When was the last time you read a book or magazine, or listened to an audiobook?

Overall, Americans are reading less. A study last year from the University of Florida and University College London found the portion of people who read daily for pleasure in the U.S. fell from 28 percent in 2004 to 16 percent in 2023.

And, according to the National Endowment for the Arts, fewer than half of all adults said they read a book of any kind in 2022 — even fewer said they read a novel.

Coming up at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, MPR News guest host Kerri Miller talks about what’s behind the decline in reading, and why some people are saying that it points to a fundamental shift that has consequences for how we entertain ourselves, learn and think.

And we want to hear from you, too.

Are you reading less than you used to, and if so, why? And, what are you reading right now that’s a reach for you?

Call us during the 9 a.m. hour at 651-227-6000 or 800-242-2828. 

Guests:

• Naomi Baron is professor emerita of linguistics at American University in Washington, D.C. She studies and writes about how technology shapes reading and thinking and is the author of 11 books, including “Words Onscreen: The Fate of Reading in a Digital World” and the recently published “Reader Bot: What Happens When AI Reads and Why It Matters.”

• Natalie Wexler is an education writer and author of “Beyond the Science of Reading: Connecting Literacy Instruction to the Science of Learning” and co-author of “The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of America's Broken Education System — and How to Fix It.” She writes about the decline in literacy and reading on her Substack newsletter, “Minding the Gap.”

Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.

As wildfires continue to burn across northeastern Minnesota, many people are worried about the smoke and air quality, as well as the danger to communities and the damage left behind.

But for many who love the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and the north woods, there's another overwhelming feeling: grief. Grief over watching a place filled with memories, traditions and a sense of peace change before their eyes. And not knowing when, or how, it will recover.

Duluth-based nature writer Stephanie Pearson experienced that firsthand. She was forced to evacuate a canoe trip in the Boundary Waters because of the fires. She just published an essay about it in Outside Magazine. Pearson spoke to Minnesota Now host Nina Moini about her piece.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

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We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.

Smoke from wildfires has led to the cancellations of outdoor music events across Minnesota this week. High temperatures have also caused some to rethink outdoor activities, and while event organizers have to think about the health of performers and audiences, musicians also have to think about the well-being of their instruments in hot weather.

“Usually, the finer instruments are the ones that are more sensitive to the changes in seasons and environment,” said Adam Meyer, who is a luthier based in the Twin Cities—a craftsman who builds and repairs stringed instruments.

“If the humidity changes, the temperature changes, then it's going to change as well. Most of the time, the big changes happen between, like when we're going into winter or going into summer,” Meyer added.

Aside from the tuning of an instrument, extreme weather—both hot and cold—can damage instruments if they aren’t properly stored or taken care of, according to Meyer. This usually doesn’t happen when an instrument is played outside at a concert or a kickback, but when they are exposed to temperatures above 90 degrees for longer periods of time.

“The really tough stuff when I have things come in that are needing repair because of the heat, usually because somebody left their guitar in the trunk of their car…if you're just kind of going out to the park to play at a show that's 90 degrees out, it probably won't shift around a lot for you,” said Meyer, who primarily works on guitars, which can bow or become unglued in some places in heat. Other string instruments, like violins, can also be susceptible to heat.

“I've heard of something recently here in town; somebody left their violin in the car, and the varnish melted into the velvet siding,” said Aaron Janse, a violinist with the Minnesota Orchestra. “When it hardened, it tore off that velvet siding, and then it went into the big cracks in the varnish.”

Janse, who is also a violin instructor, often checks his students' violins at lessons, sometimes having to remind his students of basic, but important, preventative measures.

“I have students that sometimes come in and their violins are obviously hot, and I have a few words with them that's important to not keep your violins out…whatever you do, do not leave your violin in a hot car,” said Janse.

The damage from heat can forever alter the sound of an instrument, and repairs from a professional luthier like Adam Meyer can cost hundreds—if not thousands—of dollars. Meyer has to maintain tight control of the conditions in his repair studio to make sure there isn’t any further damage to the instruments that come in to be fixed. This includes running room humidifiers in the winter and central air during the summer.

If you can’t provide your instruments the kind of meticulous environment that Meyer does, he suggests having a plan to store your instruments.

“I always advise people that if they're not able to monitor their guitar daily, do something like try and keep it in the basement. It may be cool down there, but it's going to be, you know, more stable,” said Meyer. He also recommends that if you don’t have air conditioning, to ask a friend who does to hang on to your instruments.

This seems like common sense, but Meyer said that even after damaging their instruments, some musicians don’t learn their lesson.

“They'll have a really nice guitar, and they have a problem happen to it, and they get it repaired, and then they still don't maintain it properly, and it just keeps coming back,” said Meyer.

Friday night in Ely, as wildfires burn nearby, the Northern Lakes Arts Association is opening its production of “Jesus Christ Superstar.”

“Our whole thing is about keeping the normalcy,” said Ian Francis Lah, the executive artistic director. “We want the people of Ely and the surrounding communities to feel like yes, there is this thing outside of our control that is happening, and it is big and it is scary, but within that there needs to be a little bit of ease of life.”

Lah said they may not have firefighting resources or lodging for evacuees but the arts association can provide a respite, 90 minutes at a time, in the air-conditioned Vermillion Fine Arts Center. Lah has also made ticket prices pay what you can to remove any obstacles to community members in need.

The show is part of the association’s Broadway in the Boundary Waters series, which brings in performers from across the country to produce professional musical theater alongside local talent.

"Theater for me has the power of super empathy, and it brings people into a room to experience something together that allows us to think and process and enjoy, and have a moment outside of time together," Lah said.

“Jesus Christ Superstar” is an apt story for the moment, Lah said, as it’s about a community weathering hard times together.

“And I think it double plays because it's such an ensemble-based show, it's really shown how people working together can make these incredible things happen,” Lah said.

As for lowering the ticket prices, Lah said that the Broadway series has been doing well this summer so “we're willing to take a hit to open the doors to everyone, to make space, to invite them in, to make sure all are welcome, because that's more important in this moment than maybe breaking even.”

The association has a plan for its performers in case of an evacuation, but as for now, “morale is pretty high.” Rehearsing and preparing for the production has been a good distraction for the artists and staff, too.

“They were so focused in on making sure this production tells the story and has the heart that we want it to have that it allowed them to escape whatever was happening outside of the theater building for an hour or three,” Lah said.

The Northern Lakes Arts Association is also continuing its Stars of the North Youth Theater Camp for teens ages 12-18, which will culminate with two performances on Aug. 1 of “Mean Girls.”

“It's scary times. Most of them have not experienced something like this,” Lah said. “So, let's give them that little something they can ground into and enjoy for the day, and hopefully forget a little bit of the outside.”

The wildfires are likely to continue until winter comes, and Ely has become a command center for fighting them, Lah said. The arts can play a role in grounding the community in the meantime.

“That is what will help this area over the next months is finding these moments of when we can come together, be it for a show, be it for a gathering at a local church, whatever it may be,” Lah said. “These are the moments that are going to keep a community strong, especially if the worst comes to shove.”

Talking Volumes, a partnership of MPR News and the Minnesota Star Tribune, returns for a landmark 27th season in a brand-new home: The O’Shaughnessy Auditorium at St. Catherine University in St. Paul.

Hosted by award-winning journalists MPR News Kerri Miller and Catharine Richert, each evening offers an in-depth conversation with an author about their latest books, their creative process and the stories shaping our lives.

All tickets are $35 for the general public and $30 for MPR members, Minnesota Star Tribune subscribers and O’Shaughnessy subscribers. Season ticket packages are available at a discounted rate. Visit mprevents.org for tickets, seating options and more information.

Marlon James, ‘The Disappearers’

Saturday, Sept. 12, 7 p.m. - Find tickets here

The season opens with Booker Prize–winning author Marlon James, whose new novel follows eight gay men in 1980s Kingston, Jamaica, as they rehearse for a play — and survive a brutal mob attack that changes everything.

“The Disappearers” is a riveting, deeply human story of fear, rage and recovery, and an unflinching look at queer life in Jamaica during the 1980s and 1990s.

Lucy Foley, ‘Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel’

Friday, Sept. 25, 7 p.m. - Find tickets here

Lucy Foley, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of “The Guest List,” brings her favorite Agatha Christie creation, Miss Marple, to the glamorous, snowbound Grand Alpine Hotel high in the Swiss Alps.

The first book in Foley’s new Miss Marple Mysteries series, it’s a mystery that feels gloriously escapist yet utterly relevant to our times.

Min Jin Lee, ‘American Hagwon’

Sunday, Oct. 4, 7 p.m. - Find tickets here

Min Jin Lee, the National Book Award finalist and bestselling author of “Pachinko,” returns with a sweeping, intimate epic about the Koh family’s journey from Seoul to Sydney to southern California.

“American Hagwon” reckons with ambition and sacrifice, personal dreams and family duty, across generations chasing the promise that education leads to security.

Emily St. John Mandel, ‘Exit Party’

Wednesday, Nov. 4, 7 p.m. - Find tickets here

The award-winning, bestselling author of “Station Eleven” and “Sea of Tranquility” returns with a breathtaking novel of doubles, shadow worlds and fractured timelines.

Set in a near-future Los Angeles, “Exit Party” follows a woman searching for answers after a man vanishes from a party without a trace.

Colson Whitehead, ‘Cool Machine’

Wednesday, Nov. 11, 7 p.m. - Find tickets here

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Colson Whitehead closes out the season with the next chapter of his Harlem Trilogy.

“Cool Machine” follows furniture dealer and master fence Ray Carney back into New York City’s criminal underworld, in Whitehead’s signature pitch-perfect prose. This conversation will be hosted by MPR News correspondent Catharine Richert.

Road trips are often marked by spontaneity. They offer side quests, junk food, hotel pools and a chance to see the country with fresh eyes.

But no road trip is quite as spontaneous as the one in “The Road to Tender Hearts.” This darkly funny novel follows 63-year-old lottery winner PJ Halliday, his estranged daughter, two orphaned kids who have just come into his care and a therapy cat named Pancakes — who happens to be a harbinger of death — on a six-day cross-country road trip to win back PJ’s high school girlfriend.

Along the way, the group faces past trauma, the meaning of family and the tender hopes of new beginnings.

This week, to kick off Big Books and Bold Ideas virtual summer road trip series, Kerri Miller talks with author Annie Hartnett about “The Road to Tender Hearts,” which was just published on paperback. Along the way, they discuss what makes a road trip magical (or not), and how being open to adventure can be a balm for grief, restlessness and a cynical outlook.

