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From the editors at The Conversation, an independent news organization based in Boston that publishes articles written by academic experts and edited by a team of journalists.

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Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura Responds to Republican-Proposed Bill Repealing Ethnic Studies in Minnesota Schools

Today, the Minnesota House of Representatives Education Policy Committee will hear legislation authored by Ron Kresha (R - Little Falls) repealing Minnesota’s ethnic studies program …

The Minnesota Toy Library is for parents, grandparents, educators, occupational therapists, and mostly, for kids, to come and choose toys that are fun and that help them learn. MTL Executive Director Rebecca Nutter said, “We can’t just keep consuming things. We need to do better.” (Photo submitted)

Minnesota Toy Library opens third metro location

The Minnesota Toy Library (MTL) is a toy lending program for families with children ages birth to five years. Members can check-out up to five toys at a time, and take them home for 2-4 weeks. And …

Mark Rivard, at right, holds up the first skateboard art he drew with a sharpie. Next to him, his mom, Lorelli Byrne, holds up an iconic piece he did on another skateboard. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)

Disrupting education with skateboards, art, and experiential learning

By Eric Ortiz Mark Rivard is not your typical educator. He never went to college. He was not that good a student in high school. And he calls himself “uneducated.” But he has found a …

Hear from Mark Rivard, creator of Do Rad Things, at 'Let's Connect' event in February

Every artist has an interesting origin story. But nothing compares with how Mark Rivard got started. Rivard began illustrating skateboards with Sharpie markers in the early 2000s. That led to an …

Begin planning kids' summer recreation now

Due in part to high demand, parents who want to place their kids in summer rec programs or summer camps should being vetting such programs and camps well in advance of summer. The following are a …

Neurons that fire together sometimes wire together.

How does your brain create new memories? Neuroscientists discover ‘rules’ for how neurons encode new information

As you experience or encounter new things, your brain must encode this information via the right neural networks at the right time.

At 37th and Hiawatha, you can see the iStorage self-storage in the former Dayton's warehouse, the General Mills grain elevators on the far east, and the Atkinson ADM Mill on the south side of the intersection. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)

Atkinson ADM Mill still operating

The Atkinson ADM Mill at 3745 Hiawatha Ave. is still operating, and has recently been upgraded to make it more efficient. It is the last industrial flour mill still operating in Minneapolis. The mill …

Arson fires at Stevens House

The Minneapolis Park and RecreaCon Board Park Police Department is asking for the public’s help in solving three recent arson fires at the Stevens House, located at 4901 South Minnehaha Park …

Fire Motor Operator Mary Mohn, Firefighter Bonnie Bleskachek, Firefighter Vicki Hoff and Captain Jean Kidd, who from 1992-1994 formed the city’s first all-women crew, in front of their rig, Engine 5.

MFD commemorates 30th anniversary of first all-women fire crew

Current and former fire department staff, city officials, friends and family joined together at Minneapolis Fire Station 5 (2700 Bloomington Ave.) on Sept. 23, 2022, to honor the four members of the …

Gary Schatzlein stands in Schatzlein’s Saddle Shop at 413 W Lake St., holding a saddle that needs to be repaired. “It has been hard to compete with online shopping,” Gary Schatzlein said. “Brands have made it harder for us to buy from them.” The horse behind him is one customers used to sit on and see if their apparel fit right. Now, the horse displays a “Do Not Touch” sign

WHERE PAST AND PRESENT MEET

Before Lake Street was a popular hub of Minneapolis, it was a rural area where farming was prevalent. There were rarely any streetcars or buses that rode up and down the street, but rather, horses …

Repairs coming to historic park buildings

The Ard Godfrey House, John H. Stevens House, and Longfellow House are scheduled for repairs this fall as part of ongoing efforts to rehabilitate historic structures located in Minneapolis parks. …

Sacred hares, banished winter witches and pagan worship – the roots of Easter Bunny traditions are ancient

The Conversation explores the origins of the long and interesting journey the Easter Bunny has taken from European prehistory to today.

FIFA's global soccer tournament to take America by storm this summer

(BPT) - Everyone's heard the FIFA World Cup 26™ is coming to Canada, Mexico and the United States in 2026, but this summer, sports fans in 11 cities across the United States will be able to …

What state seals say about America and what they don't

Spokeo examined State Symbols USA and other resources to explore why state seals are significant and how they help us understand the U.S.

The flourishing Black business district in Detroit, Mich., photographed in 1942.

The story of the Great Migration often overlooks Black businesses that built Detroit

Detroit’s Black population grew sixfold from 1910 to 1920, and many businesses that sprouted to welcome the newcomers flourished.

Best March Madness Cinderella stories of all time

BangTheBook highlights some of the Cinderella basketball teams that have gone on unexpected runs, beat big schools during March Madness, and made history.

The tech you need to perfect your March brackets — and more

(BPT) - Are you geared up for the mayhem and excitement March basketball games bring? Whether you're planning to host epic watch parties at home, manage your office pool or passionately cheer on your …

The Sun's distance from Earth allows it to be habitable for life.

Evolving intelligent life took billions of years − but it may not have been as unlikely as many scientists predicted

Humans evolved late in Earth history. While this timing inspired the conclusion that humanlike life is a cosmic improbability, a new study pushes back.

School boycott picketers march across the Brooklyn Bridge to the Board of Education in 1964.

Fighting school segregation didn’t take place just in the South

In the 1950s, Harlem mother Mae Mallory fought a school system that she saw as ‘just as Jim Crow’ as the one she had attended in the South.

Abraham Lincoln's first inauguration on March 4, 1861.

A brief history of presidential inaugural speeches, from George Washington to today

Inaugural addresses that newly minted presidents have given over the past 250 years have aimed to do several key things, including unify the country and establish the speaker’s qualifications for the job.

President George Washington, left, and his Cabinet: Henry Knox, secretary of war; Alexander Hamilton, secretary of the Treasury; Thomas Jefferson, secretary of state; and Edmund Randolph, attorney general.

When presidents would send handwritten lists of their nominees to the Senate, things were a lot different

The US now faces the likelihood of a bruising and raucous set of confirmation hearings − a clear break from the cooperative system the founders established.

The Aochi family in the Rohwer, Arkansas, detention camp. Photo courtesy of June Aochi Berk

Righting a wrong, name by name − the Irei monument honors Japanese Americans imprisoned by the US government during World War II

The US government locked up nearly 126,000 Japanese Americans from 1942 to 1945, but never kept comprehensive records of all the people subjected to this unjustified incarceration.

An avid traveler, Pearl Young – waving at the top of the stairs – traveled to Hawaii on a UND alumni trip in 1960.

Pearl Young, the first woman to work in a technical role at NASA, overcame barriers and ‘raised hell’ − her legacy continues today

Many of her male colleagues believed Pearl Young had an attitude problem based on her efforts to advocate for herself and her team.

Excavating the new trackway site, with footprints from hominins, birds and other animals visible in foreground. Neil Roach

Fossilized footprints reveal 2 extinct hominin species living side by side 1.5 million years ago

Ancient fossil footprints are the first evidence of two different hominin species − Homo erectus and Paranthropus boisei − living in the same place at the same time.

The election is over − but what is a ‘lame duck’ anyway?

The lame-duck period in the US is longer than in other Western democracies, which tend to make the transition over a period of just days.