Curious Minnesota

Many people alive today have memories of Tonka trucks, which have been an enduring element of the children's toy market for more than 70 years. Now owned by Hasbro, these realistic metal toys were invented and once manufactured in the western Twin Cities suburb of Mound. Reporter Nick Williams joins host Eric Roper to discuss how Tonka got its start in Minnesota.

LINKS:

How did Tonka trucks get their start in Minnesota? (April 2023 Curious Minnesota story)

Minnesota's Iron Range essentially fueled America's success story as the country's largest source of iron ore. Curious Minnesota journeyed north to U.S. Steel's Keetac taconite mine to see how some of the state's largest machines make the raw ingredients for American steel. The trip was inspired by the Munson family's quest to find the state's largest machine, which was the subject of a January Curious Minnesota column.

LINKS:

What is the largest machine in Minnesota? (January 2023 Curious Minnesota story)

Inside the mines and megamachines of the Iron Range (May 2023 Curious Minnesota story)

It was once considered "manifest destiny" that Minneapolis and St. Paul would become one city. A conjoined municipality would have a population similar to Seattle and Denver. But this idea never took off, despite simmering in the public discourse for many decades. The Star Tribune's Kevin Duchschere joins host Eric Roper to discuss why the central cities of the Twin Cities region remained separate.

LINKS:

Why didn't Minneapolis and St. Paul ever merge? (March 2023 Curious Minnesota article)

In some parts of Minnesota, buying a case of beer or a bottle of wine means visiting a city-owned liquor store -- or "muni." Minnesota's law allowing cities to have a monopoly over liquor sales within their boundaries is unlike most other states. Host Eric Roper talks with Maya Marchel Hoff about the Prohibition-era history behind Minnesota's municipal liquor stores.

LINKS:

Why does Minnesota have municipal liquor stores? (March 2023 Curious Minnesota article)

Detailed information about how each "control state" regulates alcohol (National Alcohol Beverage Control Association)

Minnesota's largest city, Minneapolis, is much smaller than cities elsewhere in the country that it considers peers -- like Seattle and Denver. This is partly because the city did not annex its surrounding suburbs. (It is also because Minneapolis and St. Paul never merged, a topic for a future episode.) Eric Roper joins host Ash Miller to discuss why the greater Minneapolis area fragmented into a web of small cities -- instead of consolidating into a larger municipality.

LINKS:

Why didn't Minneapolis gobble up its suburbs? (March 2023 Curious Minnesota article)

Gray squirrels are so plentiful in cities today that it is difficult to imagine urban life without them. But their introduction to Minneapolis parks in the early 1900s was carefully orchestrated by park superintendent Theodore Wirth. Reporter Susan Du joins host Eric Roper to discuss how Wirth supplanted red squirrels with gray ones -- and the pitfalls of attempting to control nature.

LINKS:

Did a famed parks leader import gray squirrels to Minneapolis — and have the red ones killed? (January 2023 Curious Minnesota story)

The towers now known as Riverside Plaza are among the most recognizable buildings in Minneapolis. Their colorful panels make them easy to spot from the busy freeways that surround the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. But these buildings were supposed to be just the first phase an ambitious, utopian plan to transform this area. What happened? Adelie Bergström joins host Eric Roper to discuss why this controversial vision fell apart in the 1970s.

LINKS:

Why was the utopian plan for Minneapolis' Cedar-Riverside area never built? (February 2023 Curious Minnesota story)

How did the Twin Cities become a hub for Somali immigrants? (January 2020 Curious Minnesota podcast)

A photo of the Cedar-Riverside area in 1966.

Many Minnesotans today grew up when the Weatherball was one of the most prominent landmarks of Minneapolis' skyline. The massive sign stood atop the Northwestern National Bank building between 1949 and 1983. John Reinan joins host Eric Roper to discuss where this well-known Twin Cities artifact ended up, and its history in downtown.

LINKS:

What happened to Minneapolis' famous Weatherball? (February 2023 Curious Minnesota story)

Billions of bullets flowed from the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant in Arden Hills in its heyday during World War II. The campus was home to about 25,000 employees during the war, about half of them women. Today it is one of the largest shovel-ready development sites in the metro area. Shannon Prather joins host Eric Roper to discuss the unique history of the plant.

LINKS:

How a Twin Cities ammunition factory dominated by women helped U.S. win WWII (January 2023 Curious Minnesota article)

The Mall of America is one of Minnesota's most well-known landmarks, three decades after it was built in Bloomington. But why was the country's largest indoor shopping center constructed in Minnesota? Nadine Manske joins host Eric Roper to discuss the history of this unique place.

LINKS:

Why was the Mall of America built in Minnesota? (December 2022 Curious Minnesota article)