Producers at KFAI are doing a terrific job documenting the Twin Cities art scene. They've recently produced stories on a Japanese Lantern Festival in St. Paul's Como Park, Ketzal Coatlicue Aztec Dancers in Eagan, B-Girls at Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis and a Hmong Arts Festival in the Twin Cities.

Now that's some kickin' diversity.

Listeners in Minneapolis, Duluth, St. Cloud, Mankato and elsewhere are now enjoying episodes of "MN90: Minnesota History in 90 Seconds," a new show from Ampers and the Minnesota Historical Society.

The daily show highlights a nugget of Minnesota history on just about any topic: How food-on-a-stick became the State Fair norm, why the inventor of the baseball slider didn't get the attention he deserved or what is the silly question the singer of the hit song "Funkytown" is often asked.

(The silly question: "Just where is Funkytown anyway?")

We've all been there. You see something at a Fair and think to yourself, "Why would I buy that? I could make that myself, it wouldn't even be hard." The time I tried this was with Willow Walking Sticks - you know, the beautiful and heavy kind that have been pealed, sanded and varnished. Mine ended up being about as convenient as using a baseball bat for a cane. KAXE volunteer producer Robert Jevne, from Jacobson, Minnesota, was inspired by a chainsaw woodcarver he saw at the County Fair.

When Ethan Holtzman was backpacking in Cambodia, a friend contracted dengue fever, a serious disease that pushes body temperatures to dangerous levels. The pair hopped a ride on a truck that traversed bumpy roads. During the arduous trip to the hospital, the driver cranked his tape deck, playing Cambodian pop from the 1960s. The friend survived. When Ethan returned to the U.S. and wanted to start a band featuring Cambodian-inspired music, he proposed the name Dengue Fever.

Unlike the mosquito-born illness, the name stuck.