June 14, 2005 - Michael Cunningham's new novel has just been released. It's called "Specimen Days." Tonight Cunningham shares a stage with a woman he calls "an ideal reader", his friend, the poet Marie Howe, as part of the Literary Friendships series at Saint Paul's Fitzgerald Theater. His frist novel -- "The Hours" was a surprising success and it put Cunningham's work in the spotlight like never before. "The Hours" won the Pulitzer Prize, and inspired the 2002 film of the same name. The movie garnered 9 Academy Award nominations. Michael Cunningham says he truly enjoyed the big-screen version of his book "The Hours" despite the fact that the movie couldn't possibly contain all the details of the novel.
June 1, 2005 - All Things Considered’s Tom Cran talks with Mo Chang, the charter school liaison and special project coordinator for St. Paul Public Schools, about the closure of Wat Tham Krabok and what life was like in the camp. As a child, Chang lived in Thai refugee camps. In 2004, she was part of a group that traveled with St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly to learn more about life at Wat Tham Krabok.
May 31, 2005 - MPR’s Tom Crann interviews North Dakota poet Larry Woiwode on his dismay over Minneosta Governor Pawlenty’s decision to veto bill that would have established a poet laureate for Minnesota. At least 34 states have poet laureates. Like the majority of those writers, a Minnesota poet laureate would have received no tax dollars. But it wasn't the money that concerned Governor Pawlenty. Instead, he feared that naming a state poet would lead to requests for a Minnesota mime or state interpretive dancer.
May 23, 2005 - Major League Baseball has asked Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire to make sure his players are on their best behavior in this week's series against the Cleveland Indians. MPR’s Tom Crann gets insights about situation from former Twins star pitcher Bert Blyleven.
May 20, 2005 - Former Vice President and Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale shares his thoughts about Nixon’s trip to China in 1972, and of Minnesota Opera's performance of "Nixon in China" by John Adams.
April 28, 2005 - MPR’s Tom Crann interviews Dr. Jon Hallberg about the intersection of poetry and medicine. Segment includes Halberg reading a William Carlos Williams poem. Williams, sustained his medical practice throughout his writing career.
April 20, 2005 - All Things Considered’s Tom Crann interviews Rick Linsk, reporter at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, about Vang Pao Foundation. The non-profit foundation named for General Vang Pao, a leader in the Hmong community, faces a law suit from the office of State Attorney General Mike Hatch. The suit alleges that the Vang Pao Foundation engaged in questionable spending, and bypassed state charity laws.
April 11, 2005 - MPR’s Tom Crann interviews U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser. They discuss Kooser winning the Pulitzer Prize. Segment also includes Kooser reading two poems.
January 21, 2005 - All Things Considered’s Tom Crann interviews Eric Nesheim, executive director of the Minnesota Literacy Council, about social service agencies struggling to keep up with the demand for services in an era of budget shortfalls.
January 5, 2005 - All Things Considered’s Tom Crann interviews one of Minnesota's most celebrated composers, Dominick Argento. In a new memoir, Argento says he has as little insight as anyone into what happens when he sits down to compose. So instead, he offers a series of reflections on his lifetime of work, the individual pieces, and teaching and learning in Minnesota. Those memories include his first impression of the state, when he was called to teach at the University of Minnesota on the first weekend of the school year in 1958.