Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today, we are
undertaking a really complex mission. We're peeling
back the layers of a state that, on the surface,
seems like America's polite, stable heartland.
Right. Yet it's also a place that is constantly
pushing the envelope. We're talking technology,
political experiments, and some really intense
cultural shifts. It's a land of deep contradictions.
Exactly. We're diving deep into Minnesota, the
star of the North, the land of the... Well...
Many, many lakes. It truly is a study in contrasts.
And to really get a handle on the state, you
have to look at its scale versus its population.
It's huge. It's the 12th largest state by area.
So you imagine these vast forests and prairies.
But then you see it's only the 22nd most populous
state with about, what, 5 .8 million residents?
That tells you there's a massive amount of wild
open space. And when we talk about that open
space, you just have to talk about the water.
I mean, everyone knows the nickname, the land
of 10 ,000 lakes. But that's not even close,
is it? No, not at all. Our sources give the true
and honestly astonishing count. Minnesota officially
has 14 ,420 bodies of fresh water that are at
least 10 acres each. Wow. That density of water
just defines everything, the ecology, the culture,
everything. It really does. And that identity
is even baked into its official profile. The
state motto is totally unique. It's the only
one in French, right? Le 12 du Nord. Star of
the North. And it makes perfect sense geographically.
It's the northernmost state in the contiguous
U .S., touching Lake Superior in Canada. But
with all that land and all that water, what's
really fascinating is how centralized the population
is. I mean, if you want to understand Minnesota,
you have to understand the Twin Cities. Absolutely.
The urban core is basically the whole story for
most of the people there. Right. Something like
60 % of all Minnesotans, that's 3 .71 million
people, live in the Minneapolis -St. Paul metro
area. Which makes the Twin Cities the 16th largest
metro area in the entire country. All the states,
economic, political, and cultural gravity is
just concentrated right there. Leaving the rest
of this enormous state vast and, well, pretty
sparsely populated. Okay, so let's unpack this
and start right at the foundation. The name itself.
It comes from the Dakota language. And the meaning,
it captures that water identity perfectly. But
there's a little bit of ambiguity there, too.
It's a wonderful piece of linguistic geography.
the name minnesota comes from the dakota from
one of two very closely related phrases okay
it's often cited as me sota which means clear
blue water but it can also be interpreted as
minnesota which means cloudy water so clear or
cloudy that duality Sort of speaks to what the
lakes actually look like, right? Sometimes they
reflect that perfect blue sky. Other times they're
a bit churned up. Exactly. And I love the story
of how the Dakota people actually demonstrated
this for early settlers. They didn't just point
and translate. They gave a visual aid. They did.
Reportedly, they would drop a few drops of milk
into a cup of water and then call the resulting
milky, cloudy liquid misota. So not crystal clear,
but what's the translation? Sky -tinted water.
Sky -tinted water. It's beautiful. It means water
that's been given a color, a presence. And once
you know that root, knee for water, you start
seeing it everywhere in the region. It connects
the state's whole identity back to that original
language. It's undeniable. The root knee is central
to so much of the local geography. You have Minnehaha.
Curling water, a waterfall. Minnetonka, which
is big water. And of course, the big one, Minneapolis.
Which is a hybrid name. Yeah, a hybrid. It takes
the Dakotam knee and just sticks on the Greek
suffix. Minneapolis for city. So it's literally
the city of water. So the state is named for
water. The biggest city is named for water. And
even the state seal has the phrase Minnesota
Makoche on it. The land where the water reflects
the skies. It's a remarkably cohesive identity,
linking the modern state right back to its indigenous
environmental past. And that connection is so
important, especially when we talk about the
next stage, the arrival of Europeans. Right.
the earliest europeans were french voyagers and
fur traders this was back in the 17th century
and they were you know expert navigators of all
those lakes and rivers, they encountered two
major indigenous groups. The Dakota and the Ojibwe.
Exactly. You had the long -established Dakota,
especially eastern Dakota, and then the migrating
Ojibwe or Anishinaabe. And their relationship
defined the territory for a long time. For centuries.
The two nations had their own territories and
often... contested resources along the waterways.
