MPR News' Youth Series

Series produced by MPR News Stations

Caption: PRX default Series image
PRX default Series image 

MPR's Youth Radio Series pairs high school and college-age reporters from diverse backgrounds with an experienced MPR producer to create compelling stories for MPR News.

MPR News' Youth Radio Series uses a personal point of entry into stories and issues that are important in our community.


15 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
A child's view of domestic violence
From: MPR News Stations
Series: MPR News' Youth Series
Caption: Valencia McMurray (left) interviews her mother about the attack that nearly took her life when Valencia was 6., Credit: Sasha Aslanian
Valencia McMurray revisits an incident that happened in her family when she was six and has kept a hold on her family 14 years later.

Bought by PRX Remix, WAMC Northeast Public Radio, KUOW, and YouthCast


  • Added: Jul 29, 2011
  • Length: 07:13
  • Purchases: 4
Bullying in schools through the eyes of teens
From: MPR News Stations
Series: MPR News' Youth Series
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Grace Pastoor, a high school junior in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, interviewed students about how they see bullying and whether they think adults ca...

Bought by Northern Community Radio - KAXE & KBXE, Minnesota


  • Added: Jul 29, 2011
  • Length: 05:30
  • Purchases: 1
Coming of age "illegal"
From: MPR News Stations
Series: MPR News' Youth Series
Caption: Brenda, 19, walks through her Minneapolis neighborhood. She's been living as an illegal immigrant in Minnesota since she was 7 years old., Credit: MPR Photo/Jeff Thompson
When Brenda was 7, she was carried across the border from Mexico. Now 19, the Minneapolis teen wishes she could live and work legally in the countr...

Bought by WTIP, WGXC, KUNM, Radijojo World Children's Radio Network, and KSFR


  • Added: Dec 08, 2010
  • Length: 06:55
  • Purchases: 5
Japanese-American granddaughter questions internment
From: MPR News Stations
Series: MPR News' Youth Series
Caption: Mara Kumagai Fink (right) interviewing her great aunt Matsue at Manzanar, the camp she was brought to in northern California.
Mara Kumagai Fink explores her family's experiences in the internment camps during WWII. Mara spent the summer interviewing family members and revi...

Bought by KBUT Crested Butte, Colo., WRST-FM Oshkosh, WGXC, Vocalo.org, KUNM and more


  • Added: Sep 22, 2010
  • Length: 06:43
  • Purchases: 6
Picked in 3rd grade, dreaming bigger at graduation
From: MPR News Stations
Series: MPR News' Youth Series
Caption: Tiara Bellaphant graduated from St. Paul Central High School on June 9, 2010. A participant in the Destination 2010 scholarship program, Bellaphant plans to attend Tennessee State University in the fall., Credit: MPR Photo/Julie Siple
In 2001, Tiara Bellaphant became part of an experiment. Third graders at seven low-performing Minneapolis and St. Paul schools were offered mentori...

Bought by WVAS and WGXC


  • Added: Jun 11, 2010
  • Length: 07:12
  • Purchases: 2
Life without mom
From: MPR News Stations
Series: MPR News' Youth Series
Caption: Antonio Gonzalez and his mom, Judy Ojeda, at a friend's wedding in 2009., Credit: Courtesy of Antonio Gonzalez.
Death makes the news. Grief doesn't. When Judy Ojeda, a public health worker, died last October, she left behind a husband and six kids. Her oldest...

Bought by WGXC, Radijojo World Children's Radio Network, KUNM, and KUOW


  • Added: May 28, 2010
  • Length: 08:51
  • Purchases: 4
Career advice from the president
From: MPR News Stations
Series: MPR News' Youth Series
Piece image
A 15-year-old delegate to the United States Senate Youth Program records her reactions to the nation's capitol and meeting a Supreme Court Judge an...

Bought by WGXC and YouthCast


  • Added: May 05, 2010
  • Length: 07:16
  • Purchases: 2
Young, Gay and Homeless
From: MPR News Stations
Series: MPR News' Youth Series
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Gay and lesbian teens are at greater risk of homelessness than their straight peers. Roy Lee Spearman Jones tells his story of being young, gay and...

Bought by KGNU Community Radio, KSFR, WGXC, KUNM, WGDR and more


  • Added: May 05, 2010
  • Length: 07:02
  • Purchases: 6
Mom's accident
From: MPR News Stations
Series: MPR News' Youth Series
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How a mother's skiing accident changed a family's life and offered lessons to her daughters.

Bought by WGXC


  • Added: May 05, 2010
  • Length: 04:52
  • Purchases: 1
Graduating Homeless
From: MPR News Stations
Series: MPR News' Youth Series
Piece image
A surprising story about staying in school and graduating while homeless.

Bought by KRZA, Vocalo.org, Radijojo World Children's Radio Network, WGXC, and WGDR


  • Added: May 05, 2010
  • Length: 07:04
  • Purchases: 5
Finding a home in language
From: MPR News Stations
Series: MPR News' Youth Series
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A Somali teenager describes what it's like to move to America speaking no English and manage to graduate from high school.

Bought by WGXC, KUNM, and WMNF


  • Added: May 05, 2010
  • Length: 06:25
  • Purchases: 3
A Good Hmong Daughter
From: MPR News Stations
Series: MPR News' Youth Series
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What's propelling young, Hmong women to break with tradition and pursue their college dreams.

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio, KUER, KAWC / Border Radio - KOFA, KUOW, KUT and more


  • Added: May 05, 2010
  • Length: 06:10
  • Purchases: 11
TRiO Fuels College Dreams
From: MPR News Stations
Series: MPR News' Youth Series
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Profile of Tenzin Choerap, a Tibetan immigrant benefitting from a federal program that helps low income and first-generation students attend college.

Bought by WMNF


  • Added: May 05, 2010
  • Length: 04:05
  • Purchases: 1
Payday Loans
From: MPR News Stations
Series: MPR News' Youth Series
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Cathy Mayfield examines the payday loan industry and proposed changes to the industry. (contains dated references...but wanted to include in the po...

  • Added: May 05, 2010
  • Length: 07:23
Welfare Migration
From: MPR News Stations
Series: MPR News' Youth Series
Piece image
Paris Porter explores the truth around his family's move. Was it Minnesota a welfare magnet in the 1990s or a jobs magnet for people who wanted to ...

Bought by KPIK-LP, KUNM, and EconomyBeat Podcast


  • Added: May 05, 2010
  • Length: 07:06
  • Purchases: 3