Is it possible to build relational bridges, even in contentious times?Scholar and activist john a. powell says yes. He’s dedicated his life to teaching others how to belong and bridge. As the director of the Othering and Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley and the founder of the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota, powell — who spells his name in lowercase, to signify that “we are part of the universe, not over it” — studies equity and connection. His new book, “The Power of Bridging,” is his thesis that connecting with others and honoring their humanity is the only way to create a world where we all belong. powell came back to Minnesota on a cold night in early December, at the invitation of The Bush Foundation and MPR, to talk with MPR News reporter and host Catharine Richert about how to do the work of bridging, even at this divisive moment in history. He shared stories from his own life, talked about how to bridge (or not) with folks who don’t want to bridge and discussed how the work of bridging and belonging is as much internal as external.
Last month the Food and Drug Administration announced that it would remove its warning on hormone-based products used to treat menopause symptoms. As women age, most will experience changes linked to the stop of their monthly menses, including hot flashes, bone density loss and sleep problems. But in the past two decades a strong “black-box warning” has scared many women off from seeking relief in hormone creams, patches, pills and other treatments. The warning was added following a landmark study that linked hormone therapy to an increased risk for cancer and cardiovascular problems. Now the FDA says the risks were overblown for most women. MPR News guest host Catharine Richert talks about the FDA’s change, the risks and benefits of hormone therapy and what women should consider as they decide whether to try it. Guest: Dr. Jissy Cyriac is a primary care physician trained in internal medicine. She sees patients at the Menopause and Women's Sexual Health Clinic at Mayo Clinic in Rochester and is also a certified practitioner through The Menopause Society.
A federal vaccine advisory committee recently voted to end the decades-old recommendation that all U.S. newborns get a hepatitis B vaccine dose at birth. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted that only infants born to mothers who test positive for hepatitis B — or whose infection status is unknown — are recommended to get that first dose immediately. The vote could result in new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is a dramatic shift from the CDC’s current policy, which was adopted in 1991 and is credited with reducing childhood hepatitis B infections by more than 95 percent. MPR News guest host Chris Farrell talks with a pediatrician and an infectious disease researcher about what the new recommendation means for families, hospitals and communities in Minnesota that are disproportionately affected by the liver infection.Guests:Dr. Leslie King-Schultz is a pediatrician at Hennepin Healthcare where she co-chairs their vaccine committee.Angela Ulrich is a researcher and infectious disease epidemiologist with the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. She was one of the lead authors on the Vaccine Integrity Project’s recent report about the safety and effectiveness of the hepatitis B vaccination at birth.
For much of the last century, a steady career often meant staying with one company for decades. But that idea started to fade in the ‘80s and ‘90s as layoffs and restructuring made long-term loyalty feel less secure. By the 2000s, job hopping became the norm and often led to better pay and benefits.But today, something new is happening. Alongside job hopping, we’re seeing a rise in job hugging — people staying put, even when they’d rather move, because the job market feels uncertain. MPR News guest host Chris Farrell talks about shifting hiring trends, when it’s smart to switch jobs, when it’s best to stay and what it all means for our careers and workplaces.Guests:Alan Benson is an associate professor at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management where he researches hiring, promotions and employment.Mark Sorenson-Wagner is the director of career development at the University of St. Thomas.
Food has the power to comfort us, connect us to our roots and preserve our culture. When coming to a new country, immigrants leave much behind. But one thing many people carry with them to start life in a new place are their family’s recipes.MPR News guest host Kelly Gordon talks with a cookbook author and a chef from Mexico about the dishes and stories that tie us to the people — and places — we’re from.Guests: Lee Svitak Dean was the longtime food editor at The Minnesota Star Tribune. She's co-author of “Kitchens of Hope: Immigrants Share Stories of Resilience and Recipes from Home.” She is also author of “Come One, Come All: Easy Entertaining with Seasonal Menus” and co-author of “The Ultimate Minnesota Cookie Book.” Gustavo Romero is co-owner with his wife Kate of Nixta, a tortilleria in northeast Minneapolis where they make tortillas using traditional methods and heirloom corn. They expanded next door to open the restaurant, Oro by Nixta, which was a finalist for a James Beard award and named one of the 20 Best New Restaurants of 2024 by Bon Appetit.
