KFAI's MinneCulture Presents

This week on the program, we are going to feature two stories -- each starring Christmas Baby, Humphrey Bogart . Born on December 25, 1899 in New York City, Bogart's screen career lasted almost 30 years as he appeared in over 75 feature films. We’ll hear two of his most notable roles adapted for radio by a charitable anthology series called The Screen Guild Players .  The Maltese Falcon from the Screen Guild Players After his partner is killed, private detective Sam Spade takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette . Originally broadcast September 20th, 1943 with original film stars Humphrey Bogart, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Mary Astor. Casablanca from the Screen Guild Players In World War II Morocco, seething with European refugees desperate for passage to neutral Lisbon, only a world-weary and bitter nightclub owner can help his former lover and her Resistance-hero husband ...

Rebel Mission to Ord Mantell  from Buena Vista Records A long time ago there was an era when  kids craved new Star Wars adventures ...and when they did come, it seemed to be eons apart. No more . Well, we 're going to  transport ourselves back to  that golden age by   laying belly-down on the living room floor and  spinning some vintage vinyl.   Let's start with  an audio drama scripted by Brian Daley  and played by  a totally uncredited and unfamiliar cast.  It was released in 1983 by Buena Vista Records and remains the lone "expanded universe" LP put out by Bantha Music . After that, Threepio regales us with some of the gang's lesser known adventures and even some spacey poetry. These additional tales come to us by  a pair of 1984 7"s from the short-lived " Star Wars Adventures in Learning Fun /  Star Wars Discovery Series." Along with proper narration from a familiar voice,  Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, "A dve...

Music and War  from The Nerve Tonight, we survey the bloody, entwined histories of war and music. The Israelites used trumpets to bring down the walls of Jericho, Scots went to war with bagpipes , and music can also be used an instrument of torture. From pipes, to drums, to thunder runs , The Nerve takes a serious look at the dark side of music.

Pioneer of the Minneapolis Sound from MinneCulture Wee Willie Walker's life began in Memphis, amid a hotbed of musical influences. In 1959 he ventured north to Minnesota and began performing in a variety of doo-wop, soul, and blues groups for decades to come. Walker is unquestionably one of the pioneers of what music critics have dubbed " the Minneapolis Sound ." Story produced in 2014 by KFAI's Britt Aamodt. Minnesota Music Profiles from Jazz88 Interviewer Phil Nusbaum visited Willie at his St. Paul home in 2016. They talk about the blues and Phil inquires about Willie's current projects. Willie had and has a long career in music, singing everything from gospel music to down-home blues, as well as playing the guitar. Willie reflected on the many ways his career has heated up since his retirement -- and how he's come a long way from where he started out. Willie Walker with Willie West Live from Minnesota In 2010, Twin Cities musician Paul Metsa h...

A Perpetrator Priest Speaks Out and in Dialogue with a Survivor  from Reckonings We are going to hear an  uncommon conversation  about clergy sex abuse between both a perpetrator and a victim.  As a young priest in Minnesota,  Gil Gustafson  sexually abused  four boys  in his parish. When he was confronted about his behavior, he confessed. Now a convicted pedophile, he finds himself on a decades-long journey of recovery and reparation. When Saint Paulite  Susan Pavlak  was in high school, she was sexually abused by her Catholic teacher, a former nun. She has also been on a path of healing - including a face-to-face meeting with her abuser. In 2006, Gustafson and Pavlak met at a conference on preventing sexual abuse. That encounter sparked a continuous line of communication between the pair and a bond which is  difficult  to imagine. Producer  Stephanie Lepp  seeks to find how this  unlikely...

Music and Evolution  from The Nerve Why did music evolve in the first place? Some people think music is merely an evolutionary frill, a by-product that has no evolutionary purpose. Darwin himself was puzzled by music. Observing songbirds, he suggested music's role was in sexual selection . Others believe music's origins may be found in the mother-infant interactions we call baby talk. Simply consider the importance of the lullaby and the need to pacify infants. Many theorize that music developed in tandem with the social cohesion necessary to the survival of bands of early humans, critical to them through its power to strengthen communal bonds.

