Many great things have come out of Minnesota, and the fine radio documentary programs developed by American Radio Works fall squarely into that category, in no small part due to their fine investigative journalism and curiosity about the world. Their latest documentary explores the experience of women who came to work in the iron mines of northern Minnesota. The documentary is divided into three...

Under rules enacted in 1995, members of Congress are effectively banned from accepting any gift worth more than $50, though as this latest investigative radio series from the American RadioWorks team demonstrates, it would appear that members of the House or Senate are still taking many trips at no cost. Working in tandem with a group of graduate students at Northwestern University's Medill School...

For those who experienced federally-mandated school desegregation in the 1970s and 1980s, it was something many of them will never forget. American RadioWorks recently took on this very compelling era in American history by sending Kate Ellis and Catherine Winter to Louisville and Charlotte to talk with people about their experiences with school desegregation. They returned with many hours of...

As talk about reinvesting in America's infrastructure continues to grow, some people are looking back to the public works projects of the New Deal as a model for thinking about how what a new "New Deal" might look like. American Radio Works has done a fine job of providing some perspective on this question in one of their recent documentaries, "Bridge to Somewhere". The program looks at the...

Wants are much different than needs, though it would seem that various groups do a very good job of convincing individuals that they need all types of consumer goods. This rather insightful documentary from American RadioWorks looks into the world of buying and selling by talking with marketers, scientists, designers, and others. Produced by Chris Julin, Ochen Kaylan, and Ellen Guettler, the...

American RadioWorks, the documentary-making arm of public radio, presents an intriguing story about David Weikart, a school system administrator in the late 1950s who wanted to help poor African-American kids have more success in school. He came up with the novel idea of preschool for these children. The website for this documentary has a lot to offer for any visitors who want to listen to the...

As Latinos continue to be the fastest growing segment of the US population, more and more of them are attending college. One concern is that they are also the least likely to graduate from college. This latest documentary from the American RadioWorks group explores the challenges and opportunities faced by Latino students seeking a college degree in the 21st century. Visitors can listen to the...

As the national documentary unit of American Public Media, American Radio Works' riveting hour-long documentaries are broadcast on public radio stations throughout the United States, and across the Internet. Listeners who miss their broadcast on local stations can go to the American Radio Works website to listen to their new and archived documentaries. The documentary "Testing Teachers", which...

The American RadioWorks website offers the opportunity to "Listen" online, "Download", or "Read" the transcript of a puzzling and heartrending story about a young American soldier, Sergeant Gray, who served in the Iraq war for a year, but died a strange death once he got back from Iraq. The story details his mother's search for the cause of death of her son, and learns that Post-traumatic Stress...

The University of Missouri Digital Library has over three dozen digital collections, including those that focus on the Civil War and historical Missouri newspapers. One of the more recent additions is this archive of the American Railroad Journal. This publication was started in 1832, and it covered all aspects of the railroad industry for over 70 years. Taken as a whole, this archive offers a...