KFAI's MinneCulture Presents

The Peril of Spring Snow in Minnesota  by Mike Moen ~  Last spring marked the 80th anniversary of the 1941 blizzard that killed dozens of people in Minnesota and North Dakota. The region has a reputation for  extreme winters , but a late season storm could still catch people off-guard. For Indigenous people, timing for such events had consequences as they transitioned to warmer months.  Mike Moen  reports on the history behind their winter survival techniques. Art in Motion Brings Artwork, Bands, and Biking to the Lake Wobegon Trail  by Colleen Cowie ~  The  Lake Wobegon Trail  is a 10-foot wide strip of pavement that guides bicyclists through Central Minnesota’s trees, lakes, and fields of cows. Now, there’s a new destination along the trail:  Art in Motion , an art gallery and café in the small town of Holdingford. Railroads & Fire  by Laurie Allmann ~  Since the first rail line was completed in Minnesota i...

Art and Repair on Lake Street  by Sheila Regan ~  The empty lot where the former Roberts Shoes Building once stood has become a lively art space connected to the community around Lake Street. KFAI's Sheila Regan talked with artists involved with the Lake Street Truth Collective about how the empty lot has become a vibrant new center of artmaking and truth-telling. Wordless and Riveting, “felt / not said” by Mankwe Ndosi and Body Memori Comes From the Body  by Sheila Regan ~  Mankwe Ndosi & Body MemOri’s riveting lyric-less album, " felt/not said ," features Ndosi using her voice as a wildly versatile instrument. Created in collaboration with Cellist Tomeka Reid, Contrabasso player Silvia Bolognesi, and percussionist Davu Seru, with mixing by Greg Schutte, the album explores the notion of healing through sonic sounds and rhythms. Ndosi, spoke to Sheila Regan about the origins of her technique, how the album came together, and what it means to be an artist in th...

Dogs + Skis = Skijoring   by Ryan Dawes ~ Cross-country skiing and dog sled racing are among Minnesota's more popular winter sports. But what if you combined the two? KFAI’s Ryan Dawes reports on an outdoor activity called " skijoring ." 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.  Washboard For The Modern Folk   by Ryan Dawes  ~ Minneapolis percussionist Mikkel Beckman doesn't want the spotlight. He'd rather settle into the groove of his bandmates . He's a washboard percussionist who stretches the boundaries of his instrument beyond the hills and hollers of American folk music. Unfamous Rock Manager Tells All   by Ryan Dawes  ~ Owen Husney i...

I Am All Day and Night by Philip Coulter ~  This month, we will be airing a three-part series examining the  legacy  of iconoclast  Frank Zappa . The extraordinary musician was born on December 21, 1940 in Baltimore, Maryland. In December of 1993, he died just shortly before his 53rd birthday.  Frank Zappa  incorporated many genres in his sound and left an  indelible mark  on the American music scene. He embraced everything from rhythm and blues, to do-wop, jazz, and classical. He made popular music that was challenging alongside serious music that was easy to listen to. The series written, narrated, and produced by Philip Coulter explores Zappa as a composer, through the memories of some of the people who knew him best: his family, his friends, and the musicians who worked with him. You’ll hear from Zappa’s wife, Gail Zappa,  Ruth Underwood , the percussionist who first heard him at a famous concert at the Garrick Theatre in 1967; ...

National Book Award-winning poet and translator, Robert Bly from New Letters on the Air ~ Minnesotan Robert Bly , the poet, translator, and cultural commentator has died . We’re celebrating Minnesota's first poet laureate with an hour of the author reading his work. Our main feature is an episode of New Letters on the Air which was recorded a decade ago at Rockhurst University’s Midwest Poets Series . Bly was there with world- renowned  sitarist David Whetstone in October of 2011 and reading from his latest collection of poems, Talking Into the Ear of a Donkey . He also treated the audience to selections from My Sentence Was a Thousand Years of Joy: Poems -- his uniquely American adaptation of the Mideastern ghazal form. Since 1977, New Letters on the Air has produced a weekly half-hour literary radio program from Kansas City, Missouri. We'll also hear a number of recitations and recordings of Bly in the studio over the years with Whetstone and top-tier tabla player ...

We Don't Talk Like That: 'Fargo' and the Midwest Psyche  by 2 Below Zero ~ In 2016, Todd Melby made an audio documentary about the 1996 movie 'Fargo'. His research started him down a rabbit hole which would eventually lead to the publication of his  fantastic  new book  A Lot Can Happen In the Middle of Nowhere: The Untold Story of the Making of Fargo .  W e're going to listen back to that original doc and remember what all the fuss was about. Initially, 'Fargo' stirred widespread curiosity about snowy winters,  funny accents , and bloody mayhem on the frozen tundra. It also won two Oscars and inspired a popular  television series . But how well did it actually capture and reflect the region? Producers  Diane Richard and Todd Melby  unravel the mystery behind the parkas, prowlers, and wood chippers in interviews with actors  William H. Macy , John Carroll Lynch, Stephen Park, Tony Denman,  dialect coach   Liz Himelstein , women...

