It’s a winter night when we first meet Tom Rourke. He’s penning love letters, preening in mirrors, pushing dope, partaking of booze, singing and flirting and fighting. It's just another night in Butte, Montana, for the feckless young Irishman. And no one writes the Irish quite like Kevin Barry.

Barry’s new novel, “The Heart in Winter,” is his first set in America. But true to form, it features the Irish. That’s because, in the 1890s, Irish immigrants by the thousands descended upon the tiny frontier town of Butte to work the copper mines — a historical nugget Barry learned in 1999.

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  'The mind of Irish author' Kevin Barry lives in a hilariously malevolent world
  
  
  

As he told host Kerri Miller, at the time, he thought to himself: “My God, this is a Western but it's a Western with County Cork accents. I’m in. This is my book.”

He immediately hopped on a plane to Montana, where he was welcomed warmly. Butte remains proud of its Irish heritage. And he went back to Ireland and wrote something like 100,000 words.

But, he said, “I knew even as I was writing it, it was all dead on the page. It just wasn't coming to life for me, because I didn't have the characters yet. I didn’t have the people of the novel yet, and those took their sweet time. It took another 22 years and six books later before my characters finally appeared to me.”

What finally appeared on the page was a savagely funny and romantic tale of two young lovers on the run from a cuckolded husband’s goons.

On this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas, Barry joins Miller to talk about the entwined histories of America and Ireland and how he deftly uses comedy to combat a sense of fatalism. He also shares his experience narrating his own audiobooks, which he finds crucial for refining his stories.

Guest:

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• Kevin Barry is the author of many books, including “Night Boat to Tangier” and “Beatlebone.” His new novel is “The Heart in Winter.”

  
  
  

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Louise Erdrich is, without a doubt, a beloved writer. The Minnesota Native American author has won nearly every literary award out there — including a Pulitzer for “The Night Watchman” and a National Book Award for “The Round House” — and her stories captivate, haunt and delight millions of devoted readers.

She can accept the praise. But the title beloved? She’s not into it.

That’s just one of the many stories that unspooled over the course of Erdrich’s conversation Tuesday night on stage with MPR News host Kerri Miller for Talking Volumes.

In front of a sold-out crowd, Erdrich talked about how growing up in the Red River Valley — where her new novel, “The Mighty Red,” is set — shaped her, why writing villains is a particular kind of torture and how the relatable and generous relationship between Crystal and Kismet in “The Mighty Red” was influenced by her own experience raising four daughters.

And oh yes. Why she squirms at “beloved.”

It’s a funny, surprising, candid and warm conversation, the third in the 2024 Talking Volumes season. Powwow singer Joe Rainey was the musical guest.

There’s one Talking Volumes event left: Another Minnesota author, Kate DiCamillo, will join Miller on Oct. 29 for the finale of the 25th anniversary season. Tickets are available here.

Novelist Alice Hoffman’s new middle grade book, “When We Flew Away,” imagines Anne Frank’s life before her family was forced into hiding. She joined MPR News host Kerri Miller on stage for Talking Volumes to talk about the emotional arc of re-creating Frank’s too-short life.

Immigration is a hot topic this election year, and many Minnesota communities are asking questions about how to face the challenges and opportunities immigrants bring.

That’s why MPR News host Kerri Miller traveled to Worthington for the final Rural Voice town hall of the 2024 season. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, Nobles County, where Worthington is located, is Minnesota’s most rapidly diversifying county. In 2020, the county’s population was 43 percent people of color, up from two-thirds white in 2010.

Much of that diversity comes from immigrants who move to southwest Minnesota for job opportunities. And while there have been setbacks, Worthington has worked hard to incorporate the new residents into their community.

What have Worthington residents learned? How can other rural communities ensure everyone thrives as immigrants put down roots?

That was the topic of lively discussion at the Rural Voice town hall, held at Forbidden Barrel Brewing Company on Thursday night. Leaders from Worthington’s various immigrant communities shared what’s worked — and what hasn’t. And longtime Worthington residents discussed how the community has made conscious efforts to be welcoming and inclusive — while admitting they still have work to do.

If you missed any of the other Rural Voice discussions, you can find them all on the MPR News website. The season kicked off at the State Fair, where rural community leaders pondered the challenges and rewards of living in rural Minnesota. Miller then traveled to Red Wing to talk about how to grow civic-minded communities and to Detroit Lakes to discuss conservation-driven agriculture. The season finished in Worthington.

