Episodes

In the 1990s for a brief four years, the radio station 93.7 The Edge popped up and imprinted itself onto the minds and hearts of many young Minnesotans who were aching for new music: The Cranberries, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and No Doubt. Radio back then wasn’t just a way to listen to music, but to discover music. The station also hosted EdgeFest, which forged even stronger memories. Every generation has a nostalgic love for the music of their youth and Edge fans are no different. KFAI’s Matthew Schn...

We have something different to share with you today - though something squarely in the MinneCulture universe. One of our regular producers Alison Young received a Minnesota State Arts Board Creative Individuals Grant this year to produce a series of immersive pieces blending field recording and personal narrative set at four Minnesota State Parks. It’s called “Art of the State (Parks) and we’re sharing them with you. Today, we're headed to Lake Maria State Park. This story was written and prod...

There are many ways to cover a song—you can cover it in your own style or mix things up by playing it in a different genre. But there’s one way of doing that often gets overlooked: doing it exactly like the original. The 90s cover band You Oughta Know takes on that challenge of replicating 90s hits. And the effect is a time traveling lightning bolt of nostalgia. KFAI’s Matthew Schneeman met up with the band to see their tricks and techniques first hand. This was story was reported and produced...

We have something different to share with you today - though something squarely in the MinneCulture universe. One of our regular producers Alison Young received a Minnesota State Arts Board Creative Individuals Grant this year to produce a series of immersive pieces blending field recording and personal narrative set at four Minnesota State Parks. It’s called “Art of the State (Parks) and we’re sharing them with you. Today, we're headed to Blue Mounds State Park. This story was written and pro...

Sound baths are a meditative practice that uses resonant instruments like singing bowls, gongs, and chimes to create experiences that offer a unique path to calm and connection. In recent years, sound baths have been popping up all over Minnesota. KFAI’s Sheila Regan went to check it out. This story was written and produced by Sheila Regan. Erika Janik is MinneCulture's Managing Editor. Find more MinneCulture stories on our website. Support for MinneCulture on KFAI is provided by the Minnesota...

We have something different to share with you today - though something squarely in the MinneCulture universe. One of our regular producers Alison Young received a Minnesota State Arts Board Creative Individuals Grant this year to produce a series of immersive pieces blending field recording and personal narrative set at four Minnesota State Parks. It’s called “Art of the State (Parks) and we’re sharing them with you. The second in the series is called "Summer at Grand Portage." In this piece, ...

Since the 1890s, the Mesabi Iron Range in northern Minnesota has produced an abundance of iron ore. The mines attracted all kinds of workers, including immigrants. One group that was harder to find in the mines, though... were women. Lynn Henderson was one of the first women to work on the range starting in the 1970s. KFAI's Gina Favano caught up with Lynn to learn what those times were like. This story was reported and produced by Gina Favano. Erika Janik is MinneCulture's Managing Editor. Sup...

We have something a little different to share with you - though something squarely in the MinneCulture universe. One of our regular producers, Alison Young, received a Minnesota State Arts Board Creative Individuals Grant this year to produce a series of immersive pieces blending field recording and personal narrative set at four Minnesota State Parks It’s called “Art of the State (Parks)" and we’re going to share them with you. Up first, Spring at Lake Itasca. Here, a night of near-solitude b...

For the past twenty years, Project Get Outdoors — or Project GO — has been dedicated to connecting children with the natural world. Based in Wabasha, Project GO’s mission is to use nature to build cognitive skills, spark creativity, and support overall health and wellbeing. The organization champions the Minnesota Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights and develops high-quality curriculum and programming designed to help young people form lasting relationships with the outdoors. Founder and program...

Every Tuesday night, Choir Walk with Me gathers to practice. The group’s name comes from the David Lynch film Fire Walk With Me. The small group sings a diverse mix of songs and prides itself on celebrating the esoteric and weird. KFAI’s Angela Lundberg brings us the story. This story was produced by Angela Lundberg and mixed and edited by MinneCulture Managing Editor, Erika Janik. Support for MinneCulture is provided by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. For more stories like this...

The Augie Garcia Quintet played rock ‘n’ roll in 1954 before they knew what to call it — Augie described their sound as rhythm-and-blues with a shuffle and a “hard sock.” The Minnesota Music Hall of Fame says the band likely recorded Minnesota’s first rock record. Raised at the West Side Flats in St. Paul, Augie became known as a showman who danced on the piano and dressed year-round in Bermuda shorts tailored by his mother. He assembled a strong group of musicians that included Willie Brown on...

Inspired by his love of punk and garage band music of the 1980s, Jon Clifford started a hair salon by Loring Park in Minneapolis in 2011. It’s a funky, one-of-a-kind place helmed by a funky, one-of-a-kind guy filled with music and Minnesota music memorabilia. Jon later partnered with John Kass to add a record store focusing on local music next to the salon, and HiFi Hair and Records was born. Jon says it has “the best waiting room in the city.” A welcoming place for a hair cut, the salon is fil...

