Appetites: Making wedding cakes with love
Say your friend asks you to make a wedding cake. Are you qualified? Probably not. Should you do it? Amy Thielen is here to say: Yes! Absolutely!
Arts
Show collection items Curlytics: The analytics revolution sweeps into curling
The analytics entrenched in baseball and other sports are meeting the swept ice, thrown stones and hammers of curling. The turn-based game on ice is primed for data derived strategies.
50 years since John Lennon and Yoko Ono married in Gibraltar
During their honeymoon, Lennon wrote "The Ballad of John and Yoko" about how they ended up there.
'Sioux Chef' Sean Sherman wins James Beard Leadership Award
Sean Sherman, the founder and CEO of The Sioux Chef was awarded a James Beard Foundation Leadeship Award, which "spotlights the important and complex realms of sustainability, food justice, and public health."
A century-old story of jazz and murder in New Orleans
If you were in New Orleans exactly 100 years ago, you might have heard an early jazz recording like "Livery Stable Blues" being played loudly in homes across the city. The reason is less than delightful.
40 years since Gloria Gaynor's 'I Will Survive' topped the pop chart
When Polydor Records released Gloria Gaynor's single "Substitute," the song didn't make much of an impression. Then, club DJs flipped the single over to the B-side and discovered "I Will Survive."
Jerome Foundation awards $3.2 million to artists
The Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship program is a two-year grant aimed at artists who have established their practice, but have yet to get wide recognition for their work. Most of the artists identify as people of color or indigenous.
Dick Dale, 'King of Surf Guitar,' dies at 81
Dick Dale, whose pounding, blaringly loud power-chord instrumentals on songs like "Miserlou" and "Let's Go Trippin'" earned him the title "King of the Surf Guitar," has died at age 81.
Thieves steal famous painting from Italian church -- but don't worry, it's a fake
After authorities were tipped off about the potential heist, they replaced the Flemish masterpiece with a replica.
At 83, Mary Lane upholds the blues tradition: 'I still got it'
The Arkansas-born blues singer looks back on her career and discusses "Travelin' Woman," her first album in more than 20 years.
Nat King Cole remains 'one of the great gifts of nature'
Born 100 years ago today, Nat King Cole topped the charts year after year, sold more than 50 million records, pushed jazz piano in a new direction and paved the way for later generations of performers.
Twin Cities poet Ed Bok Lee reads from new collection of work
Twin Cities poet Ed Bok Lee will read from his new collection of poetry, "Mitochondrial Night," on Saturday night in Minneapolis.
Can't make it to Austin for SXSW? The Current is streaming its party there live
The SXSW music festival is underway in Austin, Texas, and MPR's sister station The Current is hosting a party.
Photographer Alec Soth deals with an unexpected feeling: happiness
The internationally known Minnesota photographer changed how he works as a result.
The Five with Liliana Percy Ruiz: Radical Candor, Free Solo and a movie theater with personality
Normally, senior producer Stephanie Curtis recommends five things to see, do, read or experience. But this week, we asked Liliana Percy Ruiz, executive producer at "On Being" and host of the podcast "This Movie Changed Me," to fill in.
The surviving members of the Monkees perform at Mystic Lake Casino on Thursday night
The duo's tour has been getting good reviews, with the two musicians — now in their mid-seventies — performing a mix of old favorites and more recent tunes. The show also includes tributes to Peter Tork, who died last month, and Davy Jones, who passed away in 2012.
Art Hounds: Looking for middle ground in 'The Gun Show'
Plus, Art Hounds recommend jazz at the Duluth Depot and a smorgasbord of queer theater.
Appetites: New black-owned restaurants create soul food scene in Twin Cities
The Twin Cities has never been known as a good place to get soul food, but some dedicated entrepreneurs are making the local food scene take note of an unusual-to-Minnesota phenomenon: black-owned food businesses serving both classic and innovative takes on black cooking.
After 30 seasons, Frank Theatre's 'not done yet'
With no permanent home, the theater company has built a loyal, mobile audience that likes to be challenged.
Are women finally gaining power in Hollywood?
"Captain Marvel" revealed an appetite for good movies with strong female leads. But Hollywood still has a ways to go to achieve equity.