Rural-Urban MN TwinTalks launched on April 5, 2023, introducing hosts and rural-urban Minnesota twin sisters Karin Sonneman & Jane Leonard and their coffee and cookies conversation show sharing wisdom & whimsy from over 100 years of combined career and life experience in community, rural, economic development, law and justice across Minnesota and the nation.

With Rural Urban MN Twin Talks, Jane & Karin lift up the people, actions, and ideas at the intersections of rural and urban issues, places, and hearts to inspire and instill the rural-urban twin sharing spirit that is in all of us — and is needed from all of us — to nurture and strengthen community vitality everywhere.

Sharing stories, chewing on the issues, talking with one another and guests, we seek to build more understanding and bridging that encourages and shows we are all twins at heart, helping each other – rural and urban – unite, grow, and thrive together.

We share coffee and cookies with colleagues, neighbors, friends and family, like we did as little kids in the city and on the farm, bridging rural and urban people, places, and hearts in Minnesota and across the country.

We are rural – urban Minnesota-born twins. Karin lives in Winona and is the County Attorney in Winona County in SE Minnesota. Jane retired last year after 40-plus years as a journalist and community development practitioner and lives in St. Anthony Park, the farthest NW neighborhood in St. Paul in the Twin Cities metro area, just west of the UM-St. Paul farm campus and State Fairgrounds. We also share our family farm in Mille Lacs County with our brother John and maternal cousins.

We are both active community volunteers and with this show starting as we celebrate our 66th birthday, we want to use its platform to help carry on in our family and yours the tradition of learning and discussing issues in and ideas on the health and well-being of our shared homes – our communities, state, country, and world.

Jane & Karin info:

Minnesota twin sisters, born six minutes apart at the peak of the Baby Boom. Still kicking, still having fun!

Karin: (at right)  https://www.co.winona.mn.us/485/About-The-County-Attorney

Jane: (at left) https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeeleonard/