Bob Collins
Three ads extolling American values have got the patriots stirred up. No, not those Patriots. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Arts & Culture
The Star Tribune speculates today on what singers might be headlining the halftime show when the Super Bowl makes a stop in Minneapolis next year. Undoubtedly, were he still alive, Prince would get the gig, though it would be hard to exceed his performance 10 years ago tomorrow, the greatest Super Bowl halftime show in history.
Read more →
NPR’s StoryCorps is finding an embarrassment of riches in Minnesota. For three straight weeks, the Friday morning tradition has featured stories from the state. Today, it’s an update with Paul Braun, the sergeant of the company he was assigned to in Iraq, and “Philip”, who was an interpreter in Iraq. Read more →
Since this post from a reporter for Marketplace appeared this week, a number of people online have asked me for my opinion.
No, thank you. For obvious reasons, including the fact I don’t know anything about the details Read more →
Last year, Rahawa Haile, a writer in Oakland, became one of the very few black women to attempt to hike the entire trail. And her interview with Atlas Obscura today is a must-read for people who’ve thought about discovering America by hiking the trail.
Be careful what you wish for; you might find it. Read more →
It takes a lot of thinking to make a statue of a woman throwing her hat into the air. Gwen Gillen, who died two days after Mary Tyler Moore, is the woman who beat 20 other sculptors for the right to make the MTM statue that might have seemed like a tacky project at the time — after all, it promoted a TV network — that has, instead, become a symbol of Minneapolis. Read more →
The actors, actresses, directors, and producers of entertainment needn’t have bothered with their various statements of opposition to the Trump administration last evening.
The administration’s support comes largely from the portrayal of the creative class as elites who look down upon the common person. Read more →
Today’s most intriguing trivia mystery comes from Paul Lukas, who writes the Uni Watch blog, which focuses on sports uniforms: Whose name is on the back of the Fran Tarkenton jersey that Mary Richards is wearing in the opening credits while washing her car?
Hint: It’s not Fran Tarkenton.
Read more →
There is only one true way to mark the death of Mary Tyler Moore.
By laughing. A little song. A little dance. A little seltzer down your pants.
Read more →
Bad Lip Reading has just released its latest spoof: the inauguration. Read more →
Lost in today’s announcement of Oscar nominations was the category of documentaries, which generally are nowhere near as intriguing as the make-believe world of film.
Let’s do something about that by specifically pointing out that Joe’s Violin has been nominated in the category of ‘Best Documentary Short Subject.’ Read more →
Today’s must-listen/must-read story comes — not surprisingly — from StoryCorps on NPR this morning, which is the story of John Marboe, who picks up trash for a living. That’s in addition to being a Lutheran pastor in St. Paul and an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota. He got his Ph.D. in 2011. Read more →
I don’t do the Monday Morning Rouser anymore, nor its occasional offspring on Friday.
Today seems like a good day to make an exception.
Read more →
If you know how artists are, perhaps you can understand the sort of thing that drives Pete Souza crazy. Souza, the official White House photographer during the Obama administration (he also was the photographer during the Reagan years), took these two iconic photographs.
Read more →
Unless there’s a miracle, a big part of our condimental heritage could soon disappear. Wisconsin’s Mustard Museum is in trouble, the Wisconsin State Journal reports.
Read more →