Wander & Wonder

‘I wanted to do something cool’: Meet the man who made the Minnesota-shaped forest
Years before Google Earth, DNR forester Bill Lockner used hand tools and calculated all the angles and distances to etch Minnesota’s shape into a stretch of forest in Lake of the Woods County. He doesn’t talk about it much, but he spoke recently with MPR News.
Photos: 10 of the best, most iconic views in Minnesota
From lake cliffs to river bluffs to prairies, there’s an endless list of contenders for the title Minnesota’s Best View. MPR News editor and Wander & Wonder alum Andrew Krueger shares his list of loveliest spots. What are yours?
This Black northern Minnesota inventor changed the world. Many Minnesotans don’t know him
Frederick McKinley Jones invented refrigerated shipping, allowing trucks and trains to move food worldwide. The self-taught engineer who lived in Hallock held dozens of patents that transformed America, yet Minnesotans might be hard-pressed to recognize his name.
Duluth man walks up to 12 miles a day checking in on people living on the streets
Nathan Kesti walks up to 12 miles a day around downtown Duluth, offering “compassionate accountability” to people who don’t have a home, and who are often struggling with addiction and mental health issues. 
Dan Gunderson, longtime MPR journalist and master Minnesota storyteller, retires
Dan Gunderson spent nearly four decades covering the people, communities and places of northwestern Minnesota. For the past year, he’s been highlighting everyday Minnesotans doing inspiring things for the series, “Wander & Wonder.”
Minnesota minister rediscovers his faith among people in need
When the Rev. Devlyn Brooks started a new job, it challenged his faith and his view of religion. That helped transform him, his ministry and the success of a Moorhead-based emergency shelter and food pantry.
In this west-central Minnesota town, fiddle jams draw players from ages 3 to 86
The Sunburg Minnesota Community Fiddlers started with a few people getting together to jam. One woman made it her mission to build that group into an intergenerational community centered around music and fun. 
Minnesota woman on a quest to preserve stories of disappearing towns
Have you ever been to Basswood, Oylen or Luce, Minnesota? Photographer Laura Grisamore has been to them all. She has pictures, stories and a burning desire to preserve memories of towns in their twilight.