Main Street

Thursday, January 20, 2022 - Jessie Veeder, North Dakota writer, Forum columnist and musician, has released her first children’s book, “Prairie Princess.” To celebrate, she is touring libraries to conduct a reading, signing, discussion and creative activity for all ages. ~~~ Sue Balcom is “Romancing the Coffee Bean” in an episode of Main Street Eats.

Wednesday, January 19, 2022 - In an excerpt from the Conversations on Health Care podcast, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the CDC, addresses the confusion and frustration around the lack of rapid COVID tests, the need for quality masks, and the shifting plan of action in response to the omicron surge in COVID cases. ~~~ Tom Isern shares a Plains Folk essay, “The Northern Blizzards.” ~~~ An elaborate time capsule project is planned that will feature a large concrete monument along Highway 2 west of Grand Forks. It’s called the Millennial project, with the intention that it will be opened in 3001. Here to tell us more is the man spear-heading the effort, Roland Riemers.

Tuesday, January 18, 2022 - Dr. Abraam Yakoub is an associate professor of biomedical sciences at UND. His team received a $4.5 million award from the National Institutes of Health for a 5-year project studying COVID. ~~~ The federal government uses scores of programs to give tens of billions of dollars a year to help rural America. But the USDA alone has more than a dozen definitions of rural, depending on the program. Harvest Public Media’s Jonathan Ahl reports that can leave some very small towns out of the process.

Monday, January 17, 2022 - On this Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, we discuss various aspects of race and the importance of holidays with UND philosophy professor Jack Russell Weinstein.

Sunday, January 16, 2022 - On Sundays we feature highlights from the previous week. Today we’ve chosen Alicia Hegland-Thorpe’s story about ribbon skirt designer Agnes Woodward. ~~~ Sue Balcom’s Main Street Eats topic is food trends for 2022.

Friday, January 14, 2022 - The late civil rights leader and co-founder of the American Indian Movement Clyde Bellecourt inspired many of today’s indigenous leaders. Christy Goulet, an Ojibwe medicine woman, honors his legacy. ~~~ Dave Thompson is here for this week’s news chat. ~~~ Matt Olien reviews “C’mon C’mon” starring Joaquin Phoenix.

Thursday, January 13, 2022 - A Heart like Water is a frontier survival story set in Dakota Territory in 1887, based on true stories. It was produced and shot in North Dakota. The film will be showing next week in Bismarck. Joining us is filmmaker Dan Bielinski. ~~~ Clyde Bellecourt is remembered in a report from Minnesota Native News. ~~~ Sue Balcom discusses food trends for 2022 in today’s Main Street Eats.

Wednesday, January 12, 2022 - Dr. Vijay Gaba joins us to discuss the role stress can play in hindering recovery from illness and surgery, and how meditation practices can make quite a difference. To that end, Dr. Gaba has helped implement a program at Sanford called Enhanced Recovery After Surgery. ~~~ Reporter Kristi Eaton has covered a number of issues affecting rural America for “The Daily Yonder.” She joins us to discuss some of those topics, and a career that has taken her around the globe.

Tuesday, January 11, 2022 - "Fort Lincoln Internment Camps" is the subject of a free presentation coming up on Thursday at the Former Governors’ Mansion in Bismarck. The presenter is Perry Hornbacher, professor of history at Bismarck State College, and he joins us for a discussion about the camp’s use as a detention center for Japanese-Americans. ~~~ Tom Isern shares a Plains Folk essay, “The Grizzly of the Plains.” ~~~ It can be hard to get back into the swing of things after the holidays. In some religious traditions, there's a rest after Christmas...it's called the 12 days of Christmas, but the return to work gets its own celebration. We learn about St. Distaff Day.

Monday, January 10, 2022 - In March 2021, a busy seamstress in North Dakota received a call from a friend asking her if she would be interested in submitting a ribbon skirt design for incoming Secretary Of the Interior, Deb Haaland. Agnes Woodward found the thought of her design being a part of such an historic day for Indian Country rather overwhelming. Little did she realize that she was about to make history for herself. Alicia Hegland-Thorpe shares her story. ~~~ Dr. William Haseltine has ‘grave concerns’ about Merck’s oral COVID drug Molnupiravir, which was recently given emergency use authorization from the FDA. It’s important to note that it’s not recommended for most people and isn’t an alternative to vaccines and routine precautions. Haseltine says the drug unleashes ‘dangerous’ mutations. We share an excerpt of his comments from the Conversations on Health Care podcast.