Minnesota Now

Minnesota Now: Dec. 11, 2025

A Somali American U.S. citizen was detained by ICE amid the agency's continued operation in the Twin Cities. We'll hear from the man who was arrested about what he experienced, plus the federal government's response to other incidents like this. Minnesota's economy is struggling on some key indicators like workforce growth. We'll talk to an economist who says immigrants have a critical role to play. Plus parents at the largest elementary school in St. Paul Public Schools are protesting overcrowding in the building. And if you're in Northern Minnesota, did you catch that mysterious flash across the night sky the other day? Our reporter set out to identify the unidentified object. Plus, a podcast looks back at the first open heart surgery in Minnesota. Our Minnesota Music Minute was “Mr. Revival” by Your Smith and our Song of the Day was “Prayer for Mim in the Color Marigold” by Liz Draper.

Podcast 'Cardiac Cowboys' tells captivating story of Minnesota's open-heart surgery pioneers

Before the 1950s, heart surgery was widely regarded as a guaranteed instant death for a patient. It just wasn’t done, no matter how badly it was needed. So it took a lot of guts for the pioneering doctors to take on the first lifesaving heart surgeries for pacemakers and heart-lung machines. A screenwriter is telling the winding story of the one of the first open heart surgeries, which took place in Minnesota, and all of the drama, scandal and millions of lives saved that went along with it. That screenwriter’s name is Jamie Napoli, and he created the new six-episode documentary podcast [https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-cardiac-cowboys-291672933/] called “Cardiac Cowboys.” Napoli joined Minnesota Now host Nina Moini to talk about the podcast.

Thank You, Stranger: St. Paul's 'snow angels' shovel for those who can't themselves

During this snowy start to winter, a group of volunteers have been busy shoveling for their neighbors. Nikita Godette is coordinating a large effort in St. Paul, leading the Facebook group “Saintly City Snow Angels.” Godette spoke to Minnesota Now producer Ellen Finn about why she thinks its important for neighbors to come together to help neighbors in the winter.

A green light shot across Minnesota's sky. An MPR News reporter saw it and sought to learn more

This past Saturday, people across northern Minnesota and Wisconsin saw a long flash of sparkling white and green light trail across the night sky. People captured it on video [https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/12/11/space-debris-falls-over-northern-minnesota-upper-penninsula] and it went viral on social media. But no one was exactly sure what it was. Maybe a meteor? A comet? Santa doing a test run with Rudolph? MPR News Duluth reporter Dan Kraker made it his mission to find out after seeing the spectacle himself. He joined Minnesota Now host Nina Moini to talk about what he learned about the so-called “space junk.”

Economist: Immigrants contribute $26 billion to Minnesota's economy

A recent report [https://mnchamber.com/2026-business-benchmarks-report] from the Minnesota Chamber Foundation found the state’s economy is slipping in national rankings. The state ranks near the bottom in terms of workforce growth and net migration — which means more people are leaving the state than moving here. Much of the growth that is happening in the state’s labor force is made up of foreign-born workers. They’ve driven 60 percent of workforce growth in recent years, according to [https://www.mnchamber.com/economic-contributions-new-americans-minnesota-february-2025] the Chamber Foundation. These numbers point to a different conclusion from the one President Donald Trump made recently in a dehumanizing tirade about Somali Minnesotans, when he said they “contribute nothing.” Concordia University Economics Professor Bruce Corrie has done a lot of thinking and writing [https://empoweringstrategies.org/latest-data-on-somali-minnesotans-2024/] about the contributions of immigrants to the state’s economy, including as a response to the President’s comments. He joined Minnesota Now host Nina Moini to talk about his analysis.