Diverse Radio for Minnesota’s Communities

17 Unique Stations from Border to Border

MN90: Minnesota History in 90 Seconds a fun exploration of wide-ranging topics including sports, politics, environment, business, entertainment, pop culture, and more.
MN90 is fun exploration of wide-ranging topics including sports, politics, environment, business, entertainment, pop culture, and more.

MN90: Roy Wilkins, the Civil Rights Act and LBJ

Roy Wilkins earned his professional chops as a Twin Cities journalist. But it was as an activist and director of the NAACP, says producer Britt Aamodt, that Wilkins helped change history with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

MN90: The Sugar Beet Fields

In the late 19th century, Minnesota farmers began planting sugar beets, a domestic alternative to cane sugar. That new crop brought families of migrant workers to the state, and those families established some of Minnesota’s earliest Latino neighborhoods. Here’s Britt Aamodt

MN90: The St. Paul Origins of the Zeppelin Airship

August 1863, Count von Zeppelin, a German noble and cavalry officer, was staying at the International Hotel in St. Paul, when he spotted a man offering balloon rides across the street. That encounter would lead the count to, in 1900, create his own steerable airship, the Zeppelin. Here’s Britt Aamodt

MN90: Astounding Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov first heard of Clifford Simak, who would spend nearly 40 years as a journalist for a Minneapolis paper, in the pages of “Astounding Science Fiction.” Asimov hated Simak’s story—at first. But a letter from Simak would change Asimov’s opinion, and his writing style. Here’s Britt Aamodt

MN90: Marcel’s Letters

Graphic designer Carolyn Porter found the packet of letters in a Stillwater, Minnesota, antiques store. Those letters would lead her on a journey to find out what happened to the mysterious writer, a Frenchman trapped in Germany during World War II. Here’s Britt Aamodt

MN90: Designing Miss Piggy

In 1970, Bonnie Erickson, an artist from Anoka, had a head cold. But she also had this big interview—with Jim Henson. She went through with the interview, got the job and four years later developed her own Muppet: a diva pig named Miss Piggy. Here’s Britt Aamodt.

MN90: Music Out of This World

In 1977, a group met in New York to compile the playlist for a record to be launched on NASA’s Voyager I and II probes. The audience? Extraterrestrials, the group hoped, someday billions of miles from here. But would Minnesotan Bob Dylan make the cut for the Voyager Golden Record? Here’s Britt Aamodt.

MN90: Stephen Fry Goes Ice Fishing

British actor and author Stephen Fry had an idea. To bring a TV crew to every state in America to tease out its unique character. In Tennessee, it was the body farm. In Minnesota, a Hmong market, skyways and a hole in the middle of a frozen Lake Minnetonka. Here’s Britt Aamodt.

MN90: Barney Miller’s Guthrie Connection

When the Guthrie Theater opened in 1063, it became a midcountry alternative to Hollywood and Broadway for actors looking to break in. One of those actors was Ron Glass, who went from the Guthrie to the Emmy-winning cop show Barney Miller. Here’s Britt Aamodt.

MN90: Hello from Minnesota, Herr Hitler

August 1933, Charles Fremont Dight, Minnesota physician and founder of the Minnesota Eugenics Society, was tapping out a letter of congratulations. His recipient? Germany’s new chancellor, Adolf Hitler. Here’s Britt Aamodt.

MN90: The Cold War Road Show

September 1959, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev arrived in “enemy” territory for a 13-day American road trip—that is, after his summit with Cold War rival President Eisenhower. And an enterprising Minnesotan hoped Nicky would pop up north, during his trip, for a good old apple fest. Here’s Britt Aamodt.

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McKnight FoundationMN Legacy