Wisconsin Life

Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, they say. While that may be an exaggeration, come St. Patricks Day in Milwaukee, the city is awash with green beer and shamrocks. Writer Shauna Singh Baldwin married an Irishman and discovered her own bit of Irishness at Milwaukee’s annual parade.

The pandemic has had a big impact on all of us, including kids. Take Cora Grube. She is 11 years-old and in 5th grade. Cora also really wants to do her part to help keep her family, community, and the world safe from COVID-19. She sat down with her stepmom, WPR digital editor Andrea Anderson, to talk about what it is like to be a kid during the pandemic, how it has changed things for them and how they have risen to the challenge.

Clint Greendeer, a Madison-based musician and member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, was given an old box of cassette tapes belonging to Greendeer’s late father, Conroy Greendeer, Sr. The content of the tapes ranged from powwow songs to ceremonial songs, as well as Ho-Chunk language lessons, mostly recorded by Greendeer Sr. Many of the tapes were deteriorating, so Greendeer’s family suggested that someone should preserve the recordings. So, Greendeer decided to take on the task of restoring, digitizing, and archiving the songs.

The United States is a nation of immigrants and the pressure to assimilate can be great. Some people are compelled to speak English and leave other languages behind. Contributor Eric Dregni takes a look back at his own family’s relationship with language. Production by WPR’s Brad Kolberg.

In the late 2000s, Apple popularized the phrase “There’s an app for that,” highlighting the abundance of apps available for the iPhone. But when Annie Vang of Madison got into app development around the same time, she didn’t see programs made in the Hmong language. Producer Hope Kirwan has more on the app she built and the way it’s keeping native speakers and beginners connected to the language.

Wisconsin comedian and host of the “Manitowoc Minute”, Charlie Berens is at it again; this time with his first book landing on the New York Times best-sellers list. WPR “BETA” host Doug Gordon recently caught up with Berens where he asked him about the difference between the “Manitowoc Minute” guy and the real Charlie Berens.

In Milwaukee’s historic Bronzeville neighborhood, a museum is resurrecting. America’s Black Holocaust Museum was founded in 1988, closed in 2008, and transformed into an online museum. Now, a new physical museum stands, waiting to welcome visitors on Friday, February 25, 2022. Before understanding the museum’s history and purpose, it helps to get to know its founder, Dr. James Cameron. He’s supposedly the only person in the United States to survive a lynching.

With long cold winters, many of us develop a deep and sometimes fraught relationship with our winter gear. Christi Clancy tells us about her struggle and search for a new coat.

Comedian Esteban Touma is taking time to reflect on cold weather in Wisconsin. Born and raised in Ecuador, the state’s severe winters have tested him. But, an even greater challenge for Touma has been acclimating to how much Wisconsinites like to TALK about the weather.

If you’re competing in the biathlon at the Olympics, you have to be really good at not just one, but two sports: Nordic skiing and rifle shooting. Team USA has never medaled in the biathlon, but eight biathletes are hoping to change that at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing. Three of those hopefuls have Wisconsin ties, including Deedra Irwin of Pulaski.