MPR People

Larissa Anderson

Assistant Producer
Minnesota Public Radio
landerson@mpr.org

Larissa Anderson Feature Archive

What does Adam Levy think of the songs?

At the end of the Songs from Scratch process, songwriter Adam Levy listened to what our three musicians created and offered up his reflections on the project. (07/25/2008)

Meet the lyricist

The source of musical inspiration is a subject we're exploring in a new edition of our Songs from Scratch project. We asked songwriter Adam Levy to compose some lyrics, and asked three musicians to create a song using them. Meet Adam Levy of the Honeydogs. (07/21/2008)

In the land of 10,000 hockey players, gay athletes gain momentum

The Twin Cities Gay Hockey Association is a group designed to provide a safe space for gay and gay-friendly people to play competitive hockey. This is their first season as an independent athletic association. (12/15/2007)

After 30 years, an interview with mom

Community organizer Pakou Hang interviewed her mother, Phoua, who was part of the first wave of Hmong refugees to come to the country. Phoua has now lived in the United States far longer than she lived in Laos and explains her feelings about fitting in here in Minnesota. (12/07/2007)

How street signs turn drivers into donors

A public art project at the Minneapolis Public Library is designed to get visitors to consider panhandlers in a new light. (11/15/2007)

'Lessening Fear Through Creativity'

A public art project, called "Lessening Fear Through Creativity" opens Friday at the Minneapolis Public Library. It is designed to get people to consider panhandlers in a new light. (11/15/2007)

How to solve a family crisis the democratic way

The child welfare system traditionally diagnoses a family crisis and then tells the family how to fix it. But another model called Family Group Decision Making gives the family in crisis a voice in the decision making process. One family in St. Paul experienced this kind of democracy first hand. (10/18/2007)

Songwriting in earnest

We've heard how the musicians reacted when they first saw the lyrics to Stephen Burt's "Afternoon Song." This time we check in as they try to turn those words into music. (08/15/2007)

The bands record their Afternoon Songs

The Appalachian folk group The Roe Family Singers, indie darlings The Owls and singer/songwriter Matt Wilson were given two weeks to come up with a tune using the same set of lyrics. We hear how the ideas and melodies they've come up are transformed into full-fledged songs. (08/15/2007)

The bands get the lyrics

Our project looks at the creative process of writing music, through the eyes of a lyricist and three different bands. We hear from the three bands -- The Roe Family Singers, The Owls, and Matt Wilson -- as they get the lyrics from writer Stephen Burt, and begin shaping his words into songs. (08/09/2007)

Minnesota's invisible homeless youth

On any given night in Minnesota, nearly 650 kids under 18 are on the streets and on their own. Street outreach workers talk about why these young people are so hard to see. (03/14/2007)

Survey finds hundreds of kids alone and on the streets each night

Nearly 700 Minnesota kids under 18 were homeless each night in 2006, according to the Wilder Foundation's state-wide, one-day homelessness survey. (03/14/2007)

How the blind 'see' the holidays

The holiday festivities are a time during which lights become the center of celebrations, from candles to Christmas bulbs. For some people, these lights are not easy to see. We introduce you to three of them. (12/21/2006)

What do voters think?

For more than a year, we've heard plenty of pundits talk about what the voters think. Now it's time to hear from the voters. MPR News talked with several voters in the region to find out whom they intend to vote for in various races and why. (11/04/2006)