WHYSCONSIN
The Search For The Synthesizers Behind The ‘All Things Considered’ Theme
Don Voegeli wrote one of the most famous songs in public radio history — the theme for NPR's "All Things Considered — from his office in Madison, Wisconsin. But, the synthesizers behind that composition have disappeared. Where did they go?
This story is part of Wisconsin Life and WPR's WHYsconsin project. What have you always wondered about Wisconsin, its people or its culture that you want WHYsconsin to look into? You ask the questions, and we find the answers!
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Book Across The Bay: Lake Superior’s Starry, Nighttime Race
For 24 years, the annual tradition called Book Across The Bay has brought hundreds of skiers and snowshoers to Chequamegon Bay in Northern Wisconsin. The mission: To cross a frozen, 10-kilometer stretch of Lake Superior under the night sky.
Moms Don’t Cry: The Challenge Of Modeling Emotional Health For Your Kids
Takeyla Benton has always tried to be strong for her kids. But, the Madison storyteller wonders if that has come at a price.
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It’s a rare thing to get a glimpse of yourself from the outside.
Joni Mitchell Skates On Lake Mendota—And Into Music History
This story brings together a mid-winter ice storm, the southeast shore of Lake Mendota in Madison, ice skating, and a series of photographs that became a record album cover. Dean Robbins takes us back in time to a cold February photo session on the bleak frozen lake.
Duckmobile Gives You a Good Reason to Quack Up
A hailstorm in 2006 left Jen Mulder with a problem. What was she going to do with her severely dented vehicle? The solution came quickly to this Madison artist.
“It was a 1989 Toyota Camry so it didn’t really have much value,” says Mulder.
Dollmaker Sews Kindness and Awareness Through Dolls
Amy Jandrisevits believes everyone has something in life that they’re good at and it’s our obligation as people to use that something to make the world a better place.
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‘You Are Stardust:’ A Mother’s Lesson From Rib Mountain
Author Jill Sisson Quinn likes spending time at Rib Mountain State Park outside Wausau. She recently took a hike there with her young son for a lesson about our place in the universe.
Wisconsin 101: Paramount Records, Wisconsin’s Home For The Blues
To sell phonographic cabinets, a furniture business in Port Washington decided to start a record label. It became one of the leading producers of blues records in the 1920s and made pioneering recordings of some of the nation’s great musicians, including Louis Armstrong and Ma Rainey.
Ice Harvesters Keep A 19th-Century Tradition Alive, One Block At A Time
In 1911, the Milwaukee-area manufacturer Alonzo Pauling gathered $75,000 in capital and founded the Pewaukee Lake Ice Company with his son, Harry. They bought 18 acres of land and started work building one of Wisconsin’s largest icehouses.
I Just Called To Say I’m Not Coming To Your Super Bowl Party
With the Super Bowl right around the corner, Madison comedian Esteban Touma is struggling with whether or not to attend his friend’s party. Wisconsin Life has obtained the transcripts of several voicemails left by Touma for his friend, Charlie.
Complex Grief: ‘I Am A Little Damaged, But I Am Oh So Good’
We all grieve in different ways. It’s painful. It lingers. It’s complicated.
In working through her own grief, Nikotris Perkins recently wrote about the heartache of losing her daughter for the storytelling organization Ex Fabula.
Fola And Haley: A Friendship Story
There’s a national fellowship program that brings young, African leaders to college campuses across the U.S. UW-Madison is one of the schools that partners with the Mandela Washington Fellowship. The most recent group included Folajogun Akinlami of Nigeria.
No Rubber-Roni Here: Holmen’s Student-Grown Cafeteria Food Defies School Lunch Stereotypes
The only time Holmen High School junior Gracie Kromke is exposed to the stereotypical bad lunch — rubber-roni, slapping food on plates — is when she hears stories about them.
“That’s nothing close to what I experience on a daily basis,” she said.
