Minnesota claims to be the Land of 10,000 Lakes. But there’s one lake you won’t find on any map: Lake Agassiz. This gigantic glacial lake, which covered parts of Canada, North Dakota and Northwestern Minnesota, drained away thousands of years ago.

Jim Cotter, geology professor at the University of Minnesota – Morris, is back with us on Minnesota Now to give us the next chapter in his geologist’s tour of Minnesota history.  

As 2022 comes to a close, we’re looking back on some of the biggest stories we covered this year. One, of course, is Russia’s invasion into Ukraine. That happened back on February 24th.

That day, we spoke with Liliya Kacharova, a Ukrainian American chemistry professor in Duluth. She told us about her family that was living in Ukraine and about her fears for the future of the country.

Now, about 11 months later, war still rages on in Ukraine. And we wanted to catch up with Liliya to see how she’s doing.

Snow, heavy at times, fell across the state Wednesday. This is just the start of a major winter storm and travel plans could be seriously impacted.

If you're figuring out whether it's bad enough to cancel that holiday gathering... We'll get a look at your full holiday travel forecast. MPR Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner talks with host Cathy Wurzer.

See any good holiday lights on your block this week? It’s that time of year. And for some, it is a yearly tradition to check out the flashiest holiday lights in the area. Some folks even drive far out of town to see the best displays. KSTP Executive Producer Mike Marcotte remembers heading to Phalen Park in Saint Paul for a drive-through display every year with his family as a child. And for the past six years, he has gathered information about all of those special holiday light displays across Minnesota, so that you can enjoy them, too. Mike joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about his Holiday Lights Display Guide. You can find that complete guide here.

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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. 

While 2022 comes to a close, the MPR newsroom staff is looking back on the most exciting and fascinating stories we’ve covered this year.

MPR News reporters Hannah Yang in Worthington, Dan Kraker in Duluth, and Catherine Richert in Rochester joined host Cathy Wurzer to talk about their favorites.

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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. 

More than 3500 Americans have died from long COVID, according to a new report from the CDC. But long COVID doesn’t have to kill you to completely derail your life. Ten to fifteen percent of Americans—that’s millions of people – are living with long COVID, defined by the CDC as symptoms lasting weeks or months after infection.

MPR News host Cathy Wurzer first talked with long COVID patient Savannah Brooks back in June, and she is still fighting debilitating symptoms. Brooks is a literary agent and lecturer in Minneapolis. You can follow her story on her Twitter feed @sblitagent.

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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. 

Opioid treatment clinics can be a lifeline for people dealing with addiction. But Minnesota’s opioid clinics are overwhelmed and understaffed. We’ll find out what’s going on.

As many as one in five adults have long COVID symptoms, and it can happen to anyone. We’ll talk with one woman living with long covid.

We’re traveling to Duluth, Rochester and Worthington to dive into our favorite stories of the year with MPR News reporters from around the state.

Finally, there’s one Minnesotan who knows where to find a great holiday light show. He’ll share some of his favorites.

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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. 

It's been quite a winter storm so far and we're not done yet. We’ve seen hundreds of crashes and spinouts so far across the state, as well as major power outages. We'll get the details on how long the snow is going to last.

And one major step in coming out as transgender is legally changing your name. But it can be complicated. We'll hear about folks working to make it a little easier.

And there's one controversial Minnesota Christmas dish with a long history. We'll talk about its future.

Did you know there's a Minnesota town with more nutcrackers than people? It's a fun story.

We’ll wrap up all the sports news you need to know with our sports guys Wally and Eric.

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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. 

Sports fans are excited this week for UMN Gophers to head to New York City. Why? Our sports guys Wally and Eric joined the show to fill us in. Wally Longfellow is the founder of Minnesota Score magazine and the cohost of “Ten-thousand Takes” sports talk show. Eric Nelson is the other host of “Ten-thousand Takes” and the Minnesota Vikings reporter for CBS Sports Radio “Eye on Football.” They join us every week with the sports news we need to know.

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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. 

Are you planning your holiday menu yet? No matter what holidays you celebrate this time of year - there's probably a special dish that holds so much tradition, you have to have it - even if no one likes it. Well, for many Minnesotans, that dish is lutefisk. MPR News producer Britt Aamodt wanted to know - how many people are still buying Lutefisk for the holidays?

Aamodt spoke with Chris Dorff, president of one of the largest lutefisk producers in the world, Olsen Fish Company in Minnesota. You can check out their recipe for Norwegian Lutefisk Tacos here.

Do you have a dish on your holiday table that is full of tradition? The Minnesota Now team wants to hear about it! Email us at [email protected] with a photo.

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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.