Minnesota Now

A new film that documents Operation Metro Surge premiered at the prestigious Venice Film Festival in Italy over the weekend. The 25-minute documentary, called "They're Here," captures scenes in the Twin Cities during the height of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement surge over the winter.

The film is directed by Laura Poitras and Minnesota native Rachel Lauren Mueller.

Mueller, along with Adam Mellion, the film’s co-producer and researcher. joined MPR News host Nina Moini for a conversation about the film from Venice.

The careers of a Twin Cities mother-daughter artist duo have intersected in a new way — through a multimedia exhibition at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Peggy Thompson is a painter whose work often explores nature and our relationship with the environment. Her daughter, Maggie Thompson, is a multimedia artist known for her textile and beadwork.

Together, they've created an exhibition that brings those practices together, called "Inherited Ground." It is on view at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum through September 30. They joined MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about their work together.

Salvadorans who have lived in Minnesota for more than 25 years under Temporary Protected Status could soon lose their legal status in the U.S.

TPS for El Salvador is set to expire Wednesday. It would be the latest group to lose those protections as the Trump administration moves to end TPS designations.

Ana Pottratz Acosta, a professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, joined MPR News host Nina Moini to explain what this means and what happens next.

Minnesota Now broadcast live from the MPR Stage at the corner of Judson and Nelson with a full hour of political news, fair food, farming and live, local music.

It's a midterm election year, and candidates and their campaigns are all over the fairgrounds looking for votes. We surveyed the scene with political journalists Peter Cox and Laura McCallum.

For 50 years, a State Fair coffee shop has used the fair to advocate for farmers. We met a lifelong farmer with the Minnesota Farmer's Union.

Plus, we tried two new fair foods and get to know the people behind them.

And we heard a couple tunes from Twin Cities folk duo the Cactus Blossoms.

Brothers Page Burkum and Jack Torrey are no strangers to the Minnesota State Fair, or the MPR stage. But their name – and their music – brings to mind a different scene, the desert. The Cactus Blossoms are known for rich vocal harmonies and twangy guitars that create a rich, old country sound.

They’ve been playing together for more than a decade now and have six albums to their name, most recently, the 2024 release, Every Time I Think About You. Next month, they’ll be touring with some other Twin Cities favorites, the Jayhawks. And after that, they’re taking their music across the American West.

The Cactus Blossoms joined MPR News host Nina Moini live at the State Fair to share music and stories, ahead of a show Thursday night on the Preyes Stage at the fair’s Schilling Amphitheater.

The Great Minnesota Get Together brings people from all across the state, so it's a go-to spot for candidates running for office. Every major candidate has their own booth, and most candidates are here for multiple days, speaking to voters and visiting vendors.

It is a big election year in Minnesota. Voters will choose a new governor and a new U.S. Senator. And every single seat in the state legislature will be on the ballot.

Joining Minnesota Now at the State Fair booth are two members of the MPR politics team, Reporter Peter Cox and longtime political reporter and editor now back at MPR News Laura McCallum.

It’s what many of us wait all year for — the new foods at the Minnesota State Fair.

And this year’s lineup is a diverse mix of 36 new items. There’s the “Dubai Whooping Pie” and the “Dill with It, Cookie.”

Minnesota Now got a chance to taste two of the items on the list and hear more about how they were created.

Sara Hayden, owner of Sara’s Tipsy Pies, and Aliah Bennett Taylor with Lumpia City joined Minnesota Now at the Fair to talk about the “Ube Strawberry Sundae Tart” and “Longanisa Cheese Curd Lumpia.”

Many of us may think of the giant slide or deep-fried food on a stick when we think about the Minnesota State Fair. But the Great Minnesota Get-Together was actually created to highlight farmers and farming across the state.

It’s a mission Gary Wertish, president of the Minnesota Farmers Union, thinks a lot about. He joined Minnesota Now on stage at the Fair to share more about the challenges facing small family farms and how the union is working to support them.

Some students are heading back to school, including in Fridley, where the school district saw major disruptions last school year due to Operation Metro Surge. We heard how the district is welcoming everyone back on the first day of school.

Students across the state will now be required to learn about mental health. We learned about the new state standards.

Plus, have you opened up your electricity bill this summer to see your payment has surged? We broke down what's behind the increase.

MPR’s weather team joined us live from the state fair with a Labor Day weekend weather forecast.

And a new documentary goes behind the scenes of the Great Minnesota Get-Together.

The Minnesota Music Minute was “Lately I’ve Let Things Slide” by the Cactus Blossoms and “State Fair” by Wilder Atkins was the Song of the Day.

An upcoming documentary looks to showcase the State Fair in a new light. Simply called "The Fair Documentary," it goes behind-the-scenes of fair favorites and highlights corners of the fair you may have never seen before.

Director and producer Alec Fischer joined MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about the film, which is currently in production.