Category: Arts & Culture

  • Northland man to attempt record-breaking ice wheelie for good cause

    Northland man to attempt record-breaking ice wheelie for good cause

    This Saturday, Feb. 2, Northern Minnesota native Cecil “Bubba” Myers will attempt a world record for fastest motorcycle wheelie on ice. The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Lake Pokegama south of Grand Rapids at the Zorbaz Restaurant beach. And he’s doing it for a good cause.

  • Hear Great Northern Radio Show from Hibbing High School auditorium

    Hear Great Northern Radio Show from Hibbing High School auditorium

    Fans of Aaron Brown’s Great Northern Radio Show on Northern Community Radio can hear the full Nov. 17, 2018 program broadcast live from the historic Hibbing High School auditorium.

  • Duluth tall ships tickets go on sale today

    Duluth tall ships tickets go on sale today

    Fans of tall masted wooden ships will feel an aft wind this summer when the Festival of Sail comes to Duluth, Minnesota, Aug. 11-13. Formerly known as the Tall Ships Festival, tickets for the event go on sale today. It’s hard to explain the absolute crush of people who come to Canal Park and Bayfront…

  • Around the world in 108 MHz

    Around the world in 108 MHz

    Despite many proclamations of its impending demise, radio lives on. In part, the medium survives because it has integrated with the internet. When I broadcast my Great Northern Radio Show last month, I heard from listeners in Alaska, Italy, Spain and beyond. And yet I still think of the casual listener driving across Northern Minnesota,…

  • Jim and Silent Bob pitch whiskey on Tonight Show

    Jim and Silent Bob pitch whiskey on Tonight Show

    Bob Dylan’s hometown of Hibbing, Minnesota, marks the changes in his sprawling career with bemused resignation. Nevertheless, some folks still wonder what the boy they knew as Robert Zimmerman is up to. Earlier this year Dylan announced his new whiskey label, dubbed Heaven’s Door. And while his “never-ending” concern tour keeps rolling, Dylan has adopted the…

  • Celebrate with the Great Northern Radio Show

    Celebrate with the Great Northern Radio Show

    It’s been a wild fall here at MinnesotaBrown. An unexpected research trip to San Francisco. Election coverage that culminated with a live appearance on National Public Radio. And now I’m getting ready for Saturday’s Great Northern Radio Show at the historic Hibbing High School auditorium. It’s been a banner year for this mid-level regional writer.…

  • Oral history of this blog with notes

    Oral history of this blog with notes

    Earlier this week I appeared on the Duluth News Tribune Pressroom Podcast with co-hosts Christa Lawler and Brady Slater, produced by Samantha Erkkila. The podcast team and I had been trying for years to figure out when I’d be in Duluth on a weekday with time to spare. We finally found a moment after my appearance…

  • The music of civility amid the street din

    The music of civility amid the street din

    The backlog of topics I’d like to write about keeps growing. News in the mining and steel industry. News for the upcoming election. Some exciting news about my MN-8 campaign coverage (stay tuned next week). Yet, I’m under the gun writing a script for the Great Northern Radio Show this week, so all that’s on…

  • Great Minds trivia battle coming up soon

    Great Minds trivia battle coming up soon

    On Tuesday, Oct. 16, Great Minds Learning Center holds its second annual trivia battle fundraiser and silent auction at the Blandin Foundation in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. I host the event as your B-List celebrity quizmaster. The silent auction runs from 5-7 p.m. The quiz battle starts at 6 p.m. The winning team gets prizes. Everyone is…

  • Drunk birds maintain Gilbert’s wet reputation

    Drunk birds maintain Gilbert’s wet reputation

    Some birds got drunk in Gilbert, Minnesota. They didn’t mean to. That’s not what they planned when they went out with their friends. But that’s what happened. And now their antics have reached the Washington Post. This isn’t the first time alcohol consumption has landed Minnesota’s Iron Range in the national press. Nor is it…

  • MinnesotaBrown wakes up from California Dream

    MinnesotaBrown wakes up from California Dream

    It’s been quiet the last few days here at MinnesotaBrown. It’s not that there isn’t anything to write about. Election 2018. Steelworker negotiations. The continuing saga of Northern Minnesota’s rough water landing in the future. But I had the opportunity to travel to San Francisco last weekend to conduct an interview for my book project…

  • Great Northern Radio Show at Hibbing HS auditorium

    Great Northern Radio Show at Hibbing HS auditorium

    I’m spinning headlong into an intense couple of months of work projects. I’m teaching full time and continue working on my book. Now I have something new to announce: An exciting Nov. 17 Great Northern Radio Show broadcast at the Hibbing High School auditorium. We’ve played Hibbing a couple times, but never this ornate 1,800-seat…

  • ‘Saving Brinton’ in Duluth this week

    ‘Saving Brinton’ in Duluth this week

    I had my 20th class reunion this past Saturday. It was a lovely day of telling stories about the past. One of the scheduled events was a stop at our old high school. The plan was to watch a video my friends and I made my senior year. This short film, shot and edited on…

  • A taste of change on the Iron Range

    A taste of change on the Iron Range

    On Thursday, the Iron Range Makerspace hosts its first pop-up restaurant event, highlighting another small possibility of change in this blue collar region. June Apple Kitchen, a small catering business operated by Megan Reynolds, will cook a four course Mediterranean and serve at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 16. For $40, all you have to do…

  • Fargo series to return with Chris Rock in lead role

    Fargo series to return with Chris Rock in lead role

    I wasn’t sure I’d get to fire up the MinnesotaBrown “Fargo” Review again. After all, showrunner Noah Hawley had said he’d only bring the show back if he found a good story to tell. Well, apparently he has. And he’s brought in a heavy-hitter from the comedy world to headline the cast. FX has announced…