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All politics is national
We now understand that 2016 was no fluke. Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range, a post-WWII bastion of the Democratic Farmer-Labor Party, now leans toward the Republican Party. And the DFL shows no sign of regaining lost ground anytime soon. The old days are truly gone. The numbers from Tuesday’s election weren’t overwhelming. President Trump won most…
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Space to think
This was the first time since I started the blog that I neither maintained a live blog on election night, nor wrote a breathless analysis article the day after. To those who were looking for one, sorry. I’ve got thoughts, and you’ll get them, but not yet. Holding out might have been the best choice.…
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FARGO, Season 4: “Camp Elegance”
Northern Minnesota author Aaron J. Brown reviews each episode of “Fargo” with an eye for unique details from the place where the show is set. The ratings range from INTERESTING (bad), to COULD BE WORSE (not so good) to PRETTY GOOD (not so bad), and OH, YA! (real good then). Beware the spoilers. Episode 6:…
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Pence in Hibbing today for campaign rally
Vice President Mike Pence and other Republican candidates will appear today at a rally at the Range Regional Airport in Hibbing. Just one week before the Nov. 3 election, the Trump campaign sees Minnesota as winnable despite polls that currently trend toward Joe Biden and the Democrats. National campaign visits to northern Minnesota are typically…
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Water, land and climate
An epic conflict shapes the future of northern Minnesota. But it doesn’t feel like a conflict. Rather, it feels like selling out and settling for less. And it might take 40 years before we know what hit us. This battle gently boils in the rooms where estates are settled, where families decide how to pay…
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FARGO, Season 4: “The Birthplace of Civilization”
Northern Minnesota author Aaron J. Brown reviews each episode of “Fargo” with an eye for unique details from the place where the show is set. The ratings range from INTERESTING (bad), to COULD BE WORSE (not so good) to PRETTY GOOD (not so bad), and OH, YA! (real good then). Beware the spoilers. Episode 5:…
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Old book teaches perils of power
Used paperback book stores smell like cigarettes and coffee, the boiled essence of a schoolhouse cloakroom and the back alley behind a restaurant. If you lick one of the books — and you shouldn’t — I suspect it would taste salty. This is merely a hypothesis. It was at just such a store in the…
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FARGO, Season 4: “The Pretend War”
Northern Minnesota author Aaron J. Brown reviews each episode of “Fargo” with an eye for unique details from the place where the show is set. The ratings range from INTERESTING (bad), to COULD BE WORSE (not so good) to PRETTY GOOD (not so bad), and OH, YA! (real good then). Beware the spoilers. Episode 4:…
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Empty theatrics dictate 2020 politics on the Iron Range
For one remarkable fall afternoon the President of the United States and his Democratic challenger converged on the political battlefield of northern Minnesota. The Sept. 18 appearances of President Donald Trump at the Bemidji airport and former Vice President Joe Biden at a union training center near Duluth fed the hungry narrative that Minnesota may…
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Iron Range becomes ‘living political meme’ in 2020 race
As I’ve written already, the Iron Range finds itself at the center of the 2020 campaign these days. This happened mostly because of the attention being paid to us by President Trump. But does Trump really have all the answers for the Range or is this just part of a symbolic gambit in his “turn…
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FARGO, Season 4: “Raddoppiarlo”
Northern Minnesota author Aaron J. Brown reviews each episode of “Fargo” with an eye for unique details from the place where the show is set. The ratings range from INTERESTING (bad), to COULD BE WORSE (not so good) to PRETTY GOOD (not so bad), and OH, YA! (real good then). Beware the spoilers. Episode 3:…
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Cleveland Cliffs resets the Mesabi Iron Range
Before March 2, 1901 northern Minnesota served as a battleground for two immutable titans of industry, Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. At stake was control of the world’s richest untapped source of iron ore and the nation-building steel it could produce. The scene grew chaotic with new mines opening, closing, and changing hands all…
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FARGO, Season 4: “The Land of Taking and Killing”
Northern Minnesota author Aaron J. Brown reviews each episode of “Fargo” with an eye for unique details from the place where the show is set. The ratings range from INTERESTING (bad), to COULD BE WORSE (not so good) to PRETTY GOOD (not so bad), and OH, YA! (real good then). Beware the spoilers. Episode 2:…
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FARGO, Season 4: “Welcome to Alternate Economy”
Northern Minnesota author Aaron J. Brown reviews each episode of “Fargo” with an eye for unique details from the Midwest. The ratings range from INTERESTING (bad), to COULD BE WORSE (not so good) to PRETTY GOOD (not so bad), and OH, YA! (real good then). Beware the spoilers. Episode 1: Welcome to the Alternate Economy…
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Breaking barriers and saving lives during Hibbing’s most trying times
During my book research I stumbled across the story of Hattie Mosley. I wasn’t the first to note this fascinating woman’s life. She was elected to the Hibbing Historical Society’s Hall of Service and Achievement a decade ago. But few in her Iron Range hometown know anything about her. In 1918, Hibbing battled a flu…