KFAI's MinneCulture

In the 1970s, lesbian and feminist organizations popped up in cities across the nation. Minneapolis and Saint Paul were no exception. Here in the Twin Cities, the Amazon Feminist Book Store, Lesbian Resource Center, and Lesbian Feminist Organizing Committee all provided space and community for newly out lesbians and queer women.

At the same time, a small network of transgender women started their own type of organizing, one that relied more on mutual support than a physical meeting place.

But these groups weren’t mutually exclusive. In the late 1970s, a trans woman named Sissy Potter tried to join a lesbian feminist group called A Woman’s Coffee House. She’s probably not the only one, either. On the season 8 finale of MinneCulture from producer Kira Schukar, Sissy’s letter sparks a conversation about feminism, gender, and transfeminism in the Twin Cities and beyond.

Content warning: This podcast contains a transphobic slur and comments.

MinneCulture is hosted by John Gebretatose and edited by Julie Censullo. Support for MinneCulture is provided by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage fFund.

Music from Blue Dot Sessions:

Silver Lanyard by Bitters

Borough by Molerider

Two Pound by Muffuletta

Eggs and Powder by Muffaletta

Dowdy by Muffaletta

True Shape by Muffaletta

Sources:

“2023 Anti-Trans Legislation.” Trans Legislation Tracker, https://translegislation.com/bills/2023. Accessed 26 Mar. 2024.

2023 State Equality Index: A Review of State Legislation Affecting the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Community and a Look Ahead in 2024. Human Rights Campaign Foundation, 2024, https://reports.hrc.org/2023-state-equality-index?_ga=2.7211186.1288380725.1706647812-211073266.1705959553.

Enke, Finn. “Collective Memory and the Transfeminist 1970s: Toward a Less Plausible History.” TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly, vol. 5, no. 1, Feb. 2018, pp. 9–29.

---. Finding the Movement: Sexuality, Contested Space, and Feminist Activism. Duke University Press, 2007.

---. “Smuggling Sex through the Gates: Race, Sexuality, and the Politics of Space in Second Wave Feminism.” American Quarterly, vol. 55, no. 4, Dec. 2003, pp. 635–67.

Franklin, Michael David, et al., editors. Queer Twin Cities. University of Minnesota Press, 2010.

Grossman, Mary Ann. “Pioneering True Colors Feminist Bookstore Expected to Close in February.” Twin Cities Pioneer Press, 27 Dec. 2011, https://www.twincities.com/2011/12/27/pioneering-true-colors-feminist-bookstore-expected-to-close-in-february/.

McNaron, Toni. “About Toni.” Toni McNaron, https://tonimcnaron.com/about/. Accessed 26 Mar. 2024.

Van Cleve, Stewart. Land of 10,000 Loves: A History of Queer Minnesota. University of Minnesota Press, 2012.

Whitaker, Jan. “‘Way Out’ Coffeehouses.” Restaurant-Ing Through History, 28 Sept. 2009, https://restaurant-ingthroughhistory.com/2009/09/28/way-out-coffeehouses/.

Take a dive into comedic history in this story about the beginnings of the Brave New Workshop. The Brave New Workshop was founded by a former circus former named Dudley Riggs. In the mid 20th century, a new kind of humor was taking the world by storm, and Riggs tapped into the zeitgeist of improvisation that had no limits. KFAI's Sheila Regan weaves together the voices of past and present company members, archival audio, and an interview with Riggs himself in this celebration of comedy that speaks to its time.

MinneCulture is hosted by John Gebretatose and edited by Julie Censullo. Support for MinneCulture on KFAI has been provided by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.

KSTP-AM is one of Minnesota’s oldest and formerly most successful radio stations. By the 90's, it had been mostly forgotten, as fans flocked to FM. While music fans enjoyed the stereophonic sounds on the other side of the dial, a new form of radio program began to emerge. Before long, talk radio flourished across the United States, and nowhere was it strong than at “The Talk Station.”

Fueled by a desire to shake up the radio landscape, Hubbard Broadcasting’s Ginny Morris took charge of the station and hired a new set of voices in the Twin Cities to break up the status quo. It was an eclectic cast of characters, and none of them were more unique than Tommy Mischke. Left to his own devices and given the keys to a late night kingdom, the renegade broadcaster blazed his own path. Hear from his colleagues and managers to get the inside story about what made The Mischke Broadcast one of Minnesota’s favorite radio shows, it’s legacy and why it’s a show that could only happen here.

Today, Tommy Mischke might be known as a podcaster and book author, but long before that he known by Twin Cities radio fans as only “The Phantom Caller.”

This documentary was produced Kyle Shiely and edited by Julie Censullo. Hear more classic Mischke bits at MischkeMadness.com and keep up with Tommy at the Mischke Roadshow, available wherever you get your podcasts. Find more of Kyle’s work at kyleshiely.com.

Support for MinneCulture on KFAI is provided by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. MinneCulture is hosted by John Gebretatose and edited by Julie Censullo.

Minnesota was the first state to take Big Tobacco to trial in 1998. The biggest lawsuit in the state’s history forced the tobacco industry to take down cigarette billboards and release millions of internal documents that filled a Minneapolis warehouse.

When vaping e-cigarettes gained popularity among youth in the late 2010s, the Minnesota Attorney General’s office sued again, this time against market leader Juul Labs and the company’s Big Tobacco investor Altria. The lawsuit lifted thousands of new tobacco documents into the public archive.

