Philanthropy is changing, both on an individual level as well as an institutional level. Jennifer Ford Reedy took the helm at the St. Paul-based Bush Foundation at the tailend of the Great Recession. We’ll talk about being at the helm of one of the region’s largest foundations, and if it gets annoying to receive President Bush’s fan mail.

The honorable Paul Anderson served as Associate Justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court from 1994 to 2013. During that time he heard seminal cases on everything from the independence of medical examiners, to bail laws, to a much-discussed recount in Minnesota’s 2008 U.S. senate race.

Minnesotans will elect a new secretary of state this fall. The Theater of Public Policy has invited the three major-party candidates to join us on stage for a conversation, but only Robert Helland (IP Candidate) showed up!

We know the truth. The real excitement in this fall's election is the contest for Minneapolis School Board. Specifically, the two at-large seats for which the entire city votes.

Did you know that 80% of the apples grown in Minnesota are creations of the University of Minnesota breeding program? We will talk to one of the people behind the University’s apple program, scientist David Bedford about how you create new apple varieties, how our ways of producing food are changing through science, and if anything will ever be as great as the Honeycrisp.

Sprockets, St. Paul’s out-of-school time programs network, has a new director and she joined us on the show. Eyenga Bokamba talked to us about why students need to keep learning even after the school day ends. In addition to her work leading this diverse coalition of programs, Bokamba is a visual artist in her own right, and a Harvard graduate. Consider us intimidated.

Our guest, Denise Specht, is the president of Minnesota’s largest teacher’s union, Education Minnesota. She’ll answer your questions about teachers, students, class size, and snow days. Bringing her an apple is optional.

Two voices from two political perspectives will prove it’s still possible to have respectful, civil, yet lively conversations in public. Republican State Representative Nick Zerwas and Take Action Minnesota Executive Director Dan McGrath take our stage together to talk about the big issues facing Minnesota.

City of Minneapolis Council Member for Ward 10, Lisa Bender joins us on stage. She’ll talk about the big issues at City Hall, what efforts she hopes the city will address in the coming months, and how it feels to have the god-like powers of a city council member.