Wisconsin Life

Wisconsin Public Radio

Wisconsin Life” celebrates the people, places, history and culture of the state. Come with us as we kayak the Mississippi River, interview musicians in Milwaukee, and bake pasties in Rhinelander. We connect you with diverse people and ideas through short

  • Reducing the world to English: My job as a court interpreter
    Every day in courthouses across the state, people’s lives are affected in consequential ways. Author Shauna Singh Baldwin of Milwaukee suggests the stakes can be even higher when there’s a language barrier involved.
    2 October 2024, 10:00 am
  • Cheering for the Milwaukee Brewers … AND the Chicago Cubs
    The rivalry between Milwaukee Brewers fans and Chicago Cubs fans is heated. All the more so this season, after Craig Counsell went from being the Brewers manager to the Cubs manager. But there is such a thing as a Cubs-Brewers fan — Milwaukee freelance journalist Tom Kertscher is one of them.
    27 September 2024, 6:25 pm
  • Harry Houdini and his unbreakable chain to Appleton
    Harry Houdini was a master of illusion. Appleton officials have paid tribute to his talents with a museum exhibit and naming rights…all because he spent some time in the city as a child. But, did he love the city as much as it loves him? Does it matter? WPR’s Corrinne Hess takes a barrel ride through the Houdini’s chains to Wisconsin.
    25 September 2024, 10:00 am
  • The Rebirth of Jazz Saxophonist Frank Morgan
    Imagine making it as a musician not only once, but at two distinct moments in your life. That’s what happened to jazz saxophonist Frank Morgan of Milwaukee. Author Dean Robbins brings us the story on the musician’s rebirth and stardom.
    20 September 2024, 10:00 am
  • Wisconsin 101: Racine Belles Movie Costume
    In the early 1940s, many women stepped up to the plate to become professional baseball players after most men were drafted to serve in the military in World War II. They became players in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.  Heewone Lim brings us the story of the players on the Racine Belles and specifically their uniform — which was a dress. It was made famous in the 1992 film, “A League of Their Own.” One of the movie’s costumes is a part of the Wisconsin 101 collection, which tells the history of the state through objects.
    18 September 2024, 10:00 am
  • The goose pond: Finding healing in presence
    Sometimes, an ordinary experience surprises us — turning the mundane into something extraordinary. Writer Crystal Chan felt this on a walk she took in her neighborhood with a friend, reminding them of the power of being present and enjoying the moment with geese in an Oshkosh pond.
    13 September 2024, 10:00 am
  • ‘We miss him sorely’: Remembering Milwaukee firefighter Doran Kemp Jr.
    Doran Kemp Jr. was a firefighter with the Milwaukee Fire Department. During his 25-year career, he helped recruit several people of color and women to the force. But earlier this summer, he passed away from cancer. WPR’s Evan Casey has a look at the legacy he left behind.
    11 September 2024, 10:00 am
  • Meet the Janesville microphone maker capturing kicks and goals around the world
    Waves are everywhere: they make up light, color and heat. In a very literal sense, waves connect us all. WPR’s Avery Lea Rogers is obsessed with how these waves turn into sound. When they visited specialized microphone maker Klover Products in Janesville, Rogers found that these high-tech microphones connect Wisconsin to the world.
    6 September 2024, 10:00 am
  • Milwaukee Meets The Beatles
    It was 60 years ago today that The Beatles played their one and only show in in Wisconsin. To mark the historic event, we’re dipping into the archives and revisiting this story from writer Dean Robbins, who tells us about the madness that greeted John, Paul, George and Ringo on their first American tour and their stop in Milwaukee on September 4, 1964.
    4 September 2024, 10:00 am
  • Being a kid again: Finding fun and connections at adult summer camp
    Going to camp can be the highlight of some kids’ summers. But what if you didn’t to go to sleepaway camp as a child? Or if you were one of the lucky ones, perhaps you’ve been yearning for those glory days. More summer camps for adults are popping up to fill that void. Ayisha Jaffer attended one in Wisconsin to see what was driving campers to pack their bags and bunk it for the weekend.
    30 August 2024, 10:00 am
  • Capturing the wonders of Wisconsin’s night sky with astrophotographer Rick Wayne
    Photographers tend to spend a lot of time with their subjects. For astrophotographer Rick Wayne of Madison, his subject for much of his life has been space. What started off as an interest in taking better pictures soon became something much greater, a sense of glory. On one clear night, audio producer Alexandra Salmon joined Wayne to take photographs of the night sky at the Yanna Astronomical Research Station in Brooklyn, Wisconsin.
    28 August 2024, 10:00 am
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