KFAI's MinneCulture KFAI

When George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police on Memorial Day, pain and anger blasted like a shock wave across the Twin Cities and the world. Floyd’s death was followed by a week of protests, marches and sometimes destructive unrest. In this episode, KFAI’s Melissa Olson takes us to the intersection of 38th and Chicago Ave, where Native jingle dress dancers offered a ceremony of healing. We also hear from Twin Cities hip-hop artist Tall Paul, who recounts his experience patrolling south Minneapolis and protecting local businesses during the uprising. Then we take a gritty walking tour of unsanctioned artwork, hosted by graffiti artist Peyton Scott Russell.

We’re still social distancing and we’re still making stuff. Some artists have changed what they make. Others have changed how they make it. KFAI’s Barb Abney hosts from home and shares an uplifting interview with Twin Cities hip-hop artist Nur-D, who just dropped an EP recorded entirely from his bedroom. We also hear a tender, slightly gloomy audio diary from Minneapolis poet Ed Bok Lee, who discusses skeletons and shares knock-knock jokes with his young daughter. It’s adorable and, you guessed it, poetic.

Hear stories of Minnesota artists making it work in this time of social distancing. Barb Abney hosts the Season 4 launch from her daughter's bedroom while social distancing at home. In an audio diary, Haitian dancer Djenane Saint Juste fields a robocall from a bill collector, shares intimate scenes sheltering in place with her mother, then hosts a series of boisterous dance lessons in her apartment. We make a house call to Hmong chef Yia Vang who looks to his parents' experience as refugees to guide him through the pandemic.Support for MinneCulture on KFAI comes from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. This podcast was produced by Nancy Rosenbaum with Anna Stitt and Emily Bright, edited by Ryan Dawes and Melissa Olson.

For our Season 3 finale, stories about the late, great Prince Rogers Nelson. You'll hear from the guy credited with "discovering" Prince, what it was like to get phone calls from Prince at 3 a.m., and we take of tour of "Purple Places" that mark Prince's roots in North Minneapolis. This episode was produced by KFAI’s Nancy Rosenbaum. Support for MinneCulture comes from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

There are often parts of a job no one else understands or even knows about. We're talking about the unheralded tasks that are executed in the shadows, after hours, void of glory. On this episode, we meet two Minnesotans, an elementary school principal and the CEO of a hip-hop record label, each fulfilling the last line of their job description: "Other Duties As Assigned."

Minnesota's oldest auctioneer reflects on rural life, the Kim Loo Sisters face discrimination in the jazz scene during the 1930s and 1940s, and a rusticly bunking historian sheds light on the history of slavery in Minnesota. The episode was produced by KFAI's Emily Bright.