If you only know MinneCulture as a seasonal podcast, you're in for a treat. Between seasons, we make shorter stories that we call 10,000 Fresh Voices. These stories cover all kinds of things from a synchronized swim team to a scheme to build a domed city in the Minnesota woods. And we're going to start sharing them with you here. Welcome to MinneCulture Shorts! This episode features three stories highlighting some amazing Minnesota women. The stories in this episode were written and produced b...

When freedom seekers stepped off the steamboat in St. Paul, local people of color met them at the landing. Underground Railroad agents worked as barbers, musicians, laundresses, steamboat stewards and cooks. Some of these residents had never been enslaved and grew up in eastern cities. Others fled the South to settle in Minnesota — a territory that was supposed to be free, yet tolerated slavery within its borders. Local sheriffs and Southern enslavers spent weeks offering bribes to find people s...

The Mississippi River is one of the defining geographic features of our state. The river's headwaters begin up north in Lake Itasca and meander for 650 miles through the cities, bluffs, forests and iron ranges of Minnesota, before crossing the border into Wisconsin and Iowa. The River has long captured our imagination. And, for many, it has provided a home. Boathouse communities, though less common today, have long formed up and down the river. These enclaves of shanty boats and floating homes ...

The M.A. Gedney Pickling Company was established in Minneapolis in 1881 by a man named Matthias Gedney. The Gedney Company contracted with hundreds of Minnesota farmers to grow the cucumbers used for their pickle products. Many of the farmers, in turn, ended up paying their children to pick the cucumbers as part of their summer chores, using the money to pay for school clothes and other needed items for the family. In the later 20th century, the Gedney Company identified itself as the Minnesota...

Chinese food is a staple of the American diet. But the story of how Chinese food became popular in the United States – and specifically in Minnesota – is a story of racism, mixed identity, adaptation, and cultural preservation. This story from producer Sheila Regan traces the history of Chinese cuisine in Minnesota — from the Canton Cafe in the 19th century to iconic establishments like the Nankin Cafe, from canned chow mein products produced in Duluth to the beloved fast casual Leeann Chin. Mi...

Tuberculosis is a highly contagious and infectious disease. As the Trump administration freezes foreign aid, tuberculosis is resurgent worldwide. In Minnesota, the numbers are falling with 21 Minnesota counties reporting a total of 160 new cases of active tuberculosis last year. But those numbers are still chilling when you consider that there was a time when TB was the leading cause of death. Before antibiotics were discovered and offered a cure for TB, the only weapon available to stop its sp...

Between 1925 and 1945, 2,204 people — 77% of whom were women — were eugenically sterilized in Minnesota. Minnesota's sterilization program targeted "sexually promiscuous" women and impoverished people. The intended goal of the program was to lessen poverty and welfare costs by ending the family lines of people deemed "immoral" or "feebleminded." A woman named Rose DeChaine was sterilized by this program. But her sterilization didn't end or fix any of her family's problems. Instead, Rose's time ...

In the Mississippi River, between the Franklin Avenue and Lake Street/Marshall Avenue bridges, sits an abandoned ruin. The ruin is almost invisible from the river bank. You may never know it exists unless you’re paddling directly on top of it, or avoiding its edges in a motor boat. The ghostly structure was once a fully operational lock and dam, the very first built on the Upper Mississippi River: The Meeker Island Lock and Dam. In the season 9 premiere, producer Lydia Moran inspects this indus...

Season 9 of MinneCulture drops on March 27. This season features: lots of local food history stories about life and commerce along the Mississippi River a Minnesota woman who developed a new form of contact tracing for tuberculosis a barber and fiddler who helped run the Underground Railroad in Minnesota a haunting story about Minnesota's 20th century sterilization program a jingle for pickles that will get stuck in your head ....and so much more! Stories by Michelle Bruch, Gina Favano, ...

In the 1970s, lesbian and feminist organizations popped up in cities across the nation. Minneapolis and Saint Paul were no exception. Here in the Twin Cities, the Amazon Feminist Book Store, Lesbian Resource Center, and Lesbian Feminist Organizing Committee all provided space and community for newly out lesbians and queer women. At the same time, a small network of transgender women started their own type of organizing, one that relied more on mutual support than a physical meeting place. But ...

Take a dive into comedic history in this story about the beginnings of the Brave New Workshop. The Brave New Workshop was founded by a former circus former named Dudley Riggs. In the mid 20th century, a new kind of humor was taking the world by storm, and Riggs tapped into the zeitgeist of improvisation that had no limits. KFAI's Sheila Regan weaves together the voices of past and present company members, archival audio, and an interview with Riggs himself in this celebration of comedy that spea...

KSTP-AM is one of Minnesota’s oldest and formerly most successful radio stations. By the 90's, it had been mostly forgotten, as fans flocked to FM. While music fans enjoyed the stereophonic sounds on the other side of the dial, a new form of radio program began to emerge. Before long, talk radio flourished across the United States, and nowhere was it strong than at “The Talk Station.” Fueled by a desire to shake up the radio landscape, Hubbard Broadcasting’s Ginny Morris took charge of the stat...