The Ojibwe were gradually migrating west and
south, pushing into traditional Dakota lands,
which led to localized conflict long before settlers
showed up and complicated things even more. And
when the United States finally acquired the land,
it wasn't just one clean transaction. It was
split by the Mississippi River. It was a total
patchwork. The territory east of the Mississippi
was gained after the American Revolutionary War.
But the huge area west of the Mississippi, that
only became U .S. property with the Louisiana
purchase in 1803. And even then, the northern
border wasn't set. No, it was contested by the
British Hudson's Bay Company. It was finally
settled at the 49th parallel with the Treaty
of 1818. So once that huge territory was claimed,
the next move was to control the major waterways.
And that led to really the single most important
military post in the region. Fort Snelling, no
question. It was established between 1819 and
1825, right at that stunning confluence of the
Minnesota and Mississippi rivers. A critical
spot. The most critical spot. It was for controlling
fur trade routes, monitoring indigenous movements,
and just asserting U .S. sovereignty. But the
fort became more than just a military outpost,
right? It was really the seed for the whole economic
engine of the Twin Cities. Precisely. The soldiers
there had to be self -sufficient, so they built
a gristmill and... and more importantly, a sawmill
right at the nearby St. Anthony Falls. That waterfall
became the power source for industry. And that's
what created Minneapolis. What about St. Paul?
St. Paul developed a little downriver. The military
established a reservation in 1839, and they forced
squatters off the fort lands. Those squatters
moved and formed the settlement that eventually
became the state capital. So the U .S. had the
land. They had the strategic center at Fort Snelling.
And statehood followed pretty quickly in 1858.
But that period, just before and after statehood,
it was, well, it was poisoned by the pressure
on the Native population. And that leads directly
to a devastating conflict. This is where we have
to confront the dark foundation of Minnesota's
story, the Dakota War of 1862. What was the situation
for the Dakota at that point? By the 1850s, the
eastern Dakota were confined to reservations,
mostly because of these fraudulent and coercive
treaties, the treaties of Traverse de Sioux and
Mendota in 1851. And in exchange for 28 million
acres of their land, they were promised millions
in annuities and supplies. Promises that were
chronically broken. Our payments just didn't
come. Right. Agents and traders often withheld
them, and by 1862, the Dakota were facing actual
starvation. There's a famous quote from a trader
who told the starving Dakota, if they are hungry,
let them eat grass. Just brutal. So the tension
was like an open wound, and all it needed was
a spark. And that spark came in August of 1862.
On August 17th, four young Dakota men desperate
for food, killed a family of white settlers near
a town called Acton. And that one incident just
set everything off. Immediately. It prompted
a faction of the Dakota, led by Chief Little
Crow, to try and stage a full -scale expulsion
of settlers from the Minnesota River Valley.
They saw it as their last possible chance to
reclaim their land and feed their people. The
conflict was short, only about six weeks. But
the toll on civilians was horrific. Hundreds
of settlers were killed, thousands fled. And
when the U .S. military finally subdued the fighting,
the state's response was just brutal vengeance.
It was a horrific period. Roughly 400 Dakota
men were tried by these military commissions.
The proceedings were rushed with very little
legal representation. And the sentences were
extreme. Of those tried, 303 were sentenced to
death by hanging. The scale of that proposed
execution was completely unprecedented. And this
is where President Lincoln gets involved. It's
a complicated part of the story. It is. Lincoln
personally reviewed every single one of the trial
transcripts. He was trying to distinguish between
those who had participated in massacres of civilians
and those who had only fought in battles against
soldiers. And he reduced the number. He did.
He approved only 39 death sentences, which was
then reduced to 38 after a last minute reprieve.
But even with that reduction, what happened in
Mankato in December 1862 is still a chilling
historical marker. The execution of those 38
Dakota men remains the largest mass execution
in U .S. history. It was an act of public justice,
really, aimed at satisfying the outrage of the
settlers. And it solidified the state's determination
to just completely eliminate the indigenous presence.
And the rhetoric for the political leaders at
the time was, well, genocidal. It absolutely
was. The governor, Alexander Ramsey, declared
that the Sioux must be exterminated or driven
forever beyond the borders of the state. And
that wasn't just talk. It became official. policy.