Charles Burnett   on The Drunk Projectionist Critic Terrence Rafferty of GQ called " Killer of Sheep ," a film by Charles Burnett, "one of the most  striking  debuts in movie history." Host  Todd Melby  interviews writer/director Burnett, about this important film. " Killer of Sheep " examines the black Los Angeles ghetto of Watts in the mid-1970s through the eyes of Stan, a sensitive dreamer who is growing detached and numb from the psychic toll of working at a slaughterhouse. Frustrated by money problems, he finds respite in moments of simple beauty: the warmth of a teacup against his cheek, slow dancing with his wife, holding his daughter. The movie offers no solutions; it merely presents life - sometimes hauntingly bleak, sometimes filled with  transcendent joy  and gentle humor. The film was shot in roughly a year of weekends on a budget of less than $10,000, and also out of the pocket of Burnett himself. Filmed on location, the picture offers ...

Jillian Rae  Live from Minnesota Recorded live at  Broken World Records  in Winona at the 5th annual  MidWest Music Fest . Produced and recorded for KFAI’s  Minneculture  by the one and only Tom Garneau.  If you have a few minutes to spare, we recommend that you hear her cover of Prince's  When Doves Cry  at her Bandcamp page. Plus, she's got a new album out. Ayvah   Live from Minnesota In the second half of our show, the jazz and funk influenced  Twin Cities quintet Ayvah  perform live at  The Icehouse  in Minneapolis. Ayvah is Ava McFarlane on vocals, Samuel Rosenstone on piano, DeCarlo Jackson on bass, Joey C. Hays on drums and Andy Schupp on guitar. This "Live from Minnesota" concert was recorded by  Ryan Mach . It was expertly mixed and produced by  Tom Garneau . You can hear more from Ayvah by visiting  their Soundclound .

Music and the Human Experience from The Nerve Music is found in every culture worldwide. It's our constant companion, from birth through childhood , love, marriage, and death. It has a starring role on every stage of the great human drama - whether we are at war or at prayer, by ourselves or with others, happy or sad - music is there. But does it really have a purpose? Where does it come from ? And why does it have such power over our hearts and minds? In this episode brought to us by the CBC , we are taking a look at the how and why of music.

Live from Minnesota: Koerner & Glover by MinneCulture West Bank music legends “Spider” John Koerner and Tony “Little Sun” Glover have been jamming together and playing clubs or parties since the early ‘60s. Their raucous enthusiasm during the folk boom garnered them national attention and fame . We find them here performing at the Mill City Museum as part of their outdoor summer concert series in July of 2010. Produced by Dick Rees and Nancy Sartor for KFAI. Live from Minnesota: Mary Cutrufello  by MinneCulture St. Paul-based roots-rock singer-songwriter Mary Cutrufello has become a mainstay on the national Americana scene. Hailed as "a fierce guitarist with a blistered-throat voice," Cutrufello mixes original songs and classics of American music into a captivating, heartland-proud musical stew both timeless and immediate. Recorded at the Amsterdam Bar and Hall in 2012 by Daniel Zamzow.

The Story of Born to Run from Joyride Media In celebration of Bruce Springsteen 's 70th birthday this week, we're going to listen to a radio documentary about the making of his breakthrough album. Born To Run was recorded between January 8, 1974 - July 20, 1975 and its laborious creation has become the stuff of legend . This one-hour music-heavy special tells the inside story and contains outtakes and alternate versions of songs from the recording sessions. Interviewees include the Boss himself, along with members of his E Street Band both past and present. We'll hear from Roy Bittan, Ernest "Boom" Carter, Clarence Clemons, Danny Federici, Nils Lofgren, David Sancious, Patti Scialfa, Garry Tallent, Miami Steve Van Zandt, and Max Weinberg . They will also recall scenes from the tumultuous tour which directly followed, as the album's final mixing continued at the studio back home. Plus, producer Jon Landau, engineer Jimmy Iovine, and manager Mike Appel ...