Miss C.H. Lippincott: Seedswoman of Minneapolis   by Britt Aamodt ~  In 1886, no one expected much from Carrie H. Lippincott . She was a single woman in desperate need of money. Then she launched what would become one of the most successful seed businesses of the era. In fact, she became so successful that two seemingly similar rivals popped up in her own backyard. KFAI's Britt Aamodt tells the story of this pioneering, entrepreneuring seedswoman of Minneapolis. Add Toni Stone to the Roster of Minnesota Baseball Legends  by Mike Moen ~  This fall marks the 30th anniversary of one of Minnesota’s most celebrated baseball moments: the Twins ’ 1991 World Series championship . But this year, there was another milestone tied to the region’s baseball legacy. As KFAI’s  Mike Moen  reports, it involves a player who broke barriers in more ways than one. Can You Dig It? Shaft Turns 50  by  Todd Melby  ~  Before Shaft, badass movie dete...

Stay Young, Go Dancing  from MinneCulture Is there any debate about the most legendary venue in Minnesota history? Well, some say it’s definitely not First Avenue, or even that it is anywhere near the Twin Cities. Deep in the middle of the corn and soybean fields of rural Sibley County, behind a chain link fence topped with barbed-wire, there sits a massive  building  complex that was once considered to be the  polka  capital of the world: The  Gibbon Ballroom . Tonight, in this award-winning documentary, we present the colorful history of this infamous Midwest venue, as told through the voices of the musicians, dancers, and local residents who loved it. Produced for  KFAI  by  James Napoli  and edited by Melissa Olson.   A Toast to the Original Champagne Lady  from MinneCulture During the Great Depression,  her voice  lifted spirits. During the big band era, her beauty radiated from the stage of St. Paul's Prom Ball...

Palmer's Patio Preview from Live from Minnesota ~ This Saturday at Palmer’s Bar , KFAI’s “Live from Minnesota” will present an eclectic lineup of Twin Cities musicians featuring Congolese Soukous and Rumba guitarist Siama , SotaRican rapper and Boricua singer Maria Isa , and the punky sludge-pop trio Wannabianca . All sets will be recorded for later broadcast on both KFAI and the St. Paul Neighborhood Network . To prepare for the show, we're going to preview the artists on the bill. We'll be airing live Siama performances from the programs Live from Studio A in Duluth and The Roadhouse from WTIP - North Shore Community Radio in Grand Marais. You'll also hear stories from MinneCulture’s Ryan Dawes and a Minnesota Music Profile from Jazz 88 ’s Phil Nusbaum. Lastly, we'll close with a previous "Live from Minnesota" Marisa Isa session and recent tracks from both her and  Wannabianca 's latest EPs. EVENT INFO: Taping of "Live from Minnesota" a...

Your Brain on Stories  from Battery Radio ~ From infancy to old age, nursery rhymes to novels, finger puppets to stage and screen, our lives are immersed in stories . Whether it's Hamlet or Han Solo, a story casts an irresistible spell over all of us. Why? Traditionally, scholars of literature find the answer in story structure, characters, and plot lines. But recently, storytelling has come under the gaze of anthropologists , cognitive scientists, and evolutionary psychologists. They seem to believe the answer is found in our evolution . These two installments of Your Brain on Stories examine how both fiction and non-fiction storytelling may have given early humans a very critical evolutionary advantage.

Old School from Hearing Voices ~ A back to school special and reminder of what school USED to sound like. Featuring work from producers Hillary Frank , Richard Paul, Katie Davis, and others about the joys, fears, boredom, and excitement of a regular school day from yesteryear. We'll also hear a from commencement speech Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich . Plus poetry from Taylor Mali, Meryn Cadell , Jelani, alongside some great  music  --  it's educational!

A Living History of the Boundary Waters by Joe Friedrichs ~  In the fall of 2020, a group of Minnesota paddlers set out to retrace the steps of a journey made by wilderness pioneer and conservation champion Arthur Carhart . His path was made a century ago and through what we now call the  Boundary Waters Canoe Area  Wilderness. In this half-hour special, producer Joe Friedrichs takes us along on the trip and examines what the term ‘wilderness’ really means in relation to the BWCA. Bde Maka Ska: It's Name Tells Us A Story by Kiin Aden ~ A year after the name Bde Maka Ska was restored as the official name of a popular lake in Minneapolis, youth producer Kiin Aden set out to know more about the meaning of the lake’s name in the Dakota language. Along her journey, she began to wonder if K-12 students in Minnesota might also benefit from learning Indigenous languages in their classrooms. BYO Boat at Float-In Theater  by  Paul Brohaugh  ~  As...

Celebrating Blue from Paul Ingles ~ A one-hour in-depth examination of one of the most heralded albums of all time. We'll learn from musicians, fans, and music critics about what makes Joni Mitchell's  Blue  so compelling and how it has left a distinctive fingerprint on rock and roll history. The landmark record was rated #30 Rolling Stone 's Top 500 Albums of All-Time; the highest rank by any female musician in the 2003 list. The magazine also called her "one of rock's most daring and uncompromising innovators." Along with her confessional lyrics, innovative open guitar tunings, and jazz-inflected vocals, Mitchell put the experience of being a woman on revolutionary display. In this special, we also hear lots from Mitchell herself in both archival interviews as well as her music. Released on June 22nd, 1971, this month marks the 50th anniversary of the album.