It was a celebration at St. Paul’s Fitzgerald Theater Tuesday night, as the 25th season of Talking Volumes launched with Haitian-born writer Edwidge Danticat.

She joined host Kerri Miller on stage to talk about the vulnerability inherent in her new book of essays, “We’re Alone.” They also talked about the challenges facing the Haitian-American community at this moment and how Danticat’s own family — who moved to American when she was 12 — faced the immigrant journey.

Speaking of the violent threats facing the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio, Danticat said: “It reminds me of a collective fragility, right? One of the things that is very precarious for immigrants, especially new arrived immigrants, is this idea that we don’t always get to decide where we call home. … And it can go generations, where you think, ‘Oh I thought I was home, but this person who has more power thinks this is not my home, and they have the mechanisms to disavow me of that notion.’”

There was plenty of laughter too, including Danticat’s surprising confession about the weirdest thing she’s brought with her on book tour, how she navigates being an author on social media and what it means to her to be a “witnessing writer.” Plus, there was evocative music from Minneapolis musician LAAMAR.

You can still get tickets online for the rest of the 25th season of Talking Volumes, which will feature Alice Hoffman, Louise Erdrich and Kate DiCamillo.

Farming is a bedrock industry in Minnesota. While the number of farms has been falling for decades, partly due to consolidation and partly due to crop shifts, Minnesota remains sixth in the nation when it comes to agriculture production.

Could rural Minnesota communities also lead the way when it comes to conservation farming?

MPR News host Kerri Miller brought that topic to Buck Mills Brewery in Detroit Lakes on Monday, Sept. 9, for a Rural Voice town hall discussion. Farmers, biologists, agriculture leaders and community members gathered to talk about what’s already being done and what potential remains.

They discussed everything from how to cultivate a mindset shift in farmers to how to incentivize regenerative practices. They also addressed how consumers around the state can play a role in helping Minnesota farms be good stewards of the land.

This is the third Rural Voice town hall of the 2024 season. Past discussions include the launch at the State Fair and a conversation held in Red Wing about building civic-minded communities.

The final town hall will be in Worthington on Thursday, Sept. 19, when Miller will host a dialogue about the interplay between rural Minnesota communities and the newest wave of immigrants who are making homes there.

William Moyers was one of the lucky ones.

Sober for decades after years of addiction to alcohol and crack cocaine, he became a model of success and redemption. He started working at the Hazelden Betty Ford, and in 2006, he published a vulnerable memoir, “Broken,” about his journey out of addiction.

But then he was prescribed pain killers after some dental work. And he found himself addicted again. Only this time, he had a public persona. People looked to him for hope. And he found opioids a much harder substance to break free from.

What happened next is captured in his new memoir, “Broken Open: What Painkillers Taught Me about Life and Recovery.” Moyers said it changed his focus from sobriety to recovery, and it caused him to rethink how addicts can get there.

This week, he joins host Kerri Miller in the studio for an conversation about what true recovery looks like. “It’s really messy,” he says. “It’s particularly messy for those of us who are public advocates for organizations like Hazelden Betty Ford who are putting their stories out there to inspire others to get well. My story has helped thousands and thousands of people, and I’m glad for it. But there’s more to it, which is why I have to tell this story.”

Guest:

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• William C. Moyers is the vice president of public affairs and community relations at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. His new memoir “Broken Open: What Painkillers Taught Me about Life and Recovery.”

  
  
  

Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts.

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How do we restore trust in civic institutions and nurture a renewed sense of possibility in a shared future?

That was the central question animating the Rural Voice community discussion MPR News host Kerri Miller led at the Sheldon Theatre in Red Wing on Thursday.

She was joined by political scientist and Minnesota native Brian Klaas, who set the stage by describing the bleak realities of the political landscape in America right now. People feel disempowered and divided. Trust in institutions is low. Democracy feels fragile.

But the citizens of Red Wing believe there is hope. They shared stories from their own community of how real problems have been solved, despite political differences.

They talked through some of the obstacles, like how to be more inclusive and how to deal with the constant drumbeat of negativity in online spaces. And Klaas gave examples of how citizen assemblies — a relatively new process to this country — can break through the partisan gridlock.

