Arts and Culture

Minnesota-born Marie Myung-Ok Lee mines her own history for a wry new novel about a northern Minnesota doctor who learns his hospital is being closed by the corporation that bought it. That decision upends a previously quiet and controlled life. On this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas, host Kerri Miller talks with Lee about her new novel, “The Evening Hero.”

McConaughey urged people not to accept such tragedies as the status quo.

Ethiopian chef Karima Omer serves what she calls chapati wraps at her St. Paul restaurant. She created the dish almost by accident, but a staple of East African cuisine is now a huge hit with customers.

This Friday’s Big Books and Bold Ideas is a conversation with novelist Marie Myung Ok-Lee. Her new novel, “The Evening Hero,” is about changes in rural medicine, as told through the eyes of a physician who practices at a northern Minnesota hospital. To whet your appetite, we are bringing back one of host Kerri Miller’s all-time favorite Talking Volume conversations, with Dr. Abraham Verghese, practicing doctor and author of one of the great modern classics, “Cutting for Stone.”

Fresh off a tour with internationally famous rapper and singer Pitbull, Lucia Sarmiento is back in the Twin Cities and ready to take the lead as a solo artist. Sarmiento joined host Cathy Wurzer to talk about her work in the local jazz scene and her upcoming album to be released this summer.

Barrett Bloom is a freshman in college having a terrible day. She shows up at her Physics 101 class only to be put on the spot in front of everyone for no reason by her unbearably annoying classmate, Miles. She’s never even seen him before! Or has she?

Trying to pinpoint the source of a chronic illness is a murky road for patients, especially when their symptoms morph and move around the body. Writer Meghan O’Rourke found herself hitting dead ends when trying to get a diagnosis for her disease. She joins MPR News host Kerri Miller in this edition of Big Books and Bold Ideas to talk about how we might better see those who suffer from a chronic illness.

Members of the Ukrainian community gathered in Minneapolis on Thursday to celebrate International Vyshyvanka Day. Vyshyvankas are traditional embroidered clothing that are considered a form of spiritual armor in Ukrainian culture.

Leesa Kelly founded Memorialize the Movement nearly two years ago to save the paintings that artists created during the week of heartache and rage that followed the police murder of George Floyd. 

The St. Paul music school provides affordable music education to children and young adults.