Poetry As Music  by Dixie Treichel Anthony Ceballos is a Minnesota poet who loves reading his work before an audience. "A live reading of a poem for me is just as important as how it is read on the page," he says. Anthony is starting to appear in a new weekly poetry segment  on  Melissa Olson 's program Sanctuary. Sanctuary: Arts and Activism airs Mondays from 1 to 2pm on KFAI. Dan Keiser, The Oak Man by  Brigitta Greene The Mendota Dakota tribal community honored arborist Dan Keiser [pictured] at their annual pow wow in September of 2019. Keiser goes by "Oak Man," a nickname he acquired during the years-long standoff over the construction of Highway 55 in the late 90s. The protest pitted environmental activists and native communities against MnDOT . A central symbol of the fight were four bur oak trees , well over 100 years old, that native communities believed to be sacred, and highway officials said needed to be cleared. The highway ultimately won o...

Jelloslave Live from Minnesota  Powered by an eclectic mix of cellos and percussion, Jelloslave paints vivid soundscapes which crisscross cultures and musical styles. Jelloslave features Jacqueline Ultan and Michelle Kinney on cello, Greg Schutte on drums, and Gary Waryan on tablas. Recorded live on June 21, 2018 at Spring Cafe at Como Lakeside Pavilion in St. Paul. Produced by Tom Garneau for MinneCulture . Prior to listening to this performance, we'll hear an audio story from KFAI's Nikki Tundel about the origin of Jelloslave and their music-making process.  Michael Yonkers Live from Minnesota  A very rare live performance by groundbreaking Minneapolis garage-surf-noise music pioneer Michael Yonkers . His highly experimental 60s recordings have earned him a cult following and were later re-released by the Sub Pop, Drag City, Get Hip, and De Stijl record labels. Playing a modified guitar with homemade effects, Yonkers creates a wall of distorted sound adding hi...

MinneCulture Podcast, Ep. 24: The Purple One from KFAI For our Season 3 finale, s tories about the late, great Prince Rogers Nelson . We speak to the fella credited with "discovering" The Artist, learn what it was like to get phone calls from Prince at 3 a.m., and we take a tour of "Purple Places" that mark Skipper's roots in North Minneapolis. Episode produced by Nancy Rosenbaum . Prince and the Technician by the Kitchen Sisters In 1983 Prince hired LA sound technician, Susan Rogers , one of the few women in the industry, to move to Minneapolis and help upgrade his home recording studio as he began work on the album and the movie Purple Rain. Susan, a trained technician with no sound engineering experience became the engineer of all that Prince recorded for the next four years. We'll hear what it was like to work with Prince for 24 hours, 36 hours, 96 hours at a stretch, as he layered and perfected his hot, funky sound .  Not So Purple Rain by X...

The Miracle of Birth by Ryan Dawes Every year at the Minnesota State Fair, droves of pigs, cows, and sheep give birth before a live audience at the Miracle of Birth Center . In this piece, Veterinarian Florian Ledermann speaks about this one-of-a-kind agricultural education exhibit and perennial State Fair tradition. Front Yard Almond Cakes by Rob McGinley Myers   Rob has always been fascinated by the people who sell refreshments and other things on the streets outside the Minnesota State Fair . He went to talk to those neighborhood vendors - especially one woman who's been selling cake from her front yard for years.  Parking on a Stick by Emily Bright With about 110,000 people squeezing into the Minnesota State Fair every day, finding a place to park can be a drag. Sure, you can take the bus, visit a park-and-ride , or bike. But many people still drive. We will learn how some nearby homeowners rent out their lawns, driveways and garages to the sweaty, ...

MinneCulture Podcast, Ep. 23: Other Duties as Assigned from KFAI There are always parts of a job no one else understands or perhaps even knows about, unheralded tasks that are void of glory and praise. On this episode , we hear from an elementary school principal and the CEO of a hip-hop record label , each fulfilling the last line on their job description: "Other duties as assigned." Red Owl Revival by Anna Stitt The town of Stewart used to be a bustling farm and railroad community. In recent decades, shops have been shuttered and young people have left. But not Jim Pessek. The 34-year-old man is determined to help turn the town's defunct Red Owl  grocery store into a museum. From Fear To Fascination  by Rob McGinley Myers Forty years ago, few people wanted to own snakes or lizards as pets. But since then, the market for geckos, chameleons and bearded dragons has boomed, fueling the success of  Twin Cities Reptiles , the largest reptile-themed pet store ...

