We are excited to feature the first episode of the Saint Paul Public Library’s new podcast, SPPL Live. The first episode features Brent Olson, author of The Inadvertent Café and other books on life in southwestern Minnesota, serves up wit and w

Special Feature: SPPL Live with author Brent Olson

Dec 21st, 2016 1h 2m

Trotskyists on Trial with Donna Haverty-Stacke (2016 Untold Stories)

May 26th, 2016 1h 8m

Seventy-five years ago, 29 unionists and working-class socialists were prosecuted and labeled as dangerous revolutionaries by President Franklin Roosevelt’s Justice Department under the newly passed anti-radical Smith Act. Most were members and

Trotskyists on Trial with Donna Haverty-Stacke (2016 Untold Stories)

May 26th, 2016 1h 8m

The Iron Range: Past, Present & Future (2016 Untold Stories)

May 24th, 2016 1h 4m

Recorded on Tuesday, May 17, 2016The Iron Range has always held a special place in Minnesota’s labor history and lore. Now the future of the Range seems uncertain. The authors of two recent books give us a great opportunity to grapple with the

Elmer Smith and the Wobblies with Tom Copeland (Untold Stories 2016)

May 11th, 2016 45m 45s

In his book, The Centralia Tragedy of 1919: Elmer Smith and the Wobblies, Tom Copeland, Macalester graduate and lawyer, tells the tale of Elmer Smith, also a Macalester graduate and lawyer. At the end of the Armistice Day Parade of 1919 in Cent

Elmer Smith and the Wobblies with Tom Copeland (Untold Stories 2016)

May 11th, 2016 45m 45s

Catherine Madison (2016 Fireside Reading Series)

Mar 7th, 2016 54m 25s

Catherine Madison closes the Fireside Series with a reading from The War Came Home with Him, which tells the stories of two survivors of one man’s war: a father who withstood a prison camp’s unspeakable inhumanity and a daughter who withstood t

Catherine Madison (2016 Fireside Reading Series)

Mar 7th, 2016 54m 25s

Anton Treuer (2016 Fireside Reading Series)

Mar 3rd, 2016 1h 21m

Ojibwe historian and linguist Anton Treuer presents his latest work, Warrior Nation: A History of the Red Lake Ojibwe, a fascinating history which offers not only a chronicle of the Red Lake Nation but also a compelling perspective on a difficu

Anton Treuer (2016 Fireside Reading Series)

Mar 3rd, 2016 1h 21m

Erika Lee (2016 Fireside Reading Series)

Feb 22nd, 2016 1h 3m

In the past fifty years, Asian Americans have helped change the face of America and are now the fastest growing group in the United States. But as award-winning historian Erika Lee reminds us, Asian Americans also have deep roots in the country

Beth Dooley (2016 Fireside Reading Series)

Feb 15th, 2016 47m 34s

In Winter’s Kitchen: Growing Roots and Breaking Bread in the Northern HeartlandComing from her native New Jersey, Beth Dooley had a lot of preconceptions about the Midwestern food scene. As she explored farmer’s markets and the burgeoning co-o

Rick Shefchik (2016 Fireside Reading Series)

Feb 8th, 2016 54m 56s

This behind-the-scenes, up-close-and-personal account relates how a handful of Minnesota rock bands erupted out of a small Midwest market and made it big, covering Augie Garcia and Bobby Vee to The Trashmen and the Castaways. Through interviews

Faith Sullivan (2016 Fireside Reading Series)

Jan 27th, 2016 34m 59s

Faith Sullivan returns to kick off the 22nd annual Fireside series with a reading from her new novel, Good Night, Mr. Wodehouse, which celebrates the strength and resourcefulness of independent women, the importance of community, and the transf

Striving for Equality: Mexican Women in Minnesota History (2015 Women’s History Lecture Series)

Nov 19th, 2015 57m 45s

Mexican women helped shape their expatriate communities in Minnesota from the mid-20th century onward. Discover the important ways they fought for respect and equal treatment in the Twin Cities and in outstate Minnesota.Download PowerPoint (©

Sisterhood is (Again) Powerful (2015 Women’s History Lecture Series)

Nov 5th, 2015 1h 1m

Fifty years after women won the vote, feminism once again grabbed public attention in the 1970s. A wide diversity of women began to advocate for equality under the law, in public and private life. Initially ridiculed, “women’s lib” ended up re

Battle for the Ballot (2015 Women’s History Lecture Series)

Oct 30th, 2015 56m 18s

Minnesota suffragists were a civilized contrast to the discord which marked the American suffrage movement. We will discuss how women like Colvin and Ueland found ways to work together to win the vote and contribute to the national suffrage vic

Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad (2015 Women’s History Lecture Series)

Oct 22nd, 2015 51m 55s

Myths about Harriet Tubman persist, but the realities of her life are even more fascinating. Learn what we know now about Tubman’s life and legacy and about her role in the Underground Railroad. Download the PowerPoint presentation

Home by Starlight: Writers-in-Conversation (2015 O’Shaughnessy Award for Poetry)

Jun 4th, 2015 50m 27s

Paula Meehan, the 2015 recipient of the O’Shaughnessy Award for Irish Poetry, and Joyce Sutphen, Minnesota’s Poet Laureate, discuss their body of work and poetry generally at Merriam Park Library. Presented by The Friends and the Center for Iri

Minnesota’s Métis and French Canadians (Untold Stories 2015)

Jun 4th, 2015 1h 6m

Virgil Benoit, Professor of French at the University of North Dakota, will introduce the audience to Métis and French-Canadian presence in Minnesota from 1800 on based on historical dates and the events that surrounded them, illustrating the pr

Inaugural Richard P. McDermott Fitzgerald Lecture (Fitzgerald in Saint Paul 2015)

Jun 1st, 2015 49m 46s

Welcome to the podcast of a recent talk on “Romantic Relationships” given by leading F. Scott Fitzgerald scholar, Dr. Scott Donaldson. The talk was the inaugural presentation of the annual Richard P. McDermott Fitzgerald Lecture, presented by

Linda LeGarde Grover (2015 Fireside Reading Series)

Mar 18th, 2015 53m 52s

Linda LeGarde Grover closes the series by sharing her powerful debut novel of love, hardship, and family bonds: The Road Back to Sweetgrass. The book follows a trio of American Indian women, from the 1970s to the present, observing their lives

Allen Eskens (2015 Fireside Reading Series)

Mar 11th, 2015 54m 14s

The Life We Bury Author Allen Eskens adds some literary chills to the series when he reads from his twisting and evocative mystery The Life We Bury, called a “masterful debut” in a starred review by Publisher’s Weekly. When college-student Joe

Lorna Landvik (2015 Fireside Reading Series)

Mar 4th, 2015 54m 27s

Writer and comedian Lorna Landvik joins the series to read from her new novel, Best to Laugh, which follows her latest irresistible character, Candy Pekkala, from Minnesota to Hollywood as she pursues her dream of becoming a comedian. Landvik t