Duchesne Drew jokes that when he first came to Minneapolis in the summer of 1993, he knew three things about the Twin Cities: "Prince, Kirby Puckett, and A Prairie Home Companion." In an interview with Jill Riley on The Current Morning Show, Drew shared that he grew up listening to APHC, and as a result, Minnesota Public Radio had a place in his heart long before he got here.

This April, Drew was named the president of MPR, and the timing of taking on this position during a global pandemic has meant that he has had to hit the ground running. As president, Drew oversees all of MPR's stations, including MPR News, Classical MPR and The Current. He highlighted how each station has been able to provide services that work together to serve audiences, with extensive reporting coming out of MPR News, and Classical MPR and The Current providing a break, "a chance for people to take a deep breath, a chance to process."

Drew has a knack for seeing larger connections, and a passion for creating more. Helping people see and value one another has been one of his main motivations as a journalist, and it continues to be a priority in where he sees MPR's work moving forward. "I want more people to feel, all across the state, that we start our day thinking about them, and trying to understand them better, and trying to help them understand one another better, and building bridges, building connections across our region," he says.

Along these lines, Drew and Riley discuss diversity in public radio, and how tackling the diversity problem that often exists in this field is one of the things that attracted Drew to this position in the first place. "That's inner work that we've got to do," he says, "but the payoff for doing the inner work is having deeper, richer relationships, both as a staff in how we see and treat one another, but also in our ability to connect more authentically across the entire region."

In terms of his own connection to the region, for this interview Drew chose songs from some of his favorite Minnesota artists, namely Dessa and Prince. Prince in particular has been a part of Drew's life since he was a teen. "I mean, I'd never seen a cat like him before," Drew enthuses, "and I loved what he produced, and loved how he showed up and just found, at that stage of life, a ton of inspiration in what he projected, and the creativity, the confidence, the kindness."

Creativity, confidence, and kindness are going to be necessary going forward in the midst of multiple global crises at the moment, and Drew is energized about keeping the work of MPR going. "We have so many beautiful gifts to offer this community," he says, "and I think potential to be even more creative, more innovative, just more connected in ways that are really important, really valuable. And the inspiration that we can offer through music is critical."