Episodes

  • Part Two: Bringing Bison Home

    Part Two: Bringing Bison Home
    Jan 2 2025
    Buffalo once roamed across Minnesota in the thousands. Now, the Minnesota Bison Collaborative is working to bring them back. It’s a trickier proposition than you might think. It requires community involvement, prairie restoration, and careful monitoring of it all. This episode, host Dr. Chantel Rodriguez talks with natural resource manager Ferin Davis Anderson and conservation biologist Mary Mallinger about the ins and outs of bringing bison home to Minnesota. Publishing note: Our next episode will be available January 23, 2025
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    42 mins
  • Part One: Searching for Bison in Minnesota History

    Part One: Searching for Bison in Minnesota History
    Dec 19 2024
    Think “buffalo” and you probably think “Wild West,” “Yellowstone”, or “Great Plains.” In this two-part episode, historian and host Dr. Chantel Rodriguez uncovers why you should also think “Minnesota”. The history of bison in the North Star State is a long one, but not one that’s well-known. Through conversations with Native natural resource manager Ferin Davis Anderson (enrolled citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa/Ojibwe/Anishinaabe/Mitchifs in North Dakota), conservation biologist Mary Mallinger, and historian Pete DeCarlo, Chantel fills in the picture of bison’s history with Minnesota’s prairies – and people.
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    37 mins
  • Measuring Up: Better Baby Contests at the State Fair

    Measuring Up: Better Baby Contests at the State Fair
    Dec 5 2024
    Hot dogs, deep fried oreos, and thrill rides – all things you can find at Minnesota’s State Fair. But dig a little deeper, and you’ll find stories more interesting than the latest food on a stick. Tucked in the History and Heritage Center are two placards highlighting “baby competitions” that once took place on the fairgrounds. This episode, historian and host Dr. Chantel Rodriguez unpacks the complicated, nuanced history of Better Baby competitions. What were they, where did they come from, and what were they hoping to achieve? To get the answers, Chantel sits down with public historians Laura Leppink and Sarah Pawlicki.
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    37 mins
  • Life Underground: Fallout Shelters in Minnesota

    Life Underground: Fallout Shelters in Minnesota
    Nov 21 2024
    Dotted throughout the Twin Cities are fallout shelter signs. Chances are you’ve seen one of these black and yellow signs attached to a very sturdy building. Have you wondered: What purpose did they serve? Why were fallout shelters needed to begin with? What was it like to live in the atomic age? For this second episode of MN Unraveled, historian and host Dr. Chantel Rodriguez explores the history of fallout shelters. What starts with a question about the origin of fallout shelter signs becomes an exploration of the family and the American way of life. She dives into this history with author Dave Kenney and historian Elaine Tyler May.
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    43 mins
  • Museum of the Streets: Muralismo in St. Paul

    Museum of the Streets: Muralismo in St. Paul
    Nov 7 2024
    If you’re in the West Side of St. Paul, there’s a chance a splash of color will catch your eye – one of the neighborhood’s many murals. Where did they all come from? Do they have a shared heritage? And who are the artists behind them? For this first episode of Minnesota Unraveled, historian and host Dr. Chantel Rodriguez delves into the West Side’s rich history, and why Chicano art is at its heart. She talks with Ralph Brown, a longtime resident and co-founder of the West Side Community Organization. To gain more insight to the works of art themselves, she sits down with renowned Chicano artist, Jimmy Longoria.
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    39 mins
  • Introducing Minnesota Unraveled: Pulling the Threads of Minnesota History

    Introducing Minnesota Unraveled: Pulling the Threads of Minnesota History
    Oct 24 2024
    Introducing Minnesota Unraveled, a new podcast from the Minnesota Historical Society. Each episode, historian and host Dr. Chantel Rodriguez uses her training to investigate unsung stories of Minnesota history, and how that history plays out for Minnesotans each and every day.
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    2 mins