Minnesota Experience(2018–)

Flour Power

"Flour Power" explores how milling made Minnesota. The story charts the growth of wheat farming, the harnessing of water power, the founders of the flour milling industry, and the expansion of the industry into global purveyors of industrialized food products.

Lost Twin Cities III

"Lost Twin Cities III" is the third installment of the immensely popular "Lost Twin Cities" specials. Based on the Larry Millett book of the same name, these programs explore the vibrant history of vanished places and cultures in the metropolitan area.

Cornerstones: A History of North Minneapolis

"Cornerstones: A History of North Minneapolis" explores the neighborhood's diverse past through the power of place. Co-produced with the University of Minnesota and the U's Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center on historic Plymouth Avenue, Cornerstones is an hour-long journey through the history of Minnesota's least understood neighborhood.

Fires of 1918

The horror and hardship of the great Minnesota fires of 1918 are hard to imagine 100-years later. Ten communities were destroyed and dozens more were damaged in an inferno that covered an 1,800-square mile area. The date October 12, 1918 will forever be remembered in this part of the world as a date that didn't just make history, but erased history.

Lost Twin Cities 4

Our latest installment of the Lost Twin Cities history series tells the stories of Northwest Airlines, Negro League baseball, Longfellow Zoo, Dayton’s Oval Room, St. Paul’s Public Baths and a lost Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece.

Glensheen and the Congdon Legacy

Glensheen is a true Minnesota original, preserved intact for future generations. It is a story of hard work, fortunate timing and a life long pursuit of knowledge.

Ohiyesa: The Soul of an Indian

This documentary follows Kate Beane, a young Dakota woman, as she examines the extraordinary life of her celebrated relative, Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa). Biography and journey come together as Kate traces Eastman's path-from traditional Dakota boyhood, through education at Dartmouth College, and in later roles as physician, author, lecturer and Native American advocate.

The People's Protectors

Four Native American Vietnam War veterans reflect on the agony of war and how their communities helped them carry their warrior legacy proudly. A lifetime later, these soldiers begin to tell their stories.Funding provided by Vision Maker Media and The Mark and Mary Davis Foundation.

MN in the 70's

People power, environmental cleanups, exciting new music, grand city plans, and food wars in co-ops and grocery stores--In the turbulent '70s, Minnesota shed its image as a snowy outpost and became a place of consequence in politics, culture, business and civic activism. Produced with the Minnesota Historical Society Press and inspired by authors Dave Kenney and Thomas Saylor.

The Fabulous Ice Age

Discover the era of the great American touring ice shows, revealing how they dominated family entertainment for decades, changing the lives of skaters and audiences alike.

Hmong Pioneers: Honoring the First Wave

In 1975, at the tumultuous close of the Viet Nam war, the Hmong people in Laos fled their homes, livelihoods, and culture and began to arrive in the U.S. as refugees. Since that time, St. Paul, Minnesota has become the largest home of Hmong Americans in the United States; Hmong Pioneers is their story.

Restoring The People's House

Host Mary Lahammer explores the top-to-bottom three-year $300 million restoration of the home of state government. We soar to the top of the Dome and climb up scaffolding in the Rotunda to see an up-close view of the world's second largest self-supported marble dome and classical art valued at a billion dollars. Architect Cass Gilbert's 1905 masterpiece shines anew.

Tales of the Road

Take a scenic, historic 440 mile trip with host Cathy Wurzer down iconic Highway 61 revisiting the early days of automobile travel. Using an old travel guide, Cathy drives a period Cadillac the length of Minnesota Highway 61 exploring the secrets of places long gone and spinning stories about people from the past.

Made in St. Paul

Built in 1925, the Twin Cities Ford Plant was famous for its classical architecture, on-site hydropower and glass manufacturing. Get the inside story about its role in WWII, the labor movement, the evolution of the city, and the relentless pressure of the assembly line. Produced in partnership with Highland District Council.

