Initially a writer who gained some prominence for his contributions to literary magazines, Garrison Keillor gained wider notice during the 1980s for the homespun view of Midwestern farm life he presented in his weekly public radio show, A Prairie Home Companion. First broadcast in Minneapolis and later relocated to New York City, NY, the variety show’s assortment of American music acts and comedy sketches is built around Keillor’s centerpiece monologue, “The News from Lake Wobegon.” Keillor’s portrayal of this fictional Minnesota farming town draws from remembrances of his own childhood, and draws listeners by its loving depiction and gentle tweaking of Scandinavian American values and folk ways.