Main Street

Tuesday, July 25, 2023 - Humanities North Dakota is organizing an author tour for Erika Bolstad. She's a journalist who came to North Dakota in search of mineral rights, but in the process discovered the story of her great-grandmother who homesteaded the land. In January, Ashley Thornberg spoke with Bolstad about her book “Windfall: The Prairie Woman Who Lost Her Way and the Great-Granddaughter Who Found Her.” ~~~The new Bourne book is due out July 25. We visit with author Brian Freeman about The Bourne Defiance.

Today we’re looking back on adventures. Deanna Raybourn is the author of "Killers of a Certain Age," a twisty, hilarious novel about four female assassins. We reair a conversation from September of 2022. ~~~ Adventurer and outdoor educator Natalie Warren took an epic canoe trip. It’s chronicled in her book Hudson Bay Bound, which chronicles the adventures of two women, 2000 miles, countless granola bars, and one canoe. We reair a conversation from March 2021.

The Mission of higher education is to teach students to think and to prepare them for the workforce. As the labor market changes, institutions need to adapt. In 2018 North Dakota State Board of Higher Education appointed Dickinson State University as the first dual mission institution in the state. It offers bachelor's and graduate degrees, as well as associate's degrees and certificates. Five years into the change, Ashley Thornberg visited with DSU Vice President Dr. Holly Gruhlke and President Stephen Easton. ~~~Dave Thompson recaps the week’s news. ~~~ Matt Olien reviews “No Hard Feelings.”

Acclaimed New York Times bestseller Jeff Shaara discusses his new historical novel, The Old Lion. He brings to life one of the most consequential figures in U.S. history — Theodore Roosevelt. Shaara visits with presidential scholar Rick Collin of Bismarck, our go-to guest host when it comes to presidential history.

Have you ever considered joining a creative writing workshop? The North Dakota Council of Teachers of English is hosting an online event that's open to the public. It will feature Natalie Goldberg, whose 1986 book "Writing Down the Bones" sold more than a million copies. We get a preview of the workshop as we visit with Goldberg and Mandan English teacher Candace Brannan. ~~~ The New York Kammermusiker is returning to North Dakota for the group's 16th annual Winds of Change Concert series. We visit with the group's founder and director, North Dakota native Ilonna Pederson.

Tuesday, July 18, 2023 - Tom Peterson from Jamestown has worked at Collins Aerospace for 50 years. We reflect with the engineer about his history in the air cargo systems business that has grown in both the commercial and military segments from their base in Jamestown. After we hear from Tom, Main Street joins Blaze Culliton from Collins Aerospace to tour the expansive, interesting Jamestown facility. ~~~ Patrick Hicks profiles William Butler Yeats in an episode of “Poetry from Studio 47.”

Monday, July 17, 2023 - North Dakota Housing Finance Agency (NDHFA) is currently accepting applications for programs that support affordable rental housing development and provide homeownership and rental assistance for low-income households. We visit with David Flohr, the agency's executive director. ~~~ Tom Isern shares a Plains Folk essay titled: “Raining on the Parade.” ~~~ It's hard to make it as an artist. Minot's Max Patzner is an artist, writer, and musician. His band, Wild Hands, has released 5 albums. He has a few kids books out; “Wild & The Animal Band,” "Alpha Yeah,Sure,You BETcha: The Nodak ABCs," and the latest is set in Medora, which is where Ashley Thornberg caught him performing.

We’re sharing one of our favorite author interviews from the Main Street archives. Jill Kandel moved to a tiny village in Zambia right after she got married. She and her husband spent six years there developing infrastructure for improved farming techniques. Decades later, she wrote the book, So Many Africas: 6 Years in a Zambian Village. We spoke with her in January 2015. ~~~ Matt Olien reviews “Past Lives” and shares some his favorite movies and why.

Wednesday, July 12, 2023 - Kayla Jones is a project manager for the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition. She developed a training program about Diversity Equity and Inclusion that is available for various organizations. She joins us to discuss the purpose of DEI trainings and what they involve. ~~~ Harvest Public Media reports on a USDA program that gives grants to farmers looking to add solar power to their operations. ~~~ A group of local Dickinson volunteers and philanthropists are working together on a plan to create the Southwest Art Gallery and Science Center. ~~~ Poet profile from Patrick Hicks on Minnesota poet Sean Hill.

Tuesday, July 11, 2023 - The Christian Science Monitor has produced a special series on reparations. One of those reports addresses the impact of the Oahe Dam, which flooded out the Cheyenne River Reservation's largest town in 1960. We visit with writer Henry Gass. ~~~ The White House has set a goal of reaching a carbon-free grid by 2050. The lynchpin to this plan? Tax credits... lots of them. Harvest Public Media’s Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco has more. ~~~ The World Health Organization recently issued a statement expressing concern about artificial intelligence in health care. AI is a brave new world that promises to affect every part of health care. In an excerpt from the Conversations on Health Care podcast, we hear a discussion of the issue with Mayo Clinic’s chief information officer, Cris Ross., as he visits with hosts hosted by Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter. ~~~ Chuck Lura shares a Natural North Dakota essay on Chimney Swifts.