President Donald Trump has escalated rhetoric about Minnesota’s Somali community in recent weeks. And according to reports from The New York Times and the Associated Press, the Trump administration now plans to target hundreds of Somali immigrants living unlawfully in the Twin Cities.MPR News guest host Catharine Richert talks about what we know so far, what remains unclear and the impact it’s all having on the Somali community in Minnesota.Guests:State Sen. Zaynab Mohamed (DFL-Minneapolis) has represented south Minneapolis since 2023. She is the first Somali woman elected to the Minnesota Senate. She is also the youngest member in Minnesota Senate history. Tatiana Padilla is a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Social Research and Data Innovation at the University of Minnesota where she researches how immigration enforcement affects communities.Steve Thal is an attorney practicing immigration law in Minnetonka.
The weekly radio show, The Splendid Table, turns 30 this year. For three decades, the program has helped home cooks feel more brave, curious and connected through the food we share. MPR News guest host Catharine Richert marks the anniversary by talking with Splendid Table host and James Beard Award-winning food writer Francis Lam. They’ll talk about food during the holiday season — how to take the stress out of holiday meals, how to be a thoughtful guest and how to get out of that “same-old recipe” rut. Guests:Francis Lam is the host of The Splendid Table, a radio program and podcast produced by American Public Media. He is an award-winning food writer with contributions to The New York Times Magazine, Bon Appetit and Gourmet. His work often explores how food connects us to culture, memory and community.
On the first day of 2026, Minnesota will introduce a new benefit for most workers in the state. It’s a paid family and medical leave program that guarantees access to time off to bond with a new child, recuperate from a major medical issue or care for an ill family member. The program replaces a portion of someone’s wage for a leave that can span weeks. Minnesota is the 13th state to go down this path, but its program is among the nation’s most ambitious. MPR News host and politics editor Brian Bakst talks with his guests about eligibility criteria, how people can tap into the program and what they and their employers need to keep in mind.Guests:Dana Ferguson is a political reporter for MPR News.Greg Norfleet is the Paid Leave director for the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, also known as DEED.Justin Terch is a consultant with Terch and Associates, a human resources consulting firm. He is also president of the Minnesota State Council of the Society of Human Resource Management and he serves on the board of Essentia Health, a Duluth-based health care system that operates mainly in rural areas in the upper Midwest. For more information about Minnesota’s Paid Leave program, visit: paidleave.mn.gov or call 844-556-0444 or 651-556-7777. The phone lines are staffed from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, except holidays.
Earlier this year, South Korea’s government admitted that widespread corruption had tainted hundreds of thousands of adoptions from its country. Babies who were thought to be orphaned had living parents. Some children were trafficked. Paperwork was falsified. Records were destroyed.Korean adoptees worldwide were left reeling, including here in Minnesota, home to the largest population of Korean adoptees in the U.S. Many had already wrestled with questions of identity and racial and cultural belonging. Now even the small bits of information they had about their past could no longer be trusted.How are Korean adoptees who call Minnesota home responding to this foundational earthquake? Earlier this month, MPR News’ North Star Journey Live project hosted a gathering of adoptees who are deeply invested in the search for truth about their origin stories at Arbeiter Brewing in Minneapolis.Moderated by Twin Cities PBS reporter Kaomi Lee, who is herself an adoptee, the panel shared their personal histories and how the work they do today is moving the narrative forward. Guests: Kaomi Lee is a reporter at Twin Cities PBS. She is also the host of Adapted, one of the longest running Korean adoptee podcasts.Ami Nafzger has been working on behalf of Korean adoptees for decades as the founder of the Korean-based GOAL (Global Overseas Adoptees’ Link) and the newer Minnesota-based Adoptee Hub. Matt McNiff is the board president and director at Camp Choson, one of many Korean culture camps started in the Upper Midwest in response to the wave of adoptions from Korea. Cam Lee Small is a licensed clinical therapist who specializes in adoption literacy, working both here in the Twin Cities and online. He’s also the author of “The Adoptee’s Journey.”Mary Niedermeyer is the CEO of Communities Advancing Prosperity for Immigrants, also known as CAPI, a Minnesota-based nonprofit.Correction (Dec. 2, 2025): An earlier version of this story had an incomplete title for CAPI. The story has been updated.Find a resource guide to learn more about this topic at MPRnews.org.
