There are people using AI to create fake nude images of other people. State lawmakers are looking at ways to stop them by holding technology companies accountable. We from the bill's author, DFL Sen. Erin Maye Quade.

Minnesota's teachers are wondering what to tell their students about the country’s polarized political climate. We listen to their conversations.

We also hear from organizers who are working to address racial economic inequality in Duluth.

Have you ever debated with a family member about getting a cat or dog? We get some advice on how to make the decision.

A history exhibit highlighting the voices of hundreds of LGBTQ+ Minnesotans is travelling around the state.

The Minnesota Music Minute was “Unguided” by ten thousand lakes. The Song of the Day was “Payer” by Brute.

A new Minnesota history exhibit featuring the recorded voices of hundreds of LGBTQ+ Minnesotans kicked off its journey around the state Thursday.

The exhibit, “We Live On: Stories of Radical Connection” is a first for the organization Telling Queer History, which has spent eleven years gathering Minnesotans for events to remember the past and create community.

It also will be their last project. The organization is closing after it visits cities including Red Wing, Duluth and Moorhead this year. The founder of Telling Queer History, Rebecca Lawrence, joined Minnesota Now to reflect on Minnesota’s colorful history and the exhibit.

The Duluth NAACP is hosting its annual Freedom Fund Dinner on Saturday. Donations from the dinner will go to the Duluth NAACP as well as a newer organization called Ignite Empower Transform.

Through its Economic Empowerment Center started last year, the nonprofit’s single employee is working to address economic and racial inequality in Duluth, one community member at a time. In Duluth and across the state, there are racial disparities in income. Black and Native American households in northeast Minnesota made $30,000 less on average than white households in 2022, according to a state analysis of Census data.  

Ignite Empower Transform’s Community Coordinator Tiffany Fenner and one of the organization’s board members, Amanda Linquist, joined Minnesota Now to share more about the new nonprofit.

Minnesota social studies teachers will gather in St. Cloud for the Minnesota Civics Summit on Saturday. Put on by the League of Women’s Voters of Minnesota, it brings together teachers and civics organizations to support teachers in engaging students during a polarizing time in politics. 

Amy Anderson, the executive director for the YMCA Center for Youth Voice, and Crystal Johnson, a 12th grade government and economics teacher in Osseo and a Minnesota Council for Social Studies board member, joined Minnesota Now to talk about the summit.

It's that time of year when you may be feeling cooped up, spending more time at home, and thinking it would be nice to have some company.

As nice as it sounds, getting a dog or a cat means a significant change to your lifestyle and your budget. It's a big change for the animal, too. So how do you know you're ready to give them a good life? When is the right time?

Our ask: Help me know when it’s the right time to get a pet

Our professional: Azure Davis, the founder of Ruff Start Rescue

Artificial intelligence has made it easier to create realistic photos and videos that don't represent real life.

A bill in the state Senate would ban apps and websites from allowing people to make fake nude photos or pornography. The bill’s author, DFL Sen. Erin May Quade, joined Minnesota Now to talk about the impacts this bill would have.

Thousands of federal employees have been fired under the Trump administration, including people in Minnesota. We talk to a leader of the Small Business Association in Minnesota whose career is in limbo after he received a termination letter.

Senator Amy Klobuchar has authored a bill to fund domestic violence training for cosmetologists. We talk to a local advocate about how the salon chair can be a resource.

Plus, Green Book sites were known as safe destinations for African American travelers during segregation. We look back on their history in Minnesota.

And Minnesota United kicks off their season this weekend. We talk to their longest running fan club, the Dark Clouds, about soccer fandom, community and the season ahead.

The Minnesota Music Minute was Brian Raphael Nabors’ composition “Pulse”, performed by the Minnesota Orchestra, and “So Much Here” by Dan Lawonn was the Song of the Day.

If you have ever been to a Minnesota United FC match at Allianz Field in St. Paul, the Oasis song “Wonderwall” may come to mind. After the Loons win a game, the stands fill with singing led by the Dark Clouds. With nearly a thousand members, the Dark Clouds are Minnesota United FC’s largest group of organized fans.

Ahead of the team’s season kickoff Saturday against Los Angeles FC, Dark Clouds Vice President Nick Moore joins MPR News host Nina Moini with a season preview.

During the era of Jim Crow laws and racial segregation, 87 locations in Minnesota were listed in the Green Book, a guidebook that helped Black travelers find lodgings, businesses and gas stations that would serve them.

But less than a quarter of these sites in Minnesota remain standing today. Most of the state’s Green Book sites were in the Twin Cities and many were demolished to make way for the construction of I35-W and I-94.

Nieeta Presley is a native of the historic Rondo neighborhood, which was one of those demolished by highway construction. She published research on Rondo Green Book sites with the Ramsey County Historical Society and joins MPR News host Nina Moini to share what she found.

Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar is looking to push forward bipartisan legislation that would provide federal funding for domestic violence awareness training for cosmetologists and beauty professionals.

Minnesota saw a record number of domestic violence homicides in 2023 and nearly 53,000 survivors received domestic violence services the same year, according to the most recent available data from Violence Free Minnesota.

Jake De Vera is Associate Director of Women’s Advocates, an organization that in 1974 founded the nation’s first domestic violence shelter in St. Paul, Minn. He joins MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about the legislation.

If you or someone you know is in a dangerous situation with a partner, you can call Minnesota Day One’s 24-hour statewide domestic and sexual violence hotline at (866) 223-1111 or text (612) 399-9995.