Castuner

Essential Minnesota

The Minnesota Star Tribune

Every Friday host Melissa Townsend brings her distinct curiosity and humor to these weekly deep-dive conversations with journalists from the Minnesota Star Tribune. Together they dig into interesting and important local stories that matter to Minnesota and beyond. It’s what the Minnesota Star Tribune does best. Available Fridays at 4:30 A.M. Central.

Listen in your app

Episodes

49 episodes

  1. What the Blue Tsunami Means for Minnesota 31:04
  2. Flock Cameras Are Making a Comeback in Minnesota 24:19
  3. Tracking the big cats 27:20
  4. The Challenge of Tracking Threats Against Elected Officials 26:00
  5. Amy Klobuchar on why she wants to be Minnesota’s next governor 45:26
  6. Lisa Demuth on why she wants to be Minnesota’s next governor 36:50
  7. Peggy Flanagan on why she wants to represent Minnesota in the U.S. Senate 37:15
  8. Karyn Tomlinson is creating a moment for northern cuisine 26:14
  9. The story behind the scandal surrounding Kaohly Her 35:35
  10. The sextortion pandemic in Minnesota 25:42
  11. Minnesota’s new immigrant detention facility 28:03
  12. How transfer athletes change high school sports 21:55
  13. Tasting 104 New Fair Foods in One Day 23:56
  14. Inside the Making of the Annunciation Diaries 38:38
  15. The ballots are set. What do candidates need to do now to win in November? 27:27
  16. Summer Break -- we'll be back the week of August 10th 0:34
  17. Summer Break -- we'll be back the week of August 10th 0:34
  18. Minnesota elections face new challenges as federal support is pulled back 29:23
  19. Minnesota’s Wildfires: Smoke, the Boundary Waters & Climate Change 24:36
  20. Lynx’s Cheryl Reeve Breaks One More Record 22:37
  21. Happy July 4th - see you next week 0:29
  22. How Minnesota's new flag became a political flashpoint 26:44
  23. The investigation into the OALC church and its abusers 34:53
  24. Mistakes and Mysteries: Inside the manhunt for assassin Vance Boelter 32:14
  25. Bonus: Assassin Vance Boelter Pleads Guilty 10:34
  26. Behind the fall of the Minneapolis Chief of Police 28:49
  27. We're taking a break - back next week 0:56
  28. Three Republicans, one endorsement: Inside the GOP's fight for Minnesota Governor 26:07
  29. The debate over high school transfer athletes 24:18
  30. How the ban on mining near the BWCAW was reversed 35:10
  31. Why did Bushel Boy tomatoes mysteriously disappear? 25:19
  32. The Threats Against Minnesotans in Public Office 26:00
  33. Stories from the critic who knew the Purple One best 39:01
  34. The Minnesota Legislature’s plan to tackle fraud this session - part 3 22:40
  35. Did Operation Metro Surge root out Medicaid fraud in Minn? part 2 29:26
  36. Fact v. Fiction: What’s the real story with fraud in Minn. part 1 24:59
  37. We’re cooking up something big - back next week 0:55
  38. The Sextortion "Pandemic" That’s Hitting Minnesota 24:02
  39. How a “meltdown” is impacting Minnesota 26:48
  40. Three shootings, two deaths, zero cooperation 24:00
  41. Minnesotans in Hiding 20:18
  42. Comparing Notes: Lessons from the ICE surge in Chicago 19:06
  43. Tackled, shackled and then what? 24:55
  44. Is Minnesota a sanctuary state and can its jails be opened to ICE? 20:15
  45. The escalation of Operation Metro Surge and the shooting of Renee Good 35:55
  46. The Minnesota gun law that’s working 17:40
  47. The man leading Annunciation School after a mass shooting 20:45
  48. The religious background of alleged assassin Vance Boelter 26:24
  49. Introducing Essential Minnesota 0:48