Dylan Part Four: Oh Mercy from Joyride Media ~ Bob Dylan has always been a unique American voice, and some believe that's most evident in the music he's made since the late 1980's. Returning to his roots in folk and blues, Dylan has fine-tuned American music with the mind of a poet and the bravado of a rock and roller . In this hour, we'll hear the maturity and grace of Dylan's artistic ideas covering the years from 1989 to 2007. The special is hosted by Patti Smith and features interviews with David Kemper, John Cohen, David Gans , Carolyn Wonderland, Josh Ritter, Ian MacLagen , John Hiatt, and many more.

Dylan Part Three: Shelter from the Storm  from Joyride Media ~ In the 1970s and 80s, Bob Dylan continued to expand his artistic world. His songs ran the gamut, from very personal stories to Homeric epics and everything in-between. By the late 70s, Dylan became a born-again Christian, and for several years he sang only religious material. By the late 80s, Dylan had supported Live Aid, Farm Aid, and joined the Traveling Wilburys . In this hour, we'll hear highlights from this period of dizzying artistic and personal growth. The special is hosted by  Patti Smith  and features interviews with Bill Flanagan, Roger McGuinn , David Mansfield, Ray Benson, Ian McLagan , and more.

Dylan Part Two: Like a Rolling Stone  from Joyride Media ~ With the mantle of folk protest singer off his shoulders, Bob Dylan launched into a flurry of creativity in the mid-1960's. His sound exploded with electric instruments and a blend of folk, rock, blues, and gospel influences. By the late 60's, Dylan was in Nashville singing country music like that which he had grown up on. His lyrics still commented on the world, but through a wider lens that mixed personal reflection with mystical and surreal images. In this hour, we'll hear how Dylan found his own unique voice , and how that changed rock and roll for a long time to come... if not forever.

Dylan Part One: Blowin' in the Wind from Joyride Media ~ Just a few years after his move to New York City in 1961, Minnesotan Robert Zimmerman had become Bob Dylan and was now being lauded as the "voice of a generation." The young troubadour wasn't so interested in being that, but Dylan's meteoric rise to fame was no fluke. In his songs, Dylan captured the social consciousness of the time and took it beyond as he rejected the role of protest singer. In this hour, we'll hear about Dylan's early years as he moved from folk singer-songwriter to rock and roll star. The special is hosted by Patti Smith and features interviews with George Wein, John Hammond, Suze Rotolo , Sean Wilentz, Greil Marcus, Anthony DeCurtis, and more.

The Peril of Spring Snow in Minnesota by Mike Moen ~  This spring marks the 80th anniversary of the 1941 blizzard that killed dozens of people in Minnesota and North Dakota. The region has a reputation for extreme winters , but a late season storm could still catch people off-guard. For Indigenous people, timing for such events had consequences as they transitioned to warmer months. Mike Moen reports on the history behind their winter survival techniques. Art in Motion Brings Artwork, Bands, and Biking to the Lake Wobegon Trail by Colleen Cowie ~  The Lake Wobegon Trail is a 10-foot wide strip of pavement that guides bicyclists through Central Minnesota’s trees, lakes, and fields of cows. Now, there’s a new destination along the trail: Art in Motion , an art gallery and café in the small town of Holdingford. Railroads & Fire by Laurie Allmann ~  Since the first rail line was completed in Minnesota in 1862, the railroad has had a storied existence in t...

Poetry, Minnesotan Style  from MinneCulture ~ Celebrate  National Poetry Month  with the crew of MinneCulture producers! This episode will feature some of KFAI's best stories about Minnesotan poets like  Danez Smith ,  Linda LeGarde Grover ,  Sun Yung Shin ,  David Mura , and  Anthony Ceballos . We'll also hear profiles of Twin Cities spoken-word-scene giants  Adina Burke  and  Danny Klecko , plus  Nicholle Ramsey , who has redefined the Winona poetry scene. Poet song-writers  Dessa  and  Brian Laidlaw  will get to have their say too. This episode features stories from  Emily Bright ,  Britta Greene ,  Britt Aamodt ,  Jared Goyette ,  Diane Richard ,  Sylvia Thomas , and sound artist  Dixie Treichel .

Listening to the Arctic from the National Science Foundation ~ When you hear statistics that convey oceans are warming and glaciers are melting, do you ever wonder where those numbers come from? Well, it's from scientists measuring precisely what exactly is happening in the Arctic and what that could mean for all of us. In this program from the National Science Foundation and producer  Richard Paul , we go to the top of the world to meet scientists who are trekking over glaciers, diving into oceans, and engineers building brand new tools to figure out what’s going on up there and how it impacts our lives down here. They are all helping one another to discover the problems and cooperating to find solutions.