Pop culture with the studio door open.
Donna & Steve mixes entertainment headlines, radio games, and everyday detours into a fast, loose conversation. One minute it is Tom Cruise, Cate Blanchett, or Snoop Dogg ice cream; the next, it is stomach noises, forgotten headphones, tax refunds, or cafeteria chili.
PRESS PLAY
Donna & Steve is a casual entertainment show built around celebrity news, pop-culture games, and the kind of workplace banter that keeps interrupting the plan. It moves quickly. A segment might begin with Tom Cruise returning for another Top Gun, Cate Blanchett news, Dave Chappelle chatter, or Snoop Dogg selling ice cream, then veer into field-trip weather, unpaid cafeteria omelets, tax refunds, or a stomach gurgle at exactly the wrong time. That looseness is the show’s real engine. The pop-culture items matter, but the reactions matter just as much. Donna and Steve come across as a contrasting pair who are comfortable correcting each other, pausing for a protein bar, needling a compliment, and letting a live moment stay awkward long enough to become funny. The pace is brisk, and the tone is warm. It sounds like radio made by people who know the clock, the breaks, the games, and the sponsor reads, but are still willing to let ordinary life barge in. Trivia gives the show shape. College of Pop Culture Knowledge brings in celebrity names and caller energy, while Whose Voice Is It Anyway turns recognition into a small competitive mess. The show also has a practical streak. It talks about brushing teeth around coffee, marijuana breathalyzers, restaurant budgets with kids, home improvement, and what people actually do with tax refund money. None of it is treated as grand wisdom. That is part of the charm. Big entertainment stories and tiny irritations sit at the same table. A farm can become a “farm farm.” Brunch can become a referendum on parenting logistics. A call to the cafeteria can end the hour. The result is not a polished recap machine. It is a companionable, slightly chaotic pop-culture hang for people who like their celebrity updates with side conversations, live corrections, and just enough practical nonsense to make the room feel real.
Made for: Best for listeners who like celebrity updates, radio games, and casual morning-show banter that does not stay neatly on topic. It suits people who enjoy pop culture more as conversation fuel than as formal reporting.
What sets it apart: The show’s edge is its lived-in looseness: entertainment headlines share space with cafeteria errands, parenting logistics, health complaints, and small technical hiccups. It feels less like a recap desk and more like two familiar voices trying to keep the hour moving while life keeps interrupting.
Donna Valentine, longtime music radio DJ and dog lover, enjoys spending time uninterrupted in her multi-level home. TV Personality Steve Patterson, a millennial father of three, thinks there’s no such thing as too much cologne. He calls her “Crazy Aunt Donna,” and he calls himself, “Stevie Boy.” She ignores him. It’s the “Grammar Police,” aka “Donna & Steve,” as heard 9-12n CST weekdays on myTalk 107.1 FM radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Donna and Steve turn entertainment updates, games and everyday disagreements into quick, escalating comedy built on their contrasting reactions.
Donna & Steve turns an entertainment-radio hour into a running comic negotiation between Donna and Steve. Celebrity updates and music news supply the agenda, while their disagreements over pronunciation, slang and brunch provide the Conversational Comedy.
A stinky-pants confession becomes office debate, exactly when you need celebrity chatter with actual chemistry.
Press play if you want
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A difficult Savannah Guthrie segment gets careful attention before the hour has to shift gears.
Savannah Guthrie's account of what happened to her mother gives this Donna and Steve hour its emotional center, and the hosts stay close to the practical questions grief never quite resolves.
A studio puppy and a terracotta-army tangent give this loose radio episode its warm, oddball shape.
A puppy visit gives this loose radio episode its warmest center, with Lulu, a husky golden retriever mix, bringing out the hosts' most relaxed teasing as they admire her, joke about shedding, and talk through her recovery from being spayed.
Two-minute TMZ newsroom rundowns on celebrity deaths, divorces, lawsuits, and courtroom news.
A lighthearted radio show segment featuring casual banter about dogs, pop culture, and upcoming community events.
Colleen Lindstrom fills in for Donna Valentine on the Donna & Steve show, discussing Steve Patterson's upcoming tooth extraction and the pain he's experiencing.
Donna and Steve host Sarah Bhimani from the Animal Humane Society, who discusses the organization's services and the upcoming Walk for Animals event on May 2nd.
A radio show segment where hosts discuss pop culture topics like Grey's Anatomy, Netflix shows, and Oscar movies, while humorously addressing a host's upcoming tooth extraction.
The hosts discuss the Oscars, Conan O'Brien's hosting performance, and comparisons to Nikki Glaser hosting the Golden Globes.
This episode features a discussion about the movie 'Project Hail Mary' starring Ryan Gosling, focusing on its production without CGI or green screens despite being set in space.
Andrea's September ledger gives Donna 50 wheel points and Steve 29, then counts 13 wins for Donna against seven for Steve.
Steve found Boo through a Craigslist ad for a “free, plump, lovable pug” while he was in college.