Minnesota Now

More than 20,000 people are diagnosed with Ovarian cancer each year across the country, and more than 12,000 will die of the disease. But new research from the Mayo Clinic could help save some of those lives. Dr. Marina Walther-Antonio is a microbiome researcher with the Mayo’s Center for Individualized Medicine and an author of the study. She joined Cathy to explain how our microbiome could affect our reproductive organs.

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There is another development in the controversy over academic and religious freedom at Hamline University. On Tuesday January 24, the majority of full-time faculty members called for university President Fayneese Miller to resign her position.

She’s under fire for her handling of the fallout from a student complaint about a lecture in an art history class in Fall 2022. That’s when adjunct professor Erika Lopez Prater showed a depiction of the Prophet Muhammed, which upset some Muslim students. She was not asked to return to the school the following semester. The situation created a controversy over academic freedom and religious inclusivity that's made international headlines.

Professor Jim Scheibel is the president of the Faculty Coucil at Hamline University. He joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about the vote.

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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. 

Dylan Hicks’ latest album, called Airport Sparrows, was recorded with Small Screens, a chamber-pop sextet that draws on jazz, folk, chamber music, and R&B. That album came out in September of 2022. Now he’s gearing up for a show at the Dakota on Tuesday, January 24. He joined Cathy to talk about his work.

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. 

Attorney General Keith Ellison talks about the investigation into a potential health care merger. We take a look back at the history of the Minnesota State Prison in Stillwater and hear how to take up snowmobiling safely. Finally, Minneapolis artist Dylan Hicks talks music ahead of a show at the Dakota Jazz club.

Minnesota has 22,000 miles of groomed snowmobile trails, 280 organized snowmobile clubs, and over 202,000 snowmobiles. If you’re one of the Minnesotans who has never hopped on a sled but would like to give it a shot—without breaking the bank—Scott Wakefield has a few tips. Wakefield has been snowmobiling since he was six years old, and he is president of the Minnesota United Snowmobilers Association.

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. 

Brent Peterson, executive director of the Washington County Historical Society, joins MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer to talk about Minnesota State Prison in Stillwater.

MPR reporter Michelle Wiley explores the University of Minnesota’s position on a merger between two major health care organizations in the state. Then, MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer talks with current Attorney General Keith Ellison about a series of four public comment meetings on the proposed deal.

It’s fascinating to go for a walk and stumble on the foundation of some long-forgotten building. Maybe it was once somebody’s home or an old barn. MPR News producer Britt Aamodt has found old medicine bottles and broken bits of crockery, even the sole of a leather shoe, half sunk in dirt inside abandoned places. For this Minnesota Now and Then history segment, we’re going to a ghost town. 

In December of 1856, Ignatius Loyola Donnelly began his campaign to get people to move to the wonderful town of Nininger in southern Minnesota. The thing is - the town wasn’t wonderful, and it wasn’t a town. It was an idea that Donnelly wanted to make a reality. Matthew Carter, Executive Director of the Dakota County Historical Society, told producer Britt Aamodt more of the story.

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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. 

State lawmakers are at work in St. Paul and moving forward with a number of proposals - listen for a roundup of what's happening this week. That includes a proposal to stop state funding for pregnancy crisis centers. We'll find out how that could change the resources for women who are pregnant.

Are you looking for love? Maybe a matchmaker can help. We'll talk with one of the people behind "The Modern Yentas" - a match making group in the Twin Cities.

We visit a ghost town in Dakota County and hear from Minnesota's first competitive cornhole player!

Sunday kicked off the year of the rabbit or cat for some. Listen for a look at the celebration in New Ulm this week.

One item the governor may propose eliminating from the state budget is funding for controversial “crisis pregnancy centers” across the state. MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer talks with MPR digital producer Sam Stroozas about the role of these centers in Minnesota’s reproductive health landscape.