Shows
North Star StoriesKeeping the Doors Open at Minnesota's Rural GrocersRural grocery stores are fighting to keep their doors open. Then, a Twin Cities community will have a new place for worship. And, a winter trail returns to the Iron Range.-----Executive Producer: Victor Palomino Producer: Britt AamodtAnchor: Chantel SinGsReader scripting: Victor Palomino Fact checking: Joel Glaser, Victor Palomino Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris HarwoodImage credit: Cheyenne Irlbeck-----For the latest episode drops and updates, follow us on social media. ins...
2025-12-0205 min
North Star StoriesMinnesota's New Lacrosse Hall of FameThe state has a new hall of fame for a growing sport. Then, a former officer involved in the murder of George Floyd is now a free man. And, a new study reveals fewer drug overdose deaths in the state.-----Executive Producer: Victor Palomino Producer: Britt AamodtAnchor: Grace Jacobson Reader scripting: Victor Palomino Fact checking: Joel Glaser, Victor Palomino Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris HarwoodPhoto Credit: Dan Ninham and The MN Lacrosse Hall of Fame...
2025-11-1105 min
North Star StoriesFraming Food as Medicine Helps some Residents Access MealsSome Minnesota organizations are framing food as medicine to get more residents access to meals. Then, a proposed natural cemetery sparks controversy, And, a new scam targets consumers' mobile wallets.-----Executive Producer: Victor Palomino Producer: Britt AamodtAnchor: Chantel SinGs Reader scripting: Victor Palomino Fact checking: Joel Glaser, Victor Palomino Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris HarwoodPhoto credit: Britt Aamodt
2025-11-0605 min
North Star StoriesMinnesota Seniors Face Food InsecurityFood insecurity is affecting some of the state's most vulnerable residents: seniors. Then, Minnesota loses a longtime Twin Cities news anchor. And, youth leaders defend immigrant access to higher education.-----Executive Producer: Victor Palomino Producer: Britt AamodtAnchor: Chantel SinGsReader scripting: Victor Palomino Fact checking: Joel Glaser, Victor Palomino Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris HarwoodFor the latest episode drops and updates, follow us on social media. instagram.com/ampersradio/instagram.com/northstarstoriesmn/...
2025-10-1505 min
North Star StoriesAs College Students Return to Classes, Some Face Food InsecurityAs they prepare for their future, some college students in Minnesota face food insecurity. Reporter Britt Aamodt has the story. Also, a mother is charged after two students overdosed at a Minnesota school and the Duluth City Council moves to support the LGBTQIA2S+ community.-----Executive Producer: Victor Palomino Producer: Britt AamodtAnchor: Grace Jacobson Reader scripting: Victor Palomino Fact checking: Joel Glaser, Victor Palomino Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
2025-09-3005 min
KFAI's MinneCultureMinneCulture Shorts: Seeds, Fashion, CatsIf 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 by: Britt Aamodt "Miss C.H...
2025-09-1817 min
North Star StoriesWhy Lawmakers Are Banning Food DyesThe State secures federal funding for education. Then, what is in our food? Why lawmakers are banning some popular food dyes. And, a new renewable energy project gets the green light in Minnesota.-----Executive Producer: Victor Palomino Producer: Britt AamodtAnchor: Grace Jacobson Reader scripting: Victor PalominoFact checking: Joel Glaser, Victor Palomino Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
2025-09-1005 min
MN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsJay's Longhorn Leaves a LegacyIn June 1977, Jay Berine opened a live music club in what had been a Texas ranch-themed steakhouse. Jay’s Longhorn Bar, with its cow head and wagon wheel decorations, would become the epicenter of the Twin Cities punk and New Wave music scene.----- Editor: Britt Aamodt Producer: Britt Aamodt Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
2025-08-2501 min
North Star StoriesAnswers to Vaccine Questions as Flu Season ApproachesIn today's stories, the state announces changes to its list of concerning chemicals. Then, as flu season approaches, questions about the vaccine are on Minnesotan's minds. We try and answer them. And, Minnesota officially has a state fossil. -----Executive Producer: Victor Palomino Producer: Britt Aamodt Anchor: Grace JacobsonReader scripting: Victor Palomino, Frankie Felegy Fact checking: Joel Glaser, Victor Palomino Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
2025-08-2005 min
MN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsRussell Lee in CraigvilleRussell Lee’s most famous photograph, out of the thousands he took during the Great Depression, is the unlikely shot of bargoers at a logging town in Northern Minnesota.----- Editor: Britt Aamodt Producer: Britt Aamodt Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
2025-08-1801 min
MN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsBorghild Dahl Finds Her WayIn 1960, Borghild Dahl was at a school to talk about her new children’s book. But author had lost her sight in 1958 and the students were more interested in that. Their questions that day would lead Dahl to write a memoir, Finding My Way, about life after blindness.----- Editor: Britt Aamodt Producer: Britt Aamodt Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
2025-08-1101 min
North Star StoriesHow Wildfires Impact Air Quality and What You Need to KnowToday, tribal input allows northern Minnesota schools to keep their sports mascots. Then, how wildfires are affecting the state's air quality, and what can be done about it. And, why the Roseau River Wildlife Management Area won't be opening its Wildlife Drive this summer.-----Executive Producer: Victor Palomino Producer: Britt Aamodt Anchor: Chantel SinGs Reader scripting: Xan Holston Fact checking: Joel Glaser, Victor Palomino Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
2025-08-0505 min
MN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsFunkley Finds New York FriendlyIn 1953, the entire town of Funkley, Minnesota (population 25) won an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City.-----Editor: Britt Aamodt Producer: Britt Aamodt Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
2025-08-0401 min
MN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsWork People's CollegeIn 1907, a new college opened in Duluth. The Work People's College taught its working-class students about unions and how to organize against the powerful industries that ruled Minnesota's vast Iron Range.----- Editor: Britt Aamodt Producer: Britt Aamodt Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
2025-07-3101 min
MN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsWinona Municipal BandWinona has the oldest municipal band west of the Mississippi River. Its story began July 31, 1915, with a performance at Winona's Levee Park.----- Editor: Britt Aamodt Producer: Britt Aamodt Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
2025-07-3101 min
MN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsTilsenbilt HomesFrom 1954 to 1957, Archie Givens, Sr., a black architect, and Edward Tilsen, a home builder and Jewish immigrant, combined their talents and energies to create the first privately developed integrated housing project in Minneapolis.----- Editor: Britt Aamodt Producer: Britt Aamodt Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
2025-07-3101 min
MN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsDanebod Folk SchoolThe Danebod Folk School opened in 1888 to provide an education in arts, culture and politics to the Danish population that had recently arrived in Lincoln County.----- Editor: Britt Aamodt Producer: Britt Aamodt Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
2025-07-3101 min
MN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsB'nai Abraham SynagogueIn 1905, eighteen Jewish families met in Virginia, Minnesota, to plan the building of B'nai Abraham, the Iron Range's first synagogue constructed from the ground up and not fashioned from a repurposed building.-----Editor: Britt Aamodt Producer: Britt Aamodt Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
2025-07-3101 min
North Star StoriesThe Man in the Garden: Celebrating the Legacy of St. Paul's Melvin GilesToday, The Department of Justice is investigating Minnesota's hiring practices. Then, we celebrate the life of a beloved community member from St. Paul. And, a new law you need to know about if you're heading to a Minnesota lake this summer.-----Executive Producer: Victor Palomino Producer: Britt Aamodt Anchor: Chantel SinGs Reader scripting: Xan Holston, Grace JacobsonFact checking: Joel Glaser, Victor Palomino Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
2025-07-2205 min
Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices ShineTeresa Peterson: Loving the Land that Cares for Us AllToday, we're excited to speak with Teresa Peterson. Teresa is Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota and a member of the Upper Sioux Community. She is a passionate gardener, gatherer, lover of the land and author of several books, most recently the award-winning Perennial Ceremony. Teresa talks to us about her love of growing things. That includes tending a large garden, where she forages for tossed salads and asparagus on the grill, and taking care of her land. She chips her own mulch. She plants perennials to sequester carbon and prevent erosion. And she's working on getting a c...
2025-07-1728 min
North Star StoriesWhy You Should Check for Ticks after Every WalkToday, Federal cuts may shake Greater Minnesota manufacturers. Then, why you should check for ticks after every walk this summer. And a new meat-packing plant brings on-the-job training to central Minnesota.--------Executive Producer: Victor Palomino Producer: Britt AamodtAnchor: Grace Jacobson Reader scripting: Ngoc Bui, Grace JacobsonFact checking: Joel Glaser, Victor Palomino Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
2025-07-1505 min
Veterans Voices: First Gulf WarShelby Setnikar: A Surprise AwakeningShelby Setnikar, a pharmacist tech with the Army’s Third Infantry Division, came off guard duty to take a nap in the large barracks tent when someone burst in shouting, "Gas! Gas! Gas!"
2025-04-0701 min
Veterans Voices: First Gulf WarLarry Liljenquist: Mail CallLarry Liiljenquist, stationed on the USS Blue Ridge, looked forward to mail call. There were letters from family and packages from a Persian Gulf support group back home with, among other things, the latest (now a month old) copy of the local paper.
2025-04-0701 min
Veterans Voices: First Gulf WarKathy Friedrich: The Sandbag TeamKathy Friedrich had trained to be an ICU nurse with the Army. Yet when she first arrived in Saudi Arabia, she and the other nurses and doctors found themselves filling sandbags.
2025-04-0701 min
Veterans Voices: First Gulf WarJeff Hall: Ambulance UnitJeff Hall was an officer assigned to an ambulance company. His drivers had to be ready at a moment’s notice. Still, he found some of the units they were assigned to had put them on KP duty. What if casualties suddenly came in?
2025-04-0701 min
Veterans Voices: First Gulf WarCasey Mahon: Public Affairs OfficerCasey Mahon was coming off a 12-hour shift in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, when an explosion shook his building. It was a Patriot missile encountering a scud. That’s when he knew he was at war..
2025-04-0701 min
Veterans Voices: First Gulf WarEric Kerska: Good HuntingErick Kerska’s plane touched down in Saudi Arabia. The Gulf War was ramping up and this Army officer never forgot what the flight attendant told him when he exited the plane: "Good hunting."
2025-04-0701 min
Veterans Voices: First Gulf WarCal Portner: Trip to SpainDuring Desert Storm, Cal Portner’s unit was asked to take its mobile photo equipment to Spain to set up a photo processing and interpretation center for a stateside unit.
2025-04-0701 min
Veterans Voices: First Gulf WarLisa Erickson: Jet Engine MechanicLisa Erickson's dad joked that she didn’t even know how to put gas in her car. But the Air Force made her a jet engine mechanic and she learned. She was one of two females on the crew at Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa, that supplied jet engine motors to planes in the Gulf War.
2025-04-0701 min
Veterans Voices: First Gulf WarTheresa Dawson: Russian LinguistTheresa Dawson was a Russian linguist in Berlin when war the US went to war with Iraq. Though her unit had the opportunity to deploy, they were still vital to the mission in Europe, where the Berlin wall had fallen but a Soviet threat still lingered.
2025-04-0701 min
Veterans Voices: First Gulf WarLori Allert: MobilizedArmy nurse Lori Allert was told in summer 1990 that she may be deployed. Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi forces had invaded Kuwait. So she waited. And waited. Finally, after New Year’s, she got the call. She was being mobilized.
2025-04-0701 min
Veterans Voices: First Gulf WarLarry Liljenquist: With the 7th FleetLarry Liljenquist, a marine, was given sea duty on the flagship for the 7th Fleet. The fleet, scheduled to go to Russia, suddenly received orders to redirect to the Persian Gulf.
2025-04-0701 min
Veterans Voices: First Gulf WarDarrin Janisch: Alpha AlertDarrin Janisch’s fellow paratroopers in the 82nd Airborne had just returned from Operation Just Cause in Panama. They figured that was their big deployment for a long while. They never figured on Saddam Hussein invading Kuwait.
2025-04-0701 min
Veterans Voices: First Gulf WarCal Portner: Mobile Photo Processing UnitCal Portner was part of a unit that ran a mobile photomat at his German base. When Desert Shield, and later Desert Storm, broke out, he and his unit members were not allowed to deploy, for the moment, because their work was so essential to the security of Europe.
2025-04-0701 min
North Star StoriesMinnesota Has One of Highest Melanoma Rates in the NationThe Hibbing Community is coming together after learning that more than 600 Iron Rangers are being laid off. An epidemiologist with the Minnesota Cancer Reporting System has information on reducing your lifetime risk of melanoma. Minnesota-born college basketball star Paige Bueckers is slated to be the number one draft pick at this year’s WNBA draft night.
