Welcome
2 below zero is a Minneapolis-based nonprofit dedicated to producing radio documentaries that start the conversation.
Our mission is to produce media that delve into human curiosities, inventions, taboos, wonders. To ask questions that are difficult to answer—and whose answers can be uncomfortable, albeit compelling, to hear. To turn over rocks, probe tender spots and expose the private impact of public policy. To find delight and insight in surprising places. And to illuminate in some small way the unseen, unheard and rarely felt textures and rhythms of daily life.
News
In January 2012, 2 below zero won a commission to document the “gold rush” taking place in western North Dakota. Funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Association for Independents in Radio, this challenge—called "Localore—was a fiercely competitive process in which 10 producers (from a total of 130) were selected to thrust public media into the next era.
This groundbreaking commission pushes us in dynamic new areas. We’ll be working with some of the nation’s best digital media designers, news professionals and photographers/videographers to produce a robust, multi-faceted series of stories to appear online, on radio, on TV, in print—even, thanks to a public art component, on the storefronts of small-town North Dakota. Our local partner is Prairie Public Broadcasting. Keep an eye here for developments!
In June 2011, our documentary “No Brother of Mine,” examining the efficacy
of post-prison sex-offender laws on public safety, won a regional RTDNA
Edward R. Murrow award.
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Public radio listeners across the country are tuning in to 2 below zero's latest documentary on U.S. sex offender policies. The following stations have broadcast or have agreed to air No Brother of Mine: WBEZ (Chicago), KFAI (Minneapolis/St. Paul), WGBH (Boston), WCAI/WNAN (Cape Cod/Martha's Vineyard/Nantucket, Massachusetts), New Hampshire Public Radio, WYSO (Yellow Springs, Ohio), KXOT (Tacoma/Olympia, Washington), KLCC (Eugene, Oregon), and WFIU (Bloomington, Indiana).
On November 17, 2 below zero received a resounding $3,750 in individual contributions from 42 donors during Give to the Max Day through GiveMN.org. Thank you, each and every one of you!
In June, 2 below zero received two national awards for "Death’s Footprint": RTNDA’s Edward R. Murrow Award and Public Radio News Directors Inc. (PRNDI) Award.
2 below zero has received a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism to explore sex offender policies that focus on post-prison punishments, such as civil commitment and residency requirement laws. This documentary project is tentatively called "No Brother of Mine."
Grantmakers in Film & Electronic Media has added "No Brother of Mine" to its database. The database is designed to help radio, television and film producers find funding for long-term projects.
Todd Melby of 2 below zero produced a three-part series called "Green Last Requests" for The Environment Report, a show that airs on 100-plus public radio stations in more than 20 states and the District of Columbia. An associated documentary is called "Death’s Footprint." You can hear both here.
Our documentary on compulsive shopping — "Consuming Desire" — recently aired on WGBH in Boston and KRTS Marfa Public Radio in Far West Texas. Listen to it in our Docs section.