History

Some 'Podunk' town in the middle of nowhere
"Podunk" is supposed to be bleak and isolated. But there are a few things that people who use the term might not know. For one, it really exists. For another, its history predates the United States.
Ken Burns gets to the heart of 'Country Music'
The film includes interviews with Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, Charley Pride as well as surprises like Paul Simon, Elvis Costello and one of the last interviews with the late Merle Haggard.
440 years old and filled with footprints, these aren't your everyday maps
In 1577, King Philip II of Spain wanted to know whom he was ruling and where in his vast kingdom they were. So his viceroy asked the indigenous groups in what is now Mexico to draw some maps for him.
In Duluth, a quest for a home for a historic replica Viking ship
The ship from the 1920s was placed on public display at the Festival of Sail in Duluth this week. For more than 30 years, a group of volunteers has been working to restore the ship, and to build it a permanent home to honor a feat of sailing.
How the mosquito created Great Britian, toppled the Roman Empire and continues to threaten humankind
Here’s a startling statistic: an estimated half of the roughly 100 billion people who have ever lived have been killed by the mosquito. Or, rather, the diseases they transmit. In causing such wide-spread destruction, the mosquito has been a main character on the world stage throughout history. In his new book, The Mosquito: A human history of our deadliest predator, Tim Winegard shows just how important the mosquitoes were and will be to human civilization. He spoke with MPR’s Cathy Wurzer.
David Treuer on ‘The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee’
Native history didn’t end after Wounded Knee, even if many historical accounts stopped there. Ojibwe author and anthropologist David Treuer’s new book aims to document how Native life persisted after the 1890 massacre.