Features

Enter the World of Brian Andreas and the Story People

A new kind of prose-poem-style story — slightly irreverent, deceptively wise, and impish at the core

by Emily Grosvenor

Oral Distractions

Butter City: TV’s Appetizing New Film-Talk Show

by John Ervin, photos courtesy of Butter City

"God talked to me today"

I was an agnostic who never took my family to church. And then, my son starting hearing the voice of God.

by Ann Bauer

Minnesota Naughty

Decked in tinsel and tassels lies a group of performers hopelessly devoted to the art of burlesque.

by Kate Leibfried, photos by Christopher Kelleher

Fashioning a Movement

University of Minnesota dance students don new Spring fashions.

by Christy DeSmith, photos and video by Marco Baca

All the News That Fits—and Then Some

The Rake surveys the recent online scrum: Who's up? Who's going down? And what does it all mean for you?

by Cristina Córdova, Illustrations by Dan Murphy

Do You Really Believe?

Embattled from within, evangelical leaders created The Truth Project to persuade professed born-agains to walk the walk.

by Alyssa Ford, photos by Mike Krivit

Planet Pickett

How a guy from Austin, Minnesota parlayed his passion into one of the country's finest jazz clubs.

by Britt Robson, photos by Mike Dvorak

Over the Coals 2007

We’ll leave the hosannas, top-10s, and “best-of” lists to others—here’s our first annual recounting of idiotic, inane, and utterly inexplicable local doings from last year.

by Rake Staff, Ann Bauer, Brian Lambert, Britt Robson, Peter Schilling, Jeremy Stratton and Brian Voerding

Who Doesn’t Love Sam & Sylvia Kaplan?

They are essential to almost any Democrat who wants to get elected in Minnesota. But what makes them tick? The Rake susses out the enduring appeal—and extraordinary influence—of this power couple.

by Brian Lambert, photo by Dan Olson

Scientology: The Local Source

St. Paul will soon be home to one of the largest Scientology churches in the world.

by Ann Bauer

Diabulimia: Delicious but Deadly

Thousands of diabetics control their weight by skipping insulin shots.

by Ann Bauer

The Death and Life of American Imagination

How a generation is squandering its most critical resource

by Jeannine Ouellette, illustration by Mike Carina

Go{pher} Broke

With two high-profile coaching changes and a $288.5 million football stadium on the way, Joel Maturi is raising the stakes for University of Minnesota sports.

by Britt Robson, art from U of MN Athletic Communications