Nicollet Island is arguably the most unusual park in a city known for its parks. Located beside downtown Minneapolis, it is an oasis of green space in the heart of the urban core. It was once home to some of the city's most prominent industrialists, as well as factories powered by the Mississippi River. But it has undergone a major transformation in roughly the last half century.

Chris and Rushika Hage, authors of a book about Nicollet Island, join host Eric Roper to discuss the island's history and how it came to look the way it does today.

LINKS:

How did Nicollet Island become parkland with private housing on it? (May 2019 Curious Minnesota story)

A before and after aerial view of the island showing how it has changed

What do a medieval French prince and an 1800s Minnesota sawmill owner have in common? They're both key figures in the wild story of how the city of St. Cloud got its name. The Star Tribune's St. Cloud reporter Jenny Berg joins host Ash Miller to share the tale and talk about the series of equally strange events that followed.

LINKS:

How did St. Cloud get its name? (July 2021 Curious Minnesota article)

St. Cloud Today newsletter sign up

Generating electricity and getting it to houses and businesses across Minnesota is a round-the-clock effort that is easy to take for granted. Star Tribune energy reporter Mike Hughlett joins host Eric Roper to discuss where Minnesota's power comes from, how it's distributed and who oversees our regional power grid.

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Where does Twin Cities electricity come from and how is it delivered to homes? (August 2021 Curious Minnesota story)

The Minnesota accent is ubiquitous in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. But where does it come from?

Keely Wolter, a Richfield-based accent and dialogue coach, joins the Star Tribune's Hannah Sayle and Rachel Hutton to discuss the accent's origins and what defines this uniquely Minnesotan way of speaking.

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Why do Minnesotans have accents? (Nov. 2021 Curious Minnesota article)

Considered one of the most corrupt cities in America during Prohibition, St. Paul's historical relationship with gangsters was rooted in an agreement between the police department and the criminals of the city: As long as you commit your crimes somewhere else, you're welcome to hide out in St. Paul. Ash Miller and James Walsh talk about how this agreement affected the city, from its crime rates to its national reputation.

LINKS:

Did St. Paul really protect gangsters during the Prohibition era? (June 2021 Curious Minnesota story)

St. Paul's gangster tours

John Dillinger Slept Here book

Minneapolis' "Mill City" nickname traces its roots to a 50-year period when the city's flour milling dominated the world market. But that came to an end in 1930, when the city lost its crown to Buffalo, N.Y. Eric Roper and Hannah Sayle discuss how Minneapolis rose to prominence as a flour milling capital, and the many factors that led to the decline of flour milling on the riverfront.

LINKS:

Why did Minneapolis' famous flour boom go bust?

Last fall, Curious Minnesota listeners voted on their favorite questions submitted by people stopping by the Star Tribune's booth at the State Fair. There was a three-way tie for the top question. Those winning questions were: "What is the oldest building in Minnesota?" "How did the Northwest Angle come about?" and "How big does a body of water need to be to qualify as a lake?"

Reporter Katy Read wrote stories on two of those questions for the Curious Minnesota column. She joins the show to discuss the answers with host Eric Roper.

LINKS:

How did Minnesota get its shape on the map? (October 2021 article)

What is the oldest building in Minnesota? (December 2021 article)

The Jolly Green Giant has moved on from Minnesota. His legacy, however, lives on in the form of an iconic Minnesota River Valley billboard. Reporter Brooks Johnson joins Ash Miller to talk about the history of the Green Giant brand and what the billboard means for those Minnesotans who drive by it every day.

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The Jolly Green Giant has moved on from Minnesota. So who is maintaining his iconic billboard? (January 2022 Curious Minnesota story)

Jolly Green Giant commercial

The wildfires of 1894 and 1918 remain two of the worst natural disasters in Minnesota history, more than a century after destroying entire towns in the northern portion of the state. These rapidly moving blazes claimed more than 900 victims. What caused them to spread so quickly? Could it happen again?

Hannah Sayle and Duluth reporter Jana Hollingsworth discuss the circumstances that led to these tragedies, and what lessons were learned to prevent them from repeating.

LINKS:

Historic wildfires once destroyed entire cities in northern Minnesota. Could it happen again? 

Indigenous people have been living in the area that became Minnesota since ancient times. Anton Treuer, professor of Objiwe at Bemidji State University, joins the podcast to discuss the Native Americans who inhabited the state prior to European settlement -- and their tribal affiliations.

LINKS:

Which Indigenous tribes first called Minnesota home?