2025-04-0305 min
Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices ShineDr. Amber Annis: Rebuilding Community with the Native Governance CenterIn this episode, we hear from Dr. Amber Annis about the joys and challenges of rebuilding community and finding your voice as a leader. Dr. Amber Annis is a citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and the Executive Director of Native Governance Center. Prior to taking on her role at NGC in December 2024, she worked at the Minnesota Historical Society as Associate Vice President of Tribal Nation Relations and Native American Initiatives. She was also a member of NGC's Native Nations Rebuilder Program for Cohort 11. In her position at NGC, she...
2025-04-0328 min
North Star StoriesAg for All: Minnesota’s First-Ever Agricultural Conference for the LGBTQIA+ CommunityOn March 8, 2025, Ag for All, Minnesota’s first agricultural conference for the LGBTQIA+ community, took place in St. Cloud.
2025-03-3105 min
North Star StoriesFair Play: Capitol Rally to Support Trans Girls' Right to Play Sports in Minnesota’s K-12 SchoolsOn March 3, 2025, OutFront Minnesota, the state's largest LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, held a rally in the Capitol Rotunda to show support for the trans community ahead of a House vote on HF12, a bill that would have banned trans girls from K-12 sports.
2025-03-3105 min
North Star StoriesHorse TalkWhen her old career was stripped from her because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kathy Friedrich founded Gateway Meadows Equine-Assisted Services. At the Dayton ranch, this nurse and Army vet facilitates group therapy sessions with horses for veterans with PTSD, anxiety and other health issues. That’s where Navy vet Carrie Gilmer found a way to unpack years of unexplored emotions and memories around military-related sexual trauma.
2025-03-3105 min
Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices ShineDeven Current: Healing Through the Art of TattooingIn this episode, we hear from Deven Current about tattooing, sports and the importance of sobriety, family and faith. Deven is an Ojibwe tattoo artist, who connected with his culture later in life. Deven grew up in the Twin Cities and, at a young age, fell into drug addiction. He ended up incarcerated, but his time in prison introduced him to an unrealized talent - tattoo art. He turned that talent into a career and recently into his business, LuckyDuck Ink and Art in Atwater. Through his business and tattoo career, Deven honors a friend w...
2025-03-2728 min
Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices ShineKorina Barry: Leading from abundance with NDN CollectiveIn this episode we hear from Korina Barry on her work with NDN Collective and the campaign to free Leonard Peltier, in addition to reflections on her roles as mother, doula, and metal fabricator in training. A citizen of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Korina Barry manages the organizing, policy and advocacy direct-action arm of NDN Collective, which, in January 2025, led the successful campaign to free Leonard Peltier from prison. She divides her creative energies between metal fabrication and sewing. It is her role as mother to a young daughter tha...
2025-03-2028 min
Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices ShineAllison Herrera, Indigenous Affairs Journalist and author of Tribal Justice: The Struggle for Black Rights on Native LandIn this episode, we talk with Indigenous Affairs journalist and author Allison Herrera. Allison’s indigenous ties are from her Xolon Salinan tribal heritage. Her family's village is in the Toro Creek area of the Central California coast. She didn’t take the traditional route into journalism with a degree. She just decided she wanted to do it and did it. Starting out at Minneapolis community station KFAI, she brought her talents and desire to report on indigenous stories to various media outlets. With Association for Independents in Radio (AIR), she had the opportunity to colla...
2025-03-1328 min
Minnesota Native NewsLeonard Peltier’s HomecomingThis week on Minnesota Native News, the recent homecoming celebration for recently released AIM activist Leonard Peltier. We also cover state-wide and federal headlines affecting Indigenous nations.Scripting: Deanna StandingCloud, Reporting & Voicing: Emma Needham,Voicing & editing: Britt Aamodt, andHost: Marie Rock
2025-02-2705 min
North Star StoriesFrom Military to Mutts: How One Army Veteran Became a Pet-Sitting EntrepreneurAfter 25 years, Lisa Cullen retired from military service. She was only in her 40s and wanted to make a career in the civilian world. But doing what? She and her wife Holly Boeckman decided to follow their passion for animals into the world of pet-sitting, though neither of them had ever owned a business or knew the first thing about being an entrepreneur. They founded Oh, Fur Pet’s Sake in April 2022. Within a year, they discovered that they were not only filling a previously unmet need in their area of Central Minnesota, but that they also had more pe...
2025-02-1705 min
North Star StoriesThe Lost Art of PoticaNorthern Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range is known for more than iron ore. It has its own unique culinary traditions brought here by immigrants with some 40 different national identities who poured into this region around the turn of the 20th century. One of the most famous Range treats is potica. Producer: Britt Aarmodt
2025-02-1705 min
Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices ShineMattie Harper DeCarlo on Making Change in Indian Country Through PhilanthropyIn this episode, we talk with grantmaking officer and former educator and historian Mattie Harper DeCarlo, PhD. Mattie, a Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe citizen who grew up on Leech Lake Reservation, works in philanthropy at the Bush Foundation, focusing on Indigenous communities. She speaks with us about the nuance of supporting 23 Native nations through philanthropy, how to provide context to non-Native donors on what investment can look like, and her affection for Ojibwe language revitalization. Mattie also shares how journey of learning about herself and the history her people, and how it helped her fo...
2025-01-0928 min
Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices ShineFrom Children’s Books to Murals: Moira Villiard on Examining and Bridging Disconnection Through ArtIn this episode, we talk with artist, public speaker, and community organizer Moira Villiard. Moira, a Twin Cities-based visual artist and Fond Du Lac direct descendent, is a 2023 McKnight Foundation Community-Engaged Practice fellow and a 2024-2026 Bush Fellow. We chat with her about her current projects, Waiting for Beds, a traveling exhibition that explores the experience of waiting while in crisis, and a soon-to-be-released children’s book about the Ojibwe practice of prescribed fires that she illustrated.Moira shares about her study of human rights, creating work for her inner child, and her rum...
2025-01-0228 min
GründernyheterTrengte å tenke nytt etter 20 år som kokk - Britt Aamodt Bastiansen- Jeg har lyst til å ha like god helse når jeg blir pensjonist, som jeg har nå, og da må man ta visse valg, forteller Britt Aamodt Bastiansen. Les artikkel her: https://grundernyheter.no/trengte-a-tenke-nytt-etter-20-ar-som-kokk/
2024-08-0719 minKFAI's MinneCultureBeatleMNia: The Beatles First (and Only) Visit to MinnesotaBy 1965, the Beatles were the biggest music group in the world. They sold millions of records. They recorded songs that were not only popular but also took music in new directions. And everywhere they went, they stirred up an excitement so hysterical and commonplace there was a word for it: Beatlemania.Minnesota fans had fallen in love with the Lads from Liverpool the moment they appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964. But the Beatles passed Minnesota by on their first North American tour, and there was no guarantee they would stop by...
2023-05-0436 minKFAI's MinneCultureEp. 35: The Toonsmith: Dave Mruz, Minnesota’s Cartooning HistorianSuperman. Charlie Brown. Donald Duck. The existence of these 'toons all have roots in Minnesota. In this episode of the MinneCulture Podcast, KFAI's Britt Aamodt introduces us to a cartooning historian who helped preserve the backstory of some iconic characters. Support for MinneCulture on KFAI comes from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
2021-08-3118 minKFAI's MinneCultureEp. 31: Murder Cliff: The Death of Mary Fridley PriceThe plain, uninteresting Mary Fridley Price. Not the sort of girl anyone would notice—except now she'd gone and leapt over a cliff to save her poor dog. The dull—and now very dead girl—was suddenly front-page headlines. No one was supposedly more grief-stricken than her charming husband Frederick Price, who found comfort in his wife's inheritance—and in the arms of his mistress...
Are you suspicious? Mary's father sure was.
KFAI's Britt Aamodt shares the story of Minneapolis' most notorious murder trial of 1916.
Support for MinneCulture on KFAI comes the Minnesota Arts and...
2021-07-1618 minKFAI's MinneCultureEp. 29: Generation AIDSIn July 1981, the New York Times published an article about a mysterious illness plaguing gay men in New York City. After reading the article, Bruce Brockway, a gay activist and publisher of the Twin Cities' first LGBT newspaper, turned to his partner and said, "I think I have that." That was AIDS and Bruce was right. Numbers-wise, Minnesota was never a hot zone of infection. But for the Minnesotans living with HIV/AIDS, the struggles were the same: to stay alive and to fight the homophobia that wanted to ignore an epidemic dismissed as a gay man's disease. This...
