Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton on Friday called on Garth Brooks to add another Minneapolis show to his upcoming stadium tour — and it sounds like the country music star is on board with the idea.

The latest album is mostly made up of songs that Jayhawks leader Gary Louris initially wrote for other artists like Jakob Dylan and Carrie Rodriguez. He wrote it with the Dixie Chicks.

Anything can happen in live theater, and audience members seeing "Beautiful," the life story of Carole King, got a surprise when King appeared in the role of herself to celebrate the show's fifth anniversary on Broadway.

Sixty years ago this week, the Winter Dance Party concert tour was crisscrossing Minnesota and neighboring states, featuring Ritchie Valens, J.P. "the Big Bopper" Richardson and Buddy Holly. Then came "The Day the Music Died."

"He sang strictly country," said Larry Byers, a former DJ in Lubbock, Texas, who heard Buddy Holly's early performances. "Until he saw Elvis Presley and decided that maybe he should change his style a bit."

Peter Tork, who studied at Carleton College in Northfield and later rose to teen-idol fame in 1966 playing the lovably clueless bass guitarist in the made-for-television rock band The Monkees, has died. He was 77.

Researchers exposed cheese to different genres of music for 24 hours a day over six months to find out that hip-hop might create the tastiest cheese.

Nipsey Hussle, a respected rapper who earned a Grammy nomination this year for his major-label debut, was fatally shot outside his clothing store, authorities said.

The world-renowned cellist brought his Bach Project to the sister cities of Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, on Saturday.

The Doris Day Animal Foundation confirmed Day died early Monday at her Carmel Valley, Calif., home. The foundation said she was surrounded by close friends.

In the 1980s, Prince wrote one of the Bangles' biggest hits, 'Manic Monday.' Now, The Prince Estate has released the demo version of the track as part of the artist's posthumous album, Originals.

For your Fourth of July listening, an hour of music, including marches by Sousa, Jewell and Gould, and classical works by Copland, Saint-Saens and Holst.

Trampled By Turtles will be headlining an all-day concert Saturday at Bayfront Park in Duluth.

Stevie Wonder surprised concertgoers in London on Saturday night by announcing that he will take a break from performing so that he can receive a kidney transplant this fall.

"The Boy & The Octopus" is a touching holiday short about a tiny octopus who latches onto a young beachgoer and refuses to let go.

Lucas Bellamy had been in jail for three days in July 2022 when he died of an infection after suffering a perforated intestine. A lawsuit filed in January said jail staff were deliberately indifferent to his son's obviously-worsening symptoms.

Investigators say they believe a Wisconsin kayaker missing since mid-August faked his death before fleeing to Europe. 

A Minnesota man who served nearly 20 years in prison before his murder conviction was vacated last year has filed a claim for nearly $2 million from the state.

Donald Trump has been declared the winner of the 2024 presidential election. Tell us what questions you have about how a second Trump presidency might affect Minnesota.

Black and Latino voters moved toward Republican Donald Trump in this year's presidential election, and some of the biggest shifts were among men under age 45, and that helped expand his margin over Democrat Kamala Harris. 

County officials say a damaged or uncleared memory card did not fully collect and transmit results from some mail-in ballots to the Minnesota Secretary of State's office on election night. That led to the state website displaying inaccurate unofficial results for Sherburne County.

At his second official event since the Democratic presidential ticket lost to Republican Donald Trump, Gov. Tim Walz noted the nation’s democracy “is strong.”

The new Louisiana requirement that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public classroom by Jan. 1 was temporarily blocked Tuesday. The judge said the law is "unconstitutional on its face."

President Biden called his predecessor — now, successor — a threat to democracy. Today he'll sit side by side with President-elect Trump as part of the ceremony around a smooth transfer of power.

Have you found the time to read more this past year or have you had less time or an inability to focus on the written word lately? Our annual Summer Book Show is back, and our indie booksellers have lots of titles to add to your "To Be Read" pile. Several authors are revisiting mythology, as well as revisiting American history. There's plenty of fiction for the beach or the pool, too, of course, as well as fantasy and compelling autobiographies. What are you looking forward to reading this summer?

Last summer, many trails were overcrowded as outdoor enthusiasts and newcomers took advantage of the Granite State’s natural resources. In a conversation recorded before Memorial Day this year, we discussed what lessons we take from that experience and what to expect this summer. We discussed how we can balance sharing the trails with all those who want to use them, and also promote stewardship of our natural resources.

Although Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, the Civil War prevented it being enacted in much of the South. Emancipation Day, now known as Juneteenth, commemorates June 19, 1865, when around 250,000 enslaved people were declared free in Texas. NHPR's Peter Biello talks with historian Annette Gordon-Reed, whose book, On Juneteenth, gives a view of the country’s road to Juneteenth, recounting both its origins in Texas and episodes from her life growing up in Texas. In 1965, she was the first child to integrate her town’s all-white schools. Juneteenth became a N.H. state holiday in 2019.

Have you hiked Mount Lafayette in N.H.'s Franconia Notch? We talk with N.H. author Ty Gagne, about his new book “The Last Traverse: Tragedy and Resilience in the Winter Whites." It’s the true story of two friends on a winter hike that goes awry, and the search-and-rescue efforts that keep it from becoming a bigger tragedy. What makes it especially relevant for this moment is the insight into how we make high-stakes decisions and manage risk in uncertain situations.