Martin Luther King in Minnesota

A discovered tape of a speech given by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., at the University of Minnesota in 1967; followed by an interview of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by host L. Howard Bennett for a discussion on ideas, methods and words of wisdom on how to achieve the goal of a free society for all.

The Legendary Saint Paul Winter Carnival

The Legendary Saint Paul Winter Carnival's traditions of gathering Saint Paul's neighborhoods to participate in ten days of winter sports, activities and parades, building elaborate ice palaces and crowning a fabled royal family have continued for generations. This one-hour documentary is rich with archival film and images, capturing Saint Paul throughout Carnival's 130-year history.

North Star: Making Home

The "hidden history" of African Americans who helped shape the North Star state of Minnesota. From fur trader George Bonga to the state's first black woman lawyer, Lena Smith.

North Star: Making Change

The "hidden history" of African Americans who helped shape the North Star state of Minnesota. From fur trader George Bonga to the state's first black woman lawyer, Lena Smith.

Cass Gilbert: Standing the Test of Time

CASS GILBERT: STANDING THE TEST OF TIME, features the story of how one of Minnesota's most gifted artists became one of our Nation's great architects. By building on his formal education at M.I.T. and his world travels, Gilbert transformed the spot where he played as a boy by creating one of America's finest statehouses- our Minnesota State Capitol.

Jim Crow of the North

Why does Minnesota suffer through some of the worst racial disparities in the nation? One answer is the spread of racist, restrictive real estate covenants in the early 20th century. Jim Crow of the North charts the progression of racist policies and practices from the advent of restrictive covenants after the turn of the last century to their final elimination in the late 1960s.

Gracious Spaces: Clarence H. Johnston

Clarence Johnston was one of Minnesota's most prolific Gilded Age architects. Discover how his aesthetic legacy shaped the state.

Women Outward Bound

WOMEN OUTWARD BOUND profiles the first group of young women to participate in an Outward Bound survival school course in 1965, and chronicles their experiences in the wild. It also captures how one month in the woods taught them they could do more than they ever thought possible. During their experience, the young women forged a special bond.

The Minneapolis Sound

For the first time since its original run 30 years ago, Minnesota Experience brings back Emily Goldberg's first person journey through the vibrant Minneapolis music scene of the 80s. A Twin Cities PBS Original.

Minnesota's Deadliest Tornadoes & Fiercest Floods

A documentary look at some of the deadliest weather to ever strike Minnesota.

A History of the Land

Witness 16,000 years of Minnesota's fascinating early history. Its unique place in North America is revealed through state of the art animations and graphics. A Twin Cities PBS Original production.

Great American Railroad Journeys: Minneapolis to St. Paul

Join Michael Portillo and discover how Minneapolis harnessed the power of the Mighty Mississippi to become a great industrial center. In St. Paul, Michael explores the birthplace of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Michael's diplomatic skills are tested at a Swedish-American lunch where the centerpiece of the menu is reconstituted dried cod.

Great American Railroad Journeys: Red Wing to Portage, WI

Michael Portillo continues his rail journey along the Upper Mississippi to Red Wing, Minnesota, and the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Picking up the Empire Builder rail service he travels to Winona, La Crosse, and Tomah, Wisconsin, where he wades in a bog to harvest the nation's most important berry from the marshes at a century old farm.

Minnesota Remembers Vietnam: America's Secret War

In the shadows of the Vietnam War, the CIA organized a secret war in neighboring Laos to prevent communism from spreading deeper into Southeast Asia. The Hmong fought for the U.S. — and for themselves— to keep Ho Chi Minh’s regime from destroying their way of life. Distributed nationally by American Public Television.

Out North - Part 1

Out North - Part 1 of a full-length film documenting and honoring Minnesota's LGBTQ history. The film will tell the stories of known and largely unknown LGBTQ Minnesotans who found each other and spoke out when it was a tremendous risk to do so.The film will also explore some of the important ways that Minnesota has played a significant role in the national movement for LGBTQ equality.

