Minnesota Now

Papa Mbye’s debut EP hasn’t even been out for a year — but he’s already making waves in the Minneapolis music scene.

He grew up a cartoonist, and stepped into music a few years ago. His top tracks now have more than 270,000 plays on Spotify.

The musician and visual artist spoke with Minnesota Now host Cathy Wurzer about his musical influences and what’s next for him.

Listen to the full show here.

The first case of monkeypox has been found in Minnesota. Dr. Priya Sampathkumar is a professor of medicine and infectious disease expert at Mayo Clinic. She joined host Cathy Wurzer to explain what monkeypox is and what people in Minnesota can do to keep themselves safe.

Amber Estenson is a TikTok creator who shares her own Minnesota salad recipes and the stories of her community with the world. With over 700,000 followers, Estenson joined host Cathy Wurzer to talk about her journey on TikTok and what it’s been like to share her life in Minnesota with viewers around the world.

Unemployment in Minnesota is now at an all-time low – just two percent. That’s the lowest since the metric started being tracked in 1976.

But the numbers aren’t all good news. Black and Hispanic Minnesotans are experiencing much higher unemployment rates than white Minnesotans – nearly seven percent for Black Minnesotans, compared to just two and a half percent for white Minnesotans.

Steve Grove is the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. He joined host Cathy Wurzer to talk more about the latest numbers.

An old outhouse pit might not be the first place that comes to mind when searching for buried treasure. But for Tom Askjem of Buxom North Dakota, yesterday’s toilets are a treasure trove of information that tell the stories of the past. Tom Askjem is a citizen historian and archivist who has made a career of digging bottles, dish fragments and other forgotten relics of the past in outhouse pits, many of which in the Red River Valley date back to the 1870s. He joined host Cathy Wurzer to to talk more about his work.

Governor Tim Walz commented on the overturning of Roe v. Wade decision, including surrounding states’ “trigger” laws that may cause a surge in Minnesota abortion patients, the future of abortion rights in Minnesota, and his fall opponent for Governor, Scott Jenson.

While there are many angry and unbelieving abortion rights supporters over Friday’s Supreme Court decision, there are also those who are against abortion that are celebrating. Many anti-abortion activists say they’ve been praying for this day for years. Cathy spoke with Paul Stark of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, an organization that has been working against legal abortion since 1968.

This is a special edition of Minnesota Now, covering the breaking news out of Washington, D.C.

The U.S. Supreme Court has reversed the Roe V. Wade decision and struck down the constitutional right to abortion.

Abortion is still legal in Minnesota. In this hour, Host Cathy Wurzer talks with a whole host of people about how this decision affects Minnesotans and the region.

MPR Health reporter Michelle Wiley is here with reactions to the decision from organizations across the state. A University of Minnesota law professor tells us how this affects other issues regarding privacy and our personal lives.

And Governor Tim Walz shares how the state health agencies will react in the short term and how this may effect the election in November.

The high court ruled on the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and overturned the landmark Roe V. Wade abortion decision. Now Americans do not have a federally protected right to an abortion. University of Minnesota Law Professor Jill Hasday breaks down the legal arguments in the decision and susses out the variety of impacts on Minnesotans and others. Hasday is the author of "Family Law Reimagined" and "Intimate Lies and the Law".