MN90: Minnesota History in 90 Seconds

Ancel and Margaret Keys, researchers at the University of Minnesota, wondered why Twin Cities businessmen were dying of heart disease, while, an ocean away, the townsfolk of Naples, Italy, rarely did. Britt Aamodt discovers how the couple’s quest for a healthy diet (and good eats) led to their best-selling 1959 cookbook Eat Well and Stay Well.

Martha Ripley was a nurse by training when she moved to Minneapolis with her husband in 1883. Her expertise in medical care and her commitment to the rights of some of the city's destitute young mothers led to her to open a hospital dedicated to their care. Allison Herrera tells us about her remarkable life.

Minnesotan Margaret Culkin Banning (1891-1982) is probably one of the most prolific writers you’ve never heard of. Though often overlooked, Banning wrote 36 novels and over 400 essays and short stories for magazines. MN90 producer Marisa Helms introduces us to the so-called “High Priestess of the Women’s Magazine.”

The feminists who arose in the '60s and '70s set out to change the world. Britt Aamodt finds out how one Minnesota feminist made changes one legislative seat at a time.

Gary Paulsen was working for an aeronautics firm when it suddenly dawned on him: he was meant to be a writer. Britt Aamodt finds the connections between Paulsen’s life in the Minnesota wilds and his books Hatchet and Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod.

In the late 1970s, eight female employees from the Citizens’ National Bank in Willmar stirred up controversy in their town and across the country when they filed a complaint against the bank for unequal pay and gender discrimination. The Willmar 8, as they were called, formed their own union and went on strike for two years. MN90 producer Marisa Helms tells us the Willmar 8 came to symbolize the u...

Minnesotans grouse about long, cold winters now. But until 10,000 years ago, those long cold stretches were positively glacial, says Britt Aamodt.

Dr. Janis Amutuzio started collecting stories about the possibility of life after death, though she didn’t know it yet, as a first-year medical intern in Minneapolis. Later, she would spend decades as a coroner—and collect more stories from families of the bereaved. Britt Aamodt tracks the genesis of Dr. Amatuzio’s 2004 book Forever Ours: Real Stories of Immortality and Living from a Forensic Path...

They were known as Kirkbride facilities, hospitals designed to give more comfort and privacy to patients with mental illness. Britt Aamodt takes us to Minnesota's Kirkbride building, the Fergus Falls Regional Treatment Center.

The photo is iconic: Janis Joplin astride a Harley-Davidson. Britt Aamodt tells us how a Minnesotan captured that indelible image.