Next on MPR Presents

April 19, 2009
A Tribute to Bill Holm
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Lovers of literature and music gathered together Tuesday night at the Fitzgerald Theater to toast to the memory of the bard of Minneota Minnesota, the late Bill Holm. Listen to the evening of stories, songs and poems with poet Robert Bly, author Jim Harrison, singer Maria Jette and many more.

April 12, 2009
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
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President Sirleaf was in Minnesota on Friday, and she spoke before a sold-out crowd at Northrop Auditorium, with many Minnesota Liberians in attendance. Sirleaf gave the University's Distinguished Carlson Lecture, and was presented with an honorary Doctor of Laws. Johnson-Sirleaf is the first woman democratically elected to lead an African nation. During Liberia's military dictatorship, she was charged with treason and imprisoned. She has since been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civil award, for personal courage and her commitment to expand freedom.

April 5, 2009
Broadcast Journalist Series with Frank Deford
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Author and sports commentator Frank Deford joins Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer for a conversation about the sports world today. Deford spoke at Macalester College this week as part of MPR's Broadcast Journalist Series and brought tales of his nearly fifty-year career as America's premiere sportswriter.

March 29, 2009
Reading every word of the Bible
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David Plotz, editor of the online magazine Slate, read every word of the Old Testament. He chronicles the experience in "Good Book: The Bizarre, Hilarious, Disturbing, Marvelous, and Inspiring Things I Learned When I Read Every Single Word of the Bible."

March 22, 2009
How to prepare for the end of life
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Last on most of our to-do lists: anything having to do with the end of our lives. Columnist Jane Brody hopes to correct that oversight with a new guide to how to plan financially and medically for the time most of us prefer not to think about, our deaths.

March 15, 2009
Great Conversations: America's Constitutional Crisis
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Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh, former U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale, and University of Minnesota political science professor Larry Jacobs discuss what the constitution says about the American model of governance.

March 8, 2009
Barbara Brown Taylor live at the Westminster Town Hall Forum
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Ordained an Episcopal priest in 1984, she holds the Harry R. Butman Chair in Religion and Philosophy at Piedmont College in Georgia and is adjunct professor of Christian spirituality at Columbia Theological Seminary. She spoke before an audience at Westminster Presbyterian Church. Her speech was titled, "Downtime: The Sacred Art of Stopping"

February 22, 2009
Family Secrets Kept Close
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The best-selling author of "Reading Lolita in Tehran" gives us a new memoir and a glimpse of her prominent Iranian family; a complex mother and fascinating father, a mayor of Tehran who was jailed under the Shah.

February 15, 2009
Dead Ideas
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Matt Miller from the Center for American Progress, says many of our current notions of economic and social well-being made sense 50 years ago, but they don't hold much water today. Miller talked about his new book - "The Tyranny of Dead Ideas: Letting Go of the Old Ways of Thinking to Unleash a New Prosperity" at the Commonwealth Club of California

February 8, 2009
Say it Plain: A Century of Great African American Speeches
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Martin Luther King, Jr. was the most famous black orator in history, but he was hardly alone. For generations, African Americans have been demanding justice and equality, reminding America to make good on its founding principles of democracy. These orators — and the very act of speaking out — played a crucial role in the long struggle for equal rights.

February 1, 2009
Dying a Good Death
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Medical advances and new medications have the power to save and prolong lives, but also can make death a slow and painful process. Two local doctors say the medical community, and society at large, need to have a renewed discussion about the way we die.

January 25, 2009
Mitch McConnell at the National Press Club
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Mitch McConnell, Senate Republican leader and most senior Republican in Washington, lays out the GOP's agenda for the new Congress.

January 18, 2009
The Promised Land
The influence of Dr. Martin Luther King has taken many turns — expected and unexpected. Join Majora Carter, host of The Promised Land, for a special program exploring King's legacy.

January 11, 2009
History on Stage
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The two starring actors in the road version of Frost/Nixon talk about how they bring their own interpretations to characters who are well known in real life and in a new movie.