Heidi Holtan

New tenants, art spaces and community programs highlight the Grand Rapids building’s revival at the First Friday Art Walk on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025.

From hearing Woody Guthrie on the air in 1976 to leading KAXE through crises, Maggie Montgomery reflects on the station’s resilience and the urgent fight to keep community radio alive after federal funding cuts.

University of Minnesota rising senior Dani Fraher was an intern at KAXE in the summer of 2025 through Report for Minnesota and the Minnesota Journalism Center.

Retired rural mail carriers Julie Crabb and John Latimer reflect on how KAXE kept them company on their routes and why supporting local public radio matters now more than ever.

John Taylor Ward is the artistic director of the festival in the Brainerd area. Raised in Appalachia, Ward is also a classical singer and folk music researcher/practitioner.

Aaron Brown has been a KAXE voice for over 20 years and is now a columnist at the "Minnesota Star Tribune." He shares why public media matters and how KAXE informed his career.

Klobuchar also joined KAXE to talk about the fight to protect federal funding for public media, emphasizing the critical role community radio and TV play in rural places.

In this episode of Ham Radio: Cooking With Amy Thielen we are all about the summer kitchen.Guests include Alena Levina, one of the contributors of the new cookbook Kitchens of Hope: Immigrants Share Stories of Resilience and Recipes from Home. Alena gives us her family recipe from Belarus: Holodnik, or Summer Beet Soup. It's our Community Recipe: kaxe.org/community-recipe-holodnik-summer-beet-soup-ham-radio-amy-thielen.We're also thrilled to bring you a conversation with newly awarded St. Paul chef Karyn Tomlinson. She just won the James Beard award for Best Chef of the Midwest. Her restaurant is Myriel in St. Paul, and she features local produce from farmers in her hometown of Dassel.So many texts and calls came rolling in this week: from Mikki's gazpacho, Iris' ratatouille, Steve's watermelon Coke and carving a watermelon in the shape of a beautiful basket, we loved every single second of it. Hope you enjoyed the first season of Ham Radio: Cooking With Amy Thielen. Tell others about us, pass the word and send us your memories and recipes! Ham Radio features original licensed music — "You Know How I Like It" by Jeremy Messersmith.Made possible by the Minnesota Arts & Culture Heritage Fund. Support KAXE by becoming a member today: https://donate.nprstations.org/kaxe/donate

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bryan Gruley’s new mystery, "Bitterfrost," tells the story of a small northern Michigan hockey town filled with secrets and intrigue.

Has cooking changed? Do we expect more out of recipes these days? That's our topic this week on KAXE's Ham Radio: Cooking with Amy Thielen. Amy talks with Natasha Pickowicz, author of More Than Cake. She weaves 100 recipes with delightful and surprising recipes and stories to celebrate how baking can connect. We'll also talk about the cookbook she is currently working on about Hot Pot, and find out if savory recipes are different than sweet.We also get a chance to meet Nick Torres. Nick is a food photographer and stylist who worked on Amy's first cookbook The New Midwestern Table. Nick shares a recipe from home in Ohio involving a man named Chewy and some giant coolers. This week's community recipe is Chewy's Beer Cooler Chicken.And we talk about whether and how to eat Minnesota fresh fish — including the giants of Lake Country, muskies.Long before restrictions catch-and-keep size restrictions, Minnesotans did in fact eat muskellunge, and here’s the evidence: a recipe for a Ten-Pound Baked Muskellunge, from one of Amy's favorite cookbooks, Food on the Frontier: Minnesota Cooking from 1850 to 1900 by Marjorie Kreidberg.Ham Radio Features original licensed music — "You Know How I Like It" by Jeremy Messersmith.Made possible by the Minnesota Arts & Culture Heritage Fund. Support KAXE by becoming a member today: https://donate.nprstations.org/kaxe/donate