Episodes
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We all need a little help to get through life sometimes. From everyday questions to more complex problems, we’re asking the experts to lend us a hand.
Throughout the series Professional Help, we’ll hear some direct advice, for us not-so-direct Minnesotans.
Our ask: Help me find fall colors in Minnesota
Our professional: Sara Berhow, integrated public relations supervisor at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
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Fall drought is deepening across much of the state. We hear what it means.
And polls suggest that almost one in five Americans don't know which presidential candidate they'll vote for next month. A Duluth professor takes us inside the psychology of those undecided voters.
A new chain of Mexican grocery stores is opening in the Twin Cities. We hear from the entrepreneur who hopes to fight food deserts.
And we continue our coverage of shifting cell phone policies in schools. We hear from students who started going completely phoneless this week.
We also hear from an author who is connecting cultural identity with gardening.
Our Minnesota Music Minute was “PLT” by Cassieopia.
Our Song of the Day was “Dunes” by Foxby.
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Missing episodes?
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Those of us who love to garden know it can be a meditative space. A new book, “Perennial Ceremony” by Teresa Peterson, finds the Southwestern Minnesota-based author reconciling her spirituality through her relationship with her garden.
Peterson is a citizen of the Upper Sioux Community and writes about the intersections of cultural identity, food place and belonging.
She spoke with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about the book.
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Last month, MPR News spoke with the superintendent of United South Central Schools in Wells, Minn. Their district had decided this year to spend thousands of dollars on phone pouches that lock students phones all day — no access.
The pouches were put into place on Tuesday. Minnesota Now senior producer Aleesa Kuznetsov spoke to two students at the school on the first day of the pouches to get their perspectives on the new policy.
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Drought is getting worse across Minnesota. About 40 percent of the state is now in moderate drought, with the rest considered “abnormally dry.”
The main areas of the state affected: Northeastern and Southwestern Minnesota, where farmers have already been dealing with a smorgasbord of odd weather this growing season.
For more, MPR News host Cathy Wurzer spoke with Liz Stahl, crops extension educator with the University of Minnesota Extension.
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Wednesday marks the start of the holiest time of the year for Jewish people. It’s Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Families in Minnesota will head to synagogue and eat apples and honey among other traditions.
A Minnesota-based company, Kar-Ben Publishing, has been helping teach these traditions for 50 years. Kar-Ben is the largest publisher of Jewish culture children’s books in the world.
Publisher Fran Greenman-Schmitz joins MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about it.
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It appears that most snap polls taken after Tuesday night’s Vice Presidential debate have voters thinking each candidate did okay. Polls taken for Politico and CBS News show voters evenly split on whether Gov. Tim Walz or Sen. JD Vance won the face-off.
While the event is not expected to push many voters to one side or another, it offered a closer look at the men who could be second in command. For the latest in our series, State of Democra-Z, MPR News host Cathy Wurzer checks in with two Gen-Z voters to find out what stood out to them.
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From Gov. Tim Walz’s best moments, to his blunders, we break down the performances of Walz and JD Vance in the only Vice Presidential debate.
And in the series State of Democra-Z, we hear from our Gen-Z voter panel for their thoughts on the debate.
MPR chief meteorologist Paul Huttner joins us with a fall weather forecast.
Plus, did you know Minnesota is home to the largest publisher in the world of Jewish children's books? We talk to the publisher ahead of the high holidays.
And a group of runners is not letting chronic illness stop them from running the Twin Cities Marathon this weekend.
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A red flag warning that state officials announced Monday due to exceptionally dry, warm and windy conditions has been lifted, but experts are still concerned. MPR chief meteorologist Paul Huttner joins MPR News host Cathy Wurzer with an outlook on the warm weather.
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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is off to Pennsylvania for more campaigning Wednesday. He got a morning jog in at New York’s Central Park after his vice presidential debate showdown with Republican JD Vance, a first-term Ohio senator and his party’s nominee for the No. 2 spot.
MPR News senior politics reporter Dana Ferguson is in New York and joins MPR News host Cathy Wurzer with takeaways from the only debate between the VP hopefuls.
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Runners from all over the country are eagerly awaiting the iconic Twin Cities Marathon this Sunday, especially after the event was cancelled last year from unprecedented heat. Running 26.2 miles is an incredible feat for anyone, but for some struggling with chronic health conditions, it can seem impossible.
When Molly Monk was diagnosed with the chronic condition known as POTS in 2019, she struggled to find her footing and identity while hit with bouts of exhaustion that sometimes kept her from doing even basic activities like standing to brush her teeth.
