April 8, 2008 - Analysis of Iraq war testimony. Broadcast: Midday, 04/08/2008, 12:00 p.m. Two U.S. Senate committees are hearing testimony about the progress of the Iraq war from Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. Gen. David Petraeus, the top American commander in Baghdad tells a pair of Senate committees that a troop surge in Iraq has been successful, but that the success is fragile. Ambassador Ryan Crocker echoes Petraeus' concerns. During a break in the hearings, Midday hears some analysis from a foreign policy expert. Guest: Colin Kahl: Professor, Georgetown University Center for Peace and Security Studies. Fellow, Center for a New American Security.
March 27, 2008 - During the Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps helped propel the conservation of Minnesota's natural resources, and it gave jobs to more than 77,000 Minnesotans. Author Barbara Sommer captures the stories of these workers in her new book, "Hard Work and a Good Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps in Minnesota." She joins Midday to discuss her book as part of our coverage of Minnesota's sesquicentennial. Guest: Barbara Sommer: Author of "Hard Work and a Good Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps in Minnesota.Part of MPR's original series "Minnesota Arrival", stories relating to Minnesota's 150th anniversary of statehood.
March 25, 2008 - When Minnesota author Jon Hassler died last week at 74, colleagues of his remarked on the impact of his work, both as a writer and a teacher. Midday remembers Hassler in his own words, as we rebroadcast an interview he did with MPR in 1999. We also talk with two of Hassler's longtime friends. Guests: Bill Holm: Fellow Minnesota literary figure and author of "Windows of Brimnes: An American In Iceland." Nick Hayes: Friend and colleague of Jon Hassler, and professor at St. John's University.
March 12, 2008 - Midday presents recording of prominent Minnesotans sharing stories about Minnesota during a story telling event put on by the 2008 Minnesota Sesquicentennial Commission. Mark Seeley, University of Minnesota Climatologist; Carl Eller, professional football hall of famer; Al Quie, former Minnesota Governor; Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Senator (D-MN), and more gathered to wax Minnesota during a story telling event put on by the 2008 Minnesota Sesquicentennial Commission.
January 24, 2008 - MPR's Gary Eichten interviews Louis Johnston, an economics professor at St. John's University and the College of St. Benedict, to discuss the tumultuous economy. Eichten also talks to MPR’s chief economics correspondent Chris Farrell to analyze the situation.
December 25, 2007 - Truman Capote reads his story "A Christmas Memory," Garrison Keillor does a Christmas "News from Lake Wobegon," and Dan Olson reads the famous 1897 New York Sun Christmas letter "Is there a Santa Claus."
December 20, 2007 - BIll Holm speaks at the Minneapolis Library series Talk of the Stacks. Holm talks about what living in Iceland teaches you about America in his book "Windows of Brimnes: An American In Iceland."
December 20, 2007 - Two of Minnesota's freshman congressmen, Tim Walz and Keith Ellison, discuss what surprised them, what made them proud, and what they found disappointing about their first year in Washington D.C.
December 14, 2007 - A non-game wildlife expert from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources takes questions about how birds and other wildlife behave in winter. Guest: Carrol Henderson: Non-game wildlife specialist at the Minnesota Dempartment of Natural Resources. Henderson is the author of "Oology: Ralph's Talking Eggs."
December 7, 2007 - Two lives changed by Pearl Harbor. Ken Deans was in the Army on the Island of Oahu on Dec. 7th, l941. His base was hit during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Carl Nomura was 19 at the time and living in Los Angeles. Not long after the attack, he and 120,000 other Japanese Americans were placed in internment camps.