Wisconsin Life

When a pet passes away, we may want to keep something to help remember them, like an old collar or their favorite toy. In some cases, people may want a part of the pet itself — perhaps a tooth embedded in a ring, a small bone on a necklace, or some of their fur preserved in a glass pendant. For that one-of-a-kind memorial, some people turn to a very specialized artist in Madison named Lisa Lauren and her business, Kettle Black Silver.

Frog Bay Tribal National Park sits on the shores of Lake Superior. It’s on the land of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, also known as the Anishinaabe.

Frog Bay is the first tribal national park in the country, and for the last several summers, it’s been home to a collaborative archeological project between tribal leaders and university archeologists. The goal is not just to find new artifacts in the ground, but imagine a new way for archeologists to work with tribal members. A new podcast from our partners at Wisconsin