Wisconsin Life

Gardening season is upon us. For people blessed with a green thumb, this is their moment to shine … they’re sowing the seeds now to reap the rewards later. For others, the idea of planning a garden bed is daunting, especially if you have bad track record for keeping plants alive. But as Mark Griffin tells us, there is hope for the most unskilled gardeners.

UW-Oshkosh has completed a massive oral history project documenting the campus’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As WPR’s Joe Schulz reports, it could serve as a resource to help future historians understand the pandemic’s impact on higher education in the United States.

Many of us are grateful for everything our mothers taught us. For Jana Rose Schleis, she’s thankful that her mom — Betty Schleis of Two Creeks, Wisconsin — taught her how to be beautiful.

Menominee tribal member Rae Elaine Tourtillott was 18 when she went missing on the tribe’s reservation during the fall of 1986. Tribal police and the FBI found her remains the following spring. The case remains unsolved and no arrests have been made in connection with her death. Tourtillott’s daughter, Alysse Arce, and cousin, Andrea Lemke-Rochon, sat down to talk about her with WPR’s Danielle Kaeding. They also shared their hopes for a new Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force.

A major event in sports history took place in September 1943. Two teams played in the first championship series of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. As writer Dean Robbins tells us, both teams were from Wisconsin.

Sometimes when we’re far from home, it’s nice to have something familiar around to keep us connected. Writer Eric Dregni has lived in Norway and Wisconsin. And by pure coincidence, he and his son have found a connection in both places with the same, familiar thing: a stave church.

Here’s a classic joke: A miner, a sailor and a badger walk into a busy bar. Actually, it’s not a bar … it’s the Wisconsin state flag. Dive in to find out what all the symbols mean on this state symbol. This story comes from a listener question as part of our WHYsconsin project.

Every author has their own way of writing — they get in the zone, channel their creativity, and then (hopefully!) words start flowing onto the page or screen.

There’s a writer in Madison that does this by writing in Morse code. Author Steven Salmon shares his experience of being a professional writer with Cerebral palsy while also living in a group home. He calls this story “The Tapping Author” and it’s read by WPR’s Norman Gilliland.

Wisconsin seems to have a pretty good sense of humor about its clichés. Beer? Brats? Cheese? Bring it on.

And if we’re making a list, let’s add polka!

A question came in from Josie, an elementary school student in Mineral Point, who asked, “How did the polka become a dance and a tradition?” So WPR’s WHYsconsin followed up with her and answered her question.

Wisconsin senator Gaylord Nelson helped organize the first Earth Day in 1970, after growing concerns for the environment. Since then, it’s been a day to celebrate our natural resources while also drawing attention to increasing threats to them. 

Madison writer Araceli Esparza wanted to take this Earth Day to do her own reflecting on Wisconsin’s environment through poetry.