Out North - Part 2

Out North - Part 1 of a full-length film documenting and honoring Minnesota's LGBTQ history. The film will tell the stories of known and largely unknown LGBTQ Minnesotans who found each other and spoke out when it was a tremendous risk to do so.The film will also explore some of the important ways that Minnesota has played a significant role in the national movement for LGBTQ equality.

Broadcast Wars Ep 1: Just the Facts

Stanley E. Hubbard is an early pioneer in radio and television, and KSTP is the top local TV news for decades. That is, until a fresh-faced Dave Moore and his team launch a new kind of newscast at WCCO that ignites a fierce war for ratings which still rages today. Women and people of color fight their way into smoky, insular newsrooms, proving themselves to everyone, and paving the way for others.

Broadcast Wars Ep 2: Ratings Frenzy

KSTP hires a consultant to find the perfect anchor, reporters of color begin to find slightly greater welcome in local newsrooms, while stations dabble with putting women at the anchor desk. Meteorologists transform weather news, videotape kills onerous film processing, while trauma and toxic stress lead some to substance abuse. By the late 70s, local TV news is slick, sexy and highly profitable.

Broadcast Wars Ep 3: Out of Nowhere

After decades of local news irrelevance, perennial also-ran KARE11 goes from laughingstock to ratings powerhouse in just a few short years. The Hubbards pour millions into a technological breakthrough that is still in use today. Seismic shifts are felt when major anchors swap stations or get the axe. Newscasters chafe as the public and media take heightened interest in their private lives.

Brutal Utopias

A poetic exploration of architecture, utopia, and resistance to urban renewal in the 1970s and its aftermath in Minneapolis' Cedar Riverside neighborhood.

Paradox Episode 1: Early History of the MPD and Reform

Since it's beginning in the late 19th century, what the Minneapolis Police Department would look like has always been up for debate. Dr. Williams explores that early history and its implications.

Paradox Episode 2: Mid-century Changes and Challenges

With the 60s came new progressive movements all across the US. How will this affect policing in Minneapolis? Proposed reforms, a strengthening police union, and new Mayors will all have a new vision for the future.

Paradox Episode 3: 80s, 90s, and Their Echoes

The 1980s brought the controversial Chief Tony Bouza to MPLS. A look at his paradoxical views on policing and their impact. How does this history echo into the present?

Citizen

Citizen explores the multigenerational march of Minnesota women and all they hoped would come with the vote. From pioneering activists like Sarah Burger Stearns to Progressive Era leaders like Nellie Griswold Francis, the vote was seen as a mark of fuller citizenship and tool of change for concerns like healthcare, children, and women’s rights.

Lost Duluth I

Based on the book from Zenith City Press, the story of "Lost Duluth" comes to life through the stories of explorers, dreamers, and leaders along with the common man looking for a better future for his children. From Duluth's humble beginnings sprang industry after industry, including a harbor busier than any other in the United States.

Robert Bly: A Thousand Years of Joy

ROBERT BLY: A THOUSAND YEARS OF JOY presents a moving portrait of one of America's most celebrated and revolutionary poets of the last half-century. The film showcases Bly's development as a writer with an unswerving belief in the importance of poetry both to his own life and to American culture in general. A THOUSAND YEARS OF JOY charts Bly's singular path from a mid-western farmer's son to radical anti-Vietnam War activist to "wild man" of the 1990s men's movement and author of The New York Timesbest-seller Iron John: A Book About Men.

The Past Is Alive Within Us: The U.S.- Dakota Conflict

This two hour documentary examines one of the most difficult chapters of Minnesota's history: the state's involvement in the Dakota War as the Civil War was simultaneously raging. Both of these wars, which came quickly on the heels of statehood were about race, land, and identity.

Stalag Luft III: One Man's Story

From Pine City, Minnesota to war-torn Europe, WWII U.S. Eighth Air Force Bombardier Lt. Charles Woehrle, relives his experiences as a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft III, made famous by the movie The Great Escape. Lt. Woehrle survived two long years of uncertainty and tremendous hardship by his wits, courage, and compassion. His harrowing saga can teach us about war and about life.

