Our Programs

These days, fashion trends come and go with the seasons. But at least one fad – the beaver hat – remained popular with Europeans for a couple of centuries; from 1650 to 1850. The long lasting fashion craze led to the extinction of Europe’s beaver population. But the animal was plentiful in North America and White settlers saw an opportunity to do business overseas. They created companies and a fur trade economy throughout North America and in the Minnesota territory. Over the years, they shipped millions of beaver pelts to Europe. The fur trade also had a major – and mixed – impact on American Indians who hunted the beavers, then traded the pelts to fur companies in exchange for fabrics, axes, guns, and knives, but also for alcohol, which had a detrimental effect on Indian populations. MN90 producer Marisa Helms reports. [Read Transcript...]

Most people know that Bob Dylan, born Robert Zimmerman, grew up in Hibbing, Minnesota. As a young adult, Dylan also took a few classes at the University of Minnesota. MN90 Producer Andi McDaniel takes a closer look at Dylan’s Dinkytown days. [Read Transcript...]

Born on the Iron Range to Finnish immigrant parents, Gus Hall (born Arvo Kustaa Halberg) grew up in a rich brew of socialism and political activism. MN90 Producer Andi McDaniel discovers how Hall’s early life set the stage for him to become the longtime leader of the American Communist Party and a perennial Presidential candidate on the Communist ticket. [Read Transcript...]

Jeffers Petroglyphs, a huge, red rock face in the southwestern Minnesota prairie, is one of American Indian cultures’ oldest spiritual places. For 7,000 years, American Indians from across North America have come to Jeffers, many of them carving or etching symbols into the hard rock. MN90 producer Marisa Helms tells us that Jeffers is still used today for spiritual reflection and for guidance from the helping spirits, represented in the ancient rock carvings. [Read Transcript...]