They put a bounty on scalps. Ramsey established
a bounty of $25 on Dakota men's scalps. His successor,
Governor Henry Swift, later raised it to $200.
It's hard to even comprehend that. It is. And
while the records show that surprisingly few
bounties were actually paid out. Only four, totaling
$325, including for the killing of Little Crow.
The system itself formalized a state policy of
extermination. But what happened to the noncombatants?
The women, the children, the elderly? That's
where the human cost is just staggering. Over
1 ,600 Dakota noncombatants were forcibly marched
to an internment camp on Pike Island, right below
Fort Snelling. The conditions were just abysmal.
Through a Minnesota winter. Through a brutal
Minnesota winter, and despite some efforts by
one commander to build a protective wall, disease
and exposure just took a terrible toll. Estimates
suggest anywhere from 125 to 300 died before
the survivors were officially exiled from the
state to the barren Crow Creek Reservation in
what is now South Dakota. That context is, it's
just vital. You can't talk about the land where
the water reflects the skies without acknowledging
the tragedy of the people who originally named
it. That history is written on the land itself,
which I think is a good transition. Let's shift
our focus from the historical complex on the
land to the foundational structure beneath it.
Exactly. Let's move into part two and talk about
Minnesota's incredible physical state. We can
start with the timeline written in its rocks.
And what's astonishing here is the age. We are
talking about rocks that are nearly as old as
the Earth. We really are. Minnesota has some
of the planet's oldest rocks, specifically gneisses
that have been dated to roughly... 3 .6 billion
years old. Just to put that in perspective for
you, the listener, that's about 80 % as old as
the planet itself. These are among the most ancient
materials ever found on Earth's surface. Yeah,
let me just synthesize that for you. We are talking
about foundational crust, 3 .6 billion years
old, right next to land that was carved out just
12 ,000 years ago by glaciers. That is an insane
contrast of geological timescales in one state.
It is. And those ancient rocks are directly tied
to the major economic future of the North. The
Iron Range. Right. The Iron Range is part of
that massive Canadian shield structure. The iron
deposits themselves formed about 2 .7 billion
years ago as these immense basaltic lava flows
poured out, creating a primordial ocean floor
where iron accumulated. So we have the birth
of the continent and then much, much later, the
Ice Age comes and just completely redefines the
landscape. It's crept down and deposits all that
famous glacial drift. The glaciers were the sculptures
of modern Minnesota. The last big event, the
Wisconsin glaciation, retreated about 12 ,000
years ago. It covered and reshaped almost the
entire state. Almost the entire state. There's
one critical area that it missed, which we call
the Driftless Zone. What exactly is the Driftless
Zone? Why did the ice skip it? Well, the Driftless
Zone is this area in the southeastern corner
of the state. It also extends into Wisconsin,
Iowa, and Illinois that was never covered by
that last ice sheet. The main lobe of the ice
just sort of divided and flowed around the region,
probably due to some subtle underlying geology.
And what does that mean for the landscape there?
How is it different? It's totally different.
Instead of the gentle rolling hills covered in
glacial till that you see everywhere else, the
driftless zone has these steep, unglaciated bluffs.
deep river valleys and streams that cut sharply
right into the bedrock. It's rugged, dramatic,
a complete contrast. You know, for a state that
seems so flat and defined by lakes, I was surprised
to see it has real elevation extremes. It does.
While most of the state is a gently rolling peneplain,
the highest point is Eagle Mountain, which gets
up at 2 ,301 feet. The low point is the shore
of Lake Superior at 601 feet. And they're right
next to each other. They're only 13 miles apart.
It just shows that dramatic drop off. Right near
the massive, deep basin of Lake Superior. OK,
let's get back to the water, because beyond just
the sheer number of lakes, Minnesota has this
truly profound hydrological phenomenon, the triple
watershed. The triple watershed is a genuine
geographical rarity. It's a statement of continental
centrality. There is a precise point near the
town of Hibbing where a drop of rain can ultimately
flow into three different major ocean basins.
Okay. Walk us through those three routes. Certainly.
So water can flow south through the Mississippi
River system and eventually empty into the Gulf
of Mexico. It can flow east through the Great
Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway all the way
to the Atlantic Ocean or, and this is the critical
third one, It can flow north into the Red River
of the north, which leads to the Hudson Bay watershed,
and from there to the Arctic Ocean. It literally
sits at the hydrological nexus of North America.