MinneCulture Podcast, Ep. 22: Minnesota History, in Their Own Words from KFAI Minnesota's oldest auctioneer reflects on rural life, the Kim Loo Sisters face discrimination in the jazz scene during the 1930s and 1940s, and a rusticly bunking historian sheds light on the history of slavery in Minnesota. The episode was produced by KFAI's Emily Bright . A Short History of Minnesota High Wheel Bikes by Britt Aamodt Mastering a new hobby can be tricky, especially if that hobby is learning to ride a high wheel bicycle from the 1880s. The high wheels, so named because of their giant front wheels (and tiny back wheels), stood as high as a horse and competed with them for space on cobblestone streets. As we'll hear, dismounting from a high wheel bike can be a wobbly adventure.  10,000 Kids Out-Muscle Horses in 6-Mile House Pull by Matthew Schneeman Next to Minnehaha Falls sits an old house that hosts exhibits recalling Minneapolis’s past. The house itself is the site of...

Lady Midnight Live from Minnesota After years of lending her voice to numerous projects, Lady Midnight finds herself ready to step into the solo spotlight. H er collaborating credits have been numerous and deeply rewarding -- acts such as Malamanya,  Parables of Neptune , VANDAAM, P.O.S , Brother Ali, Bon Iver, among seemingly countless others.  In this recent live performance  backed by the brilliant  DJ Sophia Eris ,   MinneCulture  caught Lady Midnight showca sing songs from her newest album at Minneapolis's Icehouse. O ur show was recorded by Ryan Mach , mixed and produced by Tom Garneau for KFAI. L8DMDNT's record release show is this coming Friday at the Turf Club in St. Paul! Malamanya Live from Minnesota Blending original songwriting with traditional rhythms and melodies of Cuba, Central and South America, Malamanya are able to create a classic sound all their own. Their acoustic-driven dance rhythms celebrate salsa and samba, while drawing...

MinneCulture Podcast, Ep. 21: Pain, Pain, Go Away   from KFAI For some artists, sickness can fuel their creativity. But for others, illness can drain the inspiration right out of them. In this episode, musician  P.O.S  and radio producer  Katie Thornton  discuss the ways chronic illnesses has affected their lives.  Also, it's our mini-pledge drive! You can help make KFAI's pain go away by becoming a sustaining member today! Please show your support for this rad little radio station by pledging at kfai.org/donate or by calling 612-375-9030.   You can keep this awesome stuff on the Twin Cities' airwaves with your donations. Each pledge, big or small, is extremely important to us. We need your help to keep this truly public, community-powered, remarkably independent station on your radio dial!

MinneCulture Podcast, Ep. 20: Minnesota Musicians, in Their Own Words from KFAI  Meet some Minnesota musicians that take old music, and put their own twist on it. Jumondeh visits backstage with Debbie Duncan who's known as the Twin Cities' "First Lady of Song." We'll also travel to South Minneapolis, where Minnesota’s oldest African-American drum corps is keeping an old musical tradition alive. And we hear from some passionate classical musicians at the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra about the album that won them a Grammy in 2018. MinneCulture Podcast, Ep. 21: Pain, Pain, Go Away from KFAI For some artists, sickness can fuel their creativity. But for others, illness can drain the inspiration right out of them. In this episode, musician P.O.S and radio producer Katie Thornton discuss the ways chronic illnesses has affected their lives.

