Main Street

Monday, January 9, 2023 - Matt Fetsch started working for the North Dakota High School Activities Association in 2010 and became executive director in 2014. He visits us about all things high school sports and activities in North Dakota. ~~~ Dr. David Cook is the new president of NDSU, and he talks with John Harris in an excerpt from the Prairie Pulse television show. ~~~ Governor Doug Burgum would like North Dakota's anti-corporate farming law amended to help the state compete for larger livestock processing operations. If North Dakota eases restrictions, it will be joining some other states in the Midwest that have paved the way for larger feedlots. Harvest Public Media’s Eva Tesfaye reports.

Thursday, January 5 - Early Childhood Awareness Day is coming up in Bismarck. Here to discuss the event and importance of a child’s formative years are Johnathan Repoyo, Prairie Public’s early childhood specialist; and Missi Baranko, USpireND executive director. ~~~ Tom Isern shares this week’s Plains Folk essay, “What it Means to be Red.” ~~~ Sue Balcom is here for Main Street Eats as we discuss food trends for the new year.

Wednesday, January 4, 2023 - Prairie Public will be hosting a panel discussion at the Heritage Center on Sunday exploring the parallels between Bismarck history and that of Manzanar, California: namely, Japanese internment, Indigenous dispossession, and political/economic wrangling over water use and protections. Moderated by Alicia Hegland-Thorpe, the discussion will feature Dennis Neumann, the longtime archivist at United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck; and Erik Holland, the longtime education director with the State Historical Society of North Dakota. ~~~ Prairie Public Television Production Manager Barb Gravel joins us to preview the upcoming season of Prairie Musicians.

Tuesday, January 3, 2023 - From preventing torture, to outing homosexuals, the polygraph machine has a storied history. That history is explored in “The Lie Detector,” the latest episode of American Experience. It premieres tonight, January 3rd. We visit with filmmaker Rob Rapley about this “uniquely American” phenomenon. ~~~ Chuck Lura shares a Natural North Dakota essay on snow and snowflakes. ~~~ News director visits with outgoing Lt. Gov. Brent Sanford.

Friday, December 30, 2022 - It’s time for our 2022 Year in Review Journalists Roundtable. We’re joined by four special guests: Prairie Public News Director Dave Thompson; Minot Daily News Associate Editor Jill Schramm; Bismarck Tribune Capitol Reporter Jack Dura; and North Dakota News Cooperative Enterprise Journalist Michael Standaert.

Thursday, December 29, 2022 - We continue looking back on the best of 2022. We reair a conversation from October with Dr. Temple Grandin, autism activist, scientist and New York Times bestselling author. She joins us to discuss her new book, “Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions.” ~~~ Bringing bison back to the prairie transforms the landscape in ways that may well make it more resilient against climate change and benefit other wildlife.Celia Llopis-Jepsenof the Kansas News Service reports on a rare three-decade study by scientists at Kansas State University. ~~~ Sue Balcom is here for a Main Street Eats on new year’s resolutions. ~~~ Matt Olien reviews “Argentina: 1985.”

Wednesday, December 28, 2022 - For this month’s Philosophical Currents, Dr. Jack Russell Weinstein looks at antisemitism, which is on the rise. ~~~ Tom Isern shares a Plains Folk essay, “Young Charlotte." ~~~ The Ursulina is set in the frozen north woods of rural Minnesota. Deputy Rebecca Colder hunts the mythical Ursulina creature responsible for brutal murders. We reair a conversation from April with author Brian Freeman.

Tuesday, December 27, 2022 - The Supreme Court has had a busy year. Would you believe that female US Supreme Court Justices are interrupted four times more often than male ones? We visit with Mary Ann Sieghart the author of The Authority Gap: Why Women Are Still Taken Less Seriously Than Men, and What We Can Do About It. Today we reair a conversation from March. ~~~ Will Cromarty is working to provide accessible museum space to local collectors. As a former CIA officer and national security subject-matter expert in aerospace and satellite systems, space/counterspace weapons system counterproliferation, and aerospace-sector geopolitics, he comments on current events. Across the aerospace sector, William spearheads federal partnerships in support of America's most cutting-edge satellite and UAS programs.

Monday, December 26, 2022 - After a weekend of eating too much, it’s time to take better care of our digestive systems. We reair a conversation from October on the power of poop. From fecal transplants to renewable energy, the new book Flush: The Remarkable Science of an Unlikely Treasure explores why we might want to make our number two, a number one priority. We visit with science writer Dr. Bryn Nelson.

Thursday, December 22, 2022 - We’re looking back on one of our favorite conversations from 2022. From October, we reair a conversation with Christopher Vondracek, author of “Dancing with Welk: Music, Memory and Prairie Troubadours.” It’s a cheeky retelling of Lawrence Welk’s story, blending memoir, travelogue, and cultural history. ~~~ Sue Balcom joins us for Main Street Eats to talk Christmas. ~~~ Matt Olien reviews Avatar: The Way of Water.” ~~~ We share a reading from the late Doug Hamilton of “The Night Before Christmas.”