Perfect Duluth Day - Duluth, MN Events, News, Blog

Duluth, America and Public Disorder

PDD News Sieve Mar 09, 2026 No Comments

Chris Arnade, a writer who is walking around the world and recently posted about “Walking Duluth,” references the Zenith City in his latest piece, “America and Public Disorder.”

Three weeks ago, in Duluth, half the riders on every bus I took were mentally tortured and/or intoxicated. The downtown Starbucks, pedestrian malls, and shuttered doorways of vacated buildings all housed broken people. Same in Indianapolis, El Paso, New York City, Jacksonville, LA, Phoenix, and almost every community I’ve been to in the U.S., save for those gated by wealth.


Random

Meet the Moment: Writers Speak Out

Liz Minette Mar 09, 2026 No Comments

Meet the Moment: Writers Speak Out was held at Wussow’s Concert Cafe on Feb. 26.

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Art, Politics, Videos

Minnesota All Hockey Hair Team 2026: Flow for Gold

PDDTV Mar 08, 2026 No Comments

Experience all the gold medal salad from St. Paul and see who earned their spot on the FLOWdium. John King and Pulltab Sports present an Olympic-themed hockey hair-a-lympics full of salad shenanigans from the Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament.

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Sports, Videos

Three Versions of “Opiate War”

Container Music Publishing Mar 08, 2026 No Comments

Oh, Duluth.

It began with watching addicts scream in the alley. Then it got electric. Then it got louder.

I’m not sure where it’s going, but I know how it ends.

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Music, Videos

Climate>Duluth: Shodo Spring

Liz Minette Mar 07, 2026 No Comments

Climate>Duluth host Tone Lanzillo interviews Shodo Spring, author of Open Reality: Meeting the Polycrisis Together With All Beings.” The program was recorded in the Duluth Public Access Community Television studio.


Politics, Videos ,

Six Century-old Postcards from Duluth

Paul Lundgren Mar 06, 2026 No Comments

Not much is known about the six postcards featured here, but they all have appeared in recent eBay sales by LL Vintage Antiques of St. Paul. They are collected in this post simply because they are of a similar style and are cards that haven’t appeared on Perfect Duluth Day before.

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History

Ursa Minor Brewing cooks up new Bean & Bear Bagels shop

Mark Nicklawske Mar 05, 2026 No Comments

Amanda Agamaite, left, and Ben Hugus of Ursa Minor Brewing stand in front of the future home of Bean & Bear Bagels. The Lincoln Park brewery is remodeling the north end of its production facility at 202 S. 26th Ave. W. A deck will be built in the current parking lot. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)

A Lincoln Park brewery famous for its beer and wood-fired pizza combination is opening a new restaurant space that will specialize in made-from-scratch bagels for the breakfast and lunch crowd.

Ursa Minor Brewing will open Bean & Bear Bagels, a grab-and-go bagel shop, on the north end of its brewery and warehouse facility at 202 S. 26th Ave. W. this spring. The new location will feature fresh bagels, bagel sandwiches and specialty coffee.

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News and Current Affairs, Restaurants

Making it Up North: Catherine Meier

PDDTV Mar 04, 2026 No Comments

Visual artist Catherine Meier shares her journey from hauling cattle across the Great Plains to creating deeply immersive animations and drawings on Minnesota’s North Shore.

Making it Up North is a PBS North series that explores stories of creative artists, artisans and entrepreneurs engaged in honing their skills, following their passion and realizing their dreams.


Art, Videos , ,

Cloud Cult – “It’s All Burning to Begin”

PDDTV Mar 03, 2026 No Comments

The new song and video from Cloud Cult “feels like the prelude birthing of a new album,” according to bandleader Craig Minowa’s description on YouTube. “The ground this new musical nursery stands on was Ho Chunk. The Kickapoo River hugs this recording studio on three sides and is considered by some geologists to be one of the oldest in the world — 2 million years. There is spirit here, and it has stories to tell.”

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Music, Videos

Duluth Deep Dive #14: The Last of the Transporter Bridges

Matthew James Mar 01, 2026 No Comments

Germany’s Osten-Hemmoor Bridge with a postcard of Duluth’s transporter bridge in the foreground. (Photo by Matthew James; postcard from the University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University Archives)

Growing up in Duluth, I often heard that the lift bridge was the only bridge of its type in the world. I later learned that the world is full of lift bridges. Wikipedia lists 137 of them. But that doesn’t mean the claim isn’t true. The lift bridge was once a transporter bridge, a far more rare type of bridge. Aside from various hand-cranked bridges that basically amount to art projects, fewer than two dozen transporter bridges have ever been built anywhere in the world. Only eight of those are still in use. And the world only has one converted transporter bridge in operation: Duluth’s Aerial Lift Bridge. This Duluth Deep Dive takes a closer look at what Duluth’s bridge was like before its conversion by recounting my visit to two of the world’s remaining transporter bridges. One is the closest surviving counterpart to Duluth’s original canal bridge. The other gives a sense what the Duluth bridge might have looked like if the city had modernized the gondola instead of making the conversion to a lift bridge.

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History , ,

The S.S. Meteor Placemat

Paul Lundgren Feb 27, 2026 No Comments

Found at a thrift store in Webster: a packet of 50 paper placemats promoting tours of the SS Meteor in Superior.


History , ,

Making it Up North: Java Moose

PDDTV Feb 26, 2026 No Comments

From starting a makeshift weather update during a forest fire to becoming a daily staple for locals and tourists alike, Java Moose is more than just a coffee shop, it’s a community hub.

Making it Up North is a PBS North series that explores stories of creative artists, artisans and entrepreneurs engaged in honing their skills, following their passion and realizing their dreams.


Videos , ,

Duluth looked best on paper in 1906

Paul Lundgren Feb 25, 2026 No Comments

Some harsh criticism from a postcard sender 120 years ago.


History ,

Jonathan Thunder’s Digital Tampering Reel

PDDTV Feb 24, 2026 No Comments

This compilation shows various animation projects Duluth artist Jonathan Thunder has worked on in the past decade, including his own projects, collaborations and works for hire.


Art, Videos

Postcard from a Bird’s-eye View of the Duluth Post Office in 1916

Paul Lundgren Feb 23, 2026 No Comments

This postcard was mailed Feb. 23, 1916 — 110 years ago today. It shows the beginnings of the Duluth Civic Center, with the old Duluth Post Office at the center.

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History , , ,