Bob CollinsWhen the world’s first heart transplant was performed in 1967, it felt very much like news that the Wright Brothers had flow something called an airplane. Taking a heart from one person and putting it another? Unfathomable.
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MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
By Bob Collins
Bob Collins retired from Minnesota Public Radio in 2019 after 12 years of writing NewsCut and pointing out to complainants that posts weren’t news stories. A son of Massachusetts, he was a news editor 1992-1998, created the MPR News regional website in 1999, invented the popular Select A Candidate, started several blogs, and every day lamented that his Minnesota Fantasy Legislature project never caught on.
You have to love the resilience and creativity of farmers who figured out that people would pay a premium to to do yoga poses with goats.
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Here are the topics and guests you’ll hear today on MPR News. Read more →
Donna Hines & I made a pilgrimage today and we were delighted to wait in line behind this fellow art lover & hopeful patriot. Posted by Ben Hines on Thursday, March 1, 2018 (h/t: Paul Tosto)
It’s not enough that you have to exchange your life’s energies for a paycheck every two weeks, must you be a walking billboard for your corporate overlords, too? Read more →
Francis Johnson was a constant presence in town. He loved riding his bike, wearing bright orange outwear. He kept 15 bikes at home to provide parts, according to the River Falls Journal, which pens a lovely tribute to him today. He died while riding his bike on Main Street on Tuesday. Read more →
There are some moments that seem uniquely Minnesotan. This is one of them. Read more →
If a congressman doesn’t think he can help fix a process that he says doesn’t work and it can’t be fixed, what are we doing? Read more →
Here are the topics and guests you’ll hear today on MPR News. Read more →
When a big, national event rolls into town — a national political convention, for example — a host committee will almost always have a party for the thousands of representatives of the media beforehand. They’re an ‘ethical disaster’ some journalists say.
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Keillor’s reception at Yavapai College Performing Arts Center signifies that his career is not ruined by his actions, nor those who don’t want to be in business with him anymore, his fans are just anxious to swoon as they were before. Read more →
Golf Digest blogger Joel Beall thinks Minnesota should move on from Prince, though from his column this week, it’s not entirely clear what we should move on to, given that it’s the only identity Minnesotans have. Read more →
Rare is the day when some entrepreneur doesn’t reveal some plan to open up a tap room and rare is the day when some city doesn’t see it as a path to revitalize a city block. There have been amazing success stories and the beer drinkers of the Twin Cities have never had it better. Still, one does have to wonder how many different beers the Cities can support. Read more →
The kids of Garretson, S.D., on the Minnesota border, have learned a valuable lesson. Adults may want young adults to be more civically engaged, but they’re mostly lying.
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