Main Street

Monday, August 7, 2023 - Shanda Poitra is one of this year's Bush Foundation Fellows. She works to teach Native women and girls that they deserve to be safe and to help them develop tools to protect, and advocate for, themselves. ~~~ Horticulturist Ron Smith joins us for some lawn and garden tips.

In an excerpt from the Conversations on Health Care podcast, one of the nation’s top experts on Long COVID explains that it’s still a mystery why virus symptoms remain months and sometimes years after an infection. Dr. Leora Horwitz helps lead the National Institute of Health’s study of Long COVID. ~~~ Dave Thompson joins us for a look at the week in news. ~~~ Matt Olien reviews Oppenheimer.

Thursday, August 3, 2023 - Bismarck native Tate Doppler landed a role on Days of our Lives. We visit about making it as an actor. ~~~ Poetry from Studio 47 ~~~ We welcome back Sue Balcom as she returns to “Main Street Eats” after taking a hiatus.

Wednesday, August 2, 2023 - American Idol is holding open call virtual Zoom auditions in North Dakota on Wednesday, August 9. We visit with co-executive producer Katie Fennelly Watkins. ~~~ Prairie Public intern Kooper Shagena visits with some members and directors of the Fargo-Moorhead Youth Choir. ~~~ Ben Holsen, the owner of Holsen Home Solar and discusses what homeowners should think about when considering adding solar power to their homes. ~~~ Tom Isern shares a Plains Folk essay.

Main Street visits with the longtime host of The Open Mind about his recent discussion with Gov. Doug Burgum and other current topics. ~~~ Bill Thomas visits the Indian Education Summit to talk about Dakota Datebook: Teachings of Our Elders, and spoke to the Summit's Keynote speaker, Dr. Stephen Sroka. ~~~ Julia Marple and her husband Larry travel from Ohio every summer to portray the Roosevelts in Medora. Ashley Thornberg caught up with Julia, in costume as Edith, backstage at the Town Hall Theatre in Medora.

July 31, 2023 - We talk to Cheryl Kary, executive director of Sacred Pipe Resource Center, and co-creator MC Redcloud about the traveling theatre production called Bear Grease — an Indigenous twist on "Grease," the traditional story of high school love. The cast has familiar characters, but Bear Grease was written to give each Indigenous influence, with elements of fashion, humor, and music to really make it their own. ~~~ Michael Romero has a background in theatre and studying costume design, currently pursuing a masters from the University of Georgia. He's recently traveled to Medora as part of the Badlands Chautauqua as Theodore Roosevelt reprisor.

Bear Grease is a theater play that reimagines the classic musical Grease with an Indigenous twist. Like the original, the play is set in the 1950s but The play is full of Indigenous humor and pride and hopes to one day be on Broadway. It will be performed in Bismarck, Fargo, and Fort Totten, from August 8-12, 2023.

Friday, July 28, 2023 - Steve Stine has about as many YouTube subscribers on his channel as there are people in North Dakota. He's collaborated with Julian Lennon, and members of Queen and The Cars. He has many more followers on GuitarZoom, where he's one of the most sought after guitar teachers in the world. He does a lot of it from his home in Kindred. Ashley Thornberg caught up with him at a recent special gig, one celebrating his birthday. ~~~ Dave Thompson joins us for our weekly news debrief. ~~~ Matt Olien reviews “Barbie.”

Thursday, July 27, 2023 - The North Dakota Petroleum Council (NDPC) created the Bakken GROW program with the goal of recruiting legal United for Ukraine (U4U) refugees to fill open oil and natural gas jobs in the Bakken. These refugees have faced extreme hardship and immigration law requires a sponsor be identified before they can enter the United States. ~~~ Tom Isern shares a Plains Folk essay, Burying Billy Buttons. ~~~ It's time for the annual BlueGrass Goes Pink event at Cross Ranch State Park. Joining us to preview this cancer awareness event is Jill Weise, who is not only a nurse, she's also one of the performers as a member of the CottonWood band. Also joining us is Sara Kelsch, marketing director at the Bismarck Cancer Center.

Wednesday, July 26, 2023 - Did you dress up and go to Barbie on opening weekend? Are you vehemently opposed to seeing this film? Why is a movie about a doll, and what we project onto it, controversial? It’s time for Philosophical Currents with Dr. Jack Russell Weinstein.