Curious Minnesota Star Tribune

Minnesotans wanting to gamble have many options these days. They can visit a Native American casino, buy scratch-off games at a gas station, yank open pull-tabs at a bar or even play bingo at a church fish fry. But this is a fairly recent phenomenon. Reporter Alex Chhith joins host Eric Roper to discuss the history of gambling in Minnesota.
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How did gambling develop into a major industry in Minnesota?

It was difficult to walk around downtown St. Paul in the early 2000s without running into Snoopy, Linus, Lucy and Charlie Brown. Over five summers, the "Peanuts on Parade" public art campaign peppered the beloved comic strip characters throughout creator Charles Schulz's hometown. Reporter Katie Galioto joins host Eric Roper to discuss the background of this project, and where some of these statues can be found today.
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Searching for Snoopy: What happened to all the 'Peanuts' statues in St. Paul?

Pacemakers, Post-it notes and Spam rank among the state's best-known inventions. But creative Minnesotans devised hundreds of other products we take for granted. Reporter Brooks Johnson dug into this issue for Curious Minnesota and found so many interesting Minnesota inventions that he wrote two stories.
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What Minnesota inventions have shaped modern life?
Skid-steers, Softsoap and Nerf: 8 more Minnesota inventions that changed the world

The familiar image of a stoic Native American chief wearing a headdress is in many ways a core American cultural stereotype. It has been memorialized in films and statutes, as well as exploited to sell cigarettes and motorcycles. But who are these celebrated figures of the past? Mark Boswell joins host Eric Roper to discuss the roles that Native American chiefs played and introduce some of the state's most prominent chiefs.
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Garbage graphic / River wall graphic
What roles did Minnesota's Native American chiefs play? And who were some notable ones? (February 2024 Curious Minnesota story)
In the Footsteps of Little Crow (eBook)

Maplewood arguably has the strangest border of any city in the Twin Cities metro area. Its L shape wraps around the northern and eastern edges of St. Paul. The origins of that border reveals an interesting history of development patterns in the east metro. Reporter Greta Kaul joins host Eric Roper to discuss how Maplewood was born out of leftover land -- and became home to a signature Minnesota company.
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Why does Maplewood have such an odd shape?
Why didn't Minneapolis gobble up its suburbs? (Podcast, May 2023)
Why didn't Minneapolis gobble up its suburbs? (Story, March 2023)

St. Olaf and Carleton colleges have left a big mark on the world. Their alumni have reached the highest levels of entertainment, the arts, politics and the legal system. A reader wanted to know how these two prominent private colleges ended up in Northfield, a small city just south of the Twin Cities metro area.
Reporter Trey Mewes, who wrote a story on this topic for Curious Minnesota, discusses the interesting tale behind these institutions with host Eric Roper. 
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How did Northfield become home to St. Olaf and Carleton colleges? (February 2024 Curious Minnesota article)