September 13, 1996 - Midday airs a Minnesota Public Radio documentary about Bosnia, entitled Face of Mercy, Face of Hate. After documentary, MPR's Stephen Smith, who produced piece, will be in the studio to answer listener questions, along with correspondent Michael Montgomery, who is in Sarajevo and contributes via phone.
September 12, 1996 - Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and Nobel Prize winner, speaks at Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis for the annual Global Voices Lecture series. Heaney reads numerous poems during speech.
September 11, 1996 - In connection with a local visit of the King and Queen of Sweden, Midday features a program about Sweden and Swedish immigrants to Minnesota. Studio guest is Mariann Tiblin, of the University of Minnesota; and phone guest is professor Byron Nordstrom of Gustavus Adolphus College. Tiblin and Nordstrom talk about Scandinavians and history on settlement in region.
September 6, 1996 - Midday discusses various considerations involved in making public and private investments, including social factors as well as financial factors, with guests Chris Farrell and John Schultz . This week the the State Board of Investment considered the advisability of investing in tobacco stocks, and individuals make decisions like this as well.
September 2, 1996 - On this special Midday program, MPR’s Gary Eichten talks with political analysts Bob Meek and Tom Horner at the MPR Fair booth. They discuss politics at the traditional start of the campaign season. Meek and Horner also answer fairgoer questions.
August 30, 1996 - Midday host Gary Eichten speaks with guest Bob Cabana, chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA and three-time space shuttle astronaut. Listeners call in with questions.
August 29, 1996 - Midday presents Walter Mondale, former vice president and U.S. ambassador to Japan, speaking at Minnesota Meeting held at Marriott Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. Mondale’s address focuses on America’s relationship with Japan and Asia as a whole. After speech, Mondale answers questions from the audience.
August 23, 1996 - Garrison Keillor hosts his annual “Minnesota Quiz” in MPR booth at the Minnesota State Fair. Audience members try to answer various questions about for prizes. Topics of quiz include state history, sports, weather and arts. Gary Eichten briefly closes out program.
August 21, 1996 - Midday examines The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). As President Clinton prepares to sign it, guests Jim Koppell, member of the Children's Defense Fund and a vice president at the MN Hospital and Health Care Partnership; and former U.S. Senator Dave Durenberger, discuss its impact on the public. Koppell and Durenberger also answer listener questions.
August 20, 1996 - MPR’s Garrison Keillor interviews Pulitzer Prize-winning oral historian, Studs Terkel, as part of the Portland Arts and Lectures Series. Terkel talked about his life and family, and his days in radio. Studs Terkel is the author of several best-selling books including Race, and Working, and The Good War: An Oral History of World War II, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize.