Shows
Minnesota Minds: Cultivating CreativitySeason 1 finale: ReflectionsThis season flew by! We're so grateful to our guests and listeners for making this a super fun and rewarding experience. In the season one wrap-up, we discuss what it was like to get to know some of Minnesota's fascinating multidisciplinary creatives and what we plan to carry into the next season. In the meantime, follow us for updates at: https://www.instagram.com/minnesota_minds_podcast/. 2023-11-2333 min
Minnesota Minds: Cultivating CreativityBelen Rodriguez of Quebracho shares her family's story through business brandingBelen Rodriguez has a rich community here in Minnesota, but when she first moved from Argentina to Minnesota, she found herself homesick and missing the long-standing tradition of Sundays spent sharing meals with her family. She began to recreate that tradition for friends and family in the U.S., and her passion for sharing this experience grew. Over the past five years, her rapidly expanding frozen empanada company, Quebracho, has become a way for her to share the story of her family, culture, and community in Rosario, Argentina, with a wider audience. She tells us how creativity was crucial...2023-11-0944 min
Minnesota Minds: Cultivating CreativityStudio artist Anna Segner on humans' relationships with animals in art and lifeMinnesota native Anna Segner's art is at once whimsical, intriguing, and thought-provoking. She's a studio artist focused on painting, mixed media, and assemblage. Her work pulls you in with familiar imagery of things like Beanie Babies and rhinos, and it holds your attention as you begin to see the rich layers of meaning. Anna uses critical animal studies and other research to explore the human act of “toying” with animals and nature, and she discusses how her art has evolved to focus on this area. Anna and host Rachel Lauer met when they both worked in journalism, and Anna now...2023-11-041h 02
Minnesota Minds: Cultivating CreativityCertified sommelier Emily Anderson on the future of the wine industryFrom working with wine sellers in Minnesota to vineyards in Napa, certified sommelier Emily Anderson has seen the ins and outs of the wine industry from many angles. She loves sharing her passion and has interesting and creative thoughts on factors the industry will need to address in the coming years, such as approachability, affordability and adapting to a changing climate. She also loves creating the perfect wine and food pairing, and she tells us about some delightful dinner parties she's hosted using this skill. 2023-10-2653 min
Minnesota Minds: Cultivating CreativityMarianne Manzler on the power of creating a personal recordThrough her journal entries and personal essays, Minneapolis writer, editor, and Loft Literary Center educator Marianne Manzler is building a body of work around her experience being diagnosed with cancer in her 20s as well as shining a light on the person behind the illness. In this interview, she tells about experiencing imposter syndrome as a biracial child growing up in a predominantly white suburb, how she learned to lean into her voice as a writer, and why she has a goal of 100 rejections per year. Her creative process has also yielded great success. She was a Fulbright scholar...2023-10-1952 min
Minnesota Minds: Cultivating CreativityMusician Dave Berg on seizing the moment in art and lifeIf you've been to a major theater production, opera, or ballet in Minneapolis or St. Paul, chances are you've heard string bass and Hammond keyboard player Dave Berg in his element. He's been a big part of the Twin Cities music scene for decades. He shares with us how he built a diverse, sustainable music career, and he tells us about some of the fun surprises along the way, like getting to chat with acclaimed tenor Luciano Pavarotti or recording the soundtrack to an award-winning (and hilarious) Super Bowl ad. Dave currently can be heard at work in the...2023-10-121h 05
Minnesota Minds: Cultivating CreativityMeditation creator Kelly Smith on how her new book has helped her healKelly Smith is the founder of Yoga For You and the host of the chart-topping Mindful in Minutes podcast where she provides guided meditations in her soul-soothing voice. She also is the author of the newly released book "Meditation for the Modern Family." She shares her creative process when writing guided meditations -- sometimes also layering in a sound bath -- and how writing and publishing her new book has helped her overcome the emotional pain she experienced as a child with dyslexia and ADHD.
Check out Kelly's Mindful in Minutes podcast here: https...2023-10-051h 06
Minnesota Minds: Cultivating CreativityMarbling artist Heather RJ Fletcher on color and trend forecasting, book arts, and moreHeather RJ Fletcher always wanted to be an artist. She found her joy as a marbling artist and now shares her skills at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts as well as her book, Making Marbled Paper: Paint Techniques & Patterns for Classic & Modern Marbleizing on Paper & Silk. Heather tells us how she discovered marbling and how it has connected her with people worldwide. She also explains what a color and trend forecaster is and tells us what trends to watch for in the future.
Heather's website: https://www.hrjdesignstudios.com/
Follow her on Instagram: https...2023-09-211h 01
Minnesota Minds: Cultivating CreativityAmy Thielen on her new cookbook, "Company," and the art of hosting dinner partiesAmy Thielen is a Minnesota cook and a writer. She is the author of The New Midwestern Table, which won the James Beard Award for American Cooking, as well as a memoir, Give a Girl a Knife, and a new cookbook Company: The Radically Casual Art of Cooking for Others. She also hosted the James Beard-nominated Heartland Table on Food Network. Find her online at amythielen.com (you can sign up for her Substack there), on Instagram, and on Facebook
Amy and her husband, visual artist Aaron Spangler, volunteer with the Nemeth Art Center in Park Rapids...2023-09-1554 min
Minnesota Minds: Cultivating CreativityCeramicist and printmaker Mariah Greenhoff on pushing boundaries and finding community in the visual artsEmerging Minnesota artist Mariah Greenhoff shares how she developed her distinct style as a printmaker and ceramic sculptor, and how her practice is influenced by both her love of challenging herself and learning new processes as well as the strong art communities she's found a home within in the Twin Cities. She also discusses the thrill of selling her work for the first time at Art-A-Whirl in Minneapolis and how she is incorporating technology in her art creation process.
Follow Mariah:
https://www.mariahgreenhoff.com/
https://www.instagram.com/mariah_greenhoff/
...2023-09-071h 06
Minnesota Minds: Cultivating CreativityYA author Nicole Kronzer on balancing her twin passions: teaching and writingNicole Kronzer is a Minnesota author and high school English teacher and a former professional actor. She wrote the young adult novels Unscripted (Minnesota Book Award Finalist) and The Roof Over Our Heads. Nicole shares the thrills and challenges of navigating a career in the publishing industry, and some discoveries she's made along the way, like the importance of taking care of the "vessel," finding your people, and expanding the definition of success. Her website is delightful: https://www.nicolekronzer.com/
2023-08-301h 01
Minnesota Minds: Cultivating CreativityGerry Kulzer, the Minnesota State Fair butter sculptor, on art, teaching and human connectionMonumental and decorative sculptor and art teacher Gerry Kulzer recently took over as Minnesota State Fair butter sculptor after longtime sculptor Linda Christensen retired. In the Dairy Building, you can watch him carve the likenesses of Princess Kay of the Milky Way finalists from 90-pound blocks of salted butter in a refrigerated, glass booth. He tells Rachel and Aleisha how he stays warm and how the joy of human connection infuses his work as a sculptor and teacher.
Gerry Kulzer owns Kulzer Design Studios.
Princess Kay of the Milky Way competition
https://www.mnstatefair.org/
2023-08-2436 min