra Theatre, talks about Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man," a novel featuring an unnamed black narrator whose race makes him "invisible" to others.
December 11, 2006 - Gene Merriam says he is voluntarily leaving his position as Minnesota's Department of Natural Resources. Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer talks with Dennis Anderson, a Star Tribune columnist, about Merriam’s tenure as commissioner. Anderson also discusses what he sees as needed next in the challenging role at the DNR.
November 14, 2006 - Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer interviews Ilean Her, executive director of the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans, about a new census report that shows that while some minority groups are struggling economically, the Hmong community in Minnesota has made significant gains. Their per capita income jumped up fifty percent over the last five years.
June 27, 2006 - Acclaimed local author Sandra Benitez has come out with a new book, but you won't be able to find it in any book store. Benitez, who has earned nearly two dozen honors for her work, including a Minnesota Book Award, struggled to find a publisher for her new memoir, "Bag Lady." The book recounts her battle with a form of Irritable Bowel Disease and the surgery that changed her life. Concerned that the book would be a hard sell, publishers passed on it. So, Benitez and her husband published the memior themselves.
June 7, 2006 - MPR’s Perry Finelli interviews local poet who is a part of this year’s Poets on the Buses metro event. Poet reads a poem she will be performing.