When photographer Xavier Tavier asked, "What does Minnesota look like?" it lead him to more questions than answers. A Mexican immigrant who resides in Minneapolis, Xavier is interested in the nature of identity and how it fluctuates contextually. KFAI producer Ben Heath spoke to Xavier about his current project, taking portraits of the oldest surviving Mexican, Mexican-American, and Chicano veterans of Post Number 5. Production assistance by Mason Butler and Jessie Hausman. Visit xavier-tavera.com to see more examples of Xavier's work.

Eva Valesh was only 22 when she first went undercover to report on women workers in the 1880s for the St. Paul Globe. She wrote under the pseudonym Eva Gay. Each week, she would either sneak into a workplace to speak to the workers, or she would simply fabricate her references and apply to a job herself. She visited clothing factories, laundries, dress-shops, dry goods stores, and food factories. Often she encountered women being exploited or working in dangerous conditions. Eva fought for the workers and helped them fight for themselves.

In this episode, reporter Ben Heath explores Valesh’s work, and the role of investigative journalism on the labor movement of the late 19th century.