She got to wondering, could someone with a condition like hers do something like run a marathon? To find out, she helped start a group for people who thought there was no way they could run a marathon, either. Together, they plan to cross the finish line at the Twin Cities Marathon on Sunday. Molly Monk joins MPR News host Cathy Wurzer from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
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48 years ago in October, a the first vice presidential candidate from Minnesota took the national stage for a debate.
That was Walter Mondale, a 48-year-old U.S. senator from Minnesota, running alongside newcomer Jimmy Carter, the former governor of Georgia.
Mondale's 1976 debate against Republican VP nominee Bob Dole was the first time two vice presidential candidates met up for a live, televised debate.
It was a fiery political moment. President Richard Nixon had resigned just two years earlier over the Watergate scandal. And Americans were disillusioned by the war in Vietnam.
Part of Mondale and Dole's exchange left a mark on the rest of Bob Dole's career: Mondale called him a “hatchet man” and the name stuck.
Mondale and running mate Jimmy Carter went on to defeat incumbent Gerald Ford in the presidential election that November.
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Vice presidential candidates Tim Walz and JD Vance face off in New York on a national stage for the first time — and probably the last time. We heard the latest from our politics team at the scene ahead of Tuesday night’s debate.
Minnesotans have had a while to get to know Tim Walz, but in Ohio, JD Vance’s political career is relatively new. We heard from a reporter in his home state about Vance’s political reputation there.
48 years ago another Minnesotan VP candidate was taking the stage for his very first debate, some of which was quite memorable. We travelled back in time to Walter Mondale’s 1976 debate.
Did you know Minnesota is home to one of the largest jigsaw puzzle competitions in the world? A puzzler fresh off a world championship joined the show to give the insider details.
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Tickets went live Tuesday for one of the largest jigsaw puzzling competitions in the world. It takes place at the St. Paul Winter Carnival.
Sarah Schuler just returned from Spain after her team placed fifth in the World Jigsaw Competition in Spain. She will attend the jigsaw competition at the St. Paul carnival, which is about the same size as the worldwide competition. She joined Minnesota Now to dive into the world of puzzling.
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In Minnesota, voters on both sides of the aisle have had more time to get to know Gov. Tim Walz than his opponent. Vice Presidential nominee JD Vance gained national recognition for his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy” back in 2016, but his political career is relatively new.
Vance was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2022, thanks in part to the endorsement of former president Donald Trump. Sarah Donaldson has been covering Vance since that election. She’s a reporter for the Statehouse News Bureau in Ohio and she joined Minnesota Now to explain Vance’s rise and predict his moves for Tuesday evening’s debate.
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Minnesota’s new climate laws passed in 2023 require all electricity in the state to come from carbon-free sources by the year 2040. But it’s up to regulators to decide what exactly counts as carbon free — the key question that has arisen is whether burning trash and timber for energy should be a part of the mix.
There may not be an answer until the end of 2025 after the Public Utilities Commission recently moved to delay the decision. Andrew Hazzard has been following this. He covers climate change and environmental justice for Sahan Journal and he joined Minnesota Now to talk about his reporting.
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Vice presidential candidates Tim Walz and JD Vance are in New York preparing for their first — and probably last — debate Tuesday evening. The two relatively little-known politicians will introduce themselves to the country and try to avoid any slip ups on the big stage.
MPR News senior politics reporter Dana Ferguson joined host Cathy Wurzer to talk about the stakes of the debate, the arguments the candidates will make and where each candidate could stand to gain ground.
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This hot and dry September has raised the risk of wildfires. We get details on a red flag warning in effect Monday for much of the state.
And the remains of two boys who died at a boarding school have returned to White Earth. We have more on the effort to bring them home.
Baby Boomers and Millennials may not have the same “American Dream.” We talk to a Minnesota professor who is studying the differences.
Gov. Tim Walz used to talk a lot about his experience in China. But on the campaign trail, he doesn’t mention it. We dig into his time there and its political weight.
Plus, it was a major weekend in sports. Sports guys Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson talk through that Vikings-Packers game, the Karl Anthony Towns trade and more.
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Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance descend on New York tomorrow for the first — and only — Vice Presidential debate. Walz’s campaign has introduced him to the nation as a Midwestern dad and high school football coach.
But Walz is also a world traveler, with a deep experience in China. It’s a fact he used to brag about — and sometimes exaggerate — earlier in his political career. But now that he’s running for vice president, his campaign barely mentions it.
MPR News host Cathy Wurzer dove deeper into the story with Curtis Gilbert, senior editor with APM Reports.
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How do you define the “American Dream?” Is it a white picket fence? A home in the suburbs? A general feeling of security?
A study from Minnesota State University - Mankato asked Millennials and Baby Boomers what the American Dream looked like in their eyes and found some generational differences.
Kristin Scott is a professor of Marketing at MSU Mankato and the primary author of the study. She joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about it.
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