Bob Collins
The e-cigarette debate, the empty nest, why farmers don’t quit, a free shot at college, and hate 101. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Five by 8
Visiting the future of America, Ernie and Weldon’s reunion, from tee to shining tee, the price of being a Good Samaritan, and the boss the rest of us want. Read more →
Finding fault, more on the NPR ombudsman controversy, Jane takes more steps after the Marathon bombing, the anti-fracking nuns, and those darned hybrids. Read more →
So why don’t you comment… really? Plus: the mystery of the amoeba, the difference between behavior and free speech, death of a Saint Paul neighborhood, and a pitch for Andre at Target Field. Read more →
It’s nice to have someone at least talking about innovation, a typical year on the Minnesota farm, Star Tribune’s warning about those New Jersey businesspeople, why has the number of women in the workplace stalled, and more Minnesota moments. Read more →
Kids who make a difference, when an NPR journalist destroys NPR journalism, what go wrong with Ticketmaster’s entrance into the scalping market, watching the lights go out with Alzheimer’s, and the Islamic center proposal in St. Cloud. Read more →
The questions surrounding the Wilfs, it’s time for journalists to change how they tell stories, the brew farm, rapping scientists, the people who don’t give up, and not all heartless crooks are heartless. Read more →
The disappearing first-person history, bull run in Dakota County, when the carnies don’t show, when airline passengers disobey the rules, and sportswriters with short memories. Read more →
How the Vikings owner got out of a bad deal, Aaron’s last wish in Fargo, supporting the homeless troops at Fort Snelling, the Titanic violin debate, and quitting jobs to go do what you want to do instead. Read more →
The safety net you don’t know you have, after the attention disappears for ‘heroes’, the cancer game, writing your own obit, and why he can’t quit A-Rod. Read more →
Whatever happened to the sequester, the loudmouths at kids’ baseball games, a fortune in assisted living, should Reddit be held responsible for a smear, and what Northfield’s got that your town doesn’t. Read more →
What’s the future of a one-company town, what does it mean to be a progressive, wrapping North Minneapolis, feed the world by eating bugs, and why are they ruining Monopoly? Read more →
Breaking the government intentionally, is it hot in here, close encounters of the Marshall County kind, the search for the family of a Marine killed on Saipan in WWII, and why old buildings matter. Read more →
The long reach of poverty, the last days of ‘Big Blue,’ the food-truck controversy, the wheelage tax speeds through Minnesota counties, and the car seat’s great leap forward. Read more →
A break in student-loan interest rates could be at hand, the freak show in London, Anthony Weiner’s problem, the toddler death in Wisconsin, how you fall out of a roller coaster, and the special education teacher. Read more →