Curious Minnesota Star Tribune

Minnesota is known for its Scandinavian roots, which are apparent in everything from the Vikings football team to the Norwegian bachelor farmers of Lake Wobegon. But more residents report having German ancestry than Scandinavian. So why isn't that German heritage more reflected more in the state's culture?
Reporter Greta Kaul joins host Eric Roper to discuss the effort to erase German culture in the state around World War I.
LINKS:
Why did Minnesota erase much of its German culture?
Is Minnesota actually more German than Scandinavian?

We've talked about some old things on the podcast, including the state's oldest building and one of the world's oldest rocks. Today's episode is about a journey to visit another Minnesota artifact: the state's oldest known tree. Star Tribune cartographer Jake Steinberg and photographer Anthony Soufflé join host Eric Roper to discuss their winter trip to the Boundary Waters to report on this topic.
LINKS:
This ancient tree is one of the oldest in Minnesota. The warming climate might kill it.

Like many states, Minnesota shuttered the controversial institutions that once housed mentally ill people. But the plan to replace these facilities with new types of treatment options remains incomplete. Reporter Chris Snowbeck joins host Eric Roper to discuss the important and complex history of mental health care in Minnesota.
LINKS:
Emptying state institutions was supposed to help fix mental health care. What happened?
Chris Snowbeck's 2023 series on mental health care: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

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.
LINKS:
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.
LINKS:
What Minnesota inventions have shaped modern life?
Skid-steers, Softsoap and Nerf: 8 more Minnesota inventions that changed the world