Guest:

• Annie Hartnett is the award-winning author of three novels: “Rabbit Cake,” “Unlikely Animals,” and the national bestseller, “The Road to Tender Hearts.”

Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.

Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts.

Escape the heat and smoke with this week’s MN Shortlist, a roundup of indoor happenings including “Belly Laugh at a Funeral” at Mia, Florence Foster Jenkins in Alexandria, the new Roho Gallery & Cultural Arts Center in downtown Minneapolis and more.

‘Borderlands’ at Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery in Grand Marais — July 17-Aug. 9

A new exhibition in Grand Marais features four North Shore artists who have the shared experience of traveling or working along the borders of Canada and Mexico. Through printmaking, painting and jewelry design, the artists Betsey Bowen, Jeanne Hedstrom, Stephen Hoglund and Heidi Sobanja explore the meaning of home, sense of place and camaraderie.

“Besides the common migratory element that the four of us have experienced, we have chosen to exhibit together because of our long-held knowledge and respect for each other’s work. That, and an enduring friendship,” the artists said in a joint statement. The gallery will host an opening reception 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, July 17. (Alex V. Cipolle)

The Roho Gallery & Cultural Arts Center grand opening in Minneapolis — July 18

Downtown Minneapolis is getting a new art space: The Roho Collective is opening a new 3,000-square-foot gallery and center at the historic Andrus Building in downtown Minneapolis.

The collective for artists of color will host a grand opening 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday featuring a ribbon cutting, both African and Native American dance and drumming, spoken word, family-friendly art activities and the inaugural Roho Collective member exhibition. “Body: Politic – Once Upon These Times,” which will present the works of 30 artists.

The exhibition is about “how we, as folks of color, are responding to what has been happening here, in particular the Twin Cities, after Metro Surge and the continuation of the political climate at large,” said Cara Deanes, Roho Collective executive director.

Artists are “exploring the feelings, the thoughts of not just themselves as creatives, but at large as a community — How are we responding? How are we healing? How are we growing? How is this changing us?”

“Body: Politic” is on view through Sept. 27. (Alex V. Cipolle)

‘Private Lives’ at Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis — July 18-Aug. 23

Nearly 100 years ago, the frothy and feisty romantic comedy “Private Lives” hit the London stage for the first time, and its second act was considered so racy that the British Lord Chamberlain’s Office nearly called it off, that is, until playwright Noël Coward convinced them otherwise.

The play, which opens July 18 at the Guthrie Theater, follows two couples honeymooning in adjacent rooms on the Normandy coast in France, and before long, half of each couple realizes their ex-spouse is next door. The old flames flee to Paris, followed by their partners, and a comedy of manners ensues involving various pairings of the foursome.

“They are deliciously intelligent and insanely human, driven by a fundamental need to connect,” says director David Ivers in a statement from the Guthrie. In the roles of all four lovers are Nikki Massoud (who previously starred in the 2024 Guthrie production of “English”) and Dustin Bronson (“A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “The History Plays” and “Hamlet” at the Guthrie) as well as William Connell and Laura Odeh who will make their Guthrie debut. (Alex V. Cipolle)

‘Ziba Rajabi: Belly Laugh at a Funeral’ at the Minneapolis Institute of Art — July 18-Oct. 25

For years, Minneapolis-based Iranian artist Ziba Rajabi has been meditating on the idea of collective grief and “Belly Laugh at a Funeral” at Mia continues that work. In 2025, when Rajabi won a national award to support her ongoing project, she spoke to MPR News about her “ongoing research about grieving and mourning rituals in the Iranian plateau and Mesopotamia throughout history” and her love for the land where she comes from — Rajabi grew up in Tehran.

The Mia exhibition will feature the fruits of this labor including the 2026 piece “Kotal,” which uses textiles, sounds, carpet and cushions to encourage visitors to pause together.

“In the past few years, many of us in the world, and specifically here in the Minneapolis, after the murder of George Floyd and recently Alex Pretti and Renee Good, we've been going through a prolonged grief,” Rajabi said. “This is this is a place for collective grief and the imagination of the moment after grief that inspires awareness and action.”

Rajabi will give an artist talk Oct. 18. (Alex V. Cipolle)

‘King of Cade’ Tournament at Up-Down Arcade Bar in Minneapolis — July 19

Hear ye, hear ye, gather around for an annual competition of Arthurian proportion. Each year, the “King of Cade” Tournament sees dozens of gamers go head-to-head in a bracket-style contest to see who can lay claim to Camelot — or at least the nerdom of Minneapolis.

Much like the tournaments of yore that saw knights compete in jousts and hand-to-hand combat, the “King of Cade” sees participants battle it out over multiple categories, including pinball, arcade and video games.

At the end of the day, however, only one will be victorious in retrieving the sword from the anvil and achieving ultimate glory — as well as a grand prize. Sign-up for the competition ends at 12:45 p.m. on July 19, with the official event beginning at 1 p.m. (Jacob Aloi)

‘Souvenir’ at Theatre L’Homme Dieu in Alexandria — July 21-25

I first became aware of Florence Foster Jenkins in the mid-2010s, when a film about her life — starring Meryl Streep — came out. Foster Jenkins was a socialite in the early 1900s, who, despite being a bad singer, regularly performed concerts at venues like the Ritz Carlson in New York City and even Carnegie Hall.

Her uniquely terrible singing gained something of a cult following, with audiences attending her performances to laugh at her. Through all of it, she was often accompanied by pianist Cosmé McMoon, and it’s that relationship that serves as the basis for the play “Souvenir,” which Theatre L’Homme Dieu in Alexandria is producing.

The show is a two-hander, both funny and earnest, full of classic standards by Mozart and Verdi performed in a style befitting the pitchy, amateurish performance that Foster Jenkins was known for. (Jacob Aloi)

If you think an orchestra only plays Beethoven and Brahms, think again. The Minnesota Orchestra's festival called "Summer at Orchestra Hall" opens Thursday night with a lineup that stretches far beyond the classical canon — from Grammy winning bluegrass musician Chris Thile to jazz singer John Holiday to movie scores from Star Wars and E.T.

Grant Meachum is the orchestra's director of productions and engagement and joined MPR News host Nina Moini with details on the festival.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.

When Dallas Goldtooth was a boy on the Lower Sioux Indian Community and Yankton Sioux Tribe reservations, he didn't get to the movie theater much. He watched what his family had on tape, alongside his stepbrother, Migizi Pensoneau.

The pair started dreaming about making movies of their own. And together, they began making videos. Those early videos led to sketch comedy, to the stage, and eventually to "Reservation Dogs," the FX series created by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, in which Goldtooth acted, and Pensoneau wrote and produced.

This summer, Goldtooth returns to the movies of his boyhood at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis with a film series he curated, "Once Upon a Time in Manhood.” The series is a run of iconic films from the 1980s and 90s that he grew up on and is now rewatching as an adult.

"I wanted to show fun movies to watch in the theater. I wanted to speak to folks of my generation who grew up watching these movies, whether on VHS or in the movie theater. And the third is a conversation around manhood and masculinity," Goldtooth said.

Goldtooth sees the series as a way to reflect back on how his own generation learned what manhood was supposed to look like according to pop culture of the day. He still loves films that have since been flagged as problematic, and rather than disavow them, he believes it's possible to hold both affection and criticism at once.

The six-film series opened July 10 with "Willow" and continued Saturday night with "The Last of the Mohicans," both of which were introduced by Goldtooth in person. The rest of the lineup screens through the summer at the Walker's cinema: "Die Hard," "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Fight Club," closing with Taika Waititi's "Boy." The series is a part of the Walker's summer Moving Image program, which features screenings, residencies and curated series.

Goldtooth defends John McTiernan's 1988 "Die Hard," starring Bruce Willis, as one of the all-time great Christmas movies. Goldtooth said Willis' wisecracking cop reads as a departure from the stoic leads of "Willow" and "The Last of the Mohicans.” Asked whether John McClane is reminiscent of cowboys played by actor John Wayne, he didn't hesitate.

"In some ways, yes," Goldtooth said. "I think John McClane is John Wayne — in a tank top. It's part of the constant mythmaking of what it means to be American. It's not too different than almost every Western that we've seen in cinema. It is the lone cowboy, the rugged individual who takes on the gang by itself to protect the town."

Goldtooth introduced "The Last of the Mohicans" on the series' second night. He likes the 1992 film, "visually, and the audio story and the acting is just superbly done." But, he said, the film's hero never held much sway with him.

"The main character, played by Daniel Day-Lewis, never once interested me as a kid," Goldtooth said. What drew him, he said, were the Native characters the film pushes to the edges of its own story.

"I'm in love with the real Natives that you see that are in the margins," he said. “Because that's the story: that we're always in the margins that cater to a broader audience who doesn't really care about those on the margins."

Looking at the films together, Goldtooth said, one thing kept surfacing. He calls it "a language of violence," and he said it runs through every movie he picked.

He chose "The Shawshank Redemption," which he called one of the most influential films of his life. He described it as "a reflection of the systemic violence, the institutional violence of prison," a language in which "men are trying to find themselves in an environment where they are stripped of any sense of humanity, and yet there’s such beautiful displays of humanity through this film."

Goldtooth closes the series with "Boy," Taika Waititi's 2010 film about a Māori child in New Zealand, the only contemporary movie in the lineup. He sees himself in the film's lead, a preteen whose relationship with his father is shaped by pop culture representations of masculinity.

The question he wants to leave audiences with is the one he has been asking himself.

"What are we actively deciding to keep as a part of our own myth?" he said. "And what are we deciding? That was the past, and that's who we were, but we're going to leave that behind and forge a new path."

The film series, "Once Upon a Time in Manhood,” runs through Friday, Aug. 14.

'As You Like It’ puts Shakespeare to music in Grand Marais

Scotty Reynolds, producing artistic director of Mixed Precipitation, is shining a light on the Grand Marais Playhouse. The theater is staging a musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It" this summer.

Music and lyrics are by Shaina Taub, the creator of the Broadway musical “Suffs.” This local production opens Thursday and runs through Aug. 9 at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts.

This is Artistic and Technical Director Sue Hennessy’s final summer production before she retires in spring 2027. She has two more community plays planned for this fall and spring.

Reynolds says: “’As You Like It’ is one of Shakespeare's fantastical rom-coms, which has lots of fun frolicking and gender bending happening in the forest of Arden. The way [Taub] sets it to music using a multi-generational cast is just really special, fun, magical; it makes you laugh and cry, kind of within 20 seconds, with its sweetness and earnestness.”

