This fall, a new wave of kindergarteners enters the classroom — most born in the early days of the pandemic. MPR News host Angela Davis and her guests talk about the challenges they may face and how schools and parents can help them thrive.

Guests:

• Lauren Girard has been a kindergarten teacher for 15 years. She teaches at Overland Elementary School in Rochester, Minn. She is also the parent of a child born during the early months of the pandemic.
• Lelandra Ross is a lead specialist in early childhood education at Bruce Vento Elementary School in St. Paul, Minn. She works with staff and parents to support early childhood family education, early childhood special education, three-year-old Head Start and pre-kindergarten programming. She has also been a pre-K teacher.

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

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

MPR News host Angela Davis talks about the power of poetry with Junauda Petrus, the poet laureate for the city of Minneapolis. Junauda says poetry is “soul medicine” that can unite us in our shared humanity. Angela also hears from poet and performer, Tish Jones, about what poetry means to her.

Guests:

• Junauda Petrus is the poet laureate for the city of Minneapolis. She is an author, playwright, filmmaker and co-founder of the experimental artist collective, Free Black Dirt. She is the author of the Coretta Scott King Award-winning young adult novel, “The Stars and the Blackness Between Them,” and the children’s book, “Can We Please Give the Police Department to the Grandmothers?”
• Tish Jones is a poet, performer and educator in St. Paul. She’s also the founder and executive director of TruArtSpeaks.

MPR News host Angela Davis talks about the power of poetry with Junauda Petrus, the poet laureate for the city of Minneapolis. Junauda says poetry is “soul medicine” that can unite us in our shared humanity. Angela also hears from poet and performer, Tish Jones, about what poetry means to her.

Guests:

• Junauda Petrus is the poet laureate for the city of Minneapolis. She is an author, playwright, filmmaker and co-founder of the experimental artist collective, Free Black Dirt. She is the author of the Coretta Scott King Award-winning young adult novel, “The Stars and the Blackness Between Them,” and the children’s book, “Can We Please Give the Police Department to the Grandmothers?”
• Tish Jones is a poet, performer and educator in St. Paul. She’s also the founder and executive director of TruArtSpeaks.

MPR News host Angela Davis talks with a Twin Cities rapper and mindfulness instructor who says yoga saved his life.

If you’re single, you’ve probably heard it — or said it to yourself: Dating feels impossible right now.

The numbers back it up. A Pew Research study found that nearly half of Americans say dating is harder than it was a decade ago.

So, what’s changed? Why is dating so difficult for so many people?

Dating apps have transformed how we can meet, but it’s not clear if they are helping or hurting. In the 1990s, nearly 20 percent of couples met in a bar or restaurant. Today that number is down to just 8 percent.

MPR News host Angela Davis revisits a conversation she had earlier this year with a dating coach and a therapist to help break down the challenges of modern dating — and provide some advice for what you can do to make it easier.

Guests:

• Deanna Pelley is a public speaker, podcaster and mental health therapist with Emerge Therapy based in Minneapolis.
• Alex Merritt is a Minneapolis-based dating coach, known as the “Love Engineer.” Alex leads relationship workshops and does one-on-one advising on how to find love.

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

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

From its origins in Black American communities to its influence on artists all over the world, jazz has always been about innovation, expression and connection.

Here in Minnesota, one radio station has been keeping that spirit alive for more than 50 years — Jazz88 (KBEM-FM).

Launched in 1970 as part of Minneapolis Public Schools, Jazz88 has been a hub for jazz lovers, educators and musicians, introducing generations to a timeless genre while adapting to changing times.

MPR News host Angela Davis revisits a conversation she had earlier this year with some of the voices behind Jazz88, as well as a musician who performs around the Twin Cities. They explored the station’s impact, its evolution and the artists shaping jazz.

Guests:

• Sean McPherson is the music director and afternoon host of Jazz88 (KBEM-FM). Previously he was an on-air host for The Current, Minnesota Public Radio’s alternative music station.
• Emmanuel Hill is the executive producer of MPS Voices, a Jazz88 livestream focused on broadcasting student voices in Minneapolis Public Schools.
• Eli Awada is a Twin Cities musician, pianist and keyboardist for the jazz collective Room3.

Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation. 

Laurie Putnam is the superintendent of St. Cloud Public Schools, and the first woman to lead the district.

Her husband, Aric Putnam, is a DFL state senator, representing District 14, which includes St. Cloud.

Together, they’re navigating politics, education, family life and the challenges of leading in the public eye.

MPR News host Angela Davis continues her Power Pairs series with a conversation about how they support each other and why they picked careers that serve their community.

Guests:

• Laurie Putnam is the superintendent of St. Cloud Public Schools.
• Aric Putnam is a DFL state senator representing District 14, which includes St. Cloud and surrounding communities.

Check out Angela’s previous Power Pair conversations.

Do you know a Power Pair?

We’d love to hear your ideas for Power Pairs to interview. Send us your suggestions.

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

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

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed into law the major domestic policy bill that cuts about $1 trillion dollars from federal Medicaid spending over the next ten years.

The changes to Medicaid are estimated to result in nearly 10 million more people going without health insurance by 2034, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Medicaid is the public insurance program that covers most health care and long-term care for 83 million low-income and disabled people in the United States. Nearly a quarter of Minnesota’s residents are on the state’s Medicaid program, which is known as Medical Assistance.

MPR News host Angela Davis talks about what this means for Minnesotans, including new work requirements and restrictions that will reduce funding for the program.

Guests:

• John Connolly is deputy commissioner and state Medicaid director for the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
• Sue Abderholden is the executive director of NAMI Minnesota, the Minnesota chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.