MinneCulture

With its haunting call, distinctive black and white plumage, and intense, almost otherworldly red eyes, the Common Loon is an icon of northern Minnesota wilderness. But some researchers believe future generations of the beloved bird in this region may be in jeopardy. A recent study in Wisconsin showed some worrying trends. Chicks are getting smaller, their survival rates are lower, and loons that...

Historians have argued that the history of America can be told through the history of meat. The meat industry was often the first to innovate and make use of modern technologies: from the railroad and refrigerated cars to meat packing plant’s dis-assembly lines that inspired Henry Ford’s assembly line. This is especially true for Minnesota. The University of Minnesota was the first university to s...

MinneCulture returns in 2023 with more stories of Minnesota arts, history, and culture. In season 7, we'll get to know some prominent Minnesotan activists, unravel some of our favorite myths and legends, and tell stories about the people who make up our great state. New episodes dropping every two weeks, starting Thursday January 5. Subscribe to KFAI's MinneCulture wherever you get your podcasts....

For a few short years, St. Paul was the Blue Cheese Capital of the World. In the season finale of season 6, producer Tony Williams takes us on a tour through the secret history of moldy cheese in Minnesota — a story full of twists and turns including libidinous sheep farmers, Nazis, and cave explorers. Grab some crackers and join us! Support for MinneCulture on KFAI has been provided by the Minnes...

Mother Alfred Moes was an immigrant from Luxembourg, a woman religious, and the founder of two Franciscan congregations. She was also the first person to advocate for the hospital in Rochester that would become Mayo Clinic. While her visionary leadership proved essential to the founding of St. Mary's Hospital, her strong influence often put her in conflict with church leadership. KFAI's Julie Cens...

A series of wildfires made headlines across Minnesota during the drought-plagued summer of 2021. Among them was the massive Greenwood Fire. This wildfire burned nearly 27,000 acres and led in part to the closure of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. And while some view them simply as destructive forces of nature, wildfires played a significant role in shaping what are considered today to b...

Meridel LeSueur was a writer and activist whose influence has long shaped the Twin Cities' populist movements. Although the McCarthy era blacklist attempted to squash her distinctive, creative voice, she was later embraced by the countercultural wave of the 1960s and 70s, particularly the feminist movement. KFAI’s Sheila Regan talks to LeSueur’s family, those inspired by her, and scholars to explo...

From about 2006 to 2013, the moose population in northeastern Minnesota dropped dramatically, from almost 9,000 animals to about 2,700. And no one knew why. Dr. Seth Moore began searching for answers, working with a team at the Grand Portage Trust Lands Agency. They started collaring moose, tracking them to find their killers. And they discovered that among all predators, one loomed largest. Resea...

When you think about the industrial revolution you may think of trains, factories, and assembly lines. The image of billowing smoke and giant machines cranking away may pop into your head. But the industrial revolution was not confined to just factories and trolleys — it seeped out into all areas of life during the early 1900s. And none were as visible and flashy as the amusement parks of the day....

The MinneCulture Podcast is BACK! On season 6, we'll be riding long-lost roller coasters, meeting a feminist activist, learning about efforts to protect Minnesota's wilderness, sampling local cheese, and more. Check your podcast feed on Thursday May 26. New episodes every Thursday. Get your ear buds ready....

Superman. Charlie Brown. Donald Duck. The existence of these 'toons all have roots in Minnesota. In this episode of the MinneCulture Podcast, KFAI's Britt Aamodt introduces us to a cartooning historian who helped preserve the backstory of some iconic characters. Support for MinneCulture on KFAI comes from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

In wilderness settings, there are connections people can make to the land, regardless of their age, race or gender, by walking in the footsteps of those who have come before them. With this in mind, a group of Minnesota paddlers set out in the fall of 2020 to travel across the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to retrace the steps of a wilderness pioneer named Arthur Carhart. Their journey too...

James Garrett Jr. is an architect at 4RM+ULA architects, one of the only Black-owned architecture firms in Minnesota. Garrett and his family have deep ties to St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood. During his childhood in St. Paul, James fell in love with buildings and the bustle of urban landscapes. Later, while in college, he would discover that he himself had a connection to these landscapes through a...