The Jayhawks headline Nature Rocks in Aitkin

Stephanie Mollet loves the arts and music scene of her hometown of Aitken, Minn., where she is the executive director at the Aitken Area Chamber of Commerce. She recommends the annual Nature Rocks concert put on by the Long Lake Conservation Center.

The Jayhawks are headlining this year’s fifth annual event. It’s the Minnesota band’s only concert in its home state this summer. Martin Zellar & the Hardways open, though the whole event kicks off with a special performance by kids from Long Lake’s camp, who have been learning about live music this week.

The concert, a fundraiser for scholarships at the Long Lake Conservation Center, takes place July 18 at the Aitken County Fairgrounds. Attendees should show up early to grab a picnic table or bring your own chair and shade umbrella.

Mollet says to arrive by 5:45 p.m. if you want to hear the children:

“I'm really excited to see it because these kids — let me tell you — it's amazing the things that they know and how much they care for the area that's around them.”

Dances at the Lake brings movement to the Lake Harriet Rose Garden

Jose Leonardo Santos is an anthropologist at Metropolitan State University. A big fan of the arts, Santos particularly enjoys watching dance.

He recommends bringing your lawn chair to see Dances at the Lake, which takes place at Lake Harriet Rose Garden July 17 and 18 at 7 p.m. This year’s event, organized by KASM Dance Collective, includes 15 dance troupes in various styles.

Santos says there’s something special about seeing live dance performance in that beautiful outdoor setting.

“The thing I love about dance is that it's totally immersive, right? A video of [a dance performance] is not the same thing; you've got to be there to enjoy it. Dance can be just like the funnest little thing, or it can make you cry, and you don't even know why because there's no words, right? It forces you to just go off of your senses.”

The Hamline Midway neighborhood in St. Paul will soon have a new library after three years without one. The more than 90-year-old building was decommissioned in 2023. But construction was delayed until 2025 after a community group sued to preserve the historic building.

Instead of the previous two-story building, the new library is now one story to be more accessible. It also includes two community rooms and two study rooms that are reservable, an outdoor reading garden, two quiet rooms, teen area and children’s area.

The library does have elements of the previous building including a stone archway, wood and brick.

The Hamline Midway Library is the first to be completed, out of three that are slated for renovations in St. Paul. It’s part of the Transforming Libraries initiatives. Hayden Heights Library in the East Side is currently closed for renovation and is anticipated to open in late 2027. St. Paul Library and The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library are working to secure funds for the Riverview Library in the West Side neighborhood.

Saturday there will be a grand opening celebration of the Hamline Midway Library.

Maureen Hartman, director of Saint Paul Public Library and Beth Burns, executive director of The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library joined Minnesota Now host Nina Moini to talk about the new library and the plans to continue to grow St. Paul’s library system.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.

Sarah Brown of Zenith Bookstore in Duluth read an early review copy of Oana Aristide’s novel “Astronaut!” and she has eagerly been awaiting its official release Tuesday. She called it her favorite book of the year so far, hands down.

It’s part detective novel, part coming-of-age, set in a political environment where official lies are proclaimed as truth.

The year is 1989; the place: communist Romania, under the authoritarian rule of Nicolae Ceaușescu. Detective Constantine is tasked with chasing down a serial killer plaguing the city. According to the official line, though, there is no serial killer in Romania. The deaths are blamed on rogue bear attacks.

The second storyline follows Lia, an elementary school girl whose inquisitive, creative spirit is constantly getting her in trouble with the officials. By a fluke, she wins an opportunity to recite a poem before Ceaușescu. Lia’s parents, Brown said, are very worried about this.

“What is she going to say to him? What’s going to happen? Meanwhile, her crusty old neighbor starts planning a little surprise for Ceaușescu. You, as the reader, know this might not be a good thing,” Brown said. “These two plotlines come together in a wild, very satisfying conclusion. It’s just a great, amazingly written book. And I’ve read it twice already. I will probably read it again.”

Sam Neill, a smoothly elegant and versatile actor whose career moved from art film to blockbuster as he dodged velociraptors in "Jurassic Park" to playing Holly Hunter's husband in "The Piano," has died. He was 78.

In 2023, Neill disclosed he had been diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Neill died on Monday in Sydney, according to a statement posted to the actor's social media page.

His death was "sudden and unexpected," the statement said, adding that he "remained cancer free" when he died. A cause of death wasn't specified.

"Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life," his family wrote.

Actor came to world’s notice with ‘Dead Calm’ and ‘My Brilliant Career’

Neil was one of a host of actors and directors who achieved international fame after an explosion of Australian films that began in the late 1970s, a list that includes Paul Hogan, Mel Gibson, Geoffrey Rush, Russell Crowe, Jane Campion, Peter Weir and Gillian Armstrong. His range was remarkable, playing opposite Helena Bonham Carter in the Alan Ayckbourn comedy "Sweet Revenge" to chopping off Hunter's finger in "The Piano" to poking his own eyes out in the sci-fi horror "Event Horizon."

In "Omen III: The Final Conflict," he played Damien the Antichrist and he also played Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in "The Tudors."

The actor first came to the attention of international audiences in Armstrong's 1979 film "My Brilliant Career," which also introduced Judy Davis. He later appeared in Phillip Noyce's "Dead Calm," a classy thriller set at sea and co-starring the then-relatively unknown Nicole Kidman.

Neill twice co-starred with Meryl Streep, in Australian director Fred Schepisi's "Plenty" and — again for Schepisi — in "A Cry in the Dark," a film about the sensationalized aftermath of a dingo killing a baby in the Australian Outback. He earned an Emmy nomination for his performance in the title role of the 1998 miniseries "Merlin" and another as narrator of 2017's "Wild New Zealand."

‘Jurassic Park’ was his best-known film

Perhaps Neill achieved his highest level of fame in "Jurassic Park" playing paleontologist Alan Grant, who is summoned to an island off Costa Rica where a theme park has been built to house herds of cloned dinosaurs. He co-starred alongside Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Richard Attenborough.

His character was thoughtful and reasonable, a scientist who warned the mastermind of the theme park before the chaos: "Dinosaurs and man, two species separated by 65 million years of evolution have just been suddenly thrown back into the mix together. How can we possibly have the slightest idea what to expect?"

Grant survived the harrowing events when the creatures get loose, but didn't return for "The Lost World: Jurassic Park II" in 1997. He came back for the third episode in 2001 and "Jurassic World: Dominion" in 2022.

"It's probably a little late to learn these things," he told the Daily New of New York in 2001, "but I finally feel I've worked out how to be an action hero. I'm happier with Grant this time. He's gnarly and grizzled, but he looks like he knows what he's doing."

Neill grew up in Northern Ireland, then New Zealand

Born in 1947 in Northern Ireland, Neill emigrated to New Zealand at the age of 7. He was born Nigel Neill, but told interviewers he started to go by Sam because there were too many Nigels at his school.

His family settled in Dunedin on the South Island and he was sent to boarding school in Christchurch. After college, he took the lead in "Sleeping Dogs" in 1977, the first feature made in New Zealand in more than a decade.

Neill's other film roles included playing a Soviet submarine officer who memorably dreams of a home in Montana in "The Hunt for Red October" and an investigator in director John Carpenter's "In the Mouth of Madness."

On the small screen, Neill played the malign Chester Campbell in TV's "Peaky Blinders" and Thomas Jefferson in the four-hour CBS miniseries, "Sally Hemings: an American Tragedy." On Apple TV+, he was on "Invasion," playing Oklahoma Sheriff John Bell Tyson, a man late in his career searching for his purpose. In 2024 he starred opposite Annette Bening in the Peacock series "Apples Never Fall."

Actor beloved in New Zealand as an unassuming celebrity

The actor became known in New Zealand as a modest and unassuming person who didn't embrace celebrity. On social media, he often posted images of his farm animals, many of them affectionately named after celebrities and friends, like Laura Dern the chicken, Kylie Minogue the duck and Helena Bonham Carter the cow.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon mourned Neill as "one of the greats" in a statement posted to social media.

"He started out when there was barely a film industry to speak of," Luxon wrote. "For more than fifty years he took New Zealand stories to the world and his talents helped make our film industry into what it is today."

Neill was also a vintner and under his Two Paddocks brand, he produced pinot noir and riesling wines from his winery in the Central Otago region of New Zealand's South Island.

His memoir "Did I Ever Tell You This?" came out in March 2023 and he was awarded a knighthood in recognition of his "outstanding contribution to film," a title approved by the late Queen Elizabeth II.

"I can't pretend that the last year hasn't had its dark moments," Neill told The Guardian in 2023, referring to his cancer diagnosis and treatment. "But those dark moments throw the light into sharp relief, you know, and have made me grateful for every day and immensely grateful for all my friends."

He is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.

Copyright 2026, NPR

The Prairie Island Indian Community opened its annual powwow on Friday evening, and the singing and dancing carried on through a hot Saturday afternoon. Temperatures in nearby Red Wing hovered around 90 degrees by noon.

Dancers competed anyway, part of a contest that runs all weekend long. Several elder women in traditional regalia carried umbrellas into the dance arena to shield themselves from the sun. Out at the food stands, the cheese on a frybread taco melted in the afternoon heat.

Grand entry brought the dancers into the arena together in a sweep of color and sound. At Prairie Island, grand entry started around 7 p.m. Friday evening and again twice on Saturday. Dancers come in again Sunday afternoon.

Throughout the afternoon on Saturday, the powwows’ emcees Vince Beyl and Whitney Rencountre announced that a "water brigade" was on hand to keep everyone hydrated. The heat may have worn down some powwow goers, but plenty of people toughed it out, setting up their chairs in the shade outside the dance circle.

More than a dozen drum groups set up around the arena, competing in the weekend's singing contest. The host drum is Toka Nuwan.

Powwows are social dances. People come from across the country to visit with friends, to eat, to shop and to enjoy singing and dancing.

According to Prairie Island powwow committee chair Terre Ann Taylor, there are about a dozen food vendors on the grounds this year selling frybread tacos, wild rice dishes and lemonade. Two dozen art and crafts vendors came from around the country to sell beadwork, jewelry, ribbon work and t-shirts. Taylor said people travel to Prairie Island from as far away as Florida, Washington state, New York and Canada.

Prairie Island’s midsummer gathering is a contest powwow, which means dancers and singers compete for cash prizes across all age categories, from tiny tots to elders. The competition draws skilled dancers and drum groups from far and wide.

The event is free and open to the public. For those who would rather stay out of the heat, the powwow is livestreamed.

Prairie Island Indian Community annual powwow

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“Love Island USA” wraps its eighth season on Sunday evening, and, like many, the MPR News Reverb team has been trying to keep up with its near-daily episode releases.

