When reporter Eric Roper buys a 113-year-old house in Minneapolis, he wants to find out everything he can about its history.

But he quickly becomes obsessed with one couple who owned the house 100 years ago.

Harry and Clementine Robinson send him down a surprising rabbit hole, into a part of history he had never heard before.

A six-part narrative podcast reported by Eric Roper and produced by Melissa Townsend

Watch the trailer for 'Ghost of a Chance.'

Episodes 1 and 2

coming Jan. 13

Episode 3

Jan. 20

Episode 4

Jan. 27

Episode 5

Feb. 3

Episode 6

Feb. 10

Harry and Clementine Robinson were one of a handful of Black families who owned homes more than a century ago in what is now the whitest part of Minneapolis. When reporter Eric Roper moved into the same house where the Robinsons lived, he became determined to find out who they were and what happened to them.

Eric spent nearly five years piecing together the Robinsons' lives, through genealogy records, old public documents and fascinating tidbits from articles in local Black newspapers from the 1900s. This six-episode podcast takes listeners on an intimate journey into Minnesota's past through the experiences of this one trailblazing couple.

The Robinsons' lives are a window into the ambition, discrimination and resistance that shaped the city that would become ground zero for an unprecedented global racial reckoning.

A new episode and bonus material will be released every week on this page. The Minnesota Star Tribune will be hosting events to help spur community conversation and action about the history in the podcast. You can sign up for alerts about the episodes and events here. Got questions? Send them to ghostofachance@startribune.com.

Credits

Reporter

Eric Roper

Writer and Producer

Melissa Townsend

Executive Producer

Jenni Pinkley

Editor

MaryJo Webster

Fact Checking

Eric Roper

MaryJo Webster

Sound Design

Marcel Malekebu

Contributing editors

Maria Reeve

Suki Dardarian

Catherine Preus

Legal Review

Randy Lebedoff

Art and design

Anna Boone

Brock Kaplan

Mike Rice

Promotional video

Amanda Anderson

Matt Gillmer

Special thanks to

Kyndell Harkness, Zoë Jackson, Laura McCallum, James Shiffer, Nancy Yang, Casey Darnell, Laura Yuen, Tane Danger, and members of the community who served as advisors

about the writer

Eric Roper