As a child in Georgia, Reatha Clark King picked cotton for $6 a day to help her family make ends meet. Then, buoyed on the hopes and expectations of her family and church, she blazed a trail from a one-room schoolhouse in the segregated South to college.   She pushed past gender and racial barriers as a Black woman to become a research chemist in the 1960s, contributing to NASA’s moon landing. She went on to become a college dean, university president and a philanthropist and a vice president of a major corporation.   Earlier this week, she was honored at the Humphre ..read more

One in three Americans has cheated on a partner, according to a YouGov survey from 2022. Cheating can be devastating on a personal level and tumultuous for the relationship. But many couples figure out a way to work through it. Many people are able to move on and move forward. MPR News host Angela Davis and her guests talked about infidelity: Why it happens and how to deal with it — whether you’re the person who has been cheated on, or the person who has done the cheating. Guests:   LaReesa Hooper is a therapist and founder of Therapeace Counseling in St. Paul. She is a lice ..read more

Minnesota communities have spent the last few years debating the role of police in schools. In 2020 after the murder of George Floyd, the Minneapolis school board voted to end its contract with police and removed school resource officers, or SROs, from Minneapolis Public Schools. Many other districts across the country also phased out SROs, including St. Paul. Then last year, the state Legislature passed a law that limited how officers could physically restrain students. Some law enforcement agencies raised concerns that the new restrictions left them open to lawsuits and pulled their ..read more

About 40 percent of workers over age 40 say they’ve experienced ageism at work, according to a recent AARP survey. That means sometimes getting passed up on opportunities for promotions. Or not getting hired at all. But unemployment is so low, many hiring managers are having a hard time finding workers. And that’s good news for older workers facing bias and stigma in the hiring process. MPR News guest host Chris Farrell and his guests talked about what ageism looks like in 2024, and how to reframe our ideas about aging and older workers. Guests:   Kate Schaefers, Ph.D., is direc ..read more

New information is still surfacing surrounding Wednesday’s armed standoff in Minnetonka that injured two Hennepin County Sheriff’s deputies. Gun violence is an American epidemic, killing tens of thousands of people across the country each year in their homes, churches, schools and malls. There’s a lot we don’t know about what motivates a person to kill a stranger, or even someone they love. MPR News host Angela Davis talked to the researchers studying why gun violence happens, hoping to prevent it before it starts. They’re based right here in Minnesota. Guests:  James Densley, Ph.D ..read more

As parents, we teach our children how to move through the world. But as our children grow older, we learn from them, too. That relationship can grow into a real partnership and friendship — and a positive support system pushing each other to be better and do better. Our next Power Pair is a good example of that transition: Mother-daughter duo Rose McGee and Roslyn Harmon. It’s part of our new series on the show about prominent Minnesotans you may know about individually, but who also have a close relationship. Guests: Rose McGee is President and Founder of the Sweet Potato Comfort Pie org ..read more

Many people are just one medical emergency away from a financial crisis.  A hundred million Americans live with medical debt, or about 41 percent of adults, according to a survey by Kaiser Family Foundation. To pay off medical bills, many people have taken on other debt, including credit cards, personal bank loans or loans from family and friends. Medical debt creates stress and prevents people from saving for housing, cars and retirement. It makes people less likely to seek the medical care they need and contributes to bankruptcy. About two percent of Minnesota households have medical ..read more

On Feb. 27, a group of Minnesotans gathered in Woodbury to share how political division has affected their communities and personal lives.    The group was a mix of conservatives, liberals and independents with a common purpose: to learn how to communicate without letting their political views conflict with important relationships. This in-person discussion was the first in a series from Talking Sense, MPR News’ online and in-person platform to help Minnesotans have hard conversations, better. Bill Doherty, co-founder of Braver Angels, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that works to ..read more

Here’s a striking piece of information: Social isolation is as deadly as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. Loneliness is an epidemic in the United States. We’re approaching one year since the U.S. Surgeon General released a groundbreaking report on loneliness and isolation. Two researchers joined MPR News host Angela Davis to help us understand why so many of us feel lonely, and why our mental health is so closely tied to serious physical health impacts. They’ll also talk about practical strategies to help us feel better. Because lots of us feel this way — at least half of us have measura ..read more

Cherise Ayers was president of the student council at Central High School in St. Paul in the late 1990s. Two years ago, the St. Paul native returned to Central in a very different leadership role: as principal. Central is the oldest high school in Minnesota, founded in 1866. Known for strong academics, it was one of the first schools in the state to offer an international baccalaureate diploma program. Its graduates, including Ayers’ classmate St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, have gone on to be prominent leaders in business, education, sports and politics.   MPR News host Angela Davis tal ..read more