MPR News found two Minnesota connections to justify following the reality TV show: “Casa Amor” bombshells Carl Schmidt, who is a Carleton College alum, and Ronnie Gunter, who is originally from Shakopee.

In the show’s lingo, these are attractive people brought in midway through the season to tempt existing participants into exploring new romantic connections.

Gunter, 25, resigned from his job in New York City to join Love Island. The former Division I lacrosse player returned to Minnesota after his time on the show.

He sat down with MPR News on Thursday morning ahead of the show finale.

Editor's note: The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How would you rate your experience on the show?

It was 10 out of 10. It was a great experience overall. Even just being there was awesome. I loved it. It was incredible. Everyone there is nice.

You have your phone now. What was it like to see so many strangers talking about you online?

I've kind of had it before-ish. I went viral a bit for looking like Jalen Hurts. I know they're just sitting in their room doing nothing but kind of hating. People are going to say everything. I don't really let it get to me. But it was weird for sure.

It was definitely bigger than I've ever had it. People saying — it was either Jalen Hurts or Shamar Moore, Chris Brown. Somebody said Charlie Kirk, and I was just like, ‘Wow, never got that in my life. But sure, love it.’

It was wild, but it was fun. It was good. I love reading all the hate comments. Because at a young age, my dad was just like, if everyone hates on you, just laugh at them, it's just going to piss them off more. And I'm like, sounds good. So now I just find it all hilarious.

What did your mom have to say about your experience on the show?

She was proud of me. Definitely watched with some eyes closed, but she loved seeing me on there. She loved the shoutout I gave her, which was awesome, because she's everything to me.

There’s a lot of making out and really intense dancing. You're picking people up and making heart-shaped pancakes. How do you prepare to be on the show?

I didn't do anything. I know Carl [Schmidt] took salsa dancing. He taught us some in the villa, which was awesome. But for me, I was kind of winging it. I kind of just said, I've got through this process just being myself, so don't really change anything. Just keep doing what I'm doing.

I love to cook anyway and I dance as much as I can, I guess, at bars.

You're from Shakopee and back in Minnesota for a bit. What do you like to do when you're here?

Obviously, hang out with my friends. I still have so many friends here, which is awesome.

Went up north for the Fourth of July, which is always a good time. We always go up to a family friend's cabin up in Cohasset, just rip around the jet skis and on the boat, and have a couple beers with like family friends. We had a big crew up there.

I love just being outside here. The nature here is always awesome. So as much outside time as I can. I try to not stay inside, especially in the summer, even though it's hot right now.

Were you finding yourself talking about Minnesota when you were on Love Island?

A lot of people always ask where I'm from. I was always going, ‘From Minnesota but live in New York.’ And like no one ever hears anybody from Minnesota for some reason, so they all ask: ‘Is it cold up there right now? What's going on?’

I'm just like, no. It's 90 degrees. It's hot. It's actually so hot. I was outside yesterday, just sweating.

But no, yeah. I love talking about Minnesota. I think it's the most underrated state ever, and I think it's the best place to be all the time. I love it so much.

At MPR, we’re really big on the Minnesota State Fair. Are you a state fair person?

Crazy stat for me: My mom is a huge, like grade A state fair person so I've been every year since I was born, except COVID and last year when I moved to New York. Every other year I've been.

If you were bringing the Islanders to the state fair, what would you recommend that they do?

Me and my mom have a system that we go through, like we have staples we got to visit every year. So we go to like Miracle of Birth, gotta hit that. We go to the Coliseum, gotta watch some cow shows and the alpacas. Gotta hit Australian fried potatoes. Obviously get Sweet Martha's, fried pickles. Gotta hit Dino’s [Gyros], they always have great live music and you just kind of chill and have a good time there. Giant slide. Gotta walk through the Grandstand, always see what they got going on in there. It's a big fairground, so trying to hit as much stuff we can. Go to The Hangar. And the dog show, too, is always a good time.

Is there anyone that you're rooting for to win the show Sunday? Who do you think will be America's favorite couple?

From now getting my phone back and seeing how the media is taking everything, I think Bryce [Alakai Dettloff] and Trinity [Tatum] will win.

I personally would love to see Carl and Aniya [Harvey] win, even though Dylan [Wrona] is also my boy. But Carl is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, and he's also a Minnesota guy, so gotta root for him. They're great together.

Do you think Corbin Mims is a robot or do you have evidence of him being a real person?

I have evidence of him being a real person. He was alive and breathing in front of me. I haven't interacted with him, but I believe he's real. I think he's just got a really deep voice.

Is there something that you think the public is missing out on or not understanding?

They see what they see and I think no one really kind of realizes that a lot of conversations aren't being filmed or they get cut off. So they just kind of take what they see and run with it and they don't realize that this is a show. It is edited for drama-fication.

It's realer than I thought, for sure. I definitely thought it was a little bit more kind of staged-ish. But no, it definitely is pretty real. Like all the conversations are very real and people get invested. I mean, you have no phone. You're in there for 24 hours a day with these people, and you're spending all this time together and in such a surreal experience. You get very emotionally invested in everything.

Like those six guys I came in with there, I told them, ‘you might not be in my wedding party, but you'll definitely be invited to my wedding.’ And I met these guys for two, like four days?

You kind of get trauma bonded a bit, being in that villa with everything and doing all this crazy stuff. It's awesome but I think people are missing just how much time is invested in it and how much we're all doing. You know, you only see so much.

What's next for you?

I think I'm going to try out this social media thing. Hopefully, it goes well and goes over well, but I'm giving myself a good little timeline to do it all. And then if not, I mean, try to find another job.

It's Saturday evening and time to hit the club. Jump in the shower. Do your hair. Pick your outfit.

Then hop on your bike, because this is a different kind of club.

Once a month through summer and into the fall, the Joyful Riders Club hosts a ride unlike any other. Starting from Perennial Cycle in Minneapolis' Uptown neighborhood, a rotating list of DJs blare dance music sets as hundreds of cyclists take to the streets and Midtown Greenway clad in vibrant colors and flashing lights.

The 10-mile, two-to-three hour ride goes at a leisurely pace with dance stops, such as the one in June on the Sabo Bridge straddling Hiawatha Avenue that included sunset views of downtown Minneapolis.

The rides are the brainchild of Joyful Riders co-founder Patrick Stephenson, Perennial owner Luke Breen and Eric Moran — also known as DJ Dev. It all started when Moran saw a video of UK-based DJ Dom Whiting with his rave ride setup.

A bike-centric electronic dance music event made perfect sense for a uniquely weird place like the Twin Cities, melding the vibrant dance and outdoor scenes, Moran said.

"You meet like your chosen family out there on these rides sometimes,” Moran said. “So having having this intersection of this dance music scene with the bike scene, it's been a bigger hit than I would have imagined it would be."

They expected they'd have 20 people show up for their first event in Summer 2022.

"We had like 50 to 75 people and it was clear we were on to something huge,” Moran said.

Everyone of all ages and skill level are welcome, so long as you like to ride and dance.

And if you happen to come across the club, feel free to join the party like Amanda White and Makai Catudio did last summer.

“We were like, I guess we're stopping and joining this party, and now we go every single chance we can get,” White said. “It's an amazing community.”

The next ride starts 7 p.m. Saturday from Perennial Cycle. A full list of rides is on the Joyful Riders website and social media.

The United States was feeling bleak in 1933.

People were still staggering from the economic fallout of the Great Depression. Drought and extreme heat baked much of the country, eventually leading to the Dust Bowl. Breadlines stretched for blocks in the city, and crime — including a notorious spree of bank robberies and kidnappings — was on the rise. In February, president-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt survived an assassination attempt, which killed Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak. Even baseball, “America’s national pastime,” was suffering. Attendance was dropping, owners slashed budgets, and Babe Ruth’s magic seemed to be fading.

It was against this backdrop that a sports editor in Chicago proposed the idea of a singular sporting event to anchor the World’s Fair — a baseball game featuring the best players, as decided by the fans.

Journalist Randall Sullivan details the whole story in his new book, “The First All-Star Game.” A few days before the current crop of All Stars gather in Philadelphia to play the game this year, he joins Kerri Miller on Big Books and Bold Ideas to talk about the extraordinary history surrounding the first game and how it galvanized the country during a dark time.

Guest:

• Randall Sullivan was a contributing editor to Rolling Stone for more than 20 years. He is also the author of many books, including his newest, “The First All-Star Game: Babe Ruth, FDR, and America at the Crossroads.”

Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.

Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts.

First Avenue loves an April Fools’ Day joke.

The Minneapolis concert venue has made a few social media posts that were perhaps a bit too believable, said chief marketing officer Ashley Ryan. Marketing has since backed away from emailing out fake press releases.

But when the team posted about a “Trader Joe’s vs. Aldi Rave” on April 1, set for the nonexistent April 31, people knew it wasn’t real and were still stoked. An Instagram post garnered nearly 12,000 likes and over a hundred comments.

That’s when First Avenue decided to make the event a reality.

“Because everything is so much all the time, why not just have a night that's Trader Joe's versus Aldi?” Ryan said. “Like, what does that mean? Who knows?”

First Avenue has held dance nights since its start, hence the tagline “Your downtown danceteria since 1970.”

Ryan said themed dance parties have grown in popularity in the last few years. In addition to events centered around music genres or artists, First Avenue has hosted a “Shrek”-themed rave and dance nights inspired by the popular TV series “Heated Rivalry.”

“It feels like there is a bit of a resurgence of dance culture or people going to dance nights, and I personally love that. I think they're such a great space for community building. And community building means literally just a night out with your friends sometimes, like going out and being joyful and having fun,” Ryan said.

For the Friday event, DJ Hampster Dance will play music aimed at encapsulating the vibes of both Trader Joe’s and Aldi. It will also include themed décor and drinks like a “quarter for a cart” cocktail and “aisle of shame” shot.

Hawaiian shirts are encouraged if you’re Team Trader Joe’s — a nod to its employee uniforms.

First Avenue’s marketing team spent time in both grocery stores researching for the event. Neither Aldi nor Trader Joe’s was involved in organizing.

The dance party is set for Friday night at the First Avenue Mainroom. One dollar from each ticket sold will go to the Groveland Food Shelf in Minneapolis.

Bois Forte Band of Chippewa citizen Khayman Goodsky remembers watching her uncles skateboard around Duluth in her childhood.

“It was really rare to see Native skateboarders doing their thing in the ‘90s,” Goodsky said. Watching them sparked an interest in the activity and followed Goodsky into adulthood.