A Fiery Unrest: Why Plymouth Avenue Burned by Nancy Rosenbaum During the summer of 1967, Plymouth Avenue in North Minneapolis went up in flames. This was a period which would become known as the Long Hot Summer . Frustrations about racial discrimination and a lack of opportunity for black Americans were erupting on city streets across the country. Here in Minnesota,  those tensions came to a head between July 19-21 on Plymouth Avenue. It was the commercial heart of a racially and ethnically mixed neighborhood; home to the city's largest concentration of African-American residents as well as many Jewish-owned businesses. For some black Minnesotans, Plymouth Avenue was a brick and mortar reminder of racial inequality that could no longer be silently tolerated. In this hour-long documentary, producer Nancy Rosenbaum examines what happened, why, and how people in Minneapolis responded.

MinneCulture Podcast, Ep. 19: Minnesota Eats from KFAI  Immigrants are spicing up Minnesota food. In this episode of the MinneCulture Podcast , host Jumondeh Tweh gets cooking tips from his Liberian mother and listens-in on stories about Hmong and Somali food. Follow us  inside three kitchens to learn more about the intersection of food and culture and the ever-shifting definitions of traditional cuisine. MinneCulture Podcast, Ep. 20: Minnesota  Musicians, in Their Own Words  from KFAI  Meet some Minnesota musicians that take old music, and put their own twist on it. Jumondeh goes backstage at a Saint Paul jazz club with Debbie Duncan who’s known as the Twin Cities’ “First Lady of Song.” We'll also travel to South Minneapolis, where Minnesota’s oldest African American drum corps is keeping an old musical tradition alive. And we hear from some passionate classical musicians at the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra about the album that won them a Grammy in...

MinneCulture Podcast, Ep. 18: Our Most Memorable Snowfall from KFAI In Minnesota, freezing winters and big snowfalls come with the territory . But three feet of snow on Halloween ??? That was a day to remember. Host Jumondeh Tweh shovels snow and plays a documentary produced by Britt Aamodt about the Halloween Blizzard of 1991, which remains one of the largest and most memorable storms in Minnesota history.  Wrangling Ice Into Art by Dixie Treichel  Ever wonder why candles inside ice luminaries don't melt into a puddle? Jennifer Shea Hedberg, a.k.a. " The Ice Wrangler ," explains the science behind those glowing winter creations.  Post-Smithsonian Delinquent by Melissa Olson  In a Brooklyn studio, KFAI's Melissa Olson interviews musician and visual artist Brad Kahlhamer about his complex identity and unique personal history. He was born in 1956 to Native American parents and then adopted by a German-American family. They raised him in Tucson, ...

Ep. 17: Fresh Fruit - Over 40 Years of Queer Radio from the MinneCulture Podcast We kick-off Season Three chronicling the history of the nation's longest running weekly LGBT radio show!  Fresh Fruit first aired on Twin Cities community radio station KFAI, on May 11, 1978 and has been broadcasting ever since . This audio documentary begins in 1977 by introducing us to the original collective -- a group of activists living in a queer hippy commune in Minneapolis -- and takes us right up to present day in an interview with Dixie Treichel , one of the program's current hosts. Hell Yeah: Queer and Radical Performance Art by Dixie Treichel In the 1990s, queer performance artists like created radical, experimental, and often politically risky work. Artists were rebelling against Reagan politics, the AIDS crisis, Senator Jesse Helms’ attacks on the National Endowment for the Arts, and the era's culture wars. In 2018 a  curated  exhibition   chronicled the era ...

Producers for KFAI's MinneCulture took home five awards from the 2019 MN Society of Professional Journalists’ annual Page One Awards! Anna Stitt and Ryan Dawes took home first and second place in the Best Feature category. Reporter Melissa Olson received third place in the Special Project/In-Depth Series category. Plus, and perhaps most unbelievably, KFAI producers cleaned up in Sports News Coverage. This week on the show, we'll the most recent winners as well as some stories celebrated at the 2018 Page One Awards (as many as we can fit in.) Huzzah! A Violinist Grapples with Death by Ryan Dawes Near the end of his life, Franz Schubert composed "Death and the Maiden." Two centuries later, violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja grappled with the dark subject as she and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra brought the piece to life for new audiences. Their recording won a Grammy award. Why She Skateboards, Despite the Pain by Katie Thornton As a teenager, KFAI's...