2021-06-2643 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsLast Flight of the QueenCarole Lombard was the queen of 1930’s screwball comedies, and she was married to Clark Gable. The two Second Lieutenants from Minnesota never expected to end up on a night flight with her, and, says Britt Aamodt, never expected it to be their last.
2020-05-2001 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsYoung JFK Hits the AirwavesIn 1940, John F. Kennedy was 23 and sick, which explains his visit to the Mayo Clinic. But he was also a newly published author. Britt Aamodt has the story behind JFK’s radio interview at KROC-AM
2020-05-1901 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsAttacking an Epidemic without a PlanIn 1872, the Minnesota State Board of Health was created to coordinate sanitation and disease control statewide. And by 1918, the average lifespan for Minnesotans was inching up—until September when Spanish flu arrived. No one had anticipated an outbreak like this so there was no plan in place. Britt Aamodt has the story.
2020-05-1801 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsHazeltine National Golf ClubTotten “Tot” Heffelfinger was an amateur golfer who worried that Minnesota’s golf courses were becoming too small and cramped for a new era of hard-hitting pro golfers. What was needed was a bigger, better course. Britt Aamodt investigates the origins of Hazeltine National Golf Club
2020-05-1501 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsA Druggist in a Time of InfluenzaJames Douglas Falconer might have chosen to become a vet like his dad Thomas. Instead, the young man from Alexandria, Minnesota, trained as a druggist. September 1918, Falconer started his new job at Rexall Drug Store in Marshall—in the very month Spanish flu appeared in Minnesota. Suddenly, the 29-year-old found himself on the frontlines of an epidemic that had no cure. Yet that didn’t stop customers from lining up. Britt Aamodt has the story.
2020-05-1301 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsIn the Middle of the 2014 Ebola OutbreakJuly 2014, Patrick Sawyer just wanted to finish his conference in Nigeria and get home to Coon Rapids. Two of his daughters had birthdays coming up. Britt Aamodt has the story of the Minnesota man’s encounter with Ebola.
2020-05-1201 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsEvidence of an Ancient CataclysmThe Ham Lake Fire of May 2007 devastated thousands of acres in Northeast Minnesota. Britt Aamodt looks at how it also turned up evidence of a cataclysmic event that took place 1.8 billion years ago.
2020-05-0801 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsFrankenstein on StageVictor Frankenstein and his Creature never had a true heart-to-heart in Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel. Britt Aamodt looks at how playwright Barbara Field finally brought the creator and created together in her 1988 Guthrie Theater stage play.
2020-05-0601 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsA Nurse in the Spanish Flu EpidemicSeptember 16, 1918, Nora Emilie Anderson was embarking on the biggest adventure in her 37 years. The native of Rock Dell, Minnesota, was one of hundreds of nurses boarding a ship en route to the Great War in Europe. Unfortunately, a stowaway—Spanish flu—boarded with them. Here’s Britt Aamodt with Nora’s story
2020-05-0101 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsSurf's Up"Well, everybody's heard about the bird. Well, uh, bird, bird, bird, bird is the word." Britt Aamodt traces the origins of the 1963 surf rock hit, "Surfin' Bird", to Minneapolis.
2020-04-3001 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsThe Animating Docter of PixarPete Docter imagined adventures at his childhood home in Bloomington, MN. But at Pixar, says Britt Aamodt, he animated them.
2020-04-2901 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsSupermayor is Watching Over YouSt. Paul has had a lot of mayors. But, according to Britt Aamodt, only one Supermayor.
2020-04-2801 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsThe Pioneer SeedswomanCarrie H. Lippincott was merely looking for a way to support her mother, sister and brother-in-law. But out of necessity grew a flourishing seed business. Britt Aamodt reveals the Pioneer Seedswoman of America.
2020-04-2701 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsSum-Sum-Summertime in Albert LeaThere was Gene Vincent. There was Chuck Berry. And there was Eddie Cochran. But Britt Aamodt reveals that only one of these '50s rockers made "Summertime Blues" a hit—and hailed from Minnesota.
2020-04-2401 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsThe Art of MigrationCy Thao wanted to tell the story of the Hmong people. Britt Aamodt finds out that he did it not with words but with paint and canvas.