This is the second Rural Voice conversation of the 2024 season, which launched at the Minnesota State Fair. Rural Voice is a series of town halls hosted by Miller about the rewards and challenges of making a home in rural America.

The 25th season of Talking Volumes launches later this month. To celebrate, we thought we’d bring you one of our favorite conversations from last year.

The 2023 season finale of Talking Volumes brought author and columnist Margaret Renkl to Minnesota hours after the first snow carpeted our Northern landscape.

She declared it “magical” — a theme familiar to those who’ve read her New York Times columns or her newest book, “The Comfort of Crows.”

In it, the self-described backyard naturalist details what she saw in her Tennessee half-acre backyard over the course of 52 weeks. She laughs at the bumblebees and fusses over foxes. She laments the absence of birds and butterflies that used to be proliferate. But she also refuses to give in to despair.

For those of us paying attention, she told MPR News host Kerri Miller, it would be “easy for the grief to take over.”

“But what a waste it would be if we did that,” she added. “If it’s true, that we’re going to lose all the songbirds — at least the migratory ones — how much more are we obliged to notice them and treasure them while we have them?”

Don’t miss this warm and candid conversation about the gift of nature, the solace of observation and the gospel Renkl finds in her own backyard.

And get your tickets for the 25th season of Talking Volumes, which includes authors Edwidge Danticat, Alice Hoffman, Louise Erdrich and Kate DiCamillo, here.

The third season of Rural Voice kicked off at the Minnesota State Fair on Monday, Aug. 26. It was a steamy day, but it didn’t discourage rural change makers who gathered at the MPR booth for a lively and hopeful town hall with moderator Kerri Miller.

The question before them: How is rural Minnesota changing, and how are rural communities thriving in the midst of it?

Participants included Northland Foundation CEO Tony Sertich, who emphasized that rural communities no longer need “jobs, jobs, jobs” but “workers, workers, workers.” Teresa Kittredge from 100 Rural Women talked about the importance of mentorship in rural communities, especially when it comes to leadership paths for women. Ben Winchester, a rural sociologist at the University of Minnesota, discussed the implications of a “brain gain” in rural areas, instead of a “brain drain.” Senator Rob Kupec, DFL-Moorhead, stressed the desperate need for housing, a point everyone agreed on, including Kitty Mayo, editor at Lake County Press. Scott Marquardt, president of the Southwest Initiative Foundation, shared his excitement over the potential for renewable energy and innovation in rural parts of Minnesota.

Other urgent issues mentioned: the need for more robust child care in rural areas, the importance of mental health services and fresh ways to welcome newcomers.

If you are rural living, rural loving or just “rural curious,” you don’t want to miss this conversation at 9 a.m. Monday, Sept. 2. And then get involved. Miller is taking Rural Voice on the road in September. She’ll be in Red Wing on Sept. 5 to talk about how to build civic-minded communities; Detroit Lakes on Sept. 9 to discuss sustainable agriculture; and Worthington on Sept. 19 to consider how rural communities thrive when immigrants put down roots. Register online to attend.

Jo Hamya’s new novel, “The Hypocrite,” opens as the trap is being laid.

Sophia, a 20-something playwright, has invited her father, a famous and provocative British novelist, to come see her new work. As the play begins, he is shocked to realize he recognizes the set. It’s a replica of the kitchen in his vacation home near Sicily. Then the lead actor saunters onstage wearing the author’s favorite shirt and proceeds to have loud sex with a woman he just picked up at a bar. The audience roars. The author is undone.

At the same moment, Sophia is having lunch with her mother at a nearby cafe and fretting over what her father will think of the play. Her mother, the writer’s ex-wife, is both sympathetic and cavalier, weary of dealing with self-absorbed artists and yet unable to abandon her martyrdom.

Who is the hypocrite here? All of them.

Hamya’s novel is a bracing, complex and uncompromising look at the generation conflicts in our present age. She joins MPR News host Kerri Miller on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas to talk about “The Hypocrite” and so much more — including our current cancel culture, how to write a play within a novel and why she took pains to avoid writing actual sex scenes in her book.

Guest:

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• Jo Hamya is a London-based writer. “The Hypocrite” is her second novel.

  
  
  

Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts.

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