Minnesota Portraits

Stephen McClellan – Mentor, music business guru, and notorious grouch. Interviewed while he was still a general manager at First Avenue nightclub, at a time when the music industry was thriving, and records and live music were abundant. Stephen shares his approach to nightclub management, his alternative job options, and his major disdain for the band Technotronic.

Mark Dayton - Teacher, street counselor and future governor of Minnesota. Interviewed when he was still the state auditor, the discussion includes growing up wealthy and his feelings of privilege, his consciousness being raised in the 1960s, as well as recovery from addiction.     This story is made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund (https://www.legacy.mn.gov/arts-cultural-heritage-fund) and the citizens of Minnesota.

Horst – Salon worker, environmentalist, entrepreneur, and most notable proponent of aromatherapy through his company Aveda. The discussion includes his mother’s use of plants and herbs, the reasons he chose Minneapolis for his home, and the growth of his school training future salon workers.   This story is made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund (https://www.legacy.mn.gov/arts-cultural-heritage-fund) and the citizens of Minnesota.

Miles Lord – Prosecutor turned federal judge, Miles Lord was called an activist judge by his critics. The discussion includes growing up poor with an innate sense of justice, the dangers of Republicans on the Supreme Court, and the important cases in his career and the impact they made; including the Dalkon shield case against the  A. H. Robins Company, and the environmental case against Reserve Mining Company, where Lord forced Reserve to stop dumping pollutants into Lake Superior.   This story is made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund (https://www.legacy.mn.gov/arts-cultural-heritage-fund) and the citizens of Minnesota.

Ricardo Levins Moarles – Artist, community organizer, and co-founder of the Northland Poster Collective: (For thirty years, Northland Poster Collective was an activist arts organization and business devoted to using art in support of organizing, education and movement building). Discussion includes growing up in Puerto Rico, radical politics, and the importance of the arts and the artist in modern society.   This story is made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund (https://www.legacy.mn.gov/arts-cultural-heritage-fund) and the citizens of Minnesota.