It absolutely does. And of course, Lake Itasca
is where one of the world's great rivers begins
its journey. Yes. The mighty Mississippi starts
its 680 -mile trip across the state right there.
And beyond the rivers and lakes, we have to talk
about the wetlands. Minnesota has something like
10 .6 million acres of wetlands. Which is the
most of any state besides Alaska. Exactly. It
means the state is basically this massive natural
water filter, which is crucial for maintaining
that clear blue water identity we talked about.
And how do all these features translate into
the ecosystems? Well, Minnesota is this critical
transition zone. It spans four distinct ecological
provinces. You move from Prairie Park. in the
west, through the big woods, which is an eastern
broadleaf forest, and then up into the Laurentian
mixed forest in the north, which is a mix of
coniferous, boreal, and deciduous hardwoods.
Now given that logging was such a huge early
industry, And we'll get to that. I imagine a
lot of that original forest was destroyed. Oh,
a ton of the old growth forest was cleared in
the late 19th and early 20th centuries. But regrowth
and really diligent conservation have been very
successful. About a third of the state is forested
today. And crucially, there are pockets of true
old growth forest preserved in the massive federal
lands up north. You're talking about the Superior
National Forest and the Boundary Waters. Exactly.
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness alone.
is a million acres with over a thousand lakes.
It's got about 400 ,000 acres of unlogged land.
It's one of the largest protected wilderness
areas in the lower 48. And what kind of wildlife
thrives there? Minnesota is notable for having
the largest population of timber wolves outside
of Alaska. It also has the largest number of
breeding pairs of bald eagles in the lower 48,
at least as of 2007. And it supports huge populations
of moose, black bears, and a ton of migratory
birds. Okay, finally, let's address the elephant
in the room, or maybe the snowbank in the room,
the climate. People define Minnesota by its cold.
And for good reason. It's an extreme continental
climate. We are talking about a massive range.
The lowest official temperature ever recorded
was a shocking minus 60 degrees Fahrenheit in
Tower back in 1996. Minus 60. And the high. The
highest was 114 degrees in Moorhead in 1936.
That is a 174 degree temperature swing. It just
speaks to the complete lack of any moderating
ocean influence. And that has a huge impact on
agriculture, right? Yeah. The growing season
must be really short. It's incredibly short.
It ranges from only about 90 frost -free days
in the far northeast near Lake Superior to a
more comfortable 160 days down in the southeast.
That dictates everything about what you can grow
and when. And now. Now, climate change is starting
to impact the state's most fundamental identity,
the water itself. Yeah, the impact is subtle,
but it's significant. Rising lake temperatures
are forcing shifts in the ecosystems. Cold water
species like lake trout, they're losing their
habitat, being pushed further north. And warm
water fish are taking over. Exactly. Species
like bass and sunfish are thriving and expanding
their range. It's a huge deal for the future
of the state's iconic fishing culture. That connection
between geology, water, and climate really sets
the state... for the economic engine. So moving
into part three, let's trace Minnesota's economic
evolution. It's a classic American story. You
start with raw materials and then you pivot aggressively
into high tech and services. The earliest economy
was all about resource extraction. Logging was
first and foremost, made possible by all those
rivers for transport. Sawmills popped up at key
points like St. Anthony Falls, Pine City, Stillwater
and Winona, just processing the vast northern
forests. And St. Anthony Falls gave Minneapolis
its first identity, flower power. Absolutely.
The falls provided incredible hydropower for
milling, and it turned Minneapolis into the world's
leading flour producer by the late 19th century.
But the key wasn't just volume. It was innovation.
Right. They developed Minnesota patent flour.
What made it so special? It was a quality revolution.
Traditional milling often left fine particles
of the wheat kernel's middlings in the flour,
which made it kind of dark and lower grade. Minneapolis
millers adopted new roller mills and purifying
tech to strip all that away. So you get a whiter,
finer, higher... Exactly. And this Minnesota
patent flour was so superior that it commanded
almost double the price of the old baker's flour.