Today, she loves to skateboard regularly despite taking a tumble every now and then.

“I think it's the fact that I can get out there and be outside with my friends and my son and make it just a regular, normal thing for us to do,” said Goodsky.

Now, through a newly launched monolingual magazine, Goodsky has Ojibwe words for her hobby. The publication brings attention to non-traditional topics through narrative essays, poems and other works written in the Ojibwe language — creating new Ojibwe words for modern concepts.

The magazine is titled Asab, which means “net.” Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians citizen Nick Bimose Reo created the project. He teaches Indigenous studies at Simon Fraser University in Ontario.

“The idea is that Asab can capture a lot of different topics,” Reo said.

Asab is creating resources on topics that may not have an extensive vocabulary list, such as wild rice harvesting and maple syrup processing — two traditional activities.

The first volume covers skateboarding, snowboarding and surfing.

“There's less readily available vocabulary for trying to engage in those activities using our language,” Reo said.

The magazine's team worked with hobbyists and first-language speakers to find ways to define skateboarding and its lingo. A list with various English terminology translated into Ojibwe is printed inside.

For example, ditibiseyaaboono describes the action of “he or she skateboards.”

Other terms include maamakaajisagishkige, meaning “skate trick,” or zhooshkwaakabizo, meaning “boardslide.”

“Each issue will delve into a different topic and try to bring forward as much language as we can on that topic,” Reo said. He says Asab will be released once per year with hopes to eventually publish more frequently.

Asab partnered with various organizations across the United States and Canada, including two Minnesota-based programs — the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s Language Program and the Midwest Indigenous Immersion Network.

Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe citizen Dustin Morrow helped in the editing process of the first volume. He majored in the Ojibwe language at the University of Minnesota and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in linguistics at the university.

Morrow says he sees the publication as a bridge between the past and present.

“I like to think that it could be a bridge between who we historically are, and then this modern notion of who we are,” Morrow said. “You're using all of these tools that they had hundreds of years ago, thousands of years ago, to talk about modern ideas.”

He adds that evolving the language to include non-traditional activities brings Ojibwe out of classroom environments and into daily life.

“This is in our leisure, this is in our downtime. We get to enjoy, pretty much, fully being Anishinaabe outside of where you would normally expect it in today's world,” Morrow said.

Call for contributions

From near and far, Asab received submissions from Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin and parts of Canada.

Aamookwe Amy McCoy is a citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. She worked on Asab’s production team and contributed her own written piece.

Her piece, which highlights snowboarding, is titled, “Ishpabazigwa’on! Gegoo giga-zegi’igosiin gegoo!” The English translation is “Catch big air! Be afraid of nothing!”

McCoy wrote the article for her tribal nation’s newspaper in 1994. She says she wrote the piece to empower youth through highlighting daily life activities they may be involved in.

“Ishpabazigwa’on! Gegoo giga-zegi’igosiin gegoo!” centers on McCoy’s late friend, who she described as an “avid skater and snowboarder.”

As an Ojibwe language learner, she revisited her writing and translated it with the same purpose — to empower youth and community through their interests.

“It shows our youth what we can do with our language,” McCoy said. “As we evolve, we can do everything from our own thinking in Ojibwe.”

When a call for contributors was announced, Khayman Goodsky says she was eager to submit a piece of her own — a photocollage of herself, family and friends all together enjoying the hobby of skateboarding.

Her son inspired her to submit the photocollage to the magazine. The two often enjoy the activity together, an interest she wanted to normalize for him. At the age of 10, he’s also learning Ojibwe at an immersion school.

“It might not be viewed as traditional, but the fact that we're still hanging out with our homies, to me, that's as traditional as it can get,” Goodsky said. “Our whole values is about family and community, and what better way to do that than to skateboard around town together.”

Chandra Colvin covers Native American communities in Minnesota for MPR News via Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.

allison anne is collecting artwork for a new project. There's just one rule: every submission has to arrive through the mail.

As AI makes it easier to generate art with a click, anne is part of a small but growing community of artists choosing a slower way to connect: the U.S. mail. They're sending handmade art, one envelope at a time.

A new piece just arrived at anne’s Minneapolis apartment from Germany, in a sturdy brown paper envelope with hand-carved beetle stamps.

Inside the envelope are four pages of block prints, each numbered and signed. These prints may become part of anne’s next zine. They may be sent back through the postal service to other artists.

Mail art took off in the 1960s, when artists including Ray Johnson turned the postal system into a creative network. Johnson often encouraged people to alter his work and send it back.

“Things flourish, grow, wilt, die. A conversation will restart itself,” Johnson said in a 1977 interview. “Each person has a different reason to communicate.”

And in an age of AI chatbots, where so much communication happens through screens, that idea feels newly relevant.

It's at once a way to create community, and an intentional step away from slick, AI-generated graphics in favor of something scrappier and more human.

“It’s the pleasure of doing the work, and the joy of connecting with others and building something, and that's been transformative for me,” anne says. “I really feel that mail art changed my life.”

anne is just about ready to mail out two brown paper envelopes of their own, covered in teal ink stamps. One is going to northern Minnesota, the other to New York.

Sometimes those envelopes contain paper collages. Other times, handmade pamphlets, called zines.

anne has connected with artists all over the world through mail art. Importantly, there are no gatekeepers.

Mail art is about “looking at who gets a seat at the table and how do you expand the table and bring people in,” anne said.

“Anything can be a zine. And you can start anywhere. You can start today.” anne says mail art can be any art that you create and send to someone else.

Dallas Goldtooth at the Walker Art Center for his curated film series, Bastille Day celebrations, a North Shore arts festival, a Florentine masterpiece returns to the Minneapolis Institute of Art, 19th-century women explorers at Paul Bunyan Playhouse and more in this week’s MN Shortlist.

‘Once Upon a Time in Manhood’ at the Walker Art Center — July 10-Aug. 14

"Once Upon a Time in Manhood" is a summer film series curated by actor and comedian Dallas Goldtooth at the Walker Art Center. The invitation to the summer series begins with what sounds like a cold open for a sketch, "Once Dallas Goldtooth was a boy. Now he is a man."

If that teaser tells us anything, Goldtooth, who is beloved by audiences for bringing his irreverent sense of humor to the character of William Knifeman on the hit TV series “Reservation Dogs,” will bring that same joyful energy to talk about how popular culture has helped to shape ideas around masculinity and manhood. Goldtooth will host the opening for two evening screenings — “Willow” on Friday, July 10, and “The Last of the Mohicans” on Saturday, July 11.

The film series continues through July and August with “Die Hard,” “The Shawshank Redemption,” “Fight Club” and “Boy.” (Melissa Olson)

Early Bastille Day celebration in Edina — July 10-12

If you're looking for an excuse to lean into your inner Francophile, head to 50th & France for a three-day Bastille Weekend celebration. Expect French-inspired shopping and dining specials, live music, and family activities throughout the neighborhood. Highlights include free screenings of “Amélie” at the Edina Theatre, a Paris flea market and a French-inspired fashion show brunch at Thérèse brasserie.

Most events are free, making it an easy way to spend a summer afternoon pretending you're strolling through a Paris neighborhood instead of Edina. (Annie Russell)

Grand Marais Arts Festival — July 11-12

The 35th annual arts festival returns to the shores of Lake Superior where, as the Grand Marais Art Colony states, more than 10,000 attendees gather to see the work of dozens of juried Midwest artists, from textiles, jewelry, leatherworking to painting and printmaking. (Alex V. Cipolle)

‘for colored girls…’ staged reading at Rochester Repertory Theater — July 11-12

In 1976, a choreopoem by feminist playwright and poet Ntozake Shange premiered at the Booth Theater in New York, becoming only the second play by a Black woman to be staged on Broadway (the first was “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry).

The piece, “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf,” combined monologues, dance and music to capture the stories of seven Black woman who experience love, joy and empowerment as well as racism, sexism, and violence. The play is considered groundbreaking for centering the experience of Black girls and women through characters named for colors – Lady in Red, Lady in Blue, Lady in Purple and so on.

To mark the 50th anniversary, Griot Arts is presenting two staged readings at the Rochester Repertory Theater at 7 p.m. July 11 and 2 p.m. July 12. (Alex V. Cipolle)

‘Back from the Underworld: Mia’s Dante Tapestry Restored’ at Minneapolis Institute of Art — Through Jan. 31

Have you ever wanted to know what Dante’s “Inferno,” written in the 14th century, actually looked like? Well 16th-century artist Francesco Salviati took a crack at it and the answer is: pretty nice. In 1540s Florence, Italy, one-percenter Cosimo de’ Medici commissioned Salviati to design the tapestry, which centers the meeting of the author Dante Alighieri and the ancient Roman poet Virgil before Virgil guides them into the belly of Hell.

For the first time since the 1950s, the Dante tapestry will go on view July 11 at the Minneapolis Institute of Art after undergoing major conservation. According to Mia, the silk-and-wool artwork is the largest Italian Renaissance masterpiece in the U.S. at 17 feet tall. The restored tapestry remains fragile and sensitive to light and will only be on display through January 2027.

Salviati “has just a great sense of humor and a wonderful spirit of pushing the weavers to do the most complex possible thing,” Max Bryant, a Mia curator, recently told The European Fine Art Foundation, which provided the conservation grant. On Aug. 8, Grammy-nominated violinist Peter Sheppard Skærved will play a free public celebration to mark the tapestry’s return. (Alex V. Cipolle)

‘On the Verge, or The Geography of Yearning’ at Paul Bunyan Playhouse — July 16-25

Known as Minnesota’s longest-running professional summer stock theater, Paul Bunyan Playhouse is a gem tucked in North Central Minnesota. Performing at the Historic Chief Theater in Bemidji, the company puts on multiple shows each summer, ranging from large musical comedies to more intimate plays.

Paul Bunyan Playhouse is gearing up for “On the Verge, or The Geography of Yearning,” which follows three female explorers as they search for the elusive “Terra Incognito” in the late 1880s. What ensues is a surreal and witty play, full of pop culture references ranging from the 1800s through the 1950s, ultimately examining one’s place in the world. (Jacob Aloi)

For more than 20 years, legendary Minneapolis fish stand Sea Salt Eatery has been serving up fried fish and po’boys just steps away from Minnehaha Falls.

A new cookbook, “Sea Salt Eatery: Recipes to Enjoy Year-Round,” documents the history behind the restaurant that begins with a propane turkey fryer, an abandoned grill and an aging park pavilion.

It also shares some of the restaurant’s cult favorite recipes, including clams and the “Sexy Ahi Burger.”

