Turner Barr has been traveling around the world for six years, funding his adventures by working along the way. His blog Around the World in 80 Jobs offers tips and documented his travels, like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxBhZlaIrJc It was a great success. Then Adecco, a multinational human resources company, started using “Around the World in Read more →
Today’s dispatch from comes from Nagaland, in the north of India. Mary Roach from the Smithsonian Magazine visited a pepper-eating contest there and reports on the science of eating spicy peppers. First, the video: The contestants here are eating Naga King Chilis, often ranked as the world’s hottest. These guys are pros: Competitors have 20 Read more →
I used to host a daily show about new digital technology that intended to illustrate and explain how our lives were being revolutionized by computers, the Internet, smart phones, etc. But in the back of my mind I always thought the bigger revolution was the juice that made every single device and network run. Electricity. So Read more →
The word “sincere” and Stephen Colbert are not usually associated with one another, but there isn’t a better way to describe this clip. Lorna Colbert died last week. Stephen Colbert said this about her in a very good a New York Times profile last year: “She taught me to be grateful for my life regardless Read more →
The American Medical Association has passed a resolution calling obesity a disease. But some people think that will only make the problem worse, if it’s a problem at all. Read more →
I’ve been a sports fan all of my life, but I still don’t get sports fans. The other night, for example, I was watching the Indians-Nationals game in which the Indians were leading 2-1 in the top of the 9th. Cleveland’s shaky closer was on for the save. And fans were leaving. Fast forward to Read more →
Vince Flynn died early this morning. He was a best-selling author and a local kid and a bit of a radio star thanks to KFAN’s Dan Barreiro, on whose show he appeared regularly. There are already plenty of news stories around about his death from prostate cancer, but for a tremendous assessment of his life, Read more →
Quick note: If you’re on Twitter, you’ll want to be following @ChiefHarteau, the account for Minneapolis police chief Janee Harteau, as she rides along with cops in the 2nd precinct, and using the hashtag #NEwithrealcops Turned out to be an Unhappy man getting his car towed. All worked out everyone happy now #NEwithrealcops — Chief Read more →
America moves on after the spying scandal, the great gopher feet caper and other tales from the mean streets of Minnesota, return of the website, the grace of Steve Gleason, and the girl who makes your 12 year old look like a lazy punk. Read more →
We don’t cover the airline-formerly-known-as-Northwest much anymore, not since it got gobbled up by Delta and became the airline from Atlanta. Which is a shame because the airline from Atlanta is pretty much run by the former execs of the airline-formerly-known-as-Northwest. And, of course, it still provides plenty of jobs in flyover country. But this Read more →
Apparently the new threat to air safety is 15-year-old girls whose shirts are not tightly buttoned. Over the weekend, Boing Boing editor Mark Frauenfelder relayed the story about what happened when the girl passed through the TSA security post in Los Angeles: She said the officer was “glaring” at her and mumbling. She said, “Excuse Read more →
When I first started following the story of Daniel Alvarez, the Florida man who kayaked from Minnesota’s Northwest Angle to Key West and who is now paddling back by way of the Atlantic Ocean and Hudson River, I was deeply impressed by the kindness of Canada, Minnesota, and Wisconsin individuals who looked after him, if Read more →
How we teach the teachers. The dog tags go home to a Minnesota native. Remembering Roy Grow. Why are men so fragile? And should we require deposits on cigarette butts? Read more →
Snowden’s “honor” from Dick Cheny, Texas and South Dakota woo the gun manufacturers, the Stillwater Lift Bridge is all out of lift, the new astronaut from White Bear Lake. Here’s the “it always goes smoothly” news conversation with Mary Lucia on The Current. By the way, after we chatted about commencement speeches, Mary acknowledged she Read more →
Nate Minor
Jon Gordon
Bob Collins