2020-04-2201 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsIke's Farewell SpeechwriterIn 2010, Grant Moos finally decided to go through the boxes left behind by his dead father, Malcolm Moos, President Eisenhower’s chief speechwriter. Britt Aamodt looks at how some housecleaning uncovered the creative development behind one of Ike’s most famous speeches.
2020-04-2001 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsStudying Chimps with SIVGrowing up in Minnesota, Michael Wilson knew he wanted to work with primates after he watched a documentary on Dian Fossey. Britt Aamodt looks at Wilson’s work with the research team that studied the primate version of HIV (simian immunodeficiency virus) in chimpanzees.
2020-04-1701 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsSweating ItMinnesota weather isn’t known for its steaminess. So Britt Aamodt wonders how the state ended up with the oldest Finnish steam bath in North America.
2020-04-1601 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsMr. CoolFrederick McKinley Jones was an inveterate tinkerer. So it wasn’t surprising that after a sweltering summer drive in Minnesota, he hit upon an idea. Britt Aamodt looks at the inventor behind the refrigerated truck.
2020-04-1501 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsThe Artist In Red WingCharles Biederman was one of the great abstract artists in the 20th century. Britt Aamodt tries to discover why this Cleveland-born artist has more art in Minnesota museums than anywhere else.
2020-04-1301 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsThe Automatic Pop-up ToasterCharles Perkins Strite was tired of burnt toast. So the Minnesota inventor set out to do something about it. Britt Aamodt offers up a tale of a new kind of toaster.
2020-04-1001 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsDeath by HearseTo prepare lectures for his course on Death and Dying at Hamline University in St. Paul, Mark Berkson visited religious centers around the Twin Cities. But on a lunchtime walk near school, he nearly met his own death. Britt Aamodt has the anecdote of the professor and the hearse.
2020-04-0901 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsThe Beatles' Minnesota GuitarThe Beatles' press conference in Minneapolis, August 1965, played a part in—or rather, added guitar to—the group's 1966 album Rubber Soul. Britt Aamodt opens up the case on the 12-string Rickenbacker guitar with the Minnesota provenance.
2020-04-0801 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsThe Carlton Celebrity RoomThe Carlton Celebrity Room was featured in the film Fargo. But Britt Aamodt tells us this dinner club was more than a piece of Coen Brothers fiction.
2020-04-0701 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsKodiak DaysThey were southern Minnesotans who signed up for the National Guard during the Great Depression. Many did it for a job when jobs were scarce. But when America entered World War II, they found themselves on an island. Britt Aamodt tells the story of the Minnesotans stationed on Kodiak Island.
2020-04-0601 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsThe Cereal Shot from GunsEverybody would like to have the kind of accident botanist Alexander Anderson had at the turn of the 20th century. He went looking for starch granules and discovered breakfast cereal with a bang. Britt Aamodt gets the scoop.
2020-04-0301 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsThe Death of SupermanDan Jurgens had a Clark Kent childhood in Ortonville, Minnesota. But Britt Aamodt reveals that Jurgens's relationship with the Man of Steel didn’t end there.
2020-04-0101 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsWhoopee JohnHe was born John Wilfart in New Ulm, Minnesota. But legions of fans knew him as Whoopee John. Britt Aamodt resurrects the king of Midwest polka.
2020-03-3001 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsWilde NightsBefore Oscar Wilde became a dead author studied in literature courses, he was a dandy with a love of beauty, the arts and the written word. Britt Aamodt gets the dirt on his drab overnight in Minneapolis
2020-03-2701 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsWeaver's Sweet LandWill Weaver needed to get away from his father’s dairy farm to have more time to write. And did he write. Britt Aamodt examines how one of Weaver’s story went from New York Times notable book to film and stage.
2020-03-2601 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsA National Geographic Photographer’s Time at the LakeWilliam Albert Allard spent boyhood summers at Lake Gladstone outside Nisswa, Minnesota. Decades later, the National Geographic photographer returned, says Britt Aamodt, to tell the Minnesota Lake Country story in pictures.
2020-03-2501 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsA Sleepy Eye BabeBabe Ruth was born in Baltimore, traded by Boston and beloved by the world. But Britt Aamodt looks at a day in 1922 when Babe Ruth came to Sleepy Eye, Minnesota.
