Diverse Radio for Minnesota’s Communities
17 Unique Stations from Border to Border
17 Unique Stations from Border to Border
This Minnesota quintet has been making high-energy, foot-stomping string band music (complete with percussion from a clogger) for over a decade. They founded the Blue Ox Festival, have appeared at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and since their last visit to our studio did their first tour of Europe. We caught up with them when they joined us in the studio on November 15; they performed later the same night at the NorShor Theatre in Duluth with dobro legend Jerry Douglas and Useful Jenkins.
In this special episode of RCP we dive into the protests that have gripped both Minneapolis and the world.
0:44-Casey McCabe, From Lake Street to State Street
8:53-Tosin Faseemo, Student Protests
20:04-John Kueppers, Outside Chauvin’s House
28:50-Zoe Challenger, The Shakespearean Tragedy of the American Tale
We hear from writer Brooke Fossey on her debut novel about seniors in an assisted living facility coming together to help a troubled young woman, it’s called The Big Finish; Sue Monk Kidd asks what if Jesus had a wife and envisions what her life may have been like in her new highly anticipated novel The Book of Longings. We hear from Minnesota writer Naomi Kritzer, her latest young adult book just won a MN Book Award– it’s called Catfishing on CatNet; John Kenney will tell us about his new collection of bad poetry, those are his words, Love Poems for Anxious People; and we’ll talk with Sahar Mustafah about her powerful new novel focusing on the daughter of Palestinian immgrants, The Beauty of Your Face.
We’ll hear from author Rachel Harrison–she’s written a female-centric horror story called The Return; Stephanie Wrobel explores a complicated mother/daughter relationship affected by Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy in her new novel Darling Rose Gold; writer and illustrator Rob Harrell will tell us about his wonderful new book Wink–it’s the story of how 7th grader Ross deals with cancer while trying to also just be a kid; science fiction writer Max Barry’s new exciting novel Providence; and Amy Jo Burn’s on her powerful new novel Shiner; finally, members of the KAXE/KBXE book club will tell us how moving the club online has been working out.
Area voices tell us the arts, culture and history stories of northern Minnesota, and this past week we have been living a flashpoint moment in American history. George Floyd, also known as Big Floyd, was a father, a brother, a partner, and a friend to many. According to those closest to him, he was passionate about keeping the peace. His killing on the street at the corner of 38th and Chicago Ave in Minneapolis blew the lid off of racial tension in our communities, our state, our country.
Protests that began on the streets of Minneapolis quickly spread to St. Paul and by this past weekend, Americans across the country and beyond joined in expressing their outrage in cities large and small. The Justice for George rally in Bemidji drew hundreds of people and included speakers, music, prayer and action steps.
We caught up with two of the organizers on the morning show this week. A collaborative effort between several people and organizations, Corey Medina and his motorcycle group The Descendants ensured peace and security while Maggie B. assisted with other aspects of crowd maintenance. In this conversation, they share their reactions to George Floyd’s death, how Saturday’s solidarity rally unfolded, and they consider where we go from here.
Since 2003, the Minnesota Northwoods Writers Conference has attracted hundreds of writers from across the country who converge on the shores of Lake Bemidji to hone their skills and craft of writing. Poets, novelists, and essayists of a wide range of experience levels work with professional, award winning authors and poets to take their work to the next level.
This year, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way the yearly pilgrimage will transpire. Attendees will meet remotely June 22nd thru June 27th for writing workshops, craft talks, discussions, critiques, nightly readings, and much more. This year’s curated faculty share a collective passion of environmental consciousness. Robin Wall Kimmerer, Elizabeth Bradfield, Brenda Shaughnessy, Scott Russell Sanders, Alison Hawthorne Deming, and Meera Subramanian will guide workshops for people fine tuning their poetry, fiction, and non-fiction writing skills.
Nurses from Bemidji, Bagley and Thief River Falls joined forces (with safe social distancing of course) to express concern about working conditions yesterday.
Mary Turner President of the MN Nurses Association spoke with us on the morning show about the risks nurses are taking while caring for patients, the unique risks associated with smaller, rural hospitals, the difficulties with securing enough personal protective equipment in Minnesota and what the public can do to best help healthcare workers stay healthy so they can do their jobs