Coming to Mni Sota

Coming to Mni Sota explores conflicts, contradictions and solidarity among the millions who have moved through, and to, Minnesota. For hundreds of years, the arrival of those from around the world has changed Minnesota's identity and caused disruption for those already here. By examining our state's narratives, communities reveal unique stories that lead to greater understanding.

Stories Under The Stones

Cemeteries are more than burial grounds for the dead. They are windows into history. Cathy Wurzer travels the state to visit some fascinating Minnesotans at their final addresses. Cathy makes stops in Hibbing, Red Wing as well as Minneapolis and St. Paul. Along the way, we learn about noted war heroes, remarkable athletes, talented artists and beloved nurses.

Dakota Conflict

In 1862, a fierce battle, formerly known as the Sioux Uprising, broke out between Minnesota's white European settlers and its Dakota Indian population. By the end of the year, hundreds of settlers and Dakota were dead, thousands of Dakota were imprisoned and exiled, and 38 Dakota were hanged. The story of the violent chapter in America's history, its causes and aftermath is told through diaries, old photographs, sketchbooks, newspaper archives, trial transcripts and oral histories.

Laura Ingalls Wilder: Prairie to Page

Follow the journey of the award-winning author of the best-selling "Little House" series in this exploration of her life and legacy and her little-known, secret collaboration with her daughter on the books that shaped American ideas of the frontier.

Trailheads: The Oregon Trail's Origins

In 1971, three college kids blazed a new trail in the world of interactive entertainment with the creation of The Oregon Trail. Produced by the independent media outlet MinnMax, this documentary is the untold story of how Bill Heinemann, Paul Dillenberger, and Don Rawitsch created a phenomenon, became Minnesota's greatest video game pioneers, and why they gave it all away for free.

Girl from Birch Creek

Raised by her grandmother after losing her mother at the age of three, Rosalie Wahl trailblazed her way to become the first woman appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court. She overcame many hardships growing up on a Kansas farm during the Great Depression, earn a law degree from William Mitchell College of Law in 1946, and after facing discrimination as one of few female lawyers in Minnesota, she fought for women's equality in the 1970's, which led the way to her 1977 court appointment.

Lost Twin Cities I

Clearing out the old and making way for the new. Buildings have come and gone in Minneapolis and St. Paul. But sometimes this happens before we have the opportunity to appreciate them. This is the story of the buildings lost in the Twin Cities.

Minnesota: A History of the Land

Voices from the past and stunning nature videography re-create the natural world Euro-Americans first encountered. Find out what happens to North America's most abundant species as commercial hunters and the railroad arrive in Minnesota. The majestic Big Woods are cut down to make room for farms and villages. Visit one of the little-known crown jewels of Minnesota, the Bluestem Prairie. Find out why Minnesota has some of the richest soils in the world and how Minneapolis becomes the flour-milling capital of the world. Historic re-creations bring to life the bonanza era of wheat farming. And experience the catastrophic fire that ushers in a new way of looking at the land.

Return to Skid Row

RETURN TO SKID ROW walks along the pavement of bygone downtown Minneapolis, preserved in rare footage, memory and 21st Century reflection. A unique 16mm film brings back to life Minneapolis' seedy Gateway district in its twilight years. Guided by the first-person account from the 'King of Skid Row,' the film is an unnerving and illuminating gaze on midcentury poverty, people, place, and the past.

Co-Op Wars

In the 1970s, young people in Minnesota radicalized by the Vietnam War created a unique alternative economy featuring dozens of food cooperatives, but a shadowy revolutionary group used conflicts over class and race to try to seize the movement. The ensuing clash pitted friends and comrades in a sometimes violent conflict over the future of the counterculture.

Lost Duluth II

We'll remember a World War I-era shipyard that once employed thousands in western Duluth's Riverside neighborhood. Along the way you'll learn what a carriage step is and why you can no longer find them in the city; delve in to Duluth's advertising legacy; and remember the grand pavilion that once served as the social center of the city.

