Minnesota Now

Around the country, Republican-led states have cracked down on gender-affirming care services for minors.

Twenty states have banned such care — including North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa. Meanwhile, 13 states – including Minnesota – have gone the opposite direction and enacted legal protections for patients seeking gender care and for providers.

On Sunday, National Public Radio is set to air a special feature that delves into the realities on the ground for transgender youth and their families, along with medical providers in two states – Utah, which has adopted restrictions, and Minnesota, which has added legal protections for care.

MPR political reporter Dana Ferguson talked with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about her reporting along with KUER reporter Saige Miller, who joined us from Salt Lake City.

Officials have released some details about the shooting of three Fargo police officers last week, and promised more details about the investigation Friday. They suggested the suspect, who was driving a car filled with weapons, was planning a larger attack somewhere in Fargo. Dan Gunderson reports.

A new drug is changing the conversation around obesity in the United States. Back in 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved a new weight-loss medication, Wegovy in 2021. It has the same active ingredient — semaglutide — as the diabetes drug, Ozempic.

The drugs have become so popular that their manufacturers couldn’t keep up with demand and some pharmacies are still seeing shortages.

Some patients say they’ve vastly improved their lives. There are also critics who worry these drugs are being too widely used for cosmetic weight loss and feeding into an obsession with thinness. And then there’s the question of price and access.

Clearly, it’s a complicated issue! Here to help explain are two doctors: One, an obesity specialist, and another focused on eating disorders.

MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer spoke with Dr. Aaron Kelly, co-director of the Center for Pediatric Obesity Medicine at the University of Minnesota, and Dr. Mary Bretzman, who specializes in eating disorders with Accanto Health, the parent company of The Emily Program.

Storms did a fair amount of damage across Minnesota Wednesday night.

On the plus side, some areas even got a helpful dose of rain. But overall, the state's drought condition is becoming more desperate as we deal with another year of what's called a "flash drought."

Since last week, drought conditions in spots of central and southeast Minnesota moved from "severe" to "extreme."

Assistant State Climatologist Pete Boulay spoke with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about the latest drought report.

Mary Jane Alm dipped a toe in the music business 50 years ago and since then has swept up numerous Minnesota Music Awards, including Artist of the Year.

The Mankato-born singer-songwriter is an inductee of both the Mid-America and Minnesota Music Halls of Fame.

She is looking back on her career with performances at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater on July 29 and 30. First, she shared a few stories with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

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We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.

Summer is the season of outdoor music and small-town festivals. For the second summer in a row, the town of St. Peter, Minn., is hosting an event series that is a little of both.

The Minnesota Original Music Festival kicks off Wednesday and runs through Sunday, bringing together musicians in southern Minnesota for live performances and educational opportunities.

MPR News host Cathy Wurzer talked with festival director Eli Hoehn.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.   

We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.

School curriculum was a political flashpoint during the midterms around the country last year and there are signs it will loom large in the upcoming 2024 elections as well.

WTIP North Shore Community Radio recently looked at the debate over how to teach kids about Minnesota’s past, with a focus on new statewide standards that will require schools to include Indigenous history in their curriculum.

Staci Drouillard and Leah Lemm co-host the award-winning series It Happens Here: The Roots of Racial Inequity on the North Shore, written and produced by Drouillard.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.   

We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.

Correction (July 20, 2023): An earlier version of this article misspelled Staci Drouillard’s name. The post has been updated.

Parts of Minnesota awaited possible severe weather Wednesday, with a heat wave crawling toward the state. MPR Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about the forecast, drought trends, and more.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.   

We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.

Severe weather could hit parts of the state today ahead of a big heat wave on the horizon. MPR meteorologist Paul Huttner shares how the weather could affect weekend plans.

Duluth musician Gaelynn Lea has been busy since she won NPR’s tiny desk contest in 2016. She has played hundreds of concerts around the world — now she debuts her next project.

Plus, midwest music icon Mary Jane Alm is sharing stories from fifty years in the music business. And we spotlight another festival, this time in St. Peter, Minn.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.  

In many ways, mobile home parks represent people's chance at the American Dream: home ownership. Northfield’s Cait Kelley reported that owning your mobile home while leasing the land under it puts people in a precarious position. In a new investigative podcast called Not Mobile, Kelley uncovered how the mishmash of federal, state, and local jurisdictions make it close to impossible for most mobile home park residents to get support when corporate park owners don't hold up their end of their deal. Her investigation all started in her hometown of Northfield a year ago, when she was with KYMN radio. It led her down a year-long uncovering of the challenges some mobile home dwellers in Minnesota face. Kelley spoke to MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about what she found.