Northern Minnesota’s iron ranges hold special distinction in American history, but for reasons more than ore. I was down in Crosby preparing for a show last week. There I learned America’s Space Race, the technological marathon that spurred developments like computers and the Internet, got its unassuming start in a Cuyuna Range mine pit The…

Minnesotans experience spring, summer, autumn and, of course, winter the way God intended: entirely, each season accompanied by a unique wardrobe and emotional self-defense strategy. In the dead of another frigid winter or the mires of an ambiguous spring it can be hard to argue for the virtues of this cycle. Further, Minnesota’s place in…

As the federal government shutdown wore on this past week the effects were felt everywhere. Nowhere was this more true than in our national parks, where the shutdown turned away visitors and left the animals therein to fend for themselves. This is their story. FOX ANNOUNCER: Thank you for watching ACTUAL FOX News continuing coverage…

One finds resistance discussing the diversification of northern Minnesota’s economy into areas outside natural resources. Convincing local leaders that real economic growth can come from abstract concepts like art and design is often as difficult as extracting 100 long tons of iron ore from the earth. I mean, you can’t even use dynamite, which would…

  High up an old oak tree on a rolling hill just outside Hibbing, Minnesota, two talking leaves dangle by hardening stems. Fall has arrived. LEAFY: Lefty, you ever get the sense that things are changing? LEFTY: Everythin’ changes, Leafy. No point worryin.’ LEAFY: But, I mean, *really* changing. I don’t know how to tell…

My name is Aaron and it has been four months since my last Holiday gas station cookie. This, of course, refers to the third cookie I ate that night, because they cost less if you buy three, and why wouldn’t you want to eat three? They are the greatest cookies ever made. Sure, your mom’s…

In the movie “Napoleon Dynamite,” caretaker Uncle Rico can’t escape past mistakes. “If I had a time machine,” he said, “you’d better believe things would be different.” He was referring to a football game in which he didn’t even play, but also life. So, too, go the folk mantras of many among us this week…

Summer lives, of course. It’s still kind of nice outside. The leaves are still kind of green. The calendar places the start of fall in September, but we all know that’s junk. Tomorrow I’ll pilot the car early in the morning to teach a college class for something called “Fall Semester” and how can you argue…