LATEST STORIES
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.
The Full Moon Faux Pas
The super blood wolf moon is coming! While this sounds creepy, it’s actually just a close-up lunar eclipse that turns the moon red from the Earth’s shadow. As people prepare to catch a glimpse of this phenomenon early next week, it got writer Chris Hardie reflecting on another type of spectacle: his very own full moon faux pas.
Musician Adapts To Limb Difference, Works With Kids
Tony Memmel is a Waukesha native who is living his passion: a career in music. He plays guitar and piano, writes and records his original music, tours the country playing gigs, and works with kids – teaching music and spreading his message of positivity and perseverance.
The Lands We Share: Drew Dettmann
In the 1950s, there were over 100,000 dairy farms in Wisconsin. Today, fewer than 10,000 remain.
The Dettmann family, descendants of German immigrants, established a small dairy farm in Johnson Creek in 1902.
The Magical FFA Jacket
Moving away from Wisconsin can be an exciting adventure for some people. For others, it can be a tough and lonely journey. Writer and Wisconsin native June Melby reflects on the time she moved out west and how a vintage jacket helped her feel a little less homesick.
Hibernaculum: Woman Contemplates Hibernation As Winter Coping Strategy
Before natural historians understood that some birds fly thousands of miles south each winter, they looked for other ways to explain their disappearance. Birds were like snakes, they suggested, burrowing for themselves a hibernaculum, an earthy pocket in which to pass the winter.
The Badger Within: Comedian Charlie Berens On Loving, Lampooning Wisconsin
Geez Louise, comedian Charlie Berens has had a big year. As host of the Manitowoc Minute, he’s performing sold out shows across Wisconsin and his online comedy news show is continuing to rack up tens of thousands of views.
Madison Comedian’s Cell Phone Breaks Up With Him
I bet SOME of you…are a little addicted to your phones. Keeping up with texts, social media, news updates, & cat videos…some days, you might spend more time with your phones than the actual living, breathing people in your lives.
Wisconsin Life # 613: Telescopes and Treble Clef
Wisconsin Life host Angela Fitzgerald explores the Milwaukee Astronomical Society’s Observatory in New Berlin. This three-acre property is home to a group of amateur astronomers who maintain nine observatory buildings and telescopes.
Accordion Is All In The Family
Lifelong musician Ruth Marty still remembers the first song she learned to play. Her father taught her on accordion. “He was the one that had a little schwyzeröergeli, which is a little button accordion, and he wanted me to play that,” Ruth said.
Effigy Mound Tour Provides Unique Perspective On First Nation’s History
Aaron Bird Bear is the Assistant Dean for Student Diversity programs in the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin Madison. He gives tours of the campus, described as the most archaeologically rich campus in the United States.
Stevens Point Artist Creates Buzz With Encaustic Art
Find Jessie Fritsch’s booth at a local art fair, and a crowd of curious onlookers usually isn’t far behind. Fritsch specializes in encaustic art, or paintings using melted beeswax.
“It’s considered one of the first forms of easel painting,” Fritsch said.
