Minnesota Now

Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance descend on New York tomorrow for the first — and only — Vice Presidential debate. Walz’s campaign has introduced him to the nation as a Midwestern dad and high school football coach.

But Walz is also a world traveler, with a deep experience in China. It’s a fact he used to brag about — and sometimes exaggerate — earlier in his political career. But now that he’s running for vice president, his campaign barely mentions it.

MPR News host Cathy Wurzer dove deeper into the story with Curtis Gilbert, senior editor with APM Reports.

How do you define the “American Dream?” Is it a white picket fence? A home in the suburbs? A general feeling of security?

A study from Minnesota State University - Mankato asked Millennials and Baby Boomers what the American Dream looked like in their eyes and found some generational differences.

Kristin Scott is a professor of Marketing at MSU Mankato and the primary author of the study. She joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about it.

The dry and warm weather over the past few weeks have come together to create the perfect conditions for a wildfire. So much so that the National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning for 39 counties in central, northeast, northwest and southwest Minnesota.

To explain that risk, Karen Harrison, a wildfire prevention specialist from the Department of Natural Resources, spoke with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer.

Minnesota has the highest concentration of Korean adoptees of any state in the U.S.

A new investigation by the Associated Press revealed widespread corruption in the Korean adoption system that has many adoptees questioning what they’ve been told about their past.

The report found South Korea’s government, Western countries and adoption agencies worked in tandem to supply some 200,000 Korean children to parents overseas, despite years of evidence they were being procured through questionable means.

Sara Docan-Morgan is a professor of Communication Studies at University of Wisconsin - La Crosse and she thinks a lot about the complications that come with being adopted from Korea by an American family.

This year she published a book called In Reunion: Transnational Korean Adoptees and the Communication of Family. She spoke with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about it.

A meal at the dinner table with friends and family is one of the ways we can connect with people in a meaningful way. When someone dies, it’s common to bring food to provide care and comfort and love. A new cookbook is helping cherish the memories of loved ones we have lost.

“Good Grief! What’s for Dinner?” is a collection of more than 200 recipes curated by the Grief Club of Minnesota.

Annie Sperling helped put together the cookbook with her widow group at the Grief Club. She talked with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about it.

The southeastern U.S. is preparing for the potentially deadly Hurricane Helene, which is set to hit Florida’s coast this evening. One Minnesotan who now lives in Florida has been through several severe storms and talks about bracing for this one.

Plus, the author of a brand-new cookbook about grief, and how food brings us together.

Minnesota has the highest concentration of Korean adoptees in the nation. We hear from one adoptee whose life work focuses on navigating that identity.

We hear from one woman who is building the ultimate Minnesota bucket list.

And we look back on a pioneering rural ambulance service.

Taking an ambulance to a hospital looked a lot different 70 or 80 years ago. Its job was to get you to the hospital quickly, not as much about medical treatment along the way.

A pioneering ambulance service in Southern Minnesota helped improve survival rates and professionalize the job to what it is today: a hospital on wheels.

A new exhibit at the History Center of Olmsted County puts the spotlight on Gold Cross Ambulance and its advances, and a panel discussion Thursday night aims to find solutions for the challenges that remain in rural emergency medical services.

Wayne Gannaway is the history center's executive director. He spoke with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about the exhibit.

Our “Thank You, Stranger” series is about the people who come into our lives and lend a little support, maybe make our days a little brighter.

This one focuses on a woman who started building a bucket list after finding out she was sick — and leaned on hundreds of strangers for their help.

Marcia Spring from Bloomington spoke with MPR News producer Ellen Finn.

The state of Florida, along with the entire southeastern U.S, is bracing for the arrival of Hurricane Helene.

By the time it makes landfall, the National Hurricane Center is predicting it will be a major storm with winds above 100 miles per hour. Forecasters are also predicting a deadly storm surge along Florida’s Big Bend, where water levels could be as high as 20 feet, because of that, here could be dangerous flooding all along Florida’s west coast, where my next guest lives.

Since moving to Florida from Minnesota in the late 1980s, Cheryl Magnuson has been through several big storms. She talked with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about preparing for this one.

Rebecca Nagle is an award-winning journalist and podcaster. Season 2 of her podcast “This Land,” from Crooked Media which delved into the 40 year-long fight over the Indian Child Welfare Act was nominated for a Peabody Award.  

Her new book “By the Fire We Carry: The Generations Long Fight for Justice on Native Land” deeply reports the history behind the landmark McGirt v. Oklahoma decision, which resulted in the largest transfer of Native land in recent history. The book weaves together personal history, memoir, legal history and Native history to tell the story. 

APM Reports’ Allison Herrera interviewed Rebecca Nagle, who is speaking at Birchbark Bizhiw in Minneapolis Wednesday night. Birchbark is owned by Ojibwe author Louise Erdrich.