It made Minnesota the epicenter of the global
grain trade. And this is where we get the giants
we know today. Pillsbury, Northwestern and the
Washburn Crosby Company, which eventually became
General Mills. Their dominance was built on this
one innovation. By 1900, Minnesota mills were
grinding 14 .1 percent of all the grain in the
United States. That's incredible dominance. So
then we shift north to the Iron Range, back to
those ancient... 2 .7 billion year old rocks.
The discovery of high grade ore really defined
the early 20th century for this state. Yeah,
the discovery of iron ore in the Vermilion and
Mesabi ranges in the 1880s kicked off an absolute
boom. This high grade, easily accessible ore
was shipped by rail to Duluth, loaded onto massive
ships and sent through the Great Lakes to steel
mills in the east. It was the backbone of American
industrialization. But that high grade ore is
finite. What happened when it started to run
out after World War II? That should have been
an economic disaster. It should have been. But
this is where Minnesota's innovative spirit,
the same spirit that created patent flour, kicked
in again. The problem was that the remaining
iron was a low -grade ore called taconite. So
what exactly is taconite? It's harder to process.
It's very hard, low -grade iron ore embedded
in rock. You can't just ship it and smelt it.
It looked like the end of the iron range. But
a guy named Dr. E .W. Davis at the University
of Minnesota, he pioneered a process in the 1940s.
What was that process? You crush the taconite
rock into a fine powder, use magnets to separate
the iron particles, and then you bind that powder
into... these hard marble -sized pellets. So
the technology of pelletization literally saved
the iron range. It saved the entire industry.
It allowed them to use this previously worthless
material. Today, even though the high -grade
ore is mostly gone, taconite mining continues.
As of 2016, Minnesota still accounted for about
60 % of the country's usable iron ore. It's a
testament to innovation, and that sets the stage
for the real pivot, the post -war boom that shifted
the state from raw materials into high technology.
The shift was systematic and rapid. Minnesota
became a tech hub almost overnight, focusing
first on computing. The whole lineage starts
with a company called Engineering Research Associates,
or ERA. It was formed right after the war in
1946 to build specialized computers for the Navy.
And that DNA eventually evolved into the supercomputer
industry. Exactly. ERA merged into Sperryrand.
Then a key figure, William Norris, left Sperry
in 1957 to form Control Data Corporation, or
CDC, which became a global leader. And then most
famously, Seymour Cray left CDC to form Cray
Research, dedicating himself to building the
world's fastest supercomputers. So for decades,
if you wanted the bleeding edge in computing
power, you looked to Minnesota. You did. And
at the same time, the state was pioneering medical
technology. Medtronic. Medtronic. It was founded
in the Twin Cities in 1949, initially focusing
on battery -powered pacemakers. This really established
the state as a major center for biomedical tech.
And anchoring all of this is probably the most
famous nonprofit medical institution in the world.
The Mayo Clinic, founded in Rochester back in
1864. What's often overlooked is that the Mayo
Clinic grew in a pretty rural setting. It was
built on this partnership between the Mayo family
and the Franciscan sisters, and it leveraged
this early focus on teamwork and research to
become a global leader. And today, it's Minnesota's
largest private employer. By far. And it's consistently
ranked number one on major hospital honor rolls.
Looking at the modern economy, the corporate
cloud of Minnesota is just phenomenal for a state
that people sometimes dismiss as, you know, flyover
country. The diversity of these corporate headquarters
gives it incredible resilience. The state's GDP
was $383 billion in 2019, and it ranks 13th in
the nation for per capita personal income. You've
got 33 of the top 1 ,000 publicly traded companies
headquartered there. So who are the big names
defining that modern clout? Well, you're talking
about massive retailers like Target, industrial
giants like 3M, health service powerhouses like
United Health Group, and of course, the legacy
food companies like General Mills, plus Best
Buy and Electronics. And the single largest privately
owned company in the whole U .S. is based there,
reinforcing that dominance in agribusiness. That
would be Cargill. So when you look at that list,
food, health. retail, science, high tech. It's
a fundamentally diversified, high value economy.