Polka dancing was once a staple of small-town Minnesota, enjoyed by German, Polish, and Scandinavian immigrants who settled in farming communities throughout the state. Today, polka dancing and ballrooms have mostly disappeared. But, for the residents of rural Sibley County, the legacy of one legendary polka venue still looms large. Producer James Napoli has the story.

The plain, uninteresting Mary Fridley Price. Not the sort of girl anyone would notice—except now she'd gone and leapt over a cliff to save her poor dog. The dull—and now very dead girl—was suddenly front-page headlines. No one was supposedly more grief-stricken than her charming husband Frederick Price, who found comfort in his wife's inheritance—and in the arms of his mistress... Are you suspicio...

Anthony Brutus Cassius was questioned by the FBI, fought to be the first Black person in Minnesota to get a liquor license, and his famous greasy burgers were once mentioned on the Johnny Carson show. But above all, starting in the 1930s, Cassius created space for the Twin Cities Black community to eat, drink, organize and connect. Even today, there are hardly any Black-owned bars or restaurants i...

In July 1981, the New York Times published an article about a mysterious illness plaguing gay men in New York City. After reading the article, Bruce Brockway, a gay activist and publisher of the Twin Cities' first LGBT newspaper, turned to his partner and said, "I think I have that." That was AIDS and Bruce was right. Numbers-wise, Minnesota was never a hot zone of infection. But for the Minnesota...

This summer on the MinneCulture Podcast, it's all about Minnesota History. As we kick-off Season 5 during Pride month, we celebrate one of the first well-known venues in the Twin Cities exuberantly claimed by gay men, a nightclub called The Gay 90s in downtown Minneapolis. The Gay 90’s hasn’t always been gay. The bar began as a supper club for a straight crowd. It opened in the 1950s and the name...

When George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police on Memorial Day, pain and anger blasted like a shock wave across the Twin Cities and the world. Floyd’s death was followed by a week of protests, marches and sometimes destructive unrest. In this episode, KFAI’s Melissa Olson takes us to the intersection of 38th and Chicago Ave, where Native jingle dress dancers offered a ceremony of healing. We a...

We’re still social distancing and we’re still making stuff. Some artists have changed what they make. Others have changed how they make it. KFAI’s Barb Abney hosts from home and shares an uplifting interview with Twin Cities hip-hop artist Nur-D, who just dropped an EP recorded entirely from his bedroom. We also hear a tender, slightly gloomy audio diary from Minneapolis poet Ed Bok Lee, who discu...

Hear stories of Minnesota artists making it work in this time of social distancing. Barb Abney hosts the Season 4 launch from her daughter's bedroom while social distancing at home. In an audio diary, Haitian dancer Djenane Saint Juste fields a robocall from a bill collector, shares intimate scenes sheltering in place with her mother, then hosts a series of boisterous dance lessons in her apartmen...

For our Season 3 finale, stories about the late, great Prince Rogers Nelson. You'll hear from the guy credited with "discovering" Prince, what it was like to get phone calls from Prince at 3 a.m., and we take of tour of "Purple Places" that mark Prince's roots in North Minneapolis. This episode was produced by KFAI’s Nancy Rosenbaum. Support for MinneCulture comes from the Minnesota Arts and Cultu...

There are often parts of a job no one else understands or even knows about. We're talking about the unheralded tasks that are executed in the shadows, after hours, void of glory. On this episode, we meet two Minnesotans, an elementary school principal and the CEO of a hip-hop record label, each fulfilling the last line of their job description: "Other Duties As Assigned."

Minnesota's oldest auctioneer reflects on rural life, the Kim Loo Sisters face discrimination in the jazz scene during the 1930s and 1940s, and a rusticly bunking historian sheds light on the history of slavery in Minnesota. The episode was produced by KFAI's Emily Bright.

For some artists, sickness can fuel their creativity. But for others, illness can drain the inspiration right out of them. In this episode, musician P.O.S and radio producer Katie Thornton discuss the ways chronic illnesses has affected their lives. This episode was produced by KFAI's Sophie Nikitas.