The book was a collaboration between Sea Salt co-owner Kait Ziemer-Davis and her mother-in-law, longtime journalist Gail Rosenblum. And while the two get along well, there was pressure working together on a project this big.

“[My wife] said, ‘Don't mess this up. You said yes to my mom. You've got to follow through on this,’” Ziemer-Davis recalled, to boisterous laughter from Rosenblum.

Ziemer-Davis has been co-owner since 2023, but she’s been within the restaurant’s orbit since 2010, and she’s seen that famously long line stretch and warp through the years. It’s always been long, she said. Staff have just gotten better at dealing with it.

These days, you’ll see it stretching outside and around the restaurant, even on weeknights. There’s an understanding from customers, Rosenblum said, that once you order, you’ll get your food quickly.

“You stand in line, you can step out briefly, grab a beer. People generally don't complain about it,” Rosenblum said.

Landlocked Minnesota isn’t known for seafood, but Sea Salt’s longstanding partnership with local supplier Coastal Seafoods helps patrons forget about that, so much so that there’s a cult following around the place.

Rosenblum interviewed the regulars who mark all their special occasions at the restaurant. They have their favorite orders. Even employees tend to come back year after year.

Ziemer-Davis said the restaurant tries to keep things fresh, but the classics make the restaurant what it is.

“[On our menu], I would say 90 percent of what's up there right now was written in permanent chalk in like maybe 2005,” she said.

Cooking fish at home can be another story. The pair hope the recipes inside the cookbook can encourage people to get out of their comfort zones — and maybe serve as some comfort during those winter months when Sea Salt isn’t open.

The book is on sale July 14.

Recipe: Tomato Basil Clams

Ingredients:

• 8 tomatoes, quartered

• 6 garlic cloves, smashed

• olive oil

• salt and pepper, to taste

• 6 strips thick-cut bacon

• 1 tablespoon clarified butter or ghee

• 6 pounds littleneck or countneck clams

• 1/2 cup dry white wine

• 2 cups heavy cream

• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 1 cup torn basil leaves, crusty bread and lemon wedge for serving

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place tomatoes and garlic cloves on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil plus a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, mix the tomatoes and garlic on the pan and return to the oven until the garlic has taken on a golden-brown color and the tomatoes have released most of their liquid and completely softened, about five to seven minutes.

While the tomatoes and garlic are roasting, fry the bacon strips in a large pot with a lid or Dutch oven over medium heat until crispy. When bacon is finished, remove from pot and set aside, then add the clarified butter or ghee and clams to the bacon grease, carefully add the white wine (this will likely cause a small flame reaction), and then place the lid on the pot and increase the heat to high.

After about six minutes of steaming, check to see if the clams are beginning to open and give them a gentle stir. Once the majority of the clams have opened, gently stir in the cream and red pepper flakes and simmer the broth over medium heat until the cream has begun to thicken and all clams have opened. Finally, use a spatula or slotted spoon to mix in the roasted tomato and garlic, leaving much of the liquid behind.

While the clams are simmering, prepare your garnishes by crumbling or chopping the reserved bacon, toasting bread and cutting lemon wedges.

To serve, divide the clams evenly among bowls, ladling any remaining broth over each bowl. Garnish with chopped bacon and torn basil, plus crusty bread and lemon wedges.

Recipe excerpted with permission from “Sea Salt Eatery: Recipes to Enjoy Year-Round” by Gail Rosenblum and Kait Ziemer-Davis. Published by the University of Minnesota Press.

Press play above to listen to Ziemer-Davis and Rosenblum’s conversation with MPR News host Clay Masters.

LONDON — Bonnie Tyler, the gravelly voiced, Grammy-nominated Welsh pop star best known for singing the chart-topping power ballad "Total Eclipse of the Heart" in 1983 and seeing new generations succumb to its bombastic charms during solar and lunar eclipses, has died. She was 75.

Tyler died "unexpectedly" in a hospital in Portugal where she was being treated for an illness, her family said Thursday in a statement on her website. She was hospitalized in May in Faro, where she had a home, for emergency intestinal surgery and was later placed in an induced coma.

"Bonnie's family and team are heartbroken to announce that Bonnie unexpectedly passed away last night in hospital in Portugal as a result of the illness that she was being treated for, her family said.

Tyler earned three Grammy nods, represented Britain at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 — where she came in 19th — and was awarded an MBE for her services to music by Queen Elizabeth II in 2023, all largely thanks to "Total Eclipse of the Heart," which has had more that 1 billion streams, boosted by real eclipses in 2017 and 2024.

The song spent four weeks at No. 1, the video has surpassed 1 billion views and when Stereogum reevaluated it in 2020, the music outlet declared it an "extinction-level event rendered in musical form."

"It's pop music as heart-pounding, chest-thumping, blood-gargling, heavens-falling passion explosion. It's sheer spectacle. It's fireworks and lasers and lightning and thunder. It soars and swoops and barrel-rolls," the site said.

The song has never really gone away, covered by the English singer Nicki French in 1995 and the band Westlife in 2006. Cate Blanchett sang it while hitting Billy Bob Thornton with her car in 2001's "Bandits," it appeared at a wedding scene in 2003's "Old School" and One Direction sang it in 2010 on a U.K. version of "The X Factor."

Early life

Tyler was born — as Gaynor Hopkins — a coal miner's daughter in public housing with an outside toilet in Skewen, Wales, about seven miles outside Swansea. She grew up with three sisters and two brothers.

She adored the Beatles and her first album was "A Hard Day's Night." The first song she bought was "Hippy Hippy Shake" by the Swinging Blue Jeans at 13 and watched "Top of the Pops" religiously, according to her memoir, "Straight From the Heart."

She would record "Top of the Pops" on a reel-to-reel two-track recorder and write down the lyrics of songs she loved. Her favorites were songs by Janis Joplin, Nina Simone, Tina Turner, Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding.

"I used to sing them into my hairbrush for hours and hours, and that's how it all started for me. I fell in love with singing just from doing that. Looking back, even then my voice had a husky tone to it, but I didn't think much of it. I thought everyone's voices were different from each other's," she wrote.

In 1976 she had to have surgery to remove nodules on her throat, leaving her with that trademark vocal sound. Changing her name to Sherene Davis, she was fronting a soul band when she was discovered by talent scout Roger Bell, who brought her to London for demo sessions. Then she waited for a label until RCA said it was interested.

Under her new RCA-sanctioned name Bonnie Tyler, her debut album "The World Starts Tonight" in 1977 contained her first chart hit, "Lost in France," and she was nominated for a breakthrough artists award at the Brits Awards. She then had a No. 3 hit in 1978 with "It's a Heartache," but soon drifted. She then signed with Sony and saw Meat Loaf perform "Bat Out of Hell" on the BBC. Impressed, she requested to work with Meat Loaf songwriter and producer Jim Steinman.

'Total Eclipse of the Heart'

Steinman introduced her to his song "Total Eclipse of the Heart," which would become the debut single for her fifth studio album, "Faster Than the Speed of Night." He borrowed one of the song's lyrics — "Turn around, bright eyes" — from his 1969 musical "The Dream Engine" written as a student at Massachusetts' Amherst College. He told her the song was from a prospective musical version of "Nosferatu."

"Jim liked to put down a basic rhythm track, do nine takes of the song, choose the best one and then put the kitchen sink on there, like Phil Spector used to," Tyler told The Guardian in 2023. "He gave me a cassette to listen to in my hotel and we both preferred take two."

Featuring E Street Band members Roy Bittan on piano and Max Weinberg on drums, "Total Eclipse" is a rumination on lost love: "Once upon a time there was light in my life/But now there's only love in the dark," she sings.

The video, a staple of early-days MTV, was shot in a frightening gothic former asylum in Surrey, where the guard dogs apparently wouldn't set foot in the rooms downstairs where they used to give people electric shock treatment. The visuals included slow-motion tossed doves, candles, dancing ninjas, dancing greasers, Tyler in frighteningly big shoulder pads, fencers, gymnasts, wind machines and shirtless boys wearing swim goggles being doused with water.

"Faster Than the Speed of Night" earned a Grammy nomination for best rock vocal performance — losing to Pat Benatar's "Love Is a Battlefield" — and Tyler got another nod for "Total Eclipse of the Heart" in the best pop vocal performance category, losing to Irene Cara's "Flashdance — What a Feeling."

After the 'Eclipse'

Tyler never reached such dizzying heights again but stayed current with such movie soundtrack singles as "Holding Out For a Hero" — from 1984's "Footloose" — and "Here She Comes" from "Metropolis" also in 1984.

Her 2019 disc "Between the Earth and the Stars" featured duets with Rod Stewart, Cliff Richard and Status Quo's Francis Rossi, and she ended that year performing a Vatican Christmas concert before Pope Francis.

In 2013, she switched gears to make a country-flavored record in Nashville, "Rocks and Honey," which included the Vince Gill duet "What You Need From Me" and a little ballad called "Believe in Me," written by American songwriter Desmond Child and British songwriters Lauren Christy and Christopher Braide. "Believe in Me" was picked to represent the United Kingdom at that year's Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden.

"It was an absolutely wonderful atmosphere there," she told the San Francisco Examiner in 2023. "I was being interviewed every 15, 20 minutes, and when I walked out onstage behind the British flag, I thought the roof was going to come off! It was awesome, just awesome!"

In 2017, she joined Joe Jonas' band DNCE for a performance on the cruise ship Oasis of the Seas as part of a "Total Eclipse Cruise." When the moon passed in front of the sun, they played "Total Eclipse of the Heart."

Tyler was married to property developer and former Olympic judo competitor Robert Sullivan.

Copyright 2026, NPR

Head to the Hilton in downtown Minneapolis this week and you’ll find hundreds of ravenous fans with their eyes glued to projector screens, cheering in unison at the wins and gasping at the losses.

But if you’re looking for the World Cup watch party, that’s across the street.

Inside, gamers came together for this year’s Summer Games Done Quick, an annual video game speedrunning showcase that consistently raises millions of dollars for Doctors Without Borders.

“Speedrunning is basically playing a game to however you define completion, as fast as possible,” said Ashley Farkas, owner and business director of Games Done Quick.

Part of SGDQ’s mission is to show the variety of speedrunning, which materializes any way from a flawless run through Bowser’s castle in “Super Mario Bros.” to changing how many frames per second a game outputs to glitch through a doorway.

Participants, or runners, have spent months perfecting their games of choice, discovering new exploits or strategies just to shave seconds off their times.

While that sounds like a solitary process, the runners of SGDQ want people to know the scene is anything but.

