Aug. 28 is the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech. But many other important figures spoke that day as well. Dr. Catherine Squires, professor of commmunications studies at the University of Minnesota, joined Buck recently to talk about the march, including people and messages from the event that are often overlooked.

In 1979, a mysterious incident involving a bright light and a Warren patrol car left unexplained damage to the car, a deputy (Val Johnson) with strange injuries but no memory of the event, and no plausible explanation. Marshall County Historical Society vice president Mike Johnson spoke with Buck Aug. 16 about the incident. Thirty-four years later, the car is still the most popular exhibit at the historical society's museum in Warren.

Prof. Joe Redden of the U of MN Carlson School of Management joined Buck Aug. 16 to talk about a study he co-authored showing that tidy environments may be good for encouraging some behaviors, but chaotic ones may best support others, including enhanced creativity. His research could have implications for work, marketing, and lots more.

Dick Swanson spoke recently with Dr. Yi-Yuan Tang, director of Texas Tech's Neuroimaging Institute, about new research showing that practicing a type of mindfulness meditation known as Integrative Body-Mind Training (IBMT) can help smokers  cut their habit way down. Dr. Tang describes the study and the meditation technique in detail. You can learn more here.

Natalie Warren, one of the first two women to paddle from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay, has a new venture, Wild River Academy, to connect young people with the land, the water, and themselves, through canoeing. Dick Swanson chatted with her Aug. 9 about that, and about her upcoming three-month canoe journey down the Mississippi from the headwaters to New Orleans.

Ann Possis spoke Aug. 9 with Evan Chinoy, a grad student at the U of Colorado-Boulder who does most of his work in the Sleep & Chronobiology Lab. He conducted a study recently showing that a week out camping, away from all artificial light, adjusts a person's internal clock and helps them get up earlier.

Nashville songwriter Jerry Vandiver joined Dick Swanson & Ann Possis in Studio A Aug. 9 to chat about his work and share his delightful music. You can see a video of Jerry performing "Me & Molly," his song about a canoe dog, here.

Dick Swanson & Ann Possis welcomed Roxann Berglund (keyboard, vocals) and Briand Morrison (guitar) to Studio A recently to learn about their new collaboration and hear some great music.

Naya Arbiter, vice president of the Amity Foundation, a nonprofit that provides drug treatment services, and Sarah Gordon, HIV counseling coordinator with the MN Dept. of Health, joined Dick Swanson Aug. 2 to discuss the possibility that approaching drug use as a public health issue rather than a crime would save money and lives. The conversation was prompted by a recent documentary film. "Breaking the Taboo." You can watch the 52-minute film at hulu.com. See a brief trailer here.

Ann Possis chatted Aug. 2 with Joey Reid, grad student at the U of M's Institute on the Environment, about the 'environmental hackathon' he conducted recently, bringing students of diverse backgrounds together to try to solve big environmental problems through creative play and thinking. You may want to try the marshmallow challenge at home!