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The Warming House
Nina Moini, Sean McPherson and Tiffany Hanssen

Ep. 14: The kids are alright

A man and girl lean out of a window with masks on.
Gov. Tim Walz and his daughter Hope attend a drive-thru State Fair event in the summer of 2020.
Courtesy of the Walz Family

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The vinyl pick this week, Carole King's "Tapestry," had us thinking about the kids. It's not that the 1971 Grammy-award winning powerhouse of an album was in any way conceived as children's music. But rather, for co-host Sean McPherson, it was womb music. His mother Margaret played this record as he grew from a tiny pea-sized Sean into a bouncing baby 8.5 lb Sean bursting forth into the world singing "I Feel the Earth Move" (or so the legend goes).

Carole King was one of the all-time greatest singer-songwriters and this album showcased that singular talent. Sean said that as a front person, "King established herself as a force." He added, "There’s a power when the person singing the words, wrote 'em. There isn’t the same mandate to punch it up with bells and whistles. The magic is in conveying the story and getting out of the way of the song."

Gov. Tim Walz and his daughter Hope went head-to-head for a game we called "Smarter Than Your College Kid." Sean riffed on one of the governor's Tweets with trivia celebrating other "third placers." Further twittering by #teamhope ensued alleging harder questions for Hope. Listen and decide for yourself. And then tweet us @warminghouseMPR!

Co-host Nina Moini talked with author Spike Carlsen about his book "A Walk Around the Block" and revealed a question asked by Microsoft recruiters: "Why is the manhole cover round and not square (or any other shape for that matter)?" The multi-pronged answer involves the shape of humans, the shape of sewer pipes and one more surprising factoid about a circle's ability to fall in on itself!

Another question we pondered on this show: Do humans and bananas share DNA? *scratches head* Host of the "Brains On!" podcast, Molly Bloom, helped us get to the bottom of that one! Her kid co-host Regan from Toronto talked with geneticist Dr. Janina Jeff for a great explainer.  And in other science-y news it was Pi Day! (March 14 = 3.14 = π) The Warming House "advice-ologist" Sanni Brown dished on her favorite pie and scooped out some validation for stressed-out parents.

Two daycare providers teamed up for Twins Trivia and the owners of The Rusty Nail in Battle Lake came on to talk burgers and our Great Minnesota Burger Bracket. Spoiler alert: The Rusty Nail advanced in the competition!  All those Otter Tail County fans of "The Nail" came through! And from what we found out, a lot of them also add a fried egg to their burgers. Who knew?!

Vote now in our Great Minnesota Burger Bracket!

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Guest list:

Governor Tim Walz and his daughter Hope

Author Spike Carlsen, "A Walk Around the Block: Stoplight Secrets, Mischievous Squirrels, Manhole Mysteries & Other Stuff You See Every Day (And Know Nothing About)"

"Advice-ologist" Sanni Brown, The Current and Purple Current

Molly Bloom, host of "Brains On!" podcast

Dr. Janina Jeff, geneticist and host of "In Those Genes" podcast

St. Paul daycare providers Kris and Amy

Zac and Brianna Lewis, owners of The Rusty Nail in Battle Lake

Dear reader,

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Download our free e-book, Talking Sense: Have Hard Political Conversations, Better, and learn how to talk without the tension.

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