Last month marked the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment which granted women the right to vote. This week on Dialogue Minnesota, Augsburg University Professor of History William Green joins us to discuss the complexities of the women’s suffrage movement. He is the author of a book out on the University of Minnesota Press titled “The Children of Lincoln: White Paternalism and the Limits of Black Opportunity in Minnesota.”

This election cycle is like no other in modern U.S. history. The COVID-19 pandemic is tossing traditional campaigning by the wayside and is driving record numbers of voters to cast their ballots by mail in lieu of a polling place. Despite the coronavirus, Minnesota recently held a primary election, Joe Biden virtually accepted the nomination as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, and Senator Kamala Harris was named Biden’s running mate. This week on Dialogue Minnesota, University of Minnesota Associate Professor of Political Science Kathryn Pearson joins us to discuss this most unusual campaign season.

Politics and sports have often intersected in modern history, and in recent years, controversial team names and athlete protests during games have garnered much attention. The Washington, DC NFL team recently agreed to change its current name that many find offensive and other sports franchises with names associated with Indigenous Americans are under increasing pressure to do the same. Earlier this month, the Minnesota Wild’s Matt Dumba became the first NHL player to kneel in support of the Black Lives Matter movement during the National Anthem. And the Minnesota Lynx’s Maya Moore sat out another season to advocate for the release of a man whom she believes was wrongly sent to prison. This week on Dialogue Minnesota, a look at how sports became a platform for expressing ideological views and how today’s athletes are using their celebrity to promote racial equity. Joining us is Douglas Hartmann, a professor and chair of the Sociology Department at the University of Minnesota. He is an expert on the sociology of sport.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to send shock waves through the nation’s economy. With so much volatility and uncertainty, it’s difficult to determine just how much damage the economy has suffered and how long it will take to recover. This week on Dialogue Minnesota, we’re joined by University of Minnesota Professor of Economics Timothy Kehoe. Professor Kehoe is also an advisor to the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank or the Federal Reserve System.

50 years ago, the U.S. was awash in civil unrest over the war in Vietnam and racial injustice. This week, we look back at that tumultuous time and focus on the shootings of student protesters at Kent State University by members of the Ohio National Guard in May of 1970. New Mexico State University Professor of History Kenneth Hammond was a student activist at Kent State University at the time and joins us to discuss the incident, its aftermath and the parallels to today’s protest movements.

The Minneapolis City Council is moving forward with a proposed amendment to the city’s charter that would disband the current police department and replace it with a Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention. Voters will ultimately decide the fate of the council’s proposal in November if it passes some bureaucratic hurdles in the meantime. This week on Dialogue Minnesota, University of Minnesota Associate Professor of Sociology Michelle Phelps discusses systemic racism in our nation’s police departments and what a new vision for law enforcement might look like.

The COVID-19 pandemic is dramatically changing how many of us work. Even the U.S. Supreme Court is working remotely, and for the first time in its history, oral arguments are being live streamed. This week on Dialogue Minnesota, University of Minnesota Morse Alumni Distinguished Professor of Political Science Timothy Johnson joins us to discuss the high court’s move to a digital platform that’s making its proceedings more accessible to the public.

Governor Tim Walz’s stay-at-home order expiries on May 18th. Additional retail businesses will reopen on that day, and other services are slated to resume on June 1st. Polling data in Minnesota and nationwide indicates that a majority of respondents support efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus through shelter-in-place directives and the closure of businesses and services that are deemed non-essential. A study using cell phone location data initially gave Minnesotans an A grade for their compliance with social distancing, but in recent weeks, that grade has declined to a D. University of Minnesota Associate Professor of Sociology and Law Joshua Page joins us to discuss the reasons why we do or do not comply with governmental directives and the advice of medical experts.

The University of Minnesota is offering a May term course that explores pandemics in a historical context with an emphasis on how science intersects with public policy as nations deal with a major health crisis. HMED 3940—History Making: Epidemics, Politics and Coronavirus will also examine COVID-19 and the forces that are shaping governmental and public responses to the pandemic. The class is being offered through the U’s College of Science and Engineering in a multidisciplinary collaboration with History Department Chair Ann Waltner who is contributing to the curriculum. This week on Dialogue Minnesota, a conversation with Macey Flood, a PhD candidate at the U of M who is teaching the course which is open to both degree-seeking students and the general public.

Minnesota has one of the highest rates of volunteering in the nation. Even in the age of COVID-19, many of us are pitching in to help, although social distancing and stay-at-home orders are changing the ways we deliver volunteer services. This week on Dialogue Minnesota, University of Minnesota Professor of Psychology and Director of the U’s Center for the Study of the Individual and Society Dr. Mark Snyder joins us to discuss why we volunteer and the benefits of volunteering.