Doty Land

The thoughts and perspectives about university and college students in the presidential election are examined in an interview with Mira Goodman from New York State, who is spending her fall in the Badger State, helping to engineer a solid turnout at the polls. Podcaster Gregory Humphrey blends political nostalgia through sound and concludes with a commentary on his first vote for president in 1980 in his rural village of Hancock. 

With thanks to small-town librarians across the nation, this podcast looks at three powerful writers and researchers who have allowed deep insight into the horror unleashed by weather phenomena.  From the 1900 hurricane that smashed into a port city killing 8,000, to the freakish winter weather system in 1888 that killed 500 people on the Midwest plains, many of them children, to the 12,000 dead people in London’s smog in 1952, these stories will move you and never leave you once the books are finished. Former broadcaster Gregory Humphrey has produced another professional and engaging podcast.

The softer tone of our politics is recalled from the days when a young WDOR radio reporter put on a shirt and tie to cover national politicians.  Driving a Chevet to the Labor Day rally with Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro or thrilling to the enormity of President Ronald Reagan stumping for this tax policy, there is a reminder that our politics while still rough and tumble, allowed for less bombast and meanness among the electorate. If you yearn for politics the way it once was, this professionally produced podcast by Gregory Humphrey is your free trip to the mid-1980s. 

The 1883 blaze at the Newhall House in Milwaukee killed approximately 100 people.  The interesting people who had lodged at the hotel the night of the blaze, including Tom Thumb, an actor, politicians along with two chambermaids from central Wisconsin are part of a story about the intersections of life at the time of a tragic fire.  What brought those to the Newhall House that night? What caused the fire? How did those who survived do it, and how were they affected by their experiences that night? The book focuses on a handful of those who were at the Newhall that night through their lives before the fire, their activities the night of the fire, and in the years following the fire.  Host Gregory Humphrey has produced a professional podcast about an amazing book.

The world can be much more enjoyable when viewed from the perspective of a 9-year-old boy.  Rylan Spates, known to many as PB & Bacon 6,  shares his thoughts about everything from spiral stairsteps to rollercoasters.  He shows broadcasting savvy and makes for many enjoyable smiles and laughs along the way.  A wonderful podcast to start off a New Year!

With fondness and laughter Bruce Miller, George Manesis, and Gregory Humphrey trek back 41 years to reminisce about the Wausau, Wisconsin broadcasting school.  From how these young men saw themselves at the time, to how radio impacts their lives today, this podcast episode surely mirrors the hundreds of graduates over the years.  From the school owner, Ray Szmanda, to the iconic Scott Street Pub these three guys regale memories that will transport all those who once harbored 'radio fever' to a place of youthful nostalgia.  An episode that has a professional touch,  a human connection.

Fond memories of Gregory Humphrey's first day on WDOR radio with Elvis' music, recollections of Dan Rather one Sunday morning on a Texas radio station, and a severe thunderstorm in Sturgeon Bay when a Brewer baseball game is knocked off the air as callers light up the phone lines!  Funny memories with another Doty Land professional-sounding podcast.

With contemporaneous accounts of smiles and trying times while dealing with a friend's  Alzheimer's disease come stories of laughter and also tenderness.  The final chapter of the life of Albert Trull, and the way it weaved with the personal life of podcaster Gregory Humphrey as his father was dying, makes for a somber podcast.  But one that is aimed to reach out and ask what role all can play with the elderly people needing friendship and companionship within our communities. 

When a German soldier in WWII acts with compassion to save the lives of Americans what does that tell us about humanity?  Those types of acts of compassion on the battlefield are explored in an upcoming documentary.  Stephanie Manesis, director, and producer of the film talks not only about the multi-year project but also about how creativity has manifested itself in her life.  Podcaster Gregory Humphrey notes it is a joy to have such a great conversationalist to interview. 

Podcaster Gregory Humphrey goes back to childhood days in Hancock, Wisconsin to prove weather of all sorts should be viewed up close.  Nothing is better than grandma's arm around a shoulder as the thunder crashes or as a boy walking into the bracing winds of a winter snowstorm.  Nostalgic warm memories for anyone wishing to trek back in time.