Laura McCallum
Minnesota Life Team Leader
Food & CultureA North Dakota native, McCallum came to the Minnesota Star Tribune after nearly 27 years at Minnesota Public Radio News as a reporter, editor and newsroom leader. She spent four years as Politics & Government Editor at the Star Tribune and now leads the Minnesota Life team in the Food & Culture Department. She is an avid reader who occasionally reviews books.
Latest from Laura McCallum
How the Star Tribune is covering the 2024 election
Our mission this election cycle is to provide the facts and context you need. Here’s how we’ll do that.
October 8, 2024
Review: With Peggy Flanagan in headlines, Minnesota’s first elected woman lieutenant governor tells her story
Local nonfiction: In “Rise to the Challenge,” Marlene M. Johnson writes about her two terms in office, decades ago — and caregiving for her spouse after he suffered a traumatic brain injury.
September 19, 2024
Book shows how ‘True Believer’ Hubert Humphrey made deals, fought injustice, skinny-dipped with JFK
NONFICTION: James Traub delivers a big biography of an exuberant champion of liberal causes.
February 7, 2024
Curious about the great Willa Cather? Start with 'Chasing Bright Medusas'
NONFICTION: This slim homage to one of the great American writers is an absorbing introduction.
November 8, 2023
Review: 'The Secret Gate,' by Mitchell Zuckoff
NONFICTION: The true story of an American diplomat, an Afghan writer and a dangerous escape from Taliban rule.
April 28, 2023
Review: 'Empress of the Nile,' by Lynne Olson
NONFICTION: Lynne Olson's ninth book of history profiles a fiery Egyptologist who led an international campaign.
March 17, 2023
Review: 'Cabin Fever,' by Michael Smith and Jonathan Franklin
NONFICTION: "Cabin Fever" takes us inside the Zaandam, which had an unanticipated passenger — the coronavirus.
June 17, 2022
Review: 'Always Remember Your Name,' by Andra & Tatiana Bucci, translated from Italian by Ann Goldstein
The Bucci sisters were 4 and 6 when they were sent to Auschwitz.
January 14, 2022
Feds won't oppose Walz's request for deportation reprieve for Ethiopian woman who killed husband
The immigration court must still approve the request.
October 16, 2021
REVIEW: 'American Made: What Happens to People When Work Disappears,' by Farah Stockman
NONFICTION: Three union workers whose factory closes illustrate the challenges for America's blue-collar workforce.
October 15, 2021
Review: 'All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days,' by Rebecca Donner
NONFICTION: The riveting story of the only American to help lead a resistance group against the Nazis.
August 13, 2021
