Curious Minnesota

Latest Episodes:

How an inside joke led to St. Cloud getting its name May 19, 2022

Show notes

What do a medieval French prince and an 1800s Minnesota sawmill owner have in common? They're both key figures in the wild story of how the city of St. Cloud got its name. The Star Tribune's St. Cloud reporter Jenny Berg joins host Ash Miller to share the tale and talk about the series of equally strange events that followed.

LINKS:

How did St. Cloud get its name? (July 2021 Curious Minnesota article)

St. Cloud Today newsletter sign up

The hidden electrical system that keeps our lights on May 05, 2022

Show notes

Generating electricity and getting it to houses and businesses across Minnesota is a round-the-clock effort that is easy to take for granted. Star Tribune energy reporter Mike Hughlett joins host Eric Roper to discuss where Minnesota's power comes from, how it's distributed and who oversees our regional power grid.

LINKS:

Where does Twin Cities electricity come from and how is it delivered to homes? (August 2021 Curious Minnesota story)

Why do Minnesotans have accents? Apr 21, 2022

Show notes

The Minnesota accent is ubiquitous in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. But where does it come from?

Keely Wolter, a Richfield-based accent and dialogue coach, joins the Star Tribune's Hannah Sayle and Rachel Hutton to discuss the accent's origins and what defines this uniquely Minnesotan way of speaking.

LINKS:

Why do Minnesotans have accents? (Nov. 2021 Curious Minnesota article)

Did St. Paul really protect gangsters during the Prohibition era? Apr 07, 2022

Show notes

Considered one of the most corrupt cities in America during Prohibition, St. Paul's historical relationship with gangsters was rooted in an agreement between the police department and the criminals of the city: As long as you commit your crimes somewhere else, you're welcome to hide out in St. Paul. Ash Miller and James Walsh talk about how this agreement affected the city, from its crime rates to its national reputation.

LINKS:

Did St. Paul really protect gangsters during the Prohibition era? (June 2021 Curious Minnesota story)

St. Paul's gangster tours

John Dillinger Slept Here book

Why did Minneapolis' flour boom go bust? Mar 24, 2022

Show notes

Minneapolis' "Mill City" nickname traces its roots to a 50-year period when the city's flour milling dominated the world market. But that came to an end in 1930, when the city lost its crown to Buffalo, N.Y. Eric Roper and Hannah Sayle discuss how Minneapolis rose to prominence as a flour milling capital, and the many factors that led to the decline of flour milling on the riverfront.

LINKS:

Why did Minneapolis' famous flour boom go bust?

The stories behind Minnesota's oldest building and the Northwest Angle Mar 10, 2022

Show notes

Last fall, Curious Minnesota listeners voted on their favorite questions submitted by people stopping by the Star Tribune's booth at the State Fair. There was a three-way tie for the top question. Those winning questions were: "What is the oldest building in Minnesota?" "How did the Northwest Angle come about?" and "How big does a body of water need to be to qualify as a lake?"

Reporter Katy Read wrote stories on two of those questions for the Curious Minnesota column. She joins the show to discuss the answers with host Eric Roper.

LINKS:

How did Minnesota get its shape on the map? (October 2021 article)

What is the oldest building in Minnesota? (December 2021 article)

The Jolly Green Giant has left Minnesota. So who is maintaining his iconic billboard? Feb 24, 2022

Show notes

The Jolly Green Giant has moved on from Minnesota. His legacy, however, lives on in the form of an iconic Minnesota River Valley billboard. Reporter Brooks Johnson joins Ash Miller to talk about the history of the Green Giant brand and what the billboard means for those Minnesotans who drive by it every day.

LINKS:

The Jolly Green Giant has moved on from Minnesota. So who is maintaining his iconic billboard? (January 2022 Curious Minnesota story)

Jolly Green Giant commercial

Historic wildfires once destroyed part of Minnesota. Could it happen again? Feb 10, 2022

Show notes

The wildfires of 1894 and 1918 remain two of the worst natural disasters in Minnesota history, more than a century after destroying entire towns in the northern portion of the state. These rapidly moving blazes claimed more than 900 victims. What caused them to spread so quickly? Could it happen again?

Hannah Sayle and Duluth reporter Jana Hollingsworth discuss the circumstances that led to these tragedies, and what lessons were learned to prevent them from repeating.

LINKS:

Historic wildfires once destroyed entire cities in northern Minnesota. Could it happen again?

Which Indigenous tribes first called Minnesota home? Jan 27, 2022

Show notes

Indigenous people have been living in the area that became Minnesota since ancient times. Anton Treuer, professor of Objiwe at Bemidji State University, joins the podcast to discuss the Native Americans who inhabited the state prior to European settlement -- and their tribal affiliations.

LINKS:

Which Indigenous tribes first called Minnesota home?

Meet the Curious Minnesota superfan behind some of our best questions Jan 13, 2022

Show notes

Star Tribune reader Sharon Carlson joins the podcast to discuss her questions that have been answered by Curious Minnesota. Eight of Carlson's questions, linked below, have appeared in the column.

How did St. Cloud get its name? It's a strange story

Are Minnesota's day-care costs really the highest in the nation?

Why does Minnesota have one of highest rates of volunteering in the country?

Why is Minnesota the only mainland state with an abundance of wolves?

What was the most destructive tornado in Minnesota history?

Why was the career of Minnesota's first congresswoman cut short?

Frozen for the future: Does Minnesota have any cryonics facilities?

What does it take to become a police officer in the state of Minnesota?

Additionally, here is an article about the police training video that Sharon mentioned during the conversation.