# Essential Minnesota Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952 Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952.md RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/essentialminnesota Author: The Minnesota Star Tribune Episodes: 40 ## Resource Every Friday host Melissa Townsend brings her distinct curiosity and humor to these weekly deep-dive conversations with journalists from the Minnesota Star Tribune. Together they dig into interesting and important local stories that matter to Minnesota and beyond. It’s what the Minnesota Star Tribune does best. Available Fridays at 4:30 A.M. Central. ## Machine-readable JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/essential-minnesota-7677952 Markdown: https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952.md ## Episodes - [The sextortion pandemic in Minnesota](https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952/the-sextortion-pandemic-in-minnesota) — 2026-09-18T09:30:00+00:00 - [Minnesota’s new immigrant detention facility](https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952/minnesota-s-new-immigrant-detention-facility) — 2026-09-11T09:30:00+00:00 - [How transfer athletes change high school sports](https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952/how-transfer-athletes-change-high-school-sports) — 2026-09-04T09:30:00+00:00 - [Tasting 104 New Fair Foods in One Day](https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952/tasting-104-new-fair-foods-in-one-day) — 2026-08-28T09:30:00+00:00 - [Inside the Making of the Annunciation Diaries](https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952/inside-the-making-of-the-annunciation-diaries) — 2026-08-21T09:30:00+00:00 - [The ballots are set. What do candidates need to do now to win in November?](https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952/the-ballots-are-set-what-do-candidates-need-to-do-now-to-win-in-november) — 2026-08-12T21:03:00+00:00 - [Summer Break -- we'll be back the week of August 10th](https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952/summer-break-we-ll-be-back-the-week-of-august-10th) — 2026-08-07T09:30:00+00:00 - [Summer Break -- we'll be back the week of August 10th](https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952/summer-break-we-ll-be-back-the-week-of-august-10th-2) — 2026-07-31T09:30:00+00:00 - [Minnesota elections face new challenges as federal support is pulled back](https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952/minnesota-elections-face-new-challenges-as-federal-support-is-pulled-back) — 2026-07-24T09:30:00+00:00 - [Minnesota’s Wildfires: Smoke, the Boundary Waters & Climate Change](https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952/minnesota-s-wildfires-smoke-the-boundary-waters-climate-change) — 2026-07-17T09:30:00+00:00 - [Lynx’s Cheryl Reeve Breaks One More Record](https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952/lynx-s-cheryl-reeve-breaks-one-more-record) — 2026-07-10T09:30:00+00:00 - [Happy July 4th - see you next week](https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952/happy-july-4th-see-you-next-week) — 2026-07-03T09:30:00+00:00 - [How Minnesota's new flag became a political flashpoint](https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952/how-minnesota-s-new-flag-became-a-political-flashpoint) — 2026-06-26T09:30:00+00:00 - [The investigation into the OALC church and its abusers](https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952/the-investigation-into-the-oalc-church-and-its-abusers) — 2026-06-19T09:30:00+00:00 - [Mistakes and Mysteries: Inside the manhunt for assassin Vance Boelter](https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952/mistakes-and-mysteries-inside-the-manhunt-for-assassin-vance-boelter) — 2026-06-12T09:30:00+00:00 - [Bonus: Assassin Vance Boelter Pleads Guilty](https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952/bonus-assassin-vance-boelter-pleads-guilty) — 2026-06-11T20:28:00+00:00 - [Behind the fall of the Minneapolis Chief of Police](https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952/behind-the-fall-of-the-minneapolis-chief-of-police) — 2026-06-05T09:30:00+00:00 - [We're taking a break - back next week](https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952/we-re-taking-a-break-back-next-week) — 2026-05-29T09:30:00+00:00 - [Three Republicans, one endorsement: Inside the GOP's fight for Minnesota Governor](https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952/three-republicans-one-endorsement-inside-the-gop-s-fight-for-minnesota-governor) — 2026-05-22T09:30:00+00:00 - [The debate over high school transfer athletes](https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952/the-debate-over-high-school-transfer-athletes) — 2026-05-15T09:30:00+00:00 - [How the ban on mining near the BWCAW was reversed](https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952/how-the-ban-on-mining-near-the-bwcaw-was-reversed) — 2026-05-08T09:30:00+00:00 - [Why did Bushel Boy tomatoes mysteriously disappear?](https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952/why-did-bushel-boy-tomatoes-mysteriously-disappear) — 2026-05-01T09:30:00+00:00 - [The Threats Against Minnesotans in Public Office](https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952/the-threats-against-minnesotans-in-public-office) — 2026-04-24T09:30:00+00:00 - [Stories from the critic who knew the Purple One best](https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952/stories-from-the-critic-who-knew-the-purple-one-best) — 2026-04-17T09:30:00+00:00 - [The Minnesota Legislature’s plan to tackle fraud this session - part 3](https://stenobird.com/podcast/essential-minnesota-7677952/the-minnesota-legislature-s-plan-to-tackle-fraud-this-session-part-3) — 2026-04-03T09:30:00+00:00 ## Actions Episode pages expose an explicit `request_transcript` action. 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