The Baldies

The Baldies were a Minneapolis skinhead crew that fought racists in the 1980s and beyond.

Steamship America: A North Shore Legend

Before high speed internet, telephones and even Highway 61, Minnesota's North Shore was connected by water--specifically a fleet of sailing vessels and steamers that hauled mail, fish, freight and passengers to communities up and down the remote coastline. The Steamer America was a star in the early 1900s, with her speed and relative luxury she became a vital lifeline and a friend to many.

Remembering Place: A Cemetery Story

Cemeteries are hallowed places right in our midst. But they also reflect the community, and have evolved dramatically over time, constantly adapting to meet our ever-changing views and values. Minneapolis' own Lakewood Cemetery is a mirror of the city: its remarkable origins, its rich history, its complex people, and its unwritten future. A TPT co-production with Lakewood Cemetery.

Minneapolis Past

Celebrate the days when the Foshay Tower was the tallest building in town; when visitors viewed the bizarre attractions of Wonderland Amusement Park on East Lake Street; when St Anthony Falls was rough and unharnessed, with enough raw energy to create the greatest milling district in history; and when eagles soared above now-vanished Spirit Island.

Seth Eastman: Painting The Dakota

This program showcases the unique body of work of one of the most significant American artists of the 19th century, and takes viewers back vividly to the period and explores Eastman's complex relationship with his subjects. Eastman recorded a culture he thought would disappear, while he carried out the government's Indian removal policies. To the Dakota he was a friend, an enemy and a relative.

Saint Paul Past

See how four key places: the lower landing, Merriam Park, Summit Avenue, and Rondo, helped shape and define St Paul's past and present. The program also introduces some fascinating people, whose names would eventually be connected with famous novels, historic landmarks, and St Paul streets.

Film in the Cities

In the early 1970s, a group of young artists started a film program for teens in the Twin Cities. Film in the Cities would go on to become a groundbreaking media arts and education organization. This retrospective is told through and reflections from founders and former students and features rare and revealing super 8 student films from a half century ago.

Lost Twin Cities II

An affectionate trip down memory lane that looks at: the car culture of the '50s, when University Avenue was a drag strip and Porky's a fabulous drive-in pit stop, the ultra-luxurious Stratocruiser, the first plane to offer in-flight beverage service, the burning of Swede Hollow, the big-band ballrooms of the 50s and the early days of Twin Cities TV including "Axel and His Dog".

Becoming Big League

"Becoming Big League" explores how sport was changing in 1960 and how that changed Minnesota. From Olympic hockey to High School hoops, from pro-sports origins in Big Ten titles, "Becoming Big League" is a retro sports page come to life that illustrates how 1960 might be the most dynamic year in Minnesota Sports history. A Twin Cities PBS Original production.

Mayo Clinic: Faith - Hope - Science

Take a look at how the Mayo Clinic, which is "world renowned for its medical arts," has met the changing demands of healthcare for 150 years, and what it can teach us about facing the challenges of patient care today.

St. Paul's Historic Hill: Salvaging a Gilded Past

One of the oldest neighborhoods in the Twin Cities is the focus of this 60 minute documentary that explores its birth, growth, decline and reclamation over the course of more than 150 years. In partnership with the Ramsey Hill Association.

The Experimental City

The Experimental City is a documentary about the Minnesota Experimental City project, a futuristic attempt to solve urban problems by creating a full-size city from scratch in the isolated woods of northern Minnesota.

Historic Trails in Northern Minnesota

Follow the Gunflint Trail and Mesabi Trail through their fascinating pasts, their multi-faceted modern uses, and explore what lays ahead for these winding paths. Enjoy the amazing views that these treasured trails have to offer.

Minnesota 13: From Grain to Glass

Minnesota 13 explores the little-known history of an elite moonshine produced in the heart of Minnesota during Prohibition, and the modern-day attempts of a micro-distillery to resuscitate the brand as a craft whiskey.