Earlier this year, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde delivered a sermon that drew national attention as President Donald Trump returned to the White House. She spoke about unity, how people of faith respond in uncertain times, and she directly asked Trump to have mercy on immigrants, transgender children and people fleeing war zones. Her sermon — at that moment and in that setting — sparked conversations about how people decide what to stand for and how they respond when those choices are difficult. Those questions are at the heart of her latest book, “We Can Be Brave,” an adaptation for young readers of her bestseller, ”How We Learn to Be Brave.”MPR News guest host Catharine Richert talks with Budde — and the theologian who helped adapt her book — about being brave in life’s hardest moments and how they define courage in personal and public life. Guests:Mariann Edgar Budde is the first woman elected spiritual leader for the Episcopal Diocese of Washington which includes the Washington National Cathedral, other congregations and Episcopal schools in the District of Columbia and four Maryland counties. Previously, Bishop Budde was a parish priest at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Minneapolis for 18 years. She is the author of “How We Learn to Be Brave” and the adaption for young readers, “We Can Be Brave: How We Learn to be Brave in Life’s Decisive Moments.”Bryan Bliss is a writer, priest and theologian. He is chaplain and chair of the religion department at Breck School, a private school in Golden Valley, Minn. He helped adapt Bishop Budde’s book for young readers and he is the author of “We’ll Fly Away,” a novel based on his experience witnessing an execution as a member of the press.
At some point in our lives, many of us will struggle to afford groceries. A job loss, a medical crisis, a divorce, an unexpected expense — life happens. Yet shame often keeps us from seeking help at food shelves and through food assistance programs like SNAP. MPR News guest host Catharine Richert talks about food insecurity and the stigma that often surrounds it. Guests:Karen Tolkkinen is a columnist for the Minnesota Star Tribune who writes about issues and people of greater Minnesota. She recently wrote a column about her experience turning to food assistance at two different points in her life.Susie West is a University of Minnesota Extension educator who manages and leads a program that helps make food shelves more dignified and inviting — places where families can choose food the way they would in a grocery store.Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
Many of us listen to music off of our phones through streaming apps with algorithms built to feed us songs it thinks we would like. It’s convenient, but those playlists, now starting to incorporate AI, rarely surprise us.Maybe that’s why some college radio stations are making a comeback. They offer something more personal — real human voices and a space where music discovery feels spontaneous and driven by curiosity not calculations. MPR News guest host Catharine Richert talks with two students who are passionate about college radio and help run their college stations. They’ll talk about what makes college radio special and what it offers to listeners.
“FAFO parenting” is getting attention — the idea that sometimes the best way for kids to learn is by experiencing natural consequences. FAFO doesn’t exactly stand for “fool around and find out,” but you get the idea.Supporters say the parenting approach builds resilience and responsibility. Critics worry it can cross into neglect or leave kids without the guidance they need.MPR News guest host Catharine Richert talks with a parenting researcher about when stepping back helps children grow, when intervention matters and how families can find the balance between independence and safety.Guest:Christopher Mehus is a research associate professor in the Department of Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota.
Trust in government is low. Politicians are trading personal insults on social media. And, Americans see the country as more divided than at any other time since the Civil War. What would it take to bring more dialogue, respect and effectiveness to politics? A first-of-its-kind program from the Citizen’s League is starting small and personal, with an “exchange” program for pairs of state Republican and DFL legislators. The goal is to build genuine relationships across the aisle and help legislators gain firsthand insight into a region of Minnesota different from their own. MPR News guest host Catharine Richert reported on one of the first legislator pairs to participate. On Tuesday, she sat down to talk more with them and with the program’s founder about what it takes to build bipartisan trust.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed a government funding bill ending a record 43-day shutdown. The legislation came after weeks of political gridlock that ended when a small group of Senate Democrats reached a compromise with Republicans.MPR News guest host Catharine Richert talks with two political scientists about what the deal to end the shutdown tells us about power, priorities and politics in Washington.Guests:Larry Jacobs is a political scientist and founder and director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota. He is also the author of “Democracy Under Fire: Donald Trump and the Breaking of American History.”Cindy Rugeley is an associate professor of political science and head of the Political Science Program at the University of Minnesota Duluth.Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
This Saturday marks ten years since the fatal shooting of Jamar Clark. On Nov. 15, 2015, the unarmed 24-year-old was shot during a confrontation with two Minneapolis police officers. He died the next day. In the weeks that followed, hundreds of people protested outside the Minneapolis 4th Precinct in Minneapolis — demanding the names of the officers and the release of any video. Protesters marched to the government center and shut down Interstate 94. It was a level of activism that Minnesota hadn’t seen before, building on the long despair and anger in Black communities following shootings of other unarmed Black men, here and elsewhere. And it set the stage for protests that followed the police killings of Philando Castile in 2016 and of George Floyd in 2020. MPR News guest host Brandt Williams talks about how protests following Jamar Clark’s death took shape and how they changed the public response to police shootings and policing. Guests: Nekima Levy Armstrong is a civil rights lawyer and past president of the Minneapolis NAACP. She was among the leaders who helped organize protests following Jamar Clark’s fatal shooting and was an advisor to Black Lives Matter Minneapolis. Raeisha Williams was an activist and communications director for the Minneapolis NAACP in the months following Jamar Clark’s death. She now runs a nonprofit organization called Guns Down Love Up. Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.
