Minnesota was the first state to take Big Tobacco to trial in 1998. The biggest lawsuit in the state’s history forced the tobacco industry to take down cigarette billboards and release millions of internal documents that filled a Minneapolis warehouse.

When vaping e-cigarettes gained popularity among youth in the late 2010s, the Minnesota Attorney General’s office sued again, this time against market leader Juul Labs and the company’s Big Tobacco investor Altria. The lawsuit lifted thousands of new tobacco documents into the public archive.

KFAI's Michelle Bruch talked to people who worked on both trials — on both sides of the case — 25 years apart.

Support for MinneCulture on KFAI is provided by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund. Season 8 of MinneCulture is hosted by John Gebretatose and edited by Julie Censullo.

Music: 'Ants in my pants' - SUPERARE