Brew North: A Beer Story

Explore the pioneering spirit and passion that connects the brewing community through time. From historic breweries in Duluth, Virginia, and Tower to the current craft beer revolution underway, discover how beer making bubbled up in the Arrowhead. Hear the stories of brewers, families, and collectors connected to the beer history of the north.

North Star: Civil War Stories

Four stories bring to light the hidden histories of African American Minnesotans during and after the Civil War. These unsung heroes made unique contributions to the Union and their new state, but the details and records of their involvement still challenge historians. Produced with the Ramsey County Historical Society.

Solid State: Minnesota’s High Tech Industry

Born for espionage in World War II, the computer has touched nearly every part of human life. And for decades Minnesota was the global epicenter of computing as birthplace of the supercomputer and home to Univac, Control Data, IBM Rochester, and Honeywell.

Country Music: Made In Minnesota

Compelling stories about Minnesotans who have shaped the sounds of our beloved country music. Narrated and produced by former KARE 11 news anchor Diana Pierce, the half hour documentary touches on stories about Ardis Wells from Alexandria, the Walt Benton Hillbilly Rainbow Band from Dovray, WE Fest in Detroit Lakes, the Flame Bar in Minneapolis and more.

This Free North

Celebrating the University of Minnesota's 50th Anniversary of the African American Studies program, This Free North reflects on the people and events that led to its formation as well as its connection to, and influence on, contemporary students. In the act of looking back, this documentary reminds the viewer that history is complicated, divisive, ongoing.

Best of Lost Twin Cities

The Lost Twin Cities programs revisit places of the past that no longer exist in Minneapolis and St. Paul. The four programs recalled lost chapters in Twin Cities history. Best of Lost Twin Cities features favorite segments voted on by viewers.

Deadliest Blizzards & Fiercest Fires

Mary Lahammer teams up with historian Hy Berman and meteorologists Mark Seeley and Paul Douglas to tell the stories of Minnesota's most damaging historic blizzards and forest fires. They tell the story of the great forest fires of 1894 and 1918 along with the fabled Schoolchildren's Blizzard of 1888 and the Armistice Day Blizzard of 1940.

Set In Stone: Exploring St. Paul's Oldest Neighborhood

Mary Lahammer leads us on a tour of the oldest neighborhood in the Twin Cities: the Uppertown and Irvine Park area of St. Paul. We explore how early builders used limestone mined nearby to create distinctive homes and businesses. Many of the structures date from before the Civil War. We watch as some of St. Paul's oldest buildings are being lovingly restored.

First Avenue: Closer to the Stars

A possibly true story of the legendary Minneapolis nightclub First Avenue. Prince may have made the club famous, but many others have toiled backstage to keep this landmark standing. From the days of Woodstock, through disco, punk, and hip-hop this "pirate ship that goes nowhere" has weathered the storm - just barely.

Bound By Earth: Archaeology In Minnesota

Bound by Earth: Archaeology in Minnesota focuses on the science and new technology archaeologists use to uncover and preserve archaeological resources in a non-invasive way, and how remaining evidence, such as Indian burial mounds, are still significant to Native people today.

Parks for the People

The landscape of Minneapolis was once that of a tall grass prairie The landscape of Minneapolis was once that of a tall grass prairie with few trees and marshy lakes. Today the city is regarded as one of with few trees and marshy lakes. Today the city is regarded as one of America’s great "green" cities with tree-lined parkways.

Minnesota Remembers Vietnam: Perspectives

Stories originating in places like Willmar, Bemidji, St. Paul, Fort Campbell, and South Vietnam provide personal perspectives of what the war in Vietnam was like for the teens and young adults who experienced it.

Jesse Ventura Shocks the World

25 years after the pro wrestler shocked the world when elected Governor of Minnesota, it's high time to explore the people, values and experiences that shaped him.

Hope in the Struggle: The Josie Johnson Story