You may have zoomed right by the broad green signs, but stopping for a moment to read a historical roadside marker gives a sense of the depth and complexity of the state’s past. The markers encompass a broad range of N.H. history: Abenaki Native Americans, poets, painters, contemporary sports figures, meeting houses, stone arch bridges, and long-lost villages, as well as factories and cemeteries. Any organization or individual can propose a historical highway marker and shepherd it through to reality. We discuss the process leading to the state's latest marker in Dover, honoring John Parker Hale.

Will the stay at home order be extended? And tribal governments look for help from the Trump administration

Gov. Walz to lay out next steps on reopening; remembering Steve Anderson

Gov. Tim Walz relaxes his stay at home order

Nurses say they need more protective equipment; Asian owned businesses have been especially hard hit

MPR News political editor Mike Mulcahy looks ahead to Tuesday’s primary election in Minnesota. He’ll discuss the races to watch and how politics and voting has changed during the pandemic.

The front-runners in Minnesota’s 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts took part in telephone debates on Politics Friday.

Is there really such a thing as a "shy Trump voter"? Who is contacted to take part in pre-election polls? And are they reliable or not?

The mayoral race is highlighting some of St. Cloud’s most pressing challenges, including a housing crunch, a struggle to revive its downtown and a perception that the city is less safe. Both candidates talk about addressing those problems, but they differ — sometimes subtly — on how to do so.

Warren Buffett is now sitting on more than $325 billion cash after continuing to unload billions of dollars worth of Apple and Bank of America shares this year and continuing to collect a steady stream of profits from all of Berkshire Hathaway’s assorted businesses without finding any major acquisitions.

An NPR investigation finds thousands of veterans were pushed into high-cost mortgages by a program that was meant to help them. A rescue plan being rolled out by the Department of Veterans Affairs is excluding many vets who need help.

This year’s International Day of Prayer for the persecuted Church comes as worldwide tensions have turned up pressure on Christians, challenging the global Body of Christ to keep pace in aid and supplication.

Buffer zones around abortion facilities went into effect in England and Wales, a development that pro-life advocates contend criminalizes silent prayer and offering pregnancy help information to women and families in need of resources. 

One of the challenges to supporting persecuted Christians abroad is that many in the West don't realize just how much their brothers and sisters in Christ suffer for their faith, according to the head of a leading advocacy group.

Actor and "The Passion of the Christ" director Mel Gibson recently revealed his support for former President Donald Trump and his belief that Vice President Kamala Harris sports both an "appalling track record" and a low IQ.

Known to millions as the drummer of the Grammy Award-winning band Hootie & the Blowfish, Jim “Soni” Sonefeld once appeared to have it all — a successful career, a loving family and a public image that masked his private struggles. Beneath the surface, however, he grappled with inner demons.

Two Christian activists urged fellow believers to remain active in politics, contending that they have an obligation to become “major influencers” in American society by restoring civility to political discourse. 

A social media post from a well-known Evangelical pastor has sparked debate about Christians' engagement in politics and what pastors should advise their congregations. 

The bodies of two poll workers, who were among the five people killed in Missouri after flash floods swept through the state, were discovered early Wednesday.

The Georgia Supreme Court has upheld the life sentence of a pastor who led a double life and murdered his fiancée on their wedding day.

It’s a gloomy, rainy Sunday in downtown Portsmouth. I’m hanging out in a dark basement beneath a bookstore waiting to see a creepy Halloween music show for kids. Dozens of children dressed in their Halloween finest crowd the room. There are princesses and superheroes. An elephant finds a seat next to a dinosaur as the show is about to begin. (Editor's note: we highly recommend listening to this story.) Doctor Gasp is dressed in a long black cape with a white skeleton mask covering his face. Jack-o-lanterns cast orange light across a makeshift stage. He gives a lively performance, jumping and dancing while playing his guitar. The kids get up to dance along with him. Monster Mash is a crowd favorite of course. I sat down with Doctor Gasp after the show to find out who he is behind the mask. Dan Blakeslee is actually a folk singer for most of the year. When he first started writing Halloween music, he would play under his own name at his regular shows. “But then it got to be at the point

A new documentary by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick is coming to PBS this month , and it's all about Ernest Hemingway. NHPR's Morning Edition host Rick Ganley sat down with both Burns and Novick to talk about the new film, their process and what makes a good documentary. [Editor's note: this is a transcript of one small part of the full interview.] Rick Ganley: But why Hemingway? Ken Burns: He's a hugely important writer and he's got a very complicated life, and we like to try to wrestled to the ground these complicated stories. And boy, this is about as wonderfully difficult as any project we've undertaken. Rick Ganley: What strikes me the most is how it goes way beyond that mythic Hemingway. This is the man's man writer image that kind of, you know, gets thrown around a lot. What surprised you most about him as you dug into the project? Lynn Novick: Kind of everything in a way, you know, in that we had some understanding of his work. We could give it like the Cliff's Notes version of his