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Late night wars go international
Yesterday, Comedy Central surprised nearly everyone by announcing Trevor Noah as the next host of its flagship “The Daily Show,” succeeding the accomplished Jon Stewart. Noah is a Daily Show correspondent, but had only filed three pieces before the announcement. He’s no rookie though, having extensively toured the world as a stand-up comedian and hosted his own news comedy…
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‘Global highway’ would reach Minnesota
The head of Russia’s railway system revealed an extraordinary plan this week that may one day involve the state of Minnesota. Vladimir Yakunin, a high ranking member of Vladimir Putin’s cabinet and widely seen as a potential successor to the Russian leader, is proposing a global highway that would start in London and traverse Europe and all…
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Flags of many colors on the Iron Range
Today at 11:30 a.m., Hibbing Community College will dedicate its World Flags Project at the campus commons. Like many community and technical colleges around Minnesota, HCC has seen an influx of immigrants and first generation Americans. HCC’s diversity committee surveyed those students to determine their national origin. A flag from each nation is now displayed…
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Grand Rapids Library wants YOU to make Peep diorama
There is only one constant, and that is change. Our lives are but marks along the way of change. Nowhere is that more evident in the fact that four generations after mud roads and a multi-lingual society in the remote forests of Northern Minnesota, the Grand Rapids (Minn.) Area Library is now sponsoring a Springtime Peeps…
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Hear (and see!) latest Great Northern Radio Show
See the Great Northern Radio Show as broadcast on Channel 12 Public Access in the Northwestern Twin Cities suburbs: On Saturday, March 7, we broadcast my Great Northern Radio Show live from the stage of North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. It was our first broadcast from the Twin Cities metropolitan area and our first…
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St. Urho’s Day marks Finnish-American spring
St. Urho’s Day, the Finnish-American celebration of a non-existent saint, who freed Finland from a non-existent grasshopper problem, is March 16, but the celebrations kick up in earnest around the “Finnish-American” states of the Great Lakes before then. It’s always been a particularly strong holiday here in Northern Minnesota’s Iron Range region, something I wrote about at…
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‘North Country’ Dylan Fest sets 2015 schedule
Late last year, I was part of the outgoing committee announcing that Dylan Days in Hibbing, Minnesota, would be put on indefinite hiatus until new leadership stepped up to take over. After 12 years of working on the annual event, a confluence of personal factors — including the demands of my growing radio show —…
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Political improv for a new Iron Range generation
A young professionals group on the Iron Range is bringing some cutting edge political humor to the Mesabi with a Saturday performance by the Theater of Public Policy improv group from Minneapolis. ReGen is sponsoring the show, which will be Saturday, March 14 at the Minnesota Discovery Center. Will they add some unique Iron Range…
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Annual rite of Minnesota ‘All Hockey Hair Team’
Many of you might have seen this already, but it’s honestly worth another look even if you have. Every year, John King details the best hockey hairdos of the Minnesota State High School Boys Hockey Tournament in a segment he calls the “All Hockey Hair Team.” Minnesota is a hockey state, where a significant number…
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Great Northern Radio Show airs live tonight!
Tonight from 5-7 p.m. the Great Northern Radio Show will broadcast live from the North Hennepin Community College theater in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. This is our first Twin Cities metro broadcast of the show I started on the Iron Range in the fall of 2011. We’ve done 13 unique programs from different locations around Northern…
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Another Range boy heads down highway for blood & spoils
Today I am on my way to the Twin Cities to prepare for tomorrow night’s Great Northern Radio Show in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. It’s our 14th program, the first show we’ve done in the metro area after almost four years of touring small towns and cities in Northern Minnesota. Growing up on the Iron Range — especially as…
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Amelia Earhart on the Iron Range
Almost 80 years ago, on Oct. 4, 1935, the famed pilot Amelia Earhart spoke to citizens in Hibbing, Minnesota, about advances in human flight and previewed some of her upcoming adventures. During her stop on the Iron Range she reassured a nervous crowd about air travel, dismissed the prevalence of air sickness, and explained why she thought…
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On ‘Love and Profanity’
It’s true, I haven’t written a book since my 2008 release “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range.” I made one failed attempt at a novel, and have considered writing other nonfiction titles at different times, but frankly I got busy with the radio show and young kids. I write 5,000-10,000 words a week, just not…
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Divining the economic power of the arts
Last week, the Creative Minnesota initiative released a comprehensive report on the economic impact of the arts in communities and regions across the state. Download it here. Nearly 1,300 independent arts organizations in the eight arts funding regions of Minnesota participated in the study, including hundreds here in Northern Minnesota. The top line numbers? The arts contribute $1.2 billion…
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Great Northern Radio Show metro debut
It’s no secret that more than half of the people who read this site aren’t located on the terra firma of the Mesabi Iron Range. A goodly segment of you, the ones who aren’t spambots, live in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Perhaps, and I might be dreaming here, you’ve seen me talk about my Great Northern Radio…