The Show Goes to the (Therapy) Dogs!

Sarah Palm, Researcher, Nature Based Therapeutics at the University of Minnesota

Colleen Crockford, Human-Animal Bond Social Worker with Crockford Consulting

Dr. Tim Lewis, Professor at the University of St. Thomas

Anyone who has ever loved a pet doesn’t need an improv comedy show to tell them that animals can make us better versions of ourselves. Yet a growing body of research is expanding our understanding of the science behind the human-animal connection. We will talk with three experts about how animals are used in therapy today and about the cutting edge of research in this field. Will there also be dogs at the show? Come and find out!

Labor!

Javier Morillo-Alicea, President, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 26

Chelsie Glaubitz Gabiou, President, Minneapolis Regional Labor AFL-CIO

The Labor Movement helped build the middle class in the United States. Yet union membership has been declining for decades. Recent court decisions have raised new challenges and questions about labor’s future. Yet it still is an important bulwark for worker rights and in politics generally. How is the labor movement today and in Minnesota? What is its future? 

Provider Tax Sunset

Mark Haveman, Executive Director, Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence.
Jim Schowalter, Former CEO of the Council of Health Plans

MinnesotaCare is a health insurance program for those earning too much to qualify for Medicade but too little to afford insurance on the private market. For the past 27 years, it has been funded by a 2% assessment on licensed health care professionals. But that tax is set to sunset this year. Whether to renew the tax, replace it with something else, or scrap it all together is one of the hottest and wonkiest debates at the Minnesota Legislature this term.

There's a New Sheriff in Town

Last year, former Metro Transit sergeant Dave Hutch unseated longtime Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek, becoming the first openly gay sheriff in the Midwest. Sheriff Hutch has promised reform across the police department, from how inmates are treated in custody (including new procedures for trans inmates) to how it interacts with federal immigration agencies. Three months into the new job, we asked him how those reforms are going, what we can expect in the years ahead, and if he can do something about this parking ticket.

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.