When I was hired in 2017, it was a bit of a gamble for both Twin Cities PBS and me. I had returned to the U.S. after a year-long stint in Seoul, Korea as a Fulbright senior scholar on a journalism research grant. I had the journalism chops, having won peer-reviewed awards for my radio work in several states. But Almanac needed someone with on-camera experience to report on issues important to Greater Minnesota, with new funding from the Bremer Foundation and others to do the work.