2020-03-2301 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsFather TimeFranz Halberg, a scientist and physician at the University of Minnesota, was fascinated by the human body’s daily rhythms. Not only did people wake and sleep in concert with the sun, but internal processes, like heart rate and blood pressure, also seemed to vary in a regular pattern. Britt Aamodt investigates the man who coined the term Circadian Rhythm
2020-03-2001 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsWhen Minnesota Learned to MeditateHe was called Paramahansa Yogananda but many knew him better at Swami Yoganada, the Indian guru whose spiritual mission brought him to America in 1920. Britt Aamodt fast forwards seven years to 1927 when, for three months, Swami Yogananda taught Minnesotans how to reach self-realization and meditate.
2020-03-1801 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsUp and AtomAmerica in the 1950s was preparing for the Soviets to drop the bomb any minutes. But less than two decades later, says Britt Aamodt, Minnesota was building the first rural nuclear plant in America.
2020-03-1701 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsBon Appetit!In 1995, hundreds of Minnesotans lined up at the Minneapolis Dayton’s with cookbooks under their arms. There were here to see cookbook author and television personality Julia Child. Britt Aamodt has the story of that rare personal appearance and the Minneapolis food writer, Lee Svitak Dean, who got to share an afternoon glass of wine with the author of Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
2020-03-1601 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsVan Gogh, the Final FrontierLeonard Nimoy created an iconic character for Star Trek in Spock. Britt Aamodt tells us about another of Nimoy’s iconic roles produced with the help of a Minnesota theater.
2020-03-1301 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsWhat's That Smell?3M is famous for inventing the Post-It note. But Britt Aamodt has uncovered a 3M that gave you a scratch you just had to sniff.
2020-03-1201 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsCow TownIn 1886, Alpheus Beede Stickney built a stockyard along the Mississippi. Britt Aamodt traces the history of South Saint Paul as Minnesota’s cow town.
2020-03-1101 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsTom Nelson vs. the Ghost BirdTom Nelson was an electrical engineer living in Minnesota who got involved in a birding controversy. Britt Aamodt reports how the engineer weighed on the resurrection of the ivory-billed woodpecker, believed extinct for over 70 years.
2020-03-1001 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsEat Well and Stay WellAncel and Margaret Keys, researchers at the University of Minnesota, wondered why Twin Cities businessmen were dying of heart disease, while, an ocean away, the townsfolk of Naples, Italy, rarely did. Britt Aamodt discovers how the couple’s quest for a healthy diet (and good eats) led to their best-selling 1959 cookbook Eat Well and Stay Well.
2020-03-0901 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsWomen in the HouseThe feminists who arose in the '60s and '70s set out to change the world. Britt Aamodt finds out how one Minnesota feminist made changes one legislative seat at a time.
2020-03-0401 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsGary Paulsen’s Tales of the WildGary Paulsen was working for an aeronautics firm when it suddenly dawned on him: he was meant to be a writer. Britt Aamodt finds the connections between Paulsen’s life in the Minnesota wilds and his books Hatchet and Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod.
2020-03-0301 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsMinnesota's Glacial DaysMinnesotans grouse about long, cold winters now. But until 10,000 years ago, those long cold stretches were positively glacial, says Britt Aamodt.
2020-02-2501 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsForever OursDr. Janis Amutuzio started collecting stories about the possibility of life after death, though she didn’t know it yet, as a first-year medical intern in Minneapolis. Later, she would spend decades as a coroner—and collect more stories from families of the bereaved. Britt Aamodt tracks the genesis of Dr. Amatuzio’s 2004 book Forever Ours: Real Stories of Immortality and Living from a Forensic Pathologist.
2020-02-2501 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsKirkbride SanctuaryThey were known as Kirkbride facilities, hospitals designed to give more comfort and privacy to patients with mental illness. Britt Aamodt takes us to Minnesota's Kirkbride building, the Fergus Falls Regional Treatment Center.
2020-02-2501 minMN90: Minnesota History in 90 SecondsJanis' Albert Lea DrummerThe photo is iconic: Janis Joplin astride a Harley-Davidson. Britt Aamodt tells us how a Minnesotan captured that indelible image.
2020-02-2501 minKFAI's MinneCultureEp. 18: Our Most Memorable SnowfallIn Minnesota, freezing winters and big snowfalls come with the territory. But three feet of snow on Halloween? That was a day to remember. In the premiere of Season 3, Jumondeh Tweh 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.
2019-07-0500 min