200 episodes

Conversations about life in Minnesota and how the state is changing, weekdays from MPR News.

MPR News with Angela Davis Minnesota Public Radio

    • News
    • 4.5 • 98 Ratings

Conversations about life in Minnesota and how the state is changing, weekdays from MPR News.

    What Burnsville tells us about domestic violence and the legal system in Minnesota

    What Burnsville tells us about domestic violence and the legal system in Minnesota

    Last month, a shootout in Burnsville took the lives of three first responders.

    It all stemmed from a 911 call reporting domestic abuse. Suspect Shannon Gooden, who later died by suicide, had previously been accused of intimate partner violence by at least three different women.

    Three guests in the domestic violence space joined MPR News guest host Catharine Richert — not to talk about Gooden’s case specifically — but how it highlights the complexities of domestic violence cases.

    Richert and her guests talked about why a restraining order, or even the death of an abuser, doesn’t mean the violence or the trauma is over.

    They also discussed challenges in the legal system that sometimes allow kids to remain with abusive parents, and how the court system can sometimes work against victims of domestic violence.

    And they heard from survivors of abuse about how the system failed them, time and time again.

    Guests:  

    Stacie Burke is a domestic and sexual violence advocate at 360 Communities.

    Sharon Jones is the Executive Director of Legal Assistance of Dakota County.

    Meggie Royer is the Youth and Prevention Program Manager with Violence Free Minnesota.

    • 52 min
    Why pilates, yoga, barre and ‘functional fitness’ are having a moment

    Why pilates, yoga, barre and ‘functional fitness’ are having a moment

    What’s old always becomes new again — even with workout routines.

    The hot workout class of the moment isn’t brand-new. It’s Pilates, a core-focused routine first popularized almost a century ago.

    Pilates, yoga, barre and other “lower-impact” exercise classes are gaining popularity, as Americans turn away from previously-popular “higher-impact” classes, such as CrossFit.

    But lower-impact doesn’t necessarily mean “easy.”

    Three guests joined MPR News host Angela Davis to talk about the benefits of these low-impact classes, sometimes called “functional fitness,” and how they can fit into your routine.

    Guests:  

    Ayanna Rakhu, Ph.D., is a graduate of the University of Minnesota School of Kinesiology with a background in sport and exercise psychology. Rakhu is a physical activity expert who focuses on swimming.

    Libby Grundhoefer is a Pilates instructor and personal trainer with the Minnesota Jewish Community Center.

    Gretchen Bierbaum is the owner of Straightline Dance Fitness, a fitness studio in northeast Minneapolis.

    • 46 min
    Power Pair: Identical twins and Minnesota state troopers

    Power Pair: Identical twins and Minnesota state troopers

    Updated: 4 p.m.
    Jamie Gilchrist and Jessica Liimatainen did almost everything together growing up together as identical twins in Barnum.

    They went to the same schools and took the same classes. They both started hockey together when they were three years old and both played for their high school team.

    “Our parents told us that we had our own language growing up,” Gilchrist said.

    “They would come into the room and we’d be talking like gibberish and they had no idea what we were saying, but we would be laughing,” Liimatainen said. “Obviously we don’t have that anymore, but if we look at each other …” 

    “…We know exactly what we’re thinking,” Gilchrist said, finishing her sister’s sentence. “She’s my best friend. She’s my go to. Only a twin would know what kind of bond we have, and I would say in particular identical twins have that connection.”

    When the time came to think about a career, they both thought they’d become nurses until they got interested in law enforcement.

    Today, the 25-year-old twins work for the Minnesota State Patrol in adjacent counties near Duluth, among the 8 percent of State Patrol sworn officers who are women.

    “Sometimes people will ask me, ‘Are you really old enough to be in this job?’ And then I always ask, ‘Well how old do you think I am?’ And they’re usually like ‘16, 17 at most.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, I wouldn't be here then if I was that young,’” Liimatainen said. “I get asked a lot of questions about being a female [officer] too, like what I like about it and …”

    “... Especially like, ‘Why do you do it?’ Like, ‘You’re so small’” Gilchrist said. “They say, ‘You’re … here by yourself.’ Well, I know I’m small, but I have my training,” Gilchrist said.

    MPR News host Angela Davis talks with Jessica Liimatainen and Jamie Gilchrist about being twins and young women in law enforcement.

    The conversation is part of our Power Pair series, focused on Minnesotans who play important roles in their community and who also have a close relationship with each other.

    Guests:  


    Jessica Liimatainen is a Minnesota state trooper working out of Carlton County.

    Jamie Gilchrist is a Minnesota state trooper working out of St. Louis County.





    Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.  

    Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.  

    • 46 min
    Meet the people moving to Minnesota

    Meet the people moving to Minnesota

    Back in the 1990s, Minnesota was gaining population from other places in the U.S. But in recent years, that trend reversed, and now more people leave Minnesota for other states each year than move here.

    The net loss is a concern to state officials who want to fill jobs. So, this month, the state’s tourism office Explore Minnesota launched a first-ever advertising campaign encouraging people in other parts of the country to resettle in Minnesota.  

    Coming up at 9 a.m. on Monday, MPR News host Angela Davis talks about what’s drawing people to Minnesota — from job seekers to climate refugees to people attracted to the state's more liberal laws and policies — and what life is like for them once they get here.

    Guests:  


    Lauren Bennett McGinty is the executive director of Explore Minnesota, the state tourism agency. Earlier this month, the agency launched a new national advertising campaign to encourage people to move to Minnesota. 

    Sapna Kumar is a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School. She moved to Minnesota last summer from Texas after spending 15 years as a professor at the University of Houston Law Center in Texas. Her work focuses on intellectual property rights and patent law.  

    • 46 min
    A wide lens: Ethnic studies in Minnesota classrooms

    A wide lens: Ethnic studies in Minnesota classrooms

    Ethnic studies will roll out to Minnesota K-12 classrooms in 2026. The content area was added to the state social studies standards this winter, joining history, geography, economics and government as major themes.

    The Minnesota Department of Education is still working on a final framework to guide curriculum. But some districts aren’t waiting.

    In 2022, both St. Paul and Minneapolis public schools added ethnic studies as a high school class required for graduation. Other districts have had ethnic studies style classes in place for even longer.

    On March 18, MPR News gathered teachers and students already participating in ethnic studies and asked them to share their experiences, with the goal of imaging the future as ethnic studies is incorporated into schools across the state.

    What does ethnic studies really mean? Is it a thinly veiled attempt to introduce critical race theory, as critics contend? How do students react to hard conversations about race and absent narratives? And could this be one way to close the education gap between white students and students of color?

    MPR News host Angela Davis hosts this special North Star Journey Live conversation, recorded live at Roseville Area High School.

    Guests:


    Kong Vang, teacher at Washington Technology High School

    Alycia Monserrate, teacher at Exploration High School

    Natalia Benjamin, director of Multilingual Learning at Rochester Public Schools

    Marlee Mfalingundi, teacher at Roseville Area High School

    James Dawolo, teacher at Roseville Area High School

    Amy Westland, social studies department lead and teacher at Roseville Area High School

    JaLayla McCoy, student at Exploration High School

    Jackie Le, student at Great River School

    Ethan Vue, PSEO student at Spring Lake Park High School

    Evelyn Sagor, student at Roseville Area High School

    Madisen Lo, student at Roseville Area High School

    • 51 min
    Minnesota chaplains on their changing roles

    Minnesota chaplains on their changing roles

    Chaplains often show up on the worst days of people’s lives. They arrive in a hospital room after a distressing diagnosis. They accompany police to help inform someone of a loved one’s death.

    One in four Americans have been visited by a chaplain, usually at a hospital or hospice, though chaplains also work in prisons, on college campuses and with the military and police and fire departments.

    But the role of spiritual caregiver is evolving as society becomes both less religious and more religiously diverse.

    At the end of last year, Fairview Health Services laid off more than a dozen staff chaplains as part of a larger round of layoffs, raising questions about whether patients’ spiritual care will continue to be seen as part of a health system’s core services.

    MPR News host Angela Davis talked with three chaplains about the work they do and how it’s changing. This is an encore conversation from January.

    Guests:


    The Rev. Jessica Chapman Lape is an assistant professor of Interreligious Chaplaincy and director of the Interreligious Chaplaincy Program at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. She’s an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, a staff chaplain at Regions Hospital in St. Paul and a community trained birth doula.

    The Rev. Michael Le Buhn manages the spiritual care department at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. He previously worked as a chaplain in Allina Health’s Mercy Hospital Unity Campus in Fridley and at Open Table Nashville, a nonprofit that serves people experiencing homelessness. Michael is a veteran of the United States Army.

    Rabbi Lynn Liberman is the community chaplain with Jewish Family Service of St. Paul. She has worked in a congregation, as a hospice and hospital chaplain, and she is a volunteer police and fire chaplain for Mendota Heights and West St. Paul. She also provides chaplain care for the Minnesota State Patrol sworn troopers and security officers who work at the Minnesota State Capitol.




    Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.  

    Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

    • 45 min

Customer Reviews

4.5 out of 5
98 Ratings

98 Ratings

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