KFAI's MinneCulture Presents

Walking Across America by Jay Allison and  Andrew Forsthoefel At the age of 23, Andrew Forsthoefel decided to walk across 4,000 miles across America. He was wearing a sign that read, " Walking to Listen ," and carried a tape recorder with him.  When he started on his epic journey, Andrew seemed to have no solid idea what would become of the audio; but the result was a coming of age radio tale and a sonic portrait of our big-hearted, wild, innocent , and wise country.  He started talking to people about their lives and, sometimes, what their lives had taught them. He’d ask people about the idea of home, love, being alone, family, death; all sorts of stuff. There was some worry that  people would be resistant to being interviewed. Not so. The vast majority wanted to be heard, and they didn't mind the recorder . Nearly every time, they had something they wanted to share .  

Gladys by Kimberly Reinhardt Mine Clearer by Sandy Tolan Long after the fighting ended in Kosovo in 1999, the people of the region are still struggling to free themselves from the legacy of war . Thousands of landmines and unexploded bombs remain in farmers' fields, in forests, along roadsides. Valdet Dule is a Kosovar whose job is to find and detonate those explosives. Until the land is safe, he says, his people won't be able to realize their dream of independence. Chocolate Tester  by Jon Miller The New York Times called Chloé Doutre-Roussel a "goddess." Chocolate guru Martin Christy compares her to Joan of Arc . As a freelance chocolate expert, she is in great demand around the world—not just because of her extraordinary palate but because of her brutal honesty. "Diplomacy is not one of my known traits," she confesses. Nor is self-satisfaction. Globetrotting chocolate taster may be many people's idea of the best job in the w...

The Lonesome Train: A Musical Legend About Abraham Lincoln by Earl Robinson & Millard Lampell Folk legends  Burl Ives  &  Earl Robinson  present this poetic drama in musical form. An amazing large-scale audio cast and choral presentation which tells of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the journey of the train that carried the President's body from Washington to Springfield, Illinois. The story is told from the perspective of a newspaper reporter exploring the strange rumor that Lincoln was not dead at all, but alive and out among his people; at a black church in Alabama, at a square dance on the Kansas prairie, in an Army hospital ward, and in the waiting crowd at the Springfield depot .

The first episode of our Pledge Drive marked the triumphant return of the one and only Mr. Todd Melby to our airwaves! He regaled us with tales from the wilds of North Dakota & played us some favorite pieces from his Black Gold Boom series. In our second Pledge Drive show, Tom & Micah will spin a few of the best stories that we've aired in the last year. You'll hear pieces from Tony Schwartz , a vintage This I Believe , Claes Andreasson , selections from The Third Coast ShortDocs Challenge , and more! Tune in, enjoy the show, and please make a donation to great storytelling.  Big or small, each pledge is important to us. You can contribute online right  here  or y ou can give us a call at  612-375-9030   and show your support for member-supported, independent public radio!