Audio Essays

Series produced by Northern Community Radio - KAXE & KBXE, Minnesota

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Radio essays recorded in the writer's own voice about topics related to Minnesota arts culture and history.

Programming is supported by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

Arts, culture and history essays by Grand Rapids poet and writer Steve Downing recorded in the writer's own voice.

Programming is supported by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.


61 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
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Aaron Brown recalls his days in the 5th grade and how the tumult of human history is baked into our human nature.

  • Added: Jun 29, 2022
  • Length: 06:01
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Summer always brings mosquitoes to northern Minnesota, but this year seems particularly bad. Our contributor Aaron Brown has developed a theory.

  • Added: Jun 17, 2022
  • Length: 04:39
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This upcoming Sunday brings Juneteenth, a remembrance of the freedom granted enslaved Black people after the Civil War. This year, the state of Min...

Bought by WTIP, RadioStPete Florida, WTIP, and WGZS


  • Added: Jun 16, 2022
  • Length: 03:55
  • Purchases: 4
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Northern Minnesota is probably best known for hockey, but summer reminds us that baseball enjoys a rich history here as well. Our contributor Aaron...

  • Added: Jun 08, 2022
  • Length: 07:47
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Memorial Day weekend marks the beginning of gardening season in Northern Minnesota. Our contributor, author Aaron Brown, is one reluctant gardener.

  • Added: May 25, 2022
  • Length: 03:27
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Aaron Brown shares his essay on comfort food and gives his views on macaroni and cheese. He leads us to the problem of food insecurity and urges u...

  • Added: Apr 06, 2022
  • Length: 03:16
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Essayist Aaron Brown shares his essay on kindness and what it means to everyone during this time of the lingering pandemic and political divisions.

  • Added: Feb 17, 2022
  • Length: 05:52
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One of the most distinctive sounds in nature is the call of the trumpeter swan. Today, essayist Aaron Brown recalls the sound and its meaning in ou...

  • Added: Jan 20, 2022
  • Length: 05:08
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Steve Downing (Guido) takes a look at the concept and history of nicknaming.

  • Added: Dec 21, 2021
  • Length: 04:58
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Steve Downing ponders what happens when ‘economic’ and ‘existential’ come to mean the same thing.

  • Added: Nov 16, 2021
  • Length: 04:48
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Steve Downing shares his thoughts on handwashing, from the history of handwashing to the present day insistence of washing your hands during the pa...

  • Added: Oct 26, 2021
  • Length: 06:35
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Steve Downing shares his thoughts on phones. It was the cell-phone that prompted these remarks today.

  • Added: Oct 08, 2021
  • Length: 05:00
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Today we talk about over-used words and phrases. Think of it as a science of language experiment.

  • Added: Jun 24, 2021
  • Length: 05:11
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When current events or circumstances change, what’s your first reaction? Embrace the change, or push back against it?

  • Added: Jun 17, 2021
  • Length: 05:35
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Writer Steve Downing shares his Essay on frogs. He compares humans and frogs in regards to climate. "Except for Antarctica, frogs live everywhere...

  • Added: May 13, 2021
  • Length: 05:20
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Writer Steve Downing shares his Essay on hope. Hope has been critical to the human species ever since we came down out of the trees a couple mill...

  • Added: Apr 22, 2021
  • Length: 05:53
Caption: Dust Mite
Writer Steve Downing shares his essay with a message of solidarity to all who suffer seasonal allergies. "Almost a quarter of us are afflicted by ...

  • Added: Apr 01, 2021
  • Length: 05:45
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In our recent Strong Women focus group we heard the stories of women in our region - women who are taking on not just work and family but the burde...

  • Added: Mar 30, 2021
  • Length: 05:20
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Steve Downing pays tribute to poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti who passed away on February 22, 2021 at the age of 101.

  • Added: Mar 04, 2021
  • Length: 07:36
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Writer and avid reader Steve Downing shares how he copes with COVID by writing a running dialog using notes he keeps from the crime fiction novels ...

  • Added: Feb 04, 2021
  • Length: 05:15