As hunters flock to the woods for gun deer season, their days will be steeped in tradition and contemplation. For writer and forester Ron Weber of Weyerhaueser, this time has always been about more than the hunt. It’s about appreciating the world and memories swirling around him.

Eight railroad depots still serve passengers in Wisconsin for Amtrak trains that travel across the southern half of the state. But once, there were a few hundred  rail stations here. While many of those buildings are gone, reporter Chuck Quirmbach tells “Wisconsin Life” others remain … with new uses.

For Yauo Yang, inclusion is a guiding principle. He moved to Wisconsin as a child and went on to join the Army National Guard, where he taught fellow U.S. soldiers about Hmong history. After his service, he became a pastor and founded a church in central Wisconsin. Yang shares his experience as part of StoryCorps’ Military Voices Initiative, which is made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Editor’s note: Parts of this story describe battleground violence.

When the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior in 1975, 29 people lost their lives. To this day, it’s considered the largest shipwreck on the Great Lakes. WPR’s Bridgit Bowden brings us this story about a children’s book about the Fitzgerald, and the author who wrote it: “Ellie’s Pursuit of the Mighty Fitz” by Mckenzie Lee Williams.

In the early 1960s, New York City’s “Queen of the Beatniks” was a young woman from Chippewa Falls. Judy Henske wowed audiences for decades with her deep, soulful voice … sadly passing away in 2022 at age 85. Writer Patti See looks back on Henske’s talent and western Wisconsin’s influence on the singer.

When you’re driving through Wisconsin, you might pass the time by trying to spot out-of-state license plates or unusual billboards. Some Wisconsinites, however, are on the lookout for wild veggies, specifically, asparagus. But why is asparagus so prominent along the roadsides in Wisconsin, and how did it get there? WPR’s Sarah Lehr digs into the answer as part of WPR’s WHYsconsin project.

Spooky tales around Halloween have made their way into listeners’ ears across the country since, almost, the birth of radio. In the spirit of this long tradition, we bring you, “Emily and the Haunting of the Orpheum Theater,”  created by WPR’s senior spooky correspondent  A. Emily Ralph.

Everyone likes a good ghost story, especially around this time of year. Dorothy Malone of Milwaukee shared a childhood encounter with the supernatural at Ex Fabula’s StorySlam ‘Identity’ event held in March 2020. She talks about seeing ghosts as a little girl and how it shaped her interactions and gifts later in life.

Fifty years after it first terrified — and amused — audiences, “The Giant Spider Invasion” is crawling back onto the screen. The cult classic about extraterrestrial, blood thirty spiders was filmed in the Gleason, Wisconsin area and is beloved by campy horror fans. It even got the Mystery Science Theater 3000 treatment.

Now, “The Giant Spider Invasion” is being reimagined for its 50th anniversary, with new scenes filmed in northern Wisconsin and a theater release around Halloween. Dan Davies is a Wisconsin native himself who has been cast as the lead actor in the new footage. He talked with WPR’s Shereen Siewert about the film.

Lilies of the valley are often considered a beautiful, yet high-maintenance plant. For writer Nancy Jorgenson, they will forever connect her to her beloved grandmother, who found virtue in caring for them. Caregiving was deeply rooted in her grandmother, who dreamed of being a nurse. But, society had different plans for a woman of her era. Jorgenson reflects on her grandmother’s devotion to her family, dreams, and flowers.