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For decades, Twin Cities PBS (TPT) has dived into the whitewater of bygone eras and emerged with insight about our shared past and values as Minnesotans. Tapping into TPT’s rich archive of historical stories and adding new ones to the fold, Minnesota Experience holds the mirror of history up to the modern moment as a force that can forever change who we are and who we want to be.
Seasons
Episode 1
Broadcast Wars Ep 1: Just the Facts
30m
Stanley E. Hubbard is an early pioneer in radio and television, and KSTP is the top local TV news for decades. That is, until a fresh-faced Dave Moore and his team launch a new kind of newscast at WCCO that ignites a fierce war for ratings which still rages today. Women and people of color fight their way into smoky, insular newsrooms, proving themselves to everyone, and paving the way for others.
Episode 2
Broadcast Wars Ep 2: Ratings Frenzy
45m
KSTP hires a consultant to find the perfect anchor, reporters of color begin to find slightly greater welcome in local newsrooms, while stations dabble with putting women at the anchor desk. Meteorologists transform weather news, videotape kills onerous film processing, while trauma and toxic stress lead some to substance abuse. By the late 70s, local TV news is slick, sexy and highly profitable.
Episode 3
Broadcast Wars Ep 3: Out of Nowhere
45m
After decades of local news irrelevance, perennial also-ran KARE11 goes from laughingstock to ratings powerhouse in just a few short years. The Hubbards pour millions into a technological breakthrough that is still in use today. Seismic shifts are felt when major anchors swap stations or get the axe. Newscasters chafe as the public and media take heightened interest in their private lives.
Episode 4
Brutal Utopias
1h 0m
A poetic exploration of architecture, utopia, and resistance to urban renewal in the 1970s and its aftermath in Minneapolis' Cedar Riverside neighborhood.
Episode 5
Paradox Episode 1: Early History of the MPD and Reform
1h 0m
Since it's beginning in the late 19th century, what the Minneapolis Police Department would look like has always been up for debate. Dr. Williams explores that early history and its implications.
Episode 6
Paradox Episode 2: Mid-century Changes and Challenges
1h 0m
With the 60s came new progressive movements all across the US. How will this affect policing in Minneapolis? Proposed reforms, a strengthening police union, and new Mayors will all have a new vision for the future.
Episode 7
Paradox Episode 3: 80s, 90s, and Their Echoes
1h 0m
The 1980s brought the controversial Chief Tony Bouza to MPLS. A look at his paradoxical views on policing and their impact. How does this history echo into the present?
Episode 8Latest episode
The Wild West Bank Sound
1h 0m
Minneapolis’ West Bank neighborhood was once an epicenter of the music world. From the early 1960s, this perennial immigrant landing strip proved an irresistible draw for artists from far and wide, an ever-evolving cauldron of creativity and cultures. This film is a funky flashback, bursting at the seams with memories, all visualized with rare and rich archival photography, footage, and ephemera.
