There’s a lot of media about food out there, but not much about the complexities and passion that fuels home cooking in rural Minnesota. That's what James Beard award winning chef Amy Thielen is taking on in her new project.

Thielen hosts “Ham Radio,” a radio call-in show that takes us inside the kitchens of cooks all over the state. It airs on KAXE based out of Grand Rapids. She said her goal is to make it sound like a community cookbook translated into radio. She joined Minnesota Now to talk about the show.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors. In recent years, 27 states have enacted laws that restrict access to gender-affirming care for youth.

The ruling could doom lawsuits brought by transgender rights groups in states that have restrictions on gender-affirming care.

While the ruling won’t affect Minnesota’s law protecting gender-affirming care, clinics could see a surge of new patients coming from out-of-state.

Aaron Zimmerman is the executive director of PFUND, an organization that provides resources for LGBTQ+ plus people in the upper Midwest. He joined Minnesota Now to talk about the ruling’s impact.

More than 15,000 nurses and health care workers across 22 hospitals and clinics in the Twin Cities and Twin Ports have voted to authorize a strike amid contract negotiations.

While it doesn’t mean a strike will happen, it’s one step closer to health care workers going to the picket line.

Chris Rubesch is the president of the Minnesota Nurses Association, the union representing the nurses and health care workers involved, and an RN at Essentia Health in Duluth. He joined Minnesota Now to talk about the vote.

Minnesota Now reached out to the Twin Cities Hospital Group for an interview, but they were unavailable. They provided this statement:

“Today’s announcement of a strike vote puts the union’s “strike first, patients second” mentality on full display. It is disappointing that the union has chosen this path instead of working collaboratively to find solutions. While today’s vote tally does not mean a strike is imminent (a 10-day notice must be provided), if the union decides it is preferable for our nurses to leave their patients at the bedside, our hospitals will be fully prepared to care for patients. As they must be, our teams are focused on concluding these negotiations, reaching a fair settlement, and serving our patients.”

When a shooter arrived at the homes of four lawmakers, investigators say he was dressed as a cop, identified himself as police and had a vehicle that looked like a police car. He then shot and killed Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, and shot and injured Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette.

Many people trust that when law enforcement comes to their door, it’s for their safety. But after this incident, some of that trust may be slipping away.

Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans joined Minnesota Now to dive into this issue.

Severe weather in northern Minnesota has pummeled the region over the past few days. As of Monday morning, more than 4,000 people in Bemidji are still without power. We'll speak to Bemidji mayor Jorge Prince about clean up efforts.

As the war between Iran and Israel enters its second week, many Iranians in Minnesota are keeping a close eye on the conflict. We'll hear from a local Iranian organization.

Plus, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas have created a new role to address tensions about Israel’s war in Gaza on university campuses. We'll hear from their first director of campus affairs.

And we'll learn who the Timberwolves have their eye on for the NBA draft and other sports headlines from Wally and Eric.

Our Minnesota Music Minute was “Hustle” by Sawtooth Witch and our Song of the Day was “Recipe” by Push and Turn.

There wasn't a Minnesota team in the NBA finals, but there was a Minnesotan! The winner of Game 7 was the Oklahoma City Thunder — which includes Minnesota's own Chet Holmgren.

And on the women's side, the Lynx are dominating the start of the season.

The same can’t quite be said for the Minnesota Twins, who currently have a losing 37-40 record.

Joining Minnesota Now with the latest sports headlines are Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson.

Tensions are growing in the Middle East as the war between Israel and Iran enters its second week.

Over the weekend, the U.S. inserted itself into the war, launching a series of coordinated bombing attacks against three Iranian nuclear facilities. It's a major escalation of the ongoing Middle East conflict.

As the war continues, many Iranians here in Minnesota have been keeping a close eye on the conflict. Parham Alaei is a co-founder of the Minnesota Committee in Support of a Democratic Iran and joined Minnesota Now to share his perspective.

Storms swept through northern Minnesota early Monday morning and caused power outages for more than 10,000 homes and businesses. That’s on top of a devastating round of storms that brought hurricane-speed winds to the Bemidji area early Saturday.

Those storms took down trees, power lines and buildings. And the damage sent people to emergency shelters as temperatures approached 90 degrees. As of Monday morning, more than 4,000 customers in and around Bemidji were still without power.

No injuries or deaths from these storms have been reported in Minnesota. Leaders of Beltrami County and the city of Bemidji declared states of emergency over the destruction. Bemidji Mayor Jorge Prince joined Minnesota Now with the latest.

Israel has opened a new front with Iran. But the war in Gaza is still raging on. The latest there, the Israeli military said it recovered the remains of three hostages over the weekend. Overall, more than half the hostages have been returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Eight have been rescued alive and Israeli forces have recovered dozens of bodies.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 55,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Here in the U.S., tensions surrounding Israel’s war in Gaza have often centered at universities, with continuous protests on campuses. In response, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas have created a new role.

Rabbi Jill Avrin will be the organization’s first director of campus affairs. She started the job this month. Rabbi Avrin joined Minnesota Now to talk about her goals for this new role.

A new crown and sash was presented to Miss Juneteenth Minnesota 2025, a pageant that’s in its second year.

The pageant celebrates young Black women who are leaders in their communities and who can rock some amazing looks. This year’s winner, Jailyn Newton, and last year’s winner, Khadijah Lamah joined Minnesota Now to talk about their experience participating in the pageant.