Main Street

Monday, November 29, 2021 - What are microplastics and how are they impacting wild animals? We visit with Dr. Jennifer Sweatman who recently presented at The Wildlife Society's annual conference. She's an assistant professor of biology at Concordia College. ~~~ Friday was Native American Heritage Day, and November is Native American Heritage Month. To acknowledge the month, North Dakota Tourism prepared an essay about opportunities to learn about the region’s rich indigenous heritage. We asked Christy Goulet to adapt the essay and read it for us. Christy is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and a descendant of Chief Little Shell. ~~~ There’s nothing quite like chocolate. The mouth feel, the combination of bitterness and sweetness. When you think chocolate, you probably think Belgium, France, and Switzerland. How about Fergus Falls, Minnesota? We visit with Josh Mohagen of Terroir Chocolate. ~~~ Pasta is great comfort food, but too many carbs can be hard on our bodies. Four Families Pasta has a high-fiber option. We caught up with the company’s treasurer, James Bowling during a Pride of Dakota event.

Sunday, November 28, 2021 -- Performances are multi-sensory. Today we talk with Paul Johnson, the muralist whose backdrop sets the stage for the Concordia Christmas Concert. ~~~ It’s a Magical Medora Christmas, 31 shows in 22 communities, and the first performance is coming up soon. Here with a preview is veteran Medora entertainer Bill Sorensen, along with cast member Amberlee Rosen. ~~~ Dancing is hard. You have to be strong, flexible, and graceful all at the same time. Now add to that being suspended 20 feet in the air. At the recent Chriskindlmarkt, we caught up with Yvette Reyes, owner and studio director of FM Aerial and Movement Arts.

Friday, November 26, 2021 -- Today is Native American Heritage Day. Joy Harjo is this country’s first Native American poet laureate. She’s coming to Fargo in February and she recently spoke at an online event, Bringing Joy. ~~~ The day after Thanksgiving is a big day for retailers. Writer ShaunAnne Tangney shares an essay on when shopping is so much more than just buying things.

Thursday, November 25, 20201 -- It’s Thanksgiving. Director of Radio Bill Thomas is in-studio with Ashley as they visit with Sue Balcom in a special Main Street Eats episode about favorite dishes, traditions, and of course, leftovers. ~~~ Certainly pies of all types will be in a holiday spread. Pumpkin, sweet potato, apple and so many more. Sarah Wassberg Johnson is The Food Historian. We share an excerpt from her History Bites podcast about apples.

Wednesday, November 24, 2021 - Performances are multi-sensory. Today we talk with Paul Johnson, the muralist whose backdrop sets the stage for the Concordia Christmas Concert. ~~~ Tom Isern shares a Plains Folk essay titled “Dim Narrow Trail.” ~~~ It’s a Magical Medora Christmas, 31 shows in 22 communities, and the first performance is coming up soon. Here with a preview is veteran Medora entertainer Bill Sorensen, along with cast member Amberlee Rosen. ~~~ Matt Olien reviews “Belfast,” director’s Kenneth Branagh’s autobiographical film.

Performances are multi-sensory. Today we talk with Paul Johnson, the muralist whose backdrop sets the stage for the Concordia Christmas Concert.

Tuesday, November 23, 2021 - Claus Lembke of Bismarck has written a memoir titled “Koming to Amerika: An Immigrant's Story.” It covers his life growing up during World War II in Nazi Europe and his emigration to America. He farmed with an uncle in western Minnesota, then moved to Fargo and began a career in real estate before relocating to Bismarck to become the CEO of the North Dakota Association of Realtors. He was also a longtime Burleigh County Commissioner. ~~~ We replay a story from All Things Considered about Minnesota poet Robert Bly, who has passed away at age 94. ~~~ Chuck Lura has a Natural North Dakota essay about the Slade National Wildlife Refuge. ~~~ A hedge fund is making a bid to buy the company that owns the Bismarck Tribune and many other papers. Joining us with some analysis is the former executive director of the North Dakota Newspaper Association, Steve Andrist.

Dancing is hard. You have to be strong, flexible, and graceful all at the same time. Now add to that being suspended 20 feet in the air. At the recent Chriskindlmarkt, we caught up with Yvette Reyes, owner and studio director of FM Aerial and Movement Arts.This discussion is a project of FM Arts, a radio series of profiles, performances, and discussions with artists in the Fargo-Moorhead area funded by The Arts Partnership with support from the cities of Fargo, Moorhead and West Fargo.

Ashley stops by at the Christkindlmarkt in Fargo and visits with hobby blacksmith Ralf Mehnert-Meland and paper artist Christina Lang who practices quilling.

Monday, November 22, 2021 - For this month’s “Philosophical Currents,” we discuss the philosophical significance of holidays. We have a new one, in Juneteenth. And like some others, there's a tinge of controversy -- even Christmas has its detractors. Is a holiday a way to cement a component of life into a nation's culture? And once you create a holiday, it’s hard to ditch it! Columbus Day, for example, has been fading. ~~~ Dancing is hard. You have to be strong, flexible, and graceful all at the same time. Now add to that being suspended 20 feet in the air. At the recent Chriskindlmarkt, we caught up with Yvette Reyes owner /studio director of FM Aerial and Movement Arts.