Big Books & Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller

Conversations on books and ideas, Fridays at 11 a.m.

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American democracy requires that we ’be architects, not arsonists’
Eboo Patel believes learning to value and tolerate diversity is the engine that drives just and equitable societies. Can America learn to do it before the social fabric is irrevocably torn? That’s the discussion on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas, part of our Americans and Democracy series.
Talking Volumes: Louise Erdrich on ‘The Mighty Red’
We could not celebrate 25 years of Talking Volumes without legendary Minnesota author Louise Erdrich. Her just-published new novel, “The Mighty Red,” is set in the Red River Valley where she grew up.
Talking Volumes: Alice Hoffman on ’When We Flew Away’
Novelist Alice Hoffman’s new middle grade book, “When We Flew Away,” imagines Anne Frank’s life before her family was forced into hiding. She joined MPR News host Kerri Miller on stage for Talking Volumes to talk about the emotional arc of re-creating Frank’s too-short life.
Rural Voice: How rural communities thrive as immigrants put down roots
The final Rural Voice of the 2024 season was in Worthington on Thursday, Sept. 19 to talk about how rural communities can incorporate immigrants in a way that enables everyone to thrive.
Talking Volumes: Edwidge Danticat on ‘We’re Alone’
The 25th season of Talking Volumes kicked off with Haitian-born writer Edwidge Danticat, who joined host Kerri Miller on the stage of the Fitzgerald Theater to talk about her new book of essays, “We’re Alone.”
Rural Voice: How to sustainably grow regenerative agriculture in rural Minnesota
Rural Voice was in Detroit Lakes on Monday, Sept. 9, for a town hall about farming. They discussed everything from how to cultivate a mindset shift in farmers to how to incentivize regenerative practices.
William Moyers shares his journey to sobriety in new memoir
William Moyers overcame his addiction to alcohol and crack cocaine in the 1980s and became a star of the recovery world, working as the vice president of public affairs at Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and publishing a memoir about his sobriety called “Broken.” But that’s not the full story.
Rural Voice: How to build more civic-minded communities
MPR News host Kerri Miller took her Rural Voice series to Red Wing on Thursday to talk with community members and political scientist Brian Klaas about how to build a new spirit of civic engagement in rural Minnesota.
Margaret Renkl on ‘The Comfort of Crows’
To celebrate the upcoming 25th anniversary of Talking Volumes, we are revisiting a favorite from last year. New York Times columnist and nature writer Margaret Renkl closed out the 2023 Talking Volumes season with meditations on the joys of a backyard oasis, the inevitable losses of a warming climate and how to live while holding both of those truths in tandem.