December 19, 1980 - A presentation of excerpts from 1980 Minnesota Writers Conference, held in Rochester. Part one features writing sessions "On Writing Fiction" by Judith Guest, and "Short Story Dynamic" by Carol Bly. Beryl Byman was the writer, producer, and director of program.
November 10, 1980 - A storm chronology of the Lake Superior gale storm on November 10, 1975, that sank the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, a massive iron ore carrier.
October 31, 1980 - MPR’s Gary Eichten presents the last live broadcast at MPR’s Park Square Court studios in St. Paul. As a Halloween treat, he shares an audio collage of radio outtakes.
August 25, 1980 - MPR’s Mary Stucky talks with various vendors and food lovers about saltwater taffy, lefse, Czech sausage, kolache, and Tom Thumb donuts, amongst other delicious fare at the Minnesota State Fair.
August 20, 1980 - MPR’s Tom Meersman profiles some of the operations that take place at the Minnesota State Fair, including safety and commerce.
July 15, 1980 - MPR’s Tom Meersman reports on English as a Second Language (ESL) school programs in the Twin Cities. Teachers work with refugee students from varied background languages, including Hmong, Cambodian, Thai, Laotian, and Vietnamese.
June 7, 1980 - MPR’s LIVE coverage of the 1980 DFL Party State Convention, including Vice President Walter Mondale's speech, other addresses, debates, votes on party offices and platform positions, selection of delegates to the Democratic national convention, and other coverage of the proceedings.
June 4, 1980 - A Minnesota health department official comments on Swedish potato sausage that was mistakenly prepared with extreme amounts of sodium nitrate and that ingestion may create health risks.
May 31, 1980 - MPR Special Coverage presents a review of what happened at the 1980 Independent Republican convention with MPR’s Bob Potter, Dick Daly, and Gary Eichten. Program includes excerpts of speeches at state convention held in Duluth. The result of gathering was selection of Ronald Reagan as nominee and delegates for the national GOP convention.
May 20, 1980 - An All Things Considered satire piece about “ash” seating at a restaurant. Mount St. Helens eruption had taken place two days prior, on May 18th, 1980.