Cannabis is going mainstream in Minnesota in ways that would have been hard to imagine just a few years ago. THC drinks are on store shelves. People talk about edibles and dispensaries as casually as they talk about coffee or craft breweries. For many young adults, cannabis has become part of everyday life — a way to unwind, manage stress or hang out with friends. Using it carries far less stigma than it once did and many people see it as safer than alcohol or tobacco. But even with growing acceptance, questions remain about how cannabis affects young adults, including their mental health, motivation, sleep, and focus. MPR News guest host Catharine Richert explores what research shows — and what we still don’t know — about marijuana, health and young people. Guests:Heidi Glesmann is the substance use prevention, education, and recovery unit supervisor at the Minnesota Department of Health. She oversees the Be Cannabis Aware campaign, which is focused on educating youth under age 25, and the adults who support them, about cannabis use. Sylia Wilson is a researcher and associate professor at the Institute of Child Development in the College of Education and Development at the University of Minnesota. Her work looks at how substance use affects young people’s health, behavior and development.
Layoffs are climbing across industries — from tech to retail to manufacturing. And Democrats won key races last week, campaigning on promises to make life more affordable.Are companies cutting costs because consumers are stretched thin? Or are different economic forces all hitting at the same time? MPR News guest host Catharine Richert takes a closer look at what’s happening in the economy. Richert and her guests will dig into what’s driving job cuts, why affordability continues to strike a chord with voters and what these trends could mean for the months ahead. Guests:Chris Farrell is the senior economics contributor for MPR News and Marketplace.Louis Johnston is a professor of economics at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University.
In a storm that blew hurricane force winds on Nov. 10, 1975, the Edmund Fitzgerald — a massive ore carrier longer than two football fields — disappeared into the dark, frigid waters of Lake Superior. All 29 crew members were lost. Fifty years later, the sinking of the Fitzgerald remains one of the most haunting and mysterious maritime disasters in American history. MPR News guest host Dan Kraker talks with a Great Lakes historian about the ship's final, fateful voyage and why the tragedy holds meaning for many Minnesotans.Guest:Frederick Stonehouse is a Great Lakes historian, lecturer and the author of more than 30 books on maritime history, including “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”
For nearly four decades, MPR News reporter Dan Gunderson told stories that remind us how much meaning can be found in everyday life. He’s covered floods and farming, faith and politics, the changing landscape of rural communities — and the people who live there. But what’s made Dan’s work so memorable isn’t just what he’s covered. It’s how he’s covered it — with patience, curiosity, and a deep respect for the people he meets along the way. Now, after 38 years with MPR News, Dan is retiring. At an event in Moorhead in late October, MPR News guest host Catharine Richert talked with Gunderson about storytelling, some of the people he’s met over the years and what he’s discovered about Minnesota along the way. Guest:Dan Gunderson is a reporter based in Moorhead. He covers general news for a wide swath of western Minnesota and eastern North Dakota with a focus on the environment, agriculture and Indian Country. He has reported for MPR News since 1987. 2025 Dan Gunderson, longtime MPR journalist and master Minnesota storyteller, retires 2025 Minnesota minister rediscovers his faith among people in need 2025 In this west-central Minnesota town, fiddle jams draw players from ages 3 to 86 2025 Minnesota woman on a quest to preserve stories of disappearing towns 2025 ‘Loon lady’ turns passion into action to protect Minnesota’s iconic bird 2011 Researchers investigating movement of black bears into new habitats 2007 Moorhead orchestra students rock 2001 The land of the dancing tractors Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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