Dec 31st, 2009 · Robert Siegel talks with two guests about how recorded music has changed in the past decade. First, mastering engineer Bob Ludwig explains how recordings have gotten louder and worse. Then Robert talks Andrew Oxenham, a professor in the Psychology department at the University of Minnesota, about how the ubiquity of MP3's has changed what we hear.
Aug 1st, 2008 · Whether it's drugs, shopping, or gambling, addiction can take control your life. Today, we kick off our month-long series about addiction. Farai Chideya speaks with Dr. Tim Fong — co-director of University of California Los Angeles' gambling studies program — and Dr. Jon Grant, associate professor of psychiatry at University of Minnesota.
Mar 4th, 2008 · Many schools receive wads of cash, but the University of Minnesota has received a more animated gift: comics. Lawyer John Borger has collected 30,000 comic books since college, and at his wife's insistence, he's agreed to donate his collection, worth six figures, to the school's library.
Oct 15th, 2007 · Leonid Hurwicz of the University of Minnesota, Eric Maskin of Princeton and Roger Myerson of the University of Chicago share the prize. They were honored for laying the foundation of mechanism design theory.
Aug 24th, 2007 · All week, forecasters have been warning about the possibility of a phenomenon known as seiches along Lake Michigan. They are a common occurrence on the Great Lakes -- continuous oscillations that shift the water level, usually minutely. But in extreme cases, they can cause a huge water level drop-off -- like in July 1995, when a seiche in Lake Superior caused the water to rise and fall in the lake by 3 feet in 15 minutes, or in June 1954, when a 10-foot seiche hit Chicago's lakefront, sweeping away eight fishermen who drowned. Dr. Stephen Bortone, the director of Minnesota Sea Grant, part of the University of Minnesota, talks with Robert Siegel.
Jun 17th, 2007 · Host Liane Hansen speaks with James Kakalios, a professor at the University of Minnesota's School of Physics and Astronomy, and author of "The Physics of Superheroes." Lately he's been thinking about the unique strengths of Sandman in Spider-man 3.
Dec 7th, 2006 · Scientists at the University of Minnesota say you can make great biofuel from a mix of 16 kinds of prairie grass. And there's a bonus: prairie grasses suck carbon out of the air but don't return it when you burn it.
May 25th, 2006 · Farai Chideya talks to Rose Brewer, co-author of the book The Color of Wealth: The Story Behind the U.S. Racial Wealth Divide. The book examines how government policies have affected wealth building in minority communities. Brewer is a professor of women's studies at the University of Minnesota.