Our Programs

If you’re elected governor of Minnesota at the ripe age of 31, you’ve got a long political career ahead of you. Such was the case of Harold E. Stassen. In 1938, the moderate Republican became the youngest person ever to be elected governor of the state. As MN90 producer Marisa Helms reports, after Minnesotans re-elected Stassen twice more, he decided to aim for higher office. Throughout his life, he would run for president nine times. [Read Transcript...]

If you didn’t grow up in Minnesota, it can be a shock to spend your first winter here. MN90 producer Marisa Helms tells us that in 1849, Minnesota’s first territorial governor, Alexander Ramsey, moved to Saint Paul then promptly left for business in Washington. That winter, Ramsey’s bitterly cold wife, Anna, sent her husband a scathing letter, telling him 22 below zero is not a temperature she can live with. [Read Transcript...]

You finally got that job interview. But first you’ve got to sit down and complete the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), a test of over 300 questions, because the company wants to know how emotionally stable you are before hiring you. MN90 producer Marisa Helms tells us while the MMPI was originally created in 1943 to diagnose psychiatric patients in Minnesota, the test has many other uses outside the doctor’s office, including legal cases and employment. [Read Transcript...]

You hardly ever hear about kids writing in diaries anymore because paper and pencils seem to have been replaced by computers and text messages. As MN90 producer Marisa Helms explains, the technology that makes it easier for our children to communicate may be destroying their legacies. [Read Transcript...]