“Speedrunning has morphed into not just beating a game as quickly as possible, but working together with other people to collaborate in solving problems in breaking the game and beating the game as quickly as possible,” said runner Clayton Lundgren, who goes by adef online.

“Most of this community really exists online together, and the times that we're able to physically be together are at events like this, which only happen twice a year,” Farkas said. “When people are flying in from all over the place, they have an entire week to spend together, and you can just feel the energy in this event.”

SGDQ is one of several events put on by Games Done Quick. Its sister event, Awesome Games Done Quick, happens each January.

“There are people from literally all walks of life here, and GDQ champions diversity and inclusivity in a way that I don't see a lot of other gaming spaces,” Lundgren said. “Naturally, there are lots of people at this event who've probably never speedrun a game in their lives, who are just here to hang out with friends they've met in these spaces or just to feel safe and included in a cool, fun room.”

Lundgren’s run, set for Friday afternoon, is a testament to the range of games on display. He’ll be running “Balatro,” a 2024 title where the player combines poker hands with randomized bonuses to chase the highest score they can. While the game is seemingly endless for most players, he hopes to break it within an hour.

“Because of the specific limitations of [‘Balatro’s’] number storage format, only up to a certain number can be stored before it overflows. And this number is ridiculously high … you're not going to get to a number this high in your Excel spreadsheet,” Lundgren said. “But in ‘Balatro,’ you can score remarkably high if you play in a very particular way. … If you go beyond about 10 to the 308th power, the game breaks, and it starts displaying your score as basically infinity.”

Runners at SGDQ accomplish these feats while being watched by hundreds of spectators in the venue, plus tens of thousands more people watching the live stream at home on Twitch and YouTube.

Andy Hill, also known as Bluekandy, said it’s a tightrope walk to put on a show for the crowd without losing control of a run. He had his fifth run on stage Sunday when he landed a world record for 2025’s “Kirby Air Riders.”

“I had some experience with what to expect when I look back behind me and I'm up on the stage, what I'm listening to – because you hear your own voice and your headset,” Hill said. “You have to be in that mindset of like what to expect and not get distracted, be able to focus in on what matters based on the information that's coming into you.”

Hill’s particular run was made possible by meeting a donation incentive. Throughout the event, viewers can donate online not only to enter to win prizes, but to influence how runners approach their games (renaming a character, taking a different route) and to add bonus games to the schedule.

Donations come from fans, sponsors and, occasionally, developers whose games are being showcased in the moment. While runners are essentially “breaking” the games, it’s all out of love for the hobby.

Last year’s event raised $2.46 million. The highest-earning SGDQ was in 2022 in Bloomington, which raised $3.05 million in the first in-person event since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since 2013, SGDQ has raised tens of millions of dollars for Doctors Without Borders, or Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The organization works in over 70 countries around the world to provide medical care regardless of race, religion, gender or ability to pay.

Greta Doucette, the organization’s senior marketing associate for peer-to-peer and streaming programs, said what started out as an email has turned into a rock-solid relationship between the organizations.

“[MSF] is driven by our principles of independence, impartiality and neutrality, and we do a lot of bearing witness of what we are seeing in the countries and the places that we are working,” Doucette said. “And the community of Games Done Quick, they are just so passionate and caring and want the best for humans — and that's exactly what Doctors Without Borders does, too.”

“One of the reasons why I decided to work with MSF is that the organization delivers,” said pediatrician Dr. Jean Junior.

Junior, who has worked under MSF since 2024 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, West Darfur and South Sudan, said funds raised by events like SGDQ allow doctors guarantee a standard of care for their patients.

“You can say, ‘Here's your diagnosis, here's our treatment plan, and we got the stuff — we have your blood, the fluids, the antibiotics, the nutritional supplements, all of this stuff.’ We're able to provide to the families, and families know this,” Junior said.

The Twin Cities have been part of Summer Games Done Quick’s identity for almost as long as MSF. While January’s Awesome Games Done Quick has bounced around the country, SGDQ has been firmly planted in Minnesota since 2015 – except for two remote years during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Everyone loves it here,” Farkas said. “The local restaurants and different centers and businesses always are excited when we come to town, because we have a community that really loves to go out and explore the city and go do things.”

Part of this year’s set even has stars with runners’ names painted onto the background, a shoutout to First Avenue in Minneapolis.

The event runs through Saturday night. While onsite attendance requires registration, the 24/7 live stream of the event is free to watch on Twitch and YouTube.

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art.

Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.

Experience immersive audio story walks on the North Shore

Art enthusiast Erin Walsh of Minneapolis is looking forward to heading to the North Shore this weekend to attend the launch of Diver Van Avery’s original immersive story walks. These two new, site-specific audio stories are designed as self-guided experiences for listeners on nature trails near Sugarloaf Cove in Schroeder, Minn. A launch celebration is scheduled for Saturday, July 11, from 1 to 4 p.m. After that, the stories will remain available year-round. You can check out a listening device from the Sugarloaf Cove Nature Center, or you can download the audio any time and listen on your phone.

Walsh says: “One of the walks really invites us into the history of that site. Another of the walks just invites us to just sit down and receive the offerings of the place. For myself, I do a lot of efficient listening to things: I walk my dog and I listen to podcasts and I fill my brain with information. I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to put something in my ears that doesn't take me away from my body and away from the landscape around me, but actually invites me towards both of those things.”

A bluegrass band with a punk spirit

Rachel Felicia Calvert is a fiddle, vocalist, and music educator living in Minneapolis. She recommends that people explore the music of bluegrass band Pert Near Sandstone and their recent album “Side by Side.” They perform Thursday, July 9 at Milk and Honey Ciders in St. Joseph at 7 p.m. and Friday, July 10 in Jackson, Minn. as part of the 20th annual Rhythm of the River Festival.

Calvert says: “Sometimes I describe them as if, like, a punk band played bluegrass music. They just bring more of a rocker sensibility to this old folk music that they perform. They are excellent live—just wonderful. They have a really beautiful community of fans as well. They're also really great mentors to up-and-coming bands.”

A funny, heartfelt musical about acceptance

Twin Cities vocalist Jennifer Eckes is looking forward to seeing the musical “The Prom” performed at Lyric Arts in Anoka. The musical comedy, which was on Broadway in 2018-2019, is set in a small town in Indiana that chooses to cancel its high school prom rather than allow two girls to attend together. Four Broadway actors grab onto this cause and decide to throw a prom for the school. “Mayhem ensues,” Eckes said. She added that the show has a message of acceptance. The production runs July 10 through Aug. 9.

Of Lyric Arts, Eckes says: “It's a lovely little theater, very intimate. There's not a bad seat in the house. This production is bound to be chockfull of great talent, great singing, great music, great dancing," said Eckes. "I have every confidence it's going to be a gangbuster show.”

“The Pitt” is the leading nominee at the upcoming Emmy Awards, with numerous actors who play doctors on the drama series snagging nominations.

“Hacks,” another HBO series, got the second most nominations when the Emmy nominations were announced Wednesday in Los Angeles.

On Tuesday, NBC announced that “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” star Mariska Hargitay will host the Sept. 14 ceremony.

Drama series

“The Diplomat”; “The Gilded Age”; “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”; “Paradise”; “The Pitt”; “Pluribus”; “Slow Horses”; “Your Friends & Neighbors.”

Comedy series

“Abbott Elementary”; “The Bear”; “Hacks”; “Margo’s Got Money Troubles”; “Nobody Wants This”; “Only Murders in the Building”; “Shrinking”; “Widow’s Bay.”

Limited series, anthology series or movie

“All Her Fault”; “The Beast in Me”; “Beef”; “DTF St. Louis”; “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette.”

Drama actor

Sterling K. Brown, “Paradise”; Gary Oldman, “Slow Horses”; Mark Ruffalo, “Task”; Rufus Sewell, “The Diplomat”; Noah Wyle, “The Pitt.”

Drama actress

Carrie Coon, “The Gilded Age”; Chase Infiniti, “The Testaments”; Keri Russell, “The Diplomat”; Rhea Seehorn, “Pluribus”; Zendaya, “Euphoria.”

Supporting actor drama series

Patrick Ball, “The Pitt”; Billy Crudup, “The Morning Show”; Shawn Hatosy, “The Pitt”; Gerran Howell, “The Pitt”; Jack Lowden, “Slow Horses”; Tom Pelphrey, “Task”; Carlos-Manuel Vesga, “Pluribus.”

Supporting actress drama series

Taylor Dearden, “The Pitt”; Fiona Dourif, “The Pitt”; Allison Janney, “The Diplomat”; Katherine LaNasa, “The Pitt”; Sepideh Moafi, “The Pitt”; Julianne Nicholson, “Paradise”; Karolina Wydra, “Pluribus.”

Comedy actor

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, “Wonder Man”; Steve Carell, “Rooster”; Matthew Rhys, “Widow’s Bay”; Jason Segel, “Shrinking”; Martin Short, “Only Murders in the Building.”

Comedy actress

Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary”; Ayo Edebiri, “The Bear”; Elle Fanning, “Margo’s Got Money Troubles”; Lisa Kudrow, “The Comeback”; Jean Smart, “Hacks.”

Supporting actor comedy series

Colman Domingo, “The Four Seasons”; Paul W. Downs, “Hacks”; Harrison Ford, “Shrinking”; Nick Offerman, “Margo’s Got Money Troubles”; Stephen Root, “Widow’s Bay”; Michael Urie, “Shrinking”; Tyler James Williams, “Abbott Elementary.”

Supporting actress comedy series

Dale Dickey, “Widow’s Bay”; Hannah Einbinder, “Hacks”; Janelle James, “Abbott Elementary”; Kate O’Flynn, “Widow’s Bay”; Michelle Pfeiffer, “Margo’s Got Money Troubles”; Megan Stalter, “Hacks”; Jessica Williams, “Shrinking.”

Lead actor limited series, anthology series or movie

Riz Ahmed, “Bait”; Jason Bateman, “Black Rabbit”; Charlie Hunnam, “Monster: The Ed Gein Story”; Oscar Isaac, “Beef”; Matthew Rhys, “The Beast in Me.”

Lead actress limited, anthology series or movie

Claire Danes, “The Beast in Me”; Sally Field, “Remarkably Bright Creatures”; Carey Mulligan, “Beef”; Sarah Pidgeon, “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette”; Sarah Snook, “All Her Fault.”

Supporting actor limited, anthology series or movie

Jason Bateman, “DTF St. Louis”; Richard Gadd, “Half Man”; David Harbour, “DTF St. Louis”; Richard Jenkins, “DTF St. Louis”; Charles Melton, “Beef”; Nick Offerman, “Death by Lightning.”

