You don’t have to wait until spring to get outdoors and enjoy nature. If you know where to go, what to look for and how to prepare, winter is an excellent time to go bird watching. An expert birder offers advice and answers questions about birds in Minnesota.

Guest:

Sharon Stiteler is also known as the birdchick. She has written several books on birding and is a national park ranger for the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.

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Outdoor winter activity Taking in ‘little treats’ on a Minnesota winter birding trip

Outside in MN More ideas for outdoor recreation this winter

In 2019 Minnesota’s journalism scene expanded with the launch of an ambitious project called Sahan Journal. It is an online publication that focuses on the untold stories of Minnesota’s immigrants and refugees.

Saran Journal is an independent, nonprofit news organization led by editor and executive director Mukhtar Ibrahim. He writes, “the mission of Sahan Journal is to chronicle the struggles, successes and transformation of Minnesota’s new Americans, whose stories are often overlooked.”

Guests:

Mukhtar Ibrahim is the editor and executive director of Sahan Journal.

Jeffrey Bissoy is a contributor to Sahan Journal.

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As of mid-December, more than 56,000 people who had entered the United States seeking asylum from persecution had been sent back to Mexico to wait for their cases to be heard. They are there because of the Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocol, also known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy. That policy has been in effect since Jan. 24, 2019.

St. Paul-based immigration attorney Kim Hunter is spending six months serving as a Border Fellow with the Lawyers for Good Government Foundation’s Project Corazon. That project is bringing legal services to asylum seekers living in a tent city in Matamoros, Mexico, which is just across the border from Brownsville, Texas.

Guest:

Kim Hunter is a St. Paul immigration attorney representing asylum seekers in Mexico with Lawyers for Good Government Foundation’s Project Corazon.

Have you ever said yes to an invitation and instantly regretted it? Or do you feel guilty when you have to cancel plans?

Instead of feeling like you have to say yes to everything, make 2020 all about learning to say no to others so you can say yes to yourself.

Guests:

Rachel Wilkerson Miller is a deputy editor at VICE and author of the forthcoming book, “The Art of Showing Up: How to Be There for Yourself and Your People.” Miller recently wrote two pieces for Self Magazine about saying no to invitations and about canceling plans with friends without feeling bad about it.

Dr. Shonda Craft is a licensed marriage and family therapist and dean of the School of Health and Human Services at St. Cloud State University.

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Saturday, Dec. 28, 2019, was one of the busiest days Dr. Bill Heegaard has ever seen in his years working at Hennepin Healthcare’s emergency department in Minneapolis. The ice storm that day caused lots of slips and falls, which resulted in injuries, some of them severe.

Heegaard said falls on the ice can lead to head injuries, which are especially dangerous if a person is taking blood thinners. Overexertion while shoveling snow can cause heart attacks, and no one should ever try to reach into a snowblower to clear a clog.

These were some of the winter weather injury topics he discussed with guest host Marianne Combs.

DNA tests have become wildly popular over the past decade.

Tens of millions of people have had their DNA tested to find out more about their family history, or to better understand their health.

But there are limits to what the tests can tell you. If your test includes information about your likelihood of contracting a certain disease, how concerned should you be?

And there are growing concerns over privacy. Police are now using some DNA sites to track down alleged criminals.

If you take a test, who will have access to the results?

A genealogist and a genetics counselor joined the program to help decipher some results and answer questions.

Guests:

Mica Anders, professional geologist in St. Paul.

Carrie Blout, senior genetic counselor and director of research development in the Genomes2People group at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School.

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Saving more, paying down debt and sticking to a budget are top New Year’s resolutions. MPR News’ Marianne Combs sat down with two financial experts who shared some smart, simple money moves to help set yourself up for financial success in 2020.

Those guests were:

Ruth Hayden, a personal finance educator based in St. Paul and the author of several books, including "Your Money Life" and "For Richer, Not Poorer."

And Jacquette Timmons, a financial behaviorist and the author of “Financial Intimacy: How to Create a Healthy Relationship with Your Money and Your Mate.”

Here are a few tips and takeaways from their conversation:

1) Look forward

Challenge yourself to let the past go and set up new structures for the future. “That hope and structure are needed to make it different,” said Hayden.

2) Know where your money is going

You can accomplish this through a formal budget, but the main goal is to identify patterns in your spending, Timmons said: “How are you spending it, how are you saving it, how are you earning it?” From there you can start to make changes where you see problems.

3) Communicate with yourself

What are your priorities when it comes to spending and saving? “For example, saving isn’t simply saying ‘OK, I’m going to put $100 into my saving account.’ That’s 80 percent. The [remaining] 20 percent is ‘I’m going to leave it there,’” said Hayden. Check in with and hold yourself accountable to your own priorities and goals.

4) You can start small, but start now

There’s almost never a perfect time to save money. If you can’t afford to save a lot, try to save something small, even if it’s a few cents on an interval. The time it’ll take to reach a goal might seem impossibly far off, but remember you are, in fact, making progress. It builds habits and a few cents today can become hundreds of dollars down the road, Hayden said. “Just start.”

5) Give your budget meaning

A budget is your plan, Hayden said, so first answer the question, “Why do I need a plan?” From th...

2019 was an interesting year in pop music. The Current’s Sean McPherson joined Angela Davis live to talk about the legacy of the year as it comes to a close. They talk about the big songs, the emerging artists, the artists who made significant comebacks and trends in music. Sean’s colleagues Jill Riley and Jade also offer their thoughts.

Guest:

Sean McPherson, host at The Current

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The Year in Music Playlist

In December, private Christian school Bethel University announced budget cuts and staff reductions to deal with declining enrollment.

What’s next for the school of about 4,500 students? And how will schools like Bethel stay competitive as fewer young people identify as being religious?

Guest:

Jay Barnes, president of Bethel University

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A new crop of Christmas movies are made each year, but only a few become beloved classics that people look forward to re-watching around the holidays.

Stephanie Curtis, the movie maven, joined Angela Davis to discuss her favorite Christmas movies and why they stand the test of time.

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