Diverse Radio for Minnesota’s Communities
17 Unique Stations from Border to Border
17 Unique Stations from Border to Border
Today on Art Beat, we take a trip to The Commonweal Theatre Company in Lanesboro MN where Patrick Barlow’s outrageous comedy The 39 Steps is in performance May 19th through September 1st. Laughter, romance, and adventure go hand-in-hand-in-hand in this hilarious spin on the classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller. Framed for murder, ordinary Englishman Richard Hannay races against time to solve the secret of “The 39 Steps” before the police and evil assassins catch up with him.
In today’s Untold Story of Central Minnesota, Art & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack visits the Charles Lindbergh House and Museum for a complex and delicate topic, Charles Lindbergh’s fall from grace just before World War II.
Historian Melissa Peterson recently gave a presentation about the odd turn of events and radio broadcasts in Lindbergh’s life that took him from being a world-renowned American hero to him being labeled as a Nazi sympathizer and Anti-Semite.
It could also be through this 80 year lens of history that we might find answers to some of today’s problems, as many seem to have come around again, because at what point does a hero stop being a hero even if they feel they are doing what’s right? The answer is just a better question
Since the 1950s, Tibetans have fled their homeland for safer havens in India, Nepal and Bhutan, as well as Europe and North America. Currently the Twin Cities has the second largest Tibetan community in the United States. KFAI’s Dan Greenwood spoke to Thupten Dadak, a former Tibetan monk who has played an instrumental role in helping Tibetans resettle in Minnesota.
Barb Grove is known around the Crosby, MN area as Mama Cuyuna. Her tenacious work to repurpose Crosby into a recreation destination after mine companies left town decades ago earned her the unique and fitting moniker. Barb’s unwavering dedication along with the help and passion of thousands of other people who understood the value in this endeavor has paid off. Today, Crosby is thriving. New stores, restaurants, and outfitters have moved into the area as have people from outside the region – all as a result Crosby becoming a mountain biking destination!
The road to repurposing the community was not an easy one to navigate, but the hard work has paid off. The mission of preserving the area continues. In this segment hear how it all happened and learn about the importance of staying true to the mission in her tale of detering two industries from the area in order to maintain the priorities and community culture that have been created in Crosby. The Crosby revival is a story many towns across American could learn from. In small towns across the country, a major idustry leaving can have immediate and detrimental impacts on the community…Outside the box thinking is essential for small townurvival and Mama Cuyuna just happened to be that outside the box thinker years ago who was on a mission to breathe life back into her favorite town. Barb Grove’s vision paid off… Outdoor magazine recently named Crosby, MN in its “Smartest Towns” feature!
Tom Isbell is a bit of an overachiever.
The UMD Theatre professor/director is also a novelist and playwright .
So when he heard about the One River, Many Stories project, a year-long community journalism collaboration about the St. Louis River, Isbell says he realized “we tell stories with theatre, too.” And he figured it was “time to get out of our little corner of UMD and play nice with others.”
The Fosston Community Library & Arts Association is an ambitious group. They offer music lessons, run a mixed media gallery, and operate the 150-seat theater in Fosston. The Arts Association has big plans to update equipment and even add seating to the theater, but even in their current space they offer lots of ways for community members to connect with the Arts. This week, the group presents “Swingtime Canteen,” a 1940s-era USO show. We got a sneak peak during this week’s dress rehearsal. Take a listen!
Founded in 1915, the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory at Como Park hosts thousands of visitors each year. Tropical plants, palms, ferns, orchids and bonsai are all part of its collection, which is sometimes referred to as “the jewel of St Paul.” KFAI’s Allison Herrera explains that the Conservatory was the vision the park’s first superintendent.
In today’s installment of the Untold Stories of Central Minnesota, Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack talks with St. Cloud State University School of Social Work professor Shelia Moriarty and Intern Islam Abuhadid about how the college is trying to help its students during these strange times.
Beginning a few years ago, the School of Social Work began developing programming aimed towards helping SCSU students connect with community resources so that students who were experiencing unforeseen hardships might be able to complete their education. Today, however, that framework is providing a lifeline to college students who have now found themselves lost ithin the whirlwind of changes brought on by the COVID-19 virus and its effect upon our world.