MinneCulture In-Depth

Series produced by KFAI Minneapolis

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Stories, documentaries and music about Minnesota's rich heritage of arts, culture and history. All audio airs on KFAI, SoundCloud, Ampers.org, PRX and KFAI's MinneCulture page on Facebook. MinneCulture is made possible by a grant from the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.

Stories, documentaries and music about Minnesota's rich heritage of arts, culture and history. All audio airs on KFAI, SoundCloud, Ampers.org, PRX and KFAI's MinneCulture page on Facebook. MinneCulture is made possible by a grant from the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.


173 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
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Animal entertainment is at an all time high. Too lazy to drive to the zoo? Flip on National Geographic, Animal Planet or the Discovery Channel. But...

  • Added: Feb 29, 2016
  • Length: 05:31
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Professional wrestling didn't fade when Jesse "The Body" Ventura stepped out of the ring. At VFW halls and American Legions around the Twin Cities,...

  • Added: Mar 07, 2016
  • Length: 06:11
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In the summer of 1931, Arthur and Edith Lee, bought a home in South Minneapolis and caught hell. They were black. The neighborhood was white. The L...

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio


  • Added: Mar 15, 2016
  • Length: 06:37
  • Purchases: 1
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Like most artists, Richard Holzschuh had a day job. His was working as a bookkeeper at Standard Oil. At night, the Minneapolis man slipped into his...

  • Added: Mar 16, 2016
  • Length: 05:52
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Tom Schroeder’s animated films grapple with memories, very often his own recollections. But the McKnight-winning artist’s most recent film relies o...

Bought by KALW


  • Added: Mar 25, 2016
  • Length: 06:05
  • Purchases: 1
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Minneapolis hip hop artist P.O.S had to take an extended break from touring and performing to deal with the chronic kidney disease he’s had since h...

  • Added: Mar 25, 2016
  • Length: 04:59
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Pretty much everyone wants to be noticed. Especially professional wrestlers. Terrance Griep is a Minnesota grappler who gained recognition in 2003 ...

  • Added: Apr 08, 2016
  • Length: 05:15
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Swinging from chandeliers at a club in Portland. Lurking in the bushes. The wildly unscripted Saturday Night Live performance of "Bastards of Young...

  • Added: Apr 08, 2016
  • Length: 28:24
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From Verne Gagne to Jesse "The Body" Ventura, Minnesota has long been infatuated by pro wrestling. Although not as popular these days, there's stil...

Bought by KKWE Niijii Radio


  • Added: Apr 13, 2016
  • Length: 27:19
  • Purchases: 1
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Desdamona is an emcee who doesn't want you to call her a femme cee. On her newest album, "No Man's Land," the Minnesota musician conjures a world w...

  • Added: Apr 15, 2016
  • Length: 04:29
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Getting a bill to become law is an arduous task. So is capturing quiet political moments at the Minnesota State Capitol. KFAI's Will Wright reports...

  • Added: Apr 19, 2016
  • Length: 05:09
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Michelle Leon helped catapult Babes in Toyland, the kickin', all-female punk band, to alternative rock fame. Her new book, "I Live Inside: Memoirs ...

  • Added: Apr 25, 2016
  • Length: 09:10
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At lot of young men in the St. Paul Adaptive Recreation basketball league aren't just teammates, they're friends. KFAI's Katey DeCelle reports on t...

  • Added: May 05, 2016
  • Length: 05:07
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Most people viewed the drunks on Minneapolis’ Skid Row as pariahs. Not Johnny Rex. He owned a bar, a liquor store and a flophouse there. To Johnny ...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Jun 28, 2016
  • Length: 05:02
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Anab Isse (l) and Deka Aden (r), Credit: Nancy Rosenbaum
Minnesota is home to the largest Somali community in North America. Each July, thousands of people from around the world come to the Twin Cities to...

  • Added: Jul 12, 2016
  • Length: 04:00
Caption:  Abdul Salaam El Razzac, Doub; Terry Bellamy, Turnbo, Credit: Penumbra Theatre
Penumbra Theatre in St. Paul is one of America's first black theater companies. This month, "Jitney" — a play by the great August Wilson — returns ...

  • Added: Oct 11, 2016
  • Length: 28:34
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How can you forget the one Halloween in your life that came with two feet of snow? KFAI's Britt Aamodt was studying biology at Gustavus Adolphus Co...

Bought by WGZS, WGZS, WGZS, KKWE Niijii Radio, Northern Community Radio - KAXE & KBXE, Minnesota and more


  • Added: Oct 12, 2016
  • Length: 26:40
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Kip Moon, Credit: Courtesy of Kip Moon
America's attempt to separate Native children from their families didn't end with boarding schools. In the decades after World War II, the U.S. gov...

Bought by Prairie Public, KUT, Prairie Public, WYSO, KKWE Niijii Radio and more


  • Added: Nov 18, 2016
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 10
Caption: Bruce Brockway and Rene Valdes, 1980., Credit: Alan Lessik
In July 1981, the New York Times published an article about a mysterious illness plaguing gay men in New York City. After reading the article, Bruc...

  • Added: Jul 09, 2019
  • Length: 01:31:39
Caption: Silver's Grocery on Plymouth Avenue in North Minneapolis in 1967., Credit: Minneapolis Star & Tribune Negatives, July 1, 1967-August 31, 1967: Box 263. Minneapolis and St Paul Newspaper Negatives Collection. Minnesota Historical Society.
During the summer of 1967, Plymouth Avenue in North Minneapolis went up in flames. This was during a period known as the Long, Hot Summer when frus...

Bought by KVSC and MPR News Stations


  • Added: Jul 18, 2019
  • Length: 52:58
  • Purchases: 2