As winter settles across Minnesota — when lakes freeze, snow quiets the land, and nights stretch long — many Indigenous communities enter a season of storytelling. It’s a time to gather indoors and share stories that carry history, teachings and connection, passed carefully from one generation to the next. MPR News guest host Leah Lemm talks with t…

ACIP votes to change hep B vaccination for infants; positive results for retatrutide; Omisirge approved; counterfeit Ozempic seized by FDA; gene therapy approved for Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome.

Millions of dollars for homeless services in Minnesota are up in the air after the Trump administration proposed changing the rules for housing programs that helped people get off the streets. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development plans to shift money away from long-term housing programs that provide services. Instead, more federal m…

From shorebirds to warblers to backyard regulars, the Great Lakes region is a critical stopover for millions of birds every year. MPR News guest host Catharine Richert talks about winter birdwatching, how to attract birds to your yard and how to make birding more welcoming to more people. Guest: Dexter Patterson is the co-founder of the BIPOC Birdi…

Many of us think about, talk about and chase happiness. But it can be elusive and surprisingly complicated. MPR News guest host Catharine Richert talks with a philosopher who says happiness — at least the way we usually think of it — is really just a feeling that comes and goes. She says what truly matters is flourishing — living in a way that refl…

From local Nutcrackers to community choir concerts, ‘tis the season for holiday shows put on by your friends and neighbors. Across Minnesota, stages are booked with theater, dance and music performances — and many of the people in the spotlight aren’t even paid professionals. They’re adults with day jobs who rehearse after dinner, all for the joy a…

Two mass shootings over the weekend left communities in two countries shaken. Two gunmen killed 15 people at a Hanukkah Festival in Australia and dozens remain hospitalized. MPR News guest host Catharine Richert talks about what we know about the shootings, what research says about patterns in mass violence and what these attacks mean for communiti…

Is it possible to build relational bridges, even in contentious times? Scholar and activist john a. powell says yes. He’s dedicated his life to teaching others how to belong and bridge. As the director of the Othering and Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley and the founder of the Institute on Race and Poverty at the Univer…

Last month the Food and Drug Administration announced that it would remove its warning on hormone-based products used to treat menopause symptoms. As women age, most will experience changes linked to the stop of their monthly menses, including hot flashes, bone density loss and sleep problems. But in the past two decades a strong “black-box warning…

A federal vaccine advisory committee recently voted to end the decades-old recommendation that all U.S. newborns get a hepatitis B vaccine dose at birth. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted that only infants born to mothers who test positive for hepatitis B — or whose infection status is unknown — are recommended to get that firs…

For much of the last century, a steady career often meant staying with one company for decades. But that idea started to fade in the ‘80s and ‘90s as layoffs and restructuring made long-term loyalty feel less secure. By the 2000s, job hopping became the norm and often led to better pay and benefits. But today, something new is happening. Alongside …

Jaypirca gains expanded approval; allograft approved to restore peripheral nerve function; baxdrostat to be reviewed as an add-on treatment for hypertension; treatment for a genetic eye disorder that causes vision loss shows promise; and an autoinjector to treat edema is accepted for Priority Review.…

Food has the power to comfort us, connect us to our roots and preserve our culture. When coming to a new country, immigrants leave much behind. But one thing many people carry with them to start life in a new place are their family’s recipes. MPR News guest host Kelly Gordon talks with a cookbook author and a chef from Mexico about the dishes and s…

President Donald Trump has escalated rhetoric about Minnesota’s Somali community in recent weeks. And according to reports from The New York Times and the Associated Press, the Trump administration now plans to target hundreds of Somali immigrants living unlawfully in the Twin Cities. MPR News guest host Catharine Richert talks about what we know s…

The weekly radio show, The Splendid Table, turns 30 this year. For three decades, the program has helped home cooks feel more brave, curious and connected through the food we share. MPR News guest host Catharine Richert marks the anniversary by talking with Splendid Table host and James Beard Award-winning food writer Francis Lam.  They’ll talk abo…

On the first day of 2026, Minnesota will introduce a new benefit for most workers in the state. It’s a paid family and medical leave program that guarantees access to time off to bond with a new child, recuperate from a major medical issue or care for an ill family member. The program replaces a portion of someone’s wage for a leave that can span w…

Earlier this year, South Korea’s government admitted that widespread corruption had tainted hundreds of thousands of adoptions from its country. Babies who were thought to be orphaned had living parents. Some children were trafficked. Paperwork was falsified. Records were destroyed. Korean adoptees worldwide were left reeling, including here in Min…

Earlier this year, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde delivered a sermon that drew national attention as President Donald Trump returned to the White House. She spoke about unity, how people of faith respond in uncertain times, and she directly asked Trump to have mercy on immigrants, transgender children and people fleeing war zones. Her sermon — at that …

At some point in our lives, many of us will struggle to afford groceries. A job loss, a medical crisis, a divorce, an unexpected expense — life happens. Yet shame often keeps us from seeking help at food shelves and through food assistance programs like SNAP. MPR News guest host Catharine Richert talks about food insecurity and the stigma that ofte…

Tonmya now available for fibromyalgia; safety warnings for DMD treatment; mitapivat shows mixed results in sickle cell disease trial; Redemplo approved for familial chylomicronemia syndrome; Hyrnuo approved for HER2-mutant NSCLC.

Many of us listen to music off of our phones through streaming apps with algorithms built to feed us songs it thinks we would like. It’s convenient, but those playlists, now starting to incorporate AI, rarely surprise us. Maybe that’s why some college radio stations are making a comeback. They offer something more personal — real human voices and a…

“FAFO parenting” is getting attention — the idea that sometimes the best way for kids to learn is by experiencing natural consequences. FAFO doesn’t exactly stand for “fool around and find out,” but you get the idea. Supporters say the parenting approach builds resilience and responsibility. Critics worry it can cross into neglect or leave kids wit…

Trust in government is low. Politicians are trading personal insults on social media. And, Americans see the country as more divided than at any other time since the Civil War. What would it take to bring more dialogue, respect and effectiveness to politics? A first-of-its-kind program from the Citizen’s League is starting small and personal, with …

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed a government funding bill ending a record 43-day shutdown. The legislation came after weeks of political gridlock that ended when a small group of Senate Democrats reached a compromise with Republicans. MPR News guest host Catharine Richert talks with two political scientists about what the deal to end th…

The FDA requests boxed warnings be removed from HRT product labels; Caplyta approved for MDD; Darzalex Faspro gains new indication; investigational MS treatment looks promising; trial investigates simplified HIV regimen.

This Saturday marks ten years since the fatal shooting of Jamar Clark. On Nov. 15, 2015, the unarmed 24-year-old was shot during a confrontation with two Minneapolis police officers. He died the next day. In the weeks that followed, hundreds of people protested outside the Minneapolis 4th Precinct in Minneapolis — demanding the names of the officer…

Cannabis is going mainstream in Minnesota in ways that would have been hard to imagine just a few years ago. THC drinks are on store shelves. People talk about edibles and dispensaries as casually as they talk about coffee or craft breweries. For many young adults, cannabis has become part of everyday life — a way to unwind, manage stress or hang o…