It's not just about digging things out of the
ground anymore. Right. And before we move on
to culture, let's just quickly touch on modern
agriculture and energy because Minnesota still
leads in some very specific niches. They're huge
agricultural players, but often in specialized
processing. Minnesota is the largest national
producer of sugar beets, sweet corn and peas
for processing. And a fun fact, they're the number
one. producer of farm -raised turkeys. And there's
a strong cultural emphasis on collaboration in
food. Yes. Minnesota has the most food cooperatives
per capita in the entire U .S., which really
reflects that deep -rooted populist and communal
culture from its Scandinavian and German farming
heritage. And finally, they were pioneers in
biofuel. They were the first state to mandate
a 10 % ethanol mix, or E10. Beyond that, they've
become a major clean energy player, ranking in
the top 10 for wind energy production. Wind generates
nearly one -fifth of the state's total electricity.
It's a compelling blend of tradition and forward
-looking policy. It really is. Okay, moving seamlessly
into part four, let's talk about the people,
the culture, and the intensely interesting political
profile of Minnesota. And let's start with demographics,
because the stereotype of a state that is just
monolithically Scandinavian is rapidly dissolving.
The historical narrative is certainly dominated
by those massive waves of German and Scandinavian
immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
And today, the top ancestries are still German
at 33 .8 % and Norwegian at 15 .3%. That heritage
forms the core identity. But the state has gone
through a dramatic demographic transformation
over the last few decades. A profound one. The
white population has dropped from over 98 % in
the mid -20th century to 77 .5 % by 2020. And
this transformation is... really unique compared
to his Midwestern neighbors, largely because
Minnesota became a kind of refugee central. That's
a critical detail that often gets missed. It
is. As of 2018, Minnesota had the largest refugee
population per capita of any state. It hosted
13 percent of the country's refugees, despite
having only 2 percent of the country's population.
This was due to deliberate resettlement policies
and strong social services that made it a supportive
environment. So who are the major communities
defining this new? global Minnesota. Well, Minnesota
is now home to the nation's largest Somali -American
population, who were primarily resettled in the
Twin Cities after fleeing civil war. It also
has the second largest Heishmon community in
the country who started arriving after the Vietnam
War. And there are other significant groups,
too. Oh, yeah. Ethiopians, Vietnamese, Liberians
and recently Ukrainians. This influx has created
a truly multicultural core that is both challenging
and enriching that older, homogenous culture.
And this blend of cultures is reflected in its
surprisingly vibrant arts scene. For a Midwestern
state, the Twin Cities have this outsized, almost
East Coast reputation for performing arts. It
punches way above its weight. Minneapolis ranks
second only to New York City in the sheer number
of theater companies. And as a measure of engagement,
the Twin Cities sold 2 .3 million theater tickets
annually back in 2006. And they have the country's
largest non -juried performing arts festival.
Minnesota Fringe Festival, yeah. It's huge. The
literary tradition is equally strong. And what's
great is how Minnesota is portrayed in literature
in these wildly conflicting ways. You see this
fascinating dual nature. On one hand, you have
the heroic, often tragic pioneer hardships in
books like Ollie Rollvog's Giants in the Earth
or the tales of Laura Ingalls Wilder. And on
the other hand, you have the famous small town
critiques. Like Sinclair Lewis, he was a native
and he painted this grim picture of stifling
conformity in his. novels like Main Street. He
contrasts so sharply with the later, much gentler,
almost nostalgic portrayal of Lake Wobegon by
Garrison Kyler. So it's this cultural debate
over small town life. Is it stifling or is it
sweetly communal? Exactly. And we can't forget
the titans of American music and literature from
the state. F. Scott Fitzgerald. A St. Paul native,
he drew heavily on the social circles of the
young city. And of course, Bob Dylan, born in
Duluth, who won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Then you have Prince, who changed music forever.
And the Andrews sisters of Boogie Woogie Bugle
Boy fame. And in terms of unique media, you have
Peanuts, created by St. Paul's own Charles M.