Supporting actress limited, anthology series or movie

Linda Cardellini, “DTF St. Louis”; Dakota Fanning, “All Her Fault”; Laurie Metcalf, “Monster: The Ed Gein Story”; Joy Sunday, “DTF St. Louis”; Youn Yuh-jung, “Beef”; Constance Zimmer, “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette.”

Talk show

“The Daily Show”; “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”; “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver”; “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert”; “Saturday Night Live.”

Reality competition

“Dancing With the Stars”; “RuPaul’s Drag Race”; “Survivor”; “Top Chef”; “The Traitors.”

Outstanding reality or reality program host

RuPaul Charles, “RuPaul’s Drag Race”; Alan Cumming, “The Traitors”; Kristen Kist, “Top Chef”; Ariana Madix, “Love Island USA”; Jeff Probst, “Survivor.”

Animated program

“Bob’s Burgers”; “Rick and Morty”; “The Simpsons”; “Smiling Friends”; “South Park”; “Star Wars: Visions.”

Outstanding television movie

“Heads of State”; “Miss You, Love You”; “People We Meet on Vacation”; “Remarkably Bright Creatures”; “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War.”

Scripted variety series

“Dave Chappelle: The Unstoppable…”; “The Muppet Show”; “Nikki Glaser: Good Girl”; “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour — Final Show”; “Wicked: One Wonderful Night.”

Live variety special

The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show starring Bad Bunny; 83rd Annual Golden Globes; 68th Annual Grammy Awards; The Oscars; 78th Annual Tony Awards.

Outstanding game show host

Steve Harvey, “Family Feud”; Ken Jennings, “Jeopardy!”; Colin Jost, “Pop Culture Jeopardy!”; Jimmy Kimmel, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”

Maria Lockwood of Foxes and Fireflies Booksellers in Superior, Wis., has a suggestion for a great historical fantasy series that will appeal to fans of “The Mummy” movies. She recommends the Raiders of the Arcana series, which starts with "Empire of Shadows," written by Jacquelyn Benson.

The series begins in 1898 in England, but archaeologist Ellie Mallory and dashing adventurer Adam Bates soon travel to Central America in search of a lost city.

Naturally, there’s a ruthless villain determined to beat them to the discovery and a mythical artifact buried within the ruins. The series has a slow-burn romance with fun, flirty banter.

Lockwood loves the characters. She describes Ellie as “a woman suffragette, so she's very opinionated. She jumps in there and takes control, and I love that about her! The characters are so real, they just jump out of the page at you. You feel like you're carrying around your best buddies in your handbag when you want to read a book; these are great buddies to have along on any kind of excursion,” said Lockwood.

There are three books in the series, plus a prequel novella, with a fourth book coming in January.

When asked about the Declaration of Independence, most Americans quote memorable phrases from the preamble. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

But historian Robert Parkinson says even Thomas Jefferson, who penned those words, would be puzzled by our preoccupation with the introduction when the grievances that make up the body of the Declaration were the meat of the document.

Parkinson’s new book, “Tyrants and Rogues,” is a deep dive into those grievances — and the villains of the Revolutionary period who spurred them.

“Americans are throwing a temper tantrum here, because they feel like their father has betrayed them,” he tells Kerri Miller on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas. It’s a conversation set in 1776 with implications for 2026 — a launch into a month of books that commemorates America’s 250th anniversary.

Guest:

• Robert Parkinson is a historian and professor at Binghamton University in New York. His new book is “Tyrants and Rogues: Understanding the Declaration of Independence.”

Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.

Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts.

If Fourth of July fireworks aren’t your thing, the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum is offering a quieter light show.

The arboretum’s annual Firefly Viewing Nights invite visitors to explore its grounds after dark and watch fireflies flicker through marshes and tall grasses.

Matt Schuth, a veteran naturalist who has worked at the arboretum for more than 40 years, says the insects are a familiar part of summer nostalgia.

“The reason they call them lightning bugs, there was always a belief that whenever there was a storm, and there would be a thunderclap of lightning, all the fireflies would light up at the same time,” Schuth said.

“They’re beetles, actually,” Schuth adds. “So I call fireflies beetles with taillights.”

But Schuth says firefly populations have declined nationally because of pesticide use, habitat loss and light pollution.

“Fireflies have orange light, green light and yellow light,” he said. “The females sitting on the ground are looking for a specific color that would match the man they’re looking for.”

Minnesota remains one of the better places to spot them, thanks in part to the state’s wetlands and native grasslands.

For those hoping to attract fireflies at home, Schuth says creating the right habitat can help. Damp areas, native plants, tall grasses and shrubs give fireflies places to hide and feed, while reducing outdoor light at night makes it easier for them to find mates. Schuth emphasized that limiting the use of pesticides is the most effective way to protect fireflies.

The Arboretum began hosting Firefly Viewing Nights after staff noticed just how many insects appeared on the grounds after hours.

“A member of our team was out on a hike late at night, and noticed there are just an abundance of fireflies,” said Hailey Fenton, the arboretum’s private and corporate events manager. “That’s not an experience everyone gets to have.”

The guided nighttime walks take place on select weekends in June and July, with presentations on birds, bats and fireflies.

“But we really let the fireflies do the show,” Fenton said.

For Schuth, it’s a display unlike any other.

“What a colorama we have,” he said. “They light up the night skies. So, what could be better? It’s stars on the ground.”

A few ways to mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. (from pups and hot dogs at Canterbury Park to light shows in Northfield), the geekiest of science fiction conventions, a summer road trip film series, a new exhibition at All My Relations Gallery and more in this week’s MN Shortlist.

‘CONvergence: The Geek in the Machine’ in Minneapolis — Through July 5

Nothing says semiquincentennial like the celebration of robots, cyborgs and androids that is the 27th annual sci-fi and fantasy convention, “CONvergence: The Geek in the Machine,” at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis. To channel Bill Hader’s SNL character “Stefon,” this convention has everything: robot fighting, art competitions, a “Traumatized by Disney” panel looking at the films that scarred our childhoods, water aerobics, a screening of the “Funniest Japanese Commercials,” cosplay lipsync battles, a post-mortem presentation on the "disastrous" 1989 NASA Galileo Mission to Jupiter, a masquerade runway and a reading called “Y’all Wanna Bang a Demon? Adventures in Afrofutureism & Romantasy.”

Believe it or not, the CONvergence has something for all age groups, including the kiddos, from a Star Trek 60th anniversary talk to the panel “Guardians and Kids Talk About What Kids Find Scary.”

There will also be meet-and-greets and events with “Guests of Honor” including the queer Minnesota speculative fiction authors J.R. Dawson and Naomi Kritzer, actor and puppeteer Christine D. Galey who appears in Season 1 of “The Mandalorian” and Minneapolis hip-hop star (and lover of Dungeons and Dragons - he’s a dungeon master) NUR-D, who also performs Saturday night.

And for those who truly want to immerse in the 250th anniversary of the U.S., see “A Revolution Highly Favorable: To Dissolve the Political Bands,” which is a performance that adapted the words of 18th-century combat medic, historian and POW David Ramsay. (Alex V. Cipolle)

Canterbury Park Independence Day Celebration in Shakopee — July 4

Wiener dogs, face paint and hot dogs? Sounds like a good way to spend America’s 250th anniversary. Canterbury Park in Shakopee is marking the Fourth of July with its usual horse races, along with wiener dog races in between the main event. There will also be a hot dog-eating contest (the event is sponsored by Hormel after all), and opportunities for kids to get their faces painted and ride ponies. If hot daytime temperatures aren’t your thing, Canterbury Park is also putting on a “fireworks spectacular” after the last race on July 3. (Jacob Aloi)

Light show and community party at Northfield Arts Guild — July 4

The Northfield Arts Guild is doing a different kind of light show for Fourth of July (or what they are calling “Miss America’s 250th birthday”) — projecting art visuals on the historic downtown guild’s exterior walls along the Cannon River. The party, filled with live music, art activities and food, goes from 5 p.m. to midnight. Stick around to see the guild’s dual exhibition “Unquiet Landscapes” by artists Andrew and Amelia Wykes and, starting July 10, the guild’s 2026 Shakespeare in the Park production, “Much Ado About Nothing.” (Alex V. Cipolle)

Raise the Torch for Liberty at The Commons in Minneapolis — July 4

For those looking to mark the Fourth of July with something more collective than fireworks, artist Christopher Lutter-Gardella is inviting Twin Cities residents to become part of a 1,000-person living artwork at The Commons in downtown Minneapolis. At noon on July 4, participants will gather to form an aerial image of the Statue of Liberty. The large-scale public art action is meant to affirm solidarity with immigrants, asylum seekers and marginalized communities.

Lutter-Gardella, whose February project “Kaleidoscope of Love” drew hundreds to Powderhorn Park, calls the event a reminder that “liberty and justice for all” should apply to everyone. After the human installation, the gathering continues with music, poetry and community performances, including songs from Singing Resistance. (Annie Russell)

‘Taking the Scenic Route’ series at Trylon Cinema in Minneapolis — July 5-Sept. 27

We’re hitting peak summer (and peak time to be inside air-conditioned movie theaters) and Trylon Cinema is just in time with their summer film series, “Taking the Scenic Route.” The 14-film series of “detours, pit stops and the open road” begins July 5 with “Vanishing Point,” a 1971 British-American cult classic action flick about a car delivery driver who bets he can get a white Dodge Challenger from Denver to San Francisco in 15 hours (for reference, Google Maps says the route takes 20 hours without pit stops). Other great on-the-road films included in the series are “Y Tu Mamá También” (July 19), “The Muppet Movie” (Aug. 2) and “My Own Private Idaho” (Aug. 23). (Alex V. Cipolle)

‘Sakowin Synergy’ opening reception – July 9

“Sakowin Synergy” is a group exhibition which shares the works of four contemporary Lakota artists. The exhibition, described as “woven together with deep respect for tradition and a bold embrace of modernity,” is curated by mixed-media artist Ray Janis.

The exhibition’s title pays homage to the Oceti Šakówiŋ, which translates to “The Seven Council Fires” and refers to the historic alliance of the Dakota, Lakota and Nakota people. “Synergy” describes the artists’ collaborative energy and inspirations for the project.

All My Relations Arts and the Native American Community Development Institute will hold an opening reception of “Sakowin Synergy” on July 9 beginning at 6 p.m.

The exhibition will be on view at All My Relations Arts Gallery in Minneapolis through Sept. 5. (Chandra Colvin)