The Roadhouse

We are in the middle of peak fall color season along the North Shore.  Have you ever wondered why the leaves change colors?  To answer that question, we invited Eric Singsaas, director of the Wood and Bioeconomy Initiative at the Natural Resources Research Institute in Duluth, to join us on The Roadhouse.  

Canadian company Heliene has recently opened a new solar panel manufacturing facility in Mountain Iron, Minn. Scott McLorie is the vice president of business development for Heliene, and he joined The Roadhouse to tell us more about the new solar panel factory.

Witchita, Kansas-based group Carrie Nation and the Speakeasy recently made a trip to Grand Marais, and while here, they stopped by The Roadhouse.  They performed their unique blend of bluegrass, ska, punk, and Dixieland that they call "Brass 'n' Grass."  The group consists of Dal Bulkley (upright bass), Bryce Abood (drums), Jarrod Starling (vocals & guitar), Josue Estrada (trumpet), and Tyler Grubb (trombone and mandolin).  You can find out more about them here.

The Institute on the Environment is a project of the University of Minnesota, and this fall they established a presence on the University's Duluth campus.  Dr. Julie Etterson, a UMD science and engineering professor, was on The Roadhouse to tell us more about the new hub and what it means for the region.

Friday, Sept. 28 was National Good Neighbor Day.  Jay Walljasper, an author, speaker, and Minneapolis-based authority on vital communities, joined The Roadhouse on that day to fill us in on the day, and how we can be better neighbors. 

Before this year's unplugged at North House Folk School, performers Kevin Kling, Simone Perrin, Dan Chouinard, and Bradley Greenwald stopped by The Roadhouse.  They chatted with hosts Ann and Dave and even played a song for us.

Grant Merritt, author of  "Iron and Water: My Life Protecting Minnesota's Environment" was recently in Grand Marais and gave a presentation at the library about his book.  Grant is a long-time Minnesota environmentalist and a major player as head of the Pollution Control Agency in the Reserve Mining dumping case in the 1970s.  

He joined Dave on The Roadhouse to talk about that case and more from his lifetime of fighting pollution in Minnesota.

The 28th Ig Nobel Prize ceremony took place on September 13 at  Harvard University. The Ig Nobel Prizes honor scientific achievements that make people laugh, and then think. You can find out more about the Ig Nobel Prizes and a list of this year's winners here.

Marc Abrahams, the editor of the Annals of Improbable Research, joined Julie to talk about this year's winners.

Regular Roadhouse guest Jim McGowan was one the performers at the 2018 Radiowaves Music Festival.  Before his performance there, he stopped by The Roadhouse to chat and play a few tunes.

This weekend North House Folk School hosts Unplugged. Singer Prudence Johnson will be one of the performers there Saturday night, and she stopped by The Roadhouse to give us a preview of what we can expect from her performance.  You can also learn more about her work here.