Hennepin County Commissioners

From transportation to housing, parks to waste water, the Hennepin County Board has a say in a myriad of issues that affect citizens’ daily lives. The Chair of the Hennepin County Board, Marion Greene, along with one of its newest members, Angela Conley, join us to help explain why county government matters. Together, the two represent all of South Minneapolis on the board, as well as part Northeast and St. Louis Park.

Attorney General Keith Ellison

After six terms in U.S. House, Keith Ellison ran to be Minnesota’s Attorney General, and won. In his first few months in this new position, his office has joined a multi-state lawsuit against President Trump’s emergency border wall declaration, taken a special focus on wage theft in Minnesota, and made the office more public than it had been under his predecessor. What can we expect from him and the A.G. Office in the next three and a half years?

Minnesota Recreational Marijuana

Senator Melisa Franzen, Senate District 49
Leili Fatehi, Campaign Manager, Minnesotans for Responsible Marijuana Regulation

Talk of legalizing recreational marijuana burned brightly at the Minnesota Legislature early this session, then went out in a puff of smoke. But the debate’s not over. Activists and legislators argue marijuana legalization is about overturning a racially unjust system as much as its about freedom and liberty. We will talk with the author of the Senate bill that would have legalized recreational marijuana in Minnesota, as well as the head of the campaign for “Responsible Marijuana Legalization.”

Panda Procreation, Y2K, and Acid Rain

MAGGIE KOERTH-BAKER, SENIOR SCIENCE WRITER, FIVETHIRTYEIGHT

In an era of climate change and political chaos, it’s easy to forget that sometimes disasters are averted. FiveThirtyEight Science writer Maggie Koerth-Baker has been looking at examples in history when humans either worked together to avoid an environmental calamity, or just got lucky. What’s the secret to not destroying the planet or ourselves?

Searching for the New University President

University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler has announced he will step down at the end of this academic year. The search was on for a new leader for Minnesota’s premier institution of higher learner. What do you look for in a University president? How do you find qualified applicants? Can anybody apply? We talked with search committee members Matt Kramer, Vice-President of University Relations of the UMN and Adbul Omari, Regent and chair of the search committee.

The Great Minnesota Mining Debate

Kevin Lee, Program Director, Senior Staff Attorney, Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy
Isaac Orr, Policy Fellow, Center of the American Experiment

One of the most contentious policy debates in the state circles around whether or not Minnesota should permit more companies to develop new mines, particularly around the Boundary Waters. We have two well-informed guests with two very different ideas on how the state should proceed, Kevin Lee, Program Director, Senior Staff Attorney, Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy and Isaac Orr, Policy Fellow, Center of the American Experiment.

We Are All Criminals

One in four people in the United States has a criminal record. FOUR in four Americans have done something in their past that had they been caught or in a different circumstance, would be criminal. The organization We Are All Criminals works to get people to think differently about what it means to be a criminal, our justice system, and how we treat one another.

The Great Minimum Wage Debate

Rebecca Noecker, St. Paul City Councilwoman, Ward 2

Veronica Mendez Moore, Co-Director of Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha

B Kyle, CEO of the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce

St. Paul is currently considering a proposal to raise its minimum wage. Is $15 an hour the right amount? Should tips count toward that $15 for restaurant workers? How quickly should the wage increase for different-sized businesses? Hear what city Councilwoman Rebecca Noecker and two members of the Citizen League’s minimum wage study committee are weighing as they try and come to a final proposal.    

An Evangelical, a Muslim, and an Atheist Walk into an Improv Show

Kyle Roberts, Dean of Academic Affairs, United Theological Seminary

Zan Christ, Coordinator for Religious and Spiritual Life Programs, Hamline University

Chris Stedman, Author of Faithiest and former director of the Yale Humanist Community

Even in the land of the Church Basement Ladies, people’s relationships with faith institutions are changing. More Millennials are religiously unaffiliated than any previous generation. How and why are young people redefining the role of faith in their lives? What do these changes mean for religious institutions? Would it help to update the Old Testament with some well-placed hashtags?

Where've all the Freeways Gone?

Charlie Zelle, Minnesota Commissioner of Transportation

Major road construction has slowed and rerouted traffic on a number of Twin Cities thoroughfares. Minnesota’s Commissioner of Transportation, Charlie Zelle, promises it will get better soon, with newer roads, more accessible bus options, and the groundwork for a self-driving future. We asked him how he made it through all the traffic to join us.