Minnesota Now

Two Minneapolis houses of worship have been targeted in a short amount of time. A synagogue found a swastika spray painted on it Monday morning and a mosque received violent threats online. Members of both of those communities joined the show to talk about how they’re responding.

Listen to a therapy session between a father and son who have sharp political differences in the latest of MPR’s Talking Sense series.

A personal care attendant joined Minnesota Now to talk about advocating for state pension funds in his line of work.

We headed to Fergus Falls for the latest in MPR’s Wander and Wonder series, where a man is turning back the dial to a vintage sound.

The owner of Minnesota’s first bar for women’s sports joined MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about a phenomenal year of women’s sports.

Our Minnesota Music Minute was Catalyst by Zacc Harris and our Song of the Day was One Day by Rachel Nunemacher.

Among the 1,500 sentences that were recently commuted by President Joe Biden, is a former Duluth store owner who was convicted of multiple felonies for selling synthetic drugs. Now the St. Louis County Sheriff is raising concerns about it. We'll talk to him.

President-elect Donald Trump cut the number of refugees allowed to enter the United States during his first term. We'll talk to the leader of an organization that serves refugees about how she's preparing for his second.

And we'll meet a Minnesota neuroscientist who was just named to Forbes list of 30 talented people under 30.

We'll have our final sports recap of the year.

Plus, a tumbleweed Christmas tree and other holiday memories from prairie life in the 1880s.

All the way back in 1975 former MPR News reporter Bill Siemering interviewed 98-year-old Ole Olson near Fargo. He shared happy Christmas memories from the Minnesota and Dakota prairies in the 1880s. The Olson family didn’t have much for little Ole at that time — they decorated for the holiday with tumbleweeds and one of the big gifts was an apple.

But Ole says he had absolutely nothing to complain about.

For Minnesota Now and Then, listen to Siemering and Olson.

About five weeks remain until President-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office to begin his second term. Trump vowed in his campaign to limit immigration to the U.S. and carry out mass deportations. Those promises appealed to many voters.

We’re going to focus on one way that people leave their home countries and arrive in Minnesota — refugee resettlement.

During his first term, Trump cut the number of people who were allowed to enter under the country’s refugee program. And these numbers have since rebounded due to efforts by the Biden administration and private organizations that work on resettlement.

Joining Minnesota Now host Nina Moini to talk about preparing for the next administration is Jocelyn Wyatt, the CEO of Alight, which works with refugees resettling in Minnesota.

Every year Forbes comes out with its prestigious 30 under 30 list. It highlights people making a change across various industries who are under the age of 30. In total, 30 people are selected across 20 industries. This year’s list includes Caitlin Clark and singer Noah Kahan. And it also includes a Minnesotan.

Angeline Dukes, an assistant professor in neuroscience at the University of Minnesota was named in the category of Social Impact. Dukes founded the organization Black In Neuro, which empowers Black scholars in neuroscience-related fields. She joined Minnesota Now host Nina Moini to talk about the honor and her work.

The Packers did Vikings fans a favor this weekend. Green Bay beat the Seattle Seahawks, which secured the Vikings a spot in the playoffs. This will be the 32nd time the Vikings have gone to the playoffs, but they've only made four Super Bowls, which all took place in the 1970s.

And there are reports that the owners of the NBA team the Phoenix Suns is interested in buying the Twins.

Wally Langfellow is the founder of Minnesota Score Sports Magazine and co-host of the sports talk show 10,000 Takes. Eric Nelson is the other host of that show and Minnesota Vikings NFL reporter for CBS' Eye on Football and Sirius XM. They both joined Minnesota Now host Nina Moini to break down the latest in sports.

Some of the states’ elected officials are raising concerns after President Biden released a list of almost 1,500 people convicted of crimes he is granting clemency to. Jim Carlson made the list.

He’s a Duluth former business owner who has served more than ten of his seventeen-year-sentence in prison and in a halfway house. Carlson was found guilty in 2013 for dozens of felony charges after selling synthetic drugs from his shop called The Last Place on Earth. Carlson has said in the past he didn’t know he was selling synthetic drugs that were illegal. Now with clemency, he’ll finish his sentence next week.

St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsey wrote on Facebook that the decision is concerning and frustrating. He joined Minnesota Now host Nina Moini to explain his thoughts about this clemency process.

Transitions are a part of life. Throughout our lives we go through at least several major changes. Yet in many cases transitions take longer than expected or hoped for.

Vanessa Tennyson has developed over the years a deep understanding of work and life transitions. At age 65, she is in her encore career as an executive and leadership coach. And as a transgender woman, she offers what she wrote on her website is “a rare perspective from experiencing both male and female gender roles as an employee, manager, executive and business owner.”

In our series “Connect the Dots” we meet with people who have deep experiences in our community and ask them to share lessons learned about what really matters in life.

MPR’s senior economics contributor Chris Farrell recently met with Tennyson at her office in Minneapolis and joined host Nina Moini to talk about it.

Nobel prize laureates are pushing back against President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. In a letter from earlier this week, the group asked Senators to oppose Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation to the job.

They say he would “put the public’s health in jeopardy and undermine America’s global leadership in the health sciences.”

Kennedy has promoted conspiracy theories including one that pushes that COVID-19 was created to target certain racial groups and give other groups immunity. He has also denied the link between HIV and AIDS, a scientific discovery that has helped to treat and prevent AIDS around the world. Kennedy has also embraced the debunked theory that childhood vaccines cause autism.

Dr. Brian Kobilka, a 2012 Nobel Laureate in chemistry is one of the scientists trying to prevent Kennedy from being confirmed as leader of the Department of Health and Human Services. Kobilka is originally from Little Falls and attended the University of Minnesota Duluth. He’s now a professor at Stanford University and joined Minnesota Now to talk about his concerns.

The holidays are often an excuse to eat more cookies than any other time of year. Many people have family traditions where they gather to make sweet treats. Zoë François may have your next cookie recipe.

Minnesota baker Zoë François is known to many online as Zoe Bakes. She has more than 400,000 followers on Instagram and also a Max (former HBO) show with Minnesota chef Andrew Zimmern. She is the author of three cookbooks, including her most recent book, “Zoe Bakes Cookies.” And you can meet her on Monday for a holiday cookie event at Graze Food Hall in Minneapolis.

Zoe joined MPR News host Nina to talk about her cookbook full of 75 cookie, bar and brownie recipes.