Minnesota Now

The new book “A Kid’s Guide to Saving the Planet” was written by long time Twin Cities meteorologist, broadcaster and entrepreneur Paul Douglas. He talks with Cathy Wurzer about writing a book to help young people understand climate change so they can get active on the issue.

With this wet and chilly spring, it may be hard to remember the dry drought-ridden summer of last year. Jeffrey Strock, a professor at the University of Minnesota’s Southwest Research and Outreach Center, talks with Cathy Wurzer about the drought outlook for spring and summer, drought trends connected to climate change and strategies to keep moisture in the soil.

Sven Sundgaard talk with Cathy Wurzer about the extended weather forecast for Minnesota.

There are more than 5.3 million members in more than seven thousand Buy Nothing Neighborhood groups -- including here in Minnesota. Holly Anderson is the administrator for the Powderhorn neighborhood Buy Nothing Facebook group in Minneapolis and she talks with Cathy Wurzer about the philosophy and unexpected impact of the growing movement.

Graduating seniors at North Community High School in Minneapolis are getting $10,000 in scholarship money from Pillsbury United Communities. Adair Mosley, President and CEO of Pillsbury United Communities, talks with Cathy Wurzer about why and how he raised the money and how other communities can too.

Jewish Americans have sprung into action to help those going through a nightmare similar to what many of their ancestors endured in the Nazi Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. Cathy Wurzer speaks with Journalist Lev Gringauz, editorial fellow at the magazine "Twin Cities Jewfolk" and host of the news podcast called “The Jews are Tired.”

Avian Influenza in Minnesota has killed more than 2 million birds in commercial and backyard flocks and at least 12 wild raptors. Cathy Wurzer talks with Jeff Bender, professor at the University of Minnesota in Environmental Health Sciences and Director of the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center, about where this might be headed.

A new book is exploring long lost interviews with the iconic Minnesota-born musician, Bob Dylan. When Anthony Scaduto first released his book, Bob Dylan: An Intimate Biography in 1971, the Nobel Prize-winning songwriter had already released some of his most noteworthy albums of the 1960s.

Decades later, Scaduto found a dusty box of reel-to-reel tapes in his basement, containing the full, unedited interviews that comprised Dylan’s biography. After Scaduto passed away in 2017, his wife and research assistant Stephanie Trudeau edited the work of those collected interviews into The Dylan Tapes: Friends, Players, and Lovers Talkin’ Early Bob Dylan. The book will be released on April 26. Trudeau discusses her work alongside Scaduto, exploring Bob Dylan’s life and music. Cathy Wurzer hosts.

Minnesota has a racial health equity problem – and those disparities are built into the system. That’s the focus of a February report from the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

Medicaid is a big piece of that problem. More than forty percent of African American Minnesotans under the age of 65 rely on Medicaid for health care coverage. Dr. Nathan Chomilo is the Medical Director for the state of Minnesota’s Medicaid and MinnesotaCare programs. He joins host Cathy Wurzer to discuss racial health disparities in Minnesota.

It is national child abuse prevention month – a month dedicated to stopping child abuse and neglect. But that’s gotten more difficult during the pandemic. Most child abuse reports are made by mandated reporters like teachers and doctors, who kids aren’t seeing as much of these days.

Here in Minnesota, about 34,000 children were screened in child maltreatment reports by county and tribal agencies in 2020, according to state data. The department of human services received 15 percent fewer maltreatment reports in 2020, compared to the previous year.

Dr. Jay-Sheree Allen – a physician at Mayo Clinic and host of the podcast Millennial Health, discusses child abuse and prevention. Cathy Wurzer hosts.