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Long before the infamous Nigerian prince e-mail scam, there was the “Spanish prisoner” mail scam. Usually, the scam would consist of a letter from someone claiming to be a prisoner in Madrid. The letter would say a large sum of money was available for helping the prisoner. In 1906, The Fargo Forum and Daily Republican reported that a man in Grand Forks received one of these scams – and he almost gave in.

Tuesday, April 12, 2022 - Thievery, forgery, murder. All in a day’s work for used booksellers, right? Maybe not all booksellers. Gary Goodman is the author of The Last Bookseller: A Life in the Rare Book Trade, a book punctuated with book obsessives, questionable decisions, and even death-defying treks for books.

Monday, April 11, 2022 - We meet the newest member of the Prairie Public family. Main Street welcomes Alicia Hegland-Thorpe as co-host of Main Street. ~~~ Horticulturist Ron Smith has lawn and garden advice. ~~~ Sarah Vogel shares an essay arguing Jay Gatsby is North Dakota’s most famous son.

Friday, May 13, 2022 - Violinist Gaelynn Lea of Duluth won NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest in 2016, and more recently she was tapped to compose the music for a new production of Macbeth on Broadway starring Daniel Craig. ~~~ Bismarck has a big celebration this weekend. It’s the town’s sesquicentennial, or 150th birthday. We take the occasion to share a conversation between special contributor Brandi Malarkey and Dr. Marilyn Snyder, president of the Bismarck Historical Society. They discuss an effort to gather major oral histories plus a project to transcribe police records that go all the way back to the early 1900s. ~~~ Matt Olien has this week’s movie review: “Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.”

The Dakota Zoo got its start on the farm of Marc and Betty Christianson, which was located on the northern edge of Bismarck. What started as a boarding kennel for dogs gradually expanded to include a variety of domestic animals. People in the neighborhood regarded the farm as a safe haven for animals, so they brought stray and injured animals to the farm knowing they would be cared for.

On May 8th 1873, more than a decade before North Dakota became a state, Episcopal clergyman Charles Swift baptized the infant son of Lieutenant and Mrs. Humbert at Camp Hancock in what was reported to be the first Protestant service held in Bismarck.

Get introduced to Davey Bee and to his son John David and the vast knowledge and experience that they possess about recorded popular music.

Monday, May 16, 2022 - Science writer Mary Roach has adapted her book “Packing for Mars” for a middle school audience. How did NASA engineers make a toilet for zero gravity? How do you deal with food that won’t stay on silverware or waste that clings to your derriere? We’ll find out! ~~~ Chuck Lura shares a Natural North Dakota essay about migrating birds. ~~~ State tourism director Sara Otte Coleman visits with host John Harris in an excerpt from the Prairie Pulse television show. ~~~ Tomorrow is Syttende Mai, the 17th of May, Norwegian Constitution Day. It’s another popular day for lefse, a traditional Norwegian food. In Sunday’s Great American Folk Show Tom Brosseau visited with lefse-making teacher Evelyn Hensud, and in case you missed it, we thought it was deserving of an encore.

The 1930s were chaotic for North Dakota politics. In one seven-month period, four men served as governor. Similarly, five men served as state tax commissioner over a few months in 1938 and 1939. The tax commissioner oversees state tax collections.

The populist Nonpartisan League ushered in a new era to North Dakota’s state government a century ago. The League’s legacy includes the state-owned Bank of North Dakota and the State Mill and Elevator. But the League also pushed a raft of changes for the state constitution, including a law for recalling elected officials.