KFAI's Michelle Bruch talked to people who worked on both trials — on both sides of the case — 25 years apart.

Support for MinneCulture on KFAI is provided by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund. Season 8 of MinneCulture is hosted by John Gebretatose and edited by Julie Censullo.

Music: 'Ants in my pants' -SUPERARE

Mike Sawyer fell in love with old folk music in his 20s, picking up the banjo and playing at festivals and jams around the state. But after a while, he began to wonder why nearly all the songs he and his fellow musicians were playing came from Appalachia and the South. What happened to early musical traditions from Minnesota?

Now, Mike’s on a mission to uncover the roots of Upper Midwest folk music and keep it alive for future generations.

This documentary was produced by Britta Greene and James Napoli, and edited by Julie Censullo. Special thanks to Jim Leary and the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for sharing many of the audio recordings included in this piece, including from the Down Home Dairyland recordings. Additional thanks to Rob McGinley Myers, Nancy Rosenbaum, Sophie Nikitas, Cris Anderson and members of the Upper Midwest Folk Fiddlers.

You can find more of Mike’s research and recordings on his websites: Upper Midwest Old Time and the Midwest Fiddle Tunes Project.

Season 8 of MinneCulture is hosted by John Gebretatose and edited by Julie Censullo. Support for MinneCulture on KFAI is provided by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.

Every year, people on a canoe trip to Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA) need to be rescued from a dangerous situation. In modern times, the call for help can come from a cell phone, a satellite phone, or an emergency beacon like a Garmin inReach. But it wasn't always this easy to help people who recreate across the canoe-country wilderness. In this story from KFAI producer Joe Friedrichs, we learn about the history of search and rescue operations inside the most visited wilderness area in the nation, the Boundary Waters.

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MinneCulture is hosted by John Gebretatose and edited by Julie Censullo. MinneCulture is a production of KFAI. Support for MinneCulture has been provided by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.

Peter Jesperson is a music legend. Born in Minnesota, Jesperson was a seminal figure in the Minneapolis punk and new wave scene of the 1970's and 1980's. He co-founded Twin/Tone Records, worked at Oar Folkjokeopus record store and the Jay's Longhorn bar, and is credited with discovering the Replacements. He later served as the band's manager.

In "Lost in the Songs," producer Todd Melby interviews Jesperson about his love affair with music, his relationship with the Replacements, and his addictions.

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Breakmaster Cylinder composed two of the songs in this documentary. Their work can be found at BreakmasterCylinder.com. Other music was by The Replacements, Patti Smith, The Safaris and the Suicide Commandos.

Peter Jesperson’s book is titled “Euphoric Recall.” It was published by MNHS Press.

Audio mastered by Alex Simpson.

For more of Todd's work, check out toddmelby.com

MinneCulture is hosted by John Gebretatose and edited by Julie Censullo. Support for MinneCulture on KFAI is provided by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.

MinneCulture is BACK for season 8! This season, we are bringing you 7 brand new audio documentaries about the people, places, and cultural phenomena that make Minnesota...well, Minnesota. Make sure you're subscribed to MinneCulture so you don't miss any of these fascinating stories about our state.

Season 8 is produced by Michelle Bruch, Joe Friedrichs, Britta Greene, Todd Melby, James Napoli, Sheila Regan, Kira Schukar, and Kyle Shiely. Hosted by John Gebretatose and edited by Julie Censullo. MinneCulture is a production of KFAI. Support for MinneCulture is provided by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.

In the most basic sense, what’s commonly referred to as “the fur trade” was a period of cultural and economic exchange between Native Americans and European Americans, according to the Minnesota Historical Society. As the pages of history were put down, one aspect that was continually overlooked is the role women played at home, in the woods, and throughout many aspects of life during the fur trade. The simple truth is that Indigenous women actively contributed to the success of the North American fur trade, according to Karl Koster, a Minnesota historian who specializes in the history of the iconic fur trade. In this MinneCulture In-Depth feature, KFAI contributor Joe Friedrichs explores the role of women during the fur trade as told through the lens of a Grand Marais woman, Laura Powell Marxen. Laura continues to trap and sell fur on Minnesota's North Shore, much like her great-grandmother, Mary Ottertail, did in the early 1900s near what is now the end of the Gunflint Trail. Season 7 of the MinneCulture podcast is edited and executive produced by Julie Censullo and hosted by John Grebretatose. Support for MinneCulture on KFAI has been provided by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.

In the most basic sense, what’s commonly referred to as “the fur trade” was a period of cultural and economic exchange between Native Americans and European Americans, according to the Minnesota Historical Society. As the pages of history were put down, one aspect that was continually overlooked is the role women played at home, in the woods, and throughout many aspects of life during the fur trade. The simple truth is that Indigenous women actively contributed to the success of the North American fur trade, according to Karl Koster, a Minnesota historian who specializes in the history of the iconic fur trade. In this MinneCulture In-Depth feature, KFAI contributor Joe Friedrichs explores the role of women during the fur trade as told through the lens of a Grand Marais woman, Laura Powell Marxen. Laura continues to trap and sell fur on Minnesota's North Shore, much like her great-grandmother, Mary Ottertail, did in the early 1900s near what is now the end of the Gunflint Trail. Season 7 of the MinneCulture podcast is edited and executive produced by Julie Censullo and hosted by John Grebretatose. Support for MinneCulture on KFAI has been provided by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.