MN90: Minnesota History in 90 Seconds

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...]

With a population of around 300 people, the town of Darwin, Minnesota, is fairly small. But it’s home to one gigantic ball of twine. Weighing in at nearly 9 tons, the supersized twine ball is 40 feet around, and stands over 12 feet high. The ball’s creator, Francis Johnson, was a child of the Great Depression and an obsessive collector of mundane objects including pencils, buckets, and of course, twine. MN90 producer Marisa Helms reports that the town of Darwin has created its civic identity around Johnson’s twine ball. [Read Transcript...]

Four Minnesotans have served on the U.S. Supreme Court, including St. Paul's own Warren Earl Burger, who was appointed by Nixon to serve as Chief Justice in 1969. MN90 Producer Andi McDaniel takes a closer look at Burger’s career. [Read Transcript...]