Schultz, and the cult classic Mystery Science
Theater 3000. Which brings us to the most defining
and often parodied cultural trait. Minnesota
nice. Ah, Minnesota nice. It's a famous but complicated
stereotype. It refers to this tendency towards
courtesy, conflict avoidance, and a general lack
of overt emotional display. So it's politeness
taken to an extreme, sometimes at the expense
of honesty. That's often the critique. It can
manifest as indirect communication or even passive
aggression. It's often paired with that distinctive
north -central American English accent, with
its Scandinavian intonation sprinkled with phrases
like ufda or you betcha. And if you want to understand
the community heart of the state, you have to
look at the food, and specifically the state
fair. The local food culture is all about comfort
and community. You have hot dishes, these creamy
casseroles, and lutefisk dinners. But the Minnesota
State Fair, the great Minnesota get -together,
is an institution unto itself. How big of an
institution are we talking about? It's enormous.
In 2014, in a state of 5 .5 million people, it
drew over 1 .8 million visitors in 12 days. It's
legendary for its quirky traditions, intricate
seed art, huge butter sculptures of the Dairy
Princesses, and most famously, its relentless
dedication to serving dozens of varieties of
food on a stick. That focus on community and
consensus seems so at odds with Minnesota's progressive,
often fiery political reputation. So let's shift
to that unique political landscape, which is
incredibly high participation. This is maybe
the most critical distinction for Minnesota.
They consistently have the highest voter turnout
in the nation. In the 2020 election, participation
hit an astonishing 79 .96%. And they make it
easy with things like Election Day registration.
Right. Removes a key barrier. And what's fascinating
is where that active electorate places its presidential
loyalty. They have an unmatched streak of supporting
the Democratic nominee. They hold the longest
current streak. Right. Going back to 1976. It
is. And to highlight how deep that loyalty runs,
Minnesota is the only state in the nation that
did not vote for Ronald Reagan in either of his
campaigns, though they did vote for Nixon in
72. So why is Minnesota such a liberal bastion
compared to its culturally similar neighbors?
The root is in history. Specifically, the history
of populist agrarian movements. A lot of European
immigrants who were involved in the failed liberal
revolutions of 1848 settled here. That fostered
a really strong early center of labor and social
activism. Which led directly to the formation
of the unique Democratic Farmer Labor Party.
Exactly. The DFL is an alliance formed in 1944
when the Democratic Party merged with the powerful,
historically progressive Farmer Labor Party.
This cemented a coalition between urban labor
unions and agrarian populist interests, giving
the party this unique breadth of support. And
that DFL party has been incredibly effective
recently, achieving a trifecta in 2023. They
did. For the first time in many years, the DFL
gained control of all three branches of government,
the governor's office, the House and the Senate.
And this led to just a rapid, massive wave of
progressive reforms. And we should detail those
reforms. What were some of the landmark changes
passed in that 2023 session that show this political
shift? It was an explosion of governance. The
D .F .L. controlled legislature passed several
huge laws. For instance, they implemented mandatory
paid family and medical leave for almost all
workers. Wow. That's big. It is. They also codified
sweeping environmental legislation requiring
the state's electricity to be 100 percent carbon
free by 2040. And they dramatically expanded
social programs, including instituting universal
free school meals for all K -12 students. It
was just a tidal wave of progressive policy after.
decades of divided government. Which shows that
extreme political tension in the state, a highly
progressive core versus a more conservative outstate
region. How's that reflected in their federal
delegation? It's perfectly balanced in the House.
The delegation is split four DFL representatives
and four Republican representatives. But both
U .S. Senate seats are currently held by Democrats.
It's a purple state defined by polarized regions,
but the Twin Cities power often tips statewide
races. OK, finally, in part five, let's explore
how all these factors, the wealth, the social
activism, the strong educational history, culminate
in a quality of life that is consistently rated
among the best in the nation. Let's start with
health. Minnesota is routinely ranked among the
healthiest states. The indicators are really
strong. Low rates of premature death, low infant
mortality, high life expectancies, and critically,
very high rates of physical activity. That ties
directly back to that outdoor recreation culture.
But those high overall rankings can often hide
disparities, right? It does, and Minnesota confronts
that. While the state performs excellently on
average, it faces significant and persistent
health disparities within its minority and new
immigrant populations. It's a major policy focus,
recognizing that those high rankings need to
be equitable for everyone, especially with the
growth of the Somali and Hechmon communities.
And we have to reiterate the sheer weight of
the Mayo Clinic. in this health profile. The
Mayo Clinic is a foundational powerhouse. U .S.
News and World Report ranked it first on its
Best Hospitals Honor Roll for 2020 -21. But its
impact isn't isolated. It's linked through partnerships
with the University of Minnesota, focusing on
critical research into things like cancer and
Alzheimer's disease. And moving on to education,
the commitment there seems just as strong. Educational
attainment is exceptionally high. Minnesota has
the second highest proportion of high school
graduates nationally at 91 .5%, and the 10th
highest proportion of people with bachelor's
degrees. And that translates into civic outcomes.
Minneapolis was named the most literate city
in 2015. With St. Paul ranking fourth. And their
K -12 students measure up exceptionally well
on a global scale. In a 2013 international study
of eighth grade math and science, Minnesota students
ranked eighth globally and third in the U .S.,
behind only Massachusetts and Vermont. And Minnesota
was the birthplace of the charter school movement.
They opened the nation's very first charter school
in 1991. That high quality of life feeds right
into the outdoor recreation culture, which just
defines daily life for so many Minnesotans. The
state seems built for year -round activity. It's
a key part of the culture. Minnesotans have high
levels of physical activity, which often revolves
around water in the summer. The weekend trip
to the cabin on a lake is a core cultural ritual.
It's no surprise that water skiing was invented
in Minnesota. But the real test is how they embrace
the long, harsh winters. They turn the cold into
an asset. They absolutely do. Ice fishing is
hugely popular, a tradition from Scandinavian
immigration. Hockey is practically a religion,
and the state maintains nearly 20 ,000 miles
of snowmobile trails. And you mentioned a very
specific, unique sport they play there. Yes,
Bandy. It's a form of field hockey played on
ice, often called soccer on ice skates. Minnesota
is the only U .S. state where organized Bandy
is played, maintaining that unique connection
to its Scandinavian roots. That's a fascinating
detail. And speaking of sports culture, the state
has teams in all the major professional leagues.
They do. The Vikings, the Twins, the Timberwolves,
the Wild, the Lynx. But there's that unique distinction
about the Twins World Series wins. Right. There
are two wins in 1987 and 1991. What was the unique
fact there? In both of those World Series, both
of them went to seven games. The home team won
every single game. Wow. It suggests this incredible
home field advantage, probably driven by the
deafening environment of the old Metrodome and
that fervent fan culture we talked about. And
on the amateur side, you can't talk about winter
sports without the miracle on ice. That gold
medal winning 1980 U .S. Olympic hockey team,
coached by Minnesota native Herb Brooks, was
a testament to the state's talent pipeline. Off
of 12 players on that team were Minnesota natives.
The state just consistently produces world class
winter athletes. Okay, let's bring our deep dive
to a close. We started with Minnesota's deep
foundations, 3 .6 billion years of geology, its
unique triple watershed hydrology, and the tragic,
violent history of the Dakota War of 1862 that
led to the largest mass execution in U .S. history.
We tracked its economic genius, that ability
to pivot from extraction timber, flour, iron,
into specialized innovation, particularly with
the post -war computer revolution led by Cray,
and its anchor in global health with the Mayo
Clinic. out is that political resilience the
dfl coalition maintaining that presidential blue
streak since 76. and we noted the cultural markers
the complex reality of minnesota nice the rich
literary tradition the unique state fair all
wrapped up in a high quality of life framework
with excellence in health and education the state
is defined by that dakota phrase minnesota makoche
the land where the water reflects the skies.
But the state is evolving so rapidly. We noted
that the white population has dropped dramatically,
largely because Minnesota became this major hub
for refugee resettlement. It's now home to the
nation's largest Somali population and second
largest H -Mong community. So what does this
all mean for the future, especially given that
dramatic political shift in 2023? Given Minnesota's
consistently high quality of life rankings, coupled
with its status as a major hub for refugee resettlement,
how might this blend of deeply rooted Scandinavian
heritage and fast -growing global diversity shape
the state's political and social trajectory over
the next generation? Will that progressive wave
symbolized by the huge DFL reforms in 2023 like
mandatory paid family leave and the clean energy
mandate be embraced by this increasingly diverse
populace? Or will the cultural friction in the
vast outstate region define the next chapter
for the Star of the North? That is the question
you are left to ponder.