When many people think of autism, they think of children. But as awareness about autism grows, more adults are also being diagnosed with autism.   About two percent of adults are on the autism spectrum, which includes a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with sensory sensitivities, social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication.  MPR News host Angela Davis hosts part two of an April Autism Awareness Month conversation about what it’s like to be an...

We’re approaching the two-year anniversary of the end of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that guaranteed the right to an abortion for half a century. The fall of Roe has heightened the intensity of a battle over reproductive rights across the country. And here in Minnesota, it’s inspiring activists to continue to pursue an Equal Rights Amendment that would enshrine gender protection and reproductive justice into the state Constitution. MPR News host Angela Davis talked...

What happens when a tightwad marries a big spender? Disagreement over money and how to spend it is a source of conflict in many close relationships and marriages. The families we grow up in shape our behavior around money. That can lead to trouble if you start sharing your life with someone who has a very different approach to spending and saving. Coming up at 9 a.m. on Monday, MPR News host Angela Davis talks with a researcher and a financial therapist about why so many couples fight...

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...

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....

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...

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...

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...

Imagine being overwhelmed by the bright lights and bustle of a supermarket, to the point where it caused you pain and you couldn’t go shopping. Imagine being so shaken up by a detour sign on your regular route to work that you had to pull over to fight against a panic attack. Or not recognizing when someone was sarcastic with you or flirting with you. These can be common experiences for people diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

Teaching is no easy job — over the past couple of years, it’s become even more challenging.   The pandemic flipped education on its head, making educators roll with the punches and adapt to remote learning, hybrid teaching styles and constantly changing circumstances. We know the classroom has changed, but what about those behind the desk?   A new generation of teachers is now steering the ship, many of whom got their certifications during the pandemic. Two teachers at the beginning of...

Last month, a shootout in Burnsville took the lives of three first responders. It all stemmed from a 911 call reporting domestic abuse. Suspect Shannon Gooden, who later died by suicide, had previously been accused of intimate partner violence by at least three different women. Three guests in the domestic violence space joined MPR News guest host Catharine Richert — not to talk about Gooden’s case specifically — but how it highlights the complexities of domestic violence cases. Richert...

What’s old always becomes new again — even with workout routines. The hot workout class of the moment isn’t brand-new. It’s Pilates, a core-focused routine first popularized almost a century ago. Pilates, yoga, barre and other “lower-impact” exercise classes are gaining popularity, as Americans turn away from previously-popular “higher-impact” classes, such as CrossFit. But lower-impact doesn’t necessarily mean “easy.” Three guests joined MPR News host Angela Davis to talk about the...

Updated: 4 p.m. Jamie Gilchrist and Jessica Liimatainen did almost everything together growing up together as identical twins in Barnum. They went to the same schools and took the same classes. They both started hockey together when they were three years old and both played for their high school team. “Our parents told us that we had our own language growing up,” Gilchrist said. “They would come into the room and we’d be talking like gibberish and they had no idea what we were saying, but...

Back in the 1990s, Minnesota was gaining population from other places in the U.S. But in recent years, that trend reversed, and now more people leave Minnesota for other states each year than move here. The net loss is a concern to state officials who want to fill jobs. So, this month, the state’s tourism office Explore Minnesota launched a first-ever advertising campaign encouraging people in other parts of the country to resettle in Minnesota.   Coming up at 9 a.m. on Monday, MPR News...

Ethnic studies will roll out to Minnesota K-12 classrooms in 2026. The content area was added to the state social studies standards this winter, joining history, geography, economics and government as major themes. The Minnesota Department of Education is still working on a final framework to guide curriculum. But some districts aren’t waiting. In 2022, both St. Paul and Minneapolis public schools added ethnic studies as a high school class required for graduation. Other districts have had...

Chaplains often show up on the worst days of people’s lives. They arrive in a hospital room after a distressing diagnosis. They accompany police to help inform someone of a loved one’s death. One in four Americans have been visited by a chaplain, usually at a hospital or hospice, though chaplains also work in prisons, on college campuses and with the military and police and fire departments. But the role of spiritual caregiver is evolving as society becomes both less religious and more...

Karen and Hmong parents in Minnesota say they are increasingly alarmed by the substance abuse they see in their communities’ youth. Opioids are the largest problem, specifically the the deadly drug fentanyl. MPR News partnered with Sahan Journal to talk about this painful topic, at a special North Star Journey Live event in mid-November, hosted at the Washington Technology Magnet School in St. Paul. There, health leaders, community members and youth advocates explored the complex interplay...

Maybe this sounds familiar to you: You’re sitting at home after a particularly bad day, trying to watch an episode of True Detective. You open up the Amazon app on your phone. Before you know it, you’ve racked up over $100. And you’re not really sure on what. Many of us do some form of this — whether it’s going out with our friends or spending that money at Target. It’s called emotional spending. Retail therapy. And it often makes us feel good, until it doesn’t. Two financial experts...

James Walsh has been a reporter in the Twin Cities for decades. A trip to city hall isn’t out of the ordinary. But Walsh recently started using a wheelchair. And that’s changed his experience of getting where he needs to go. On a recent January day, Walsh found himself trapped inside St. Paul City Hall for over an hour — even though City Hall is technically considered “accessible” under the Americans with Disabilities Act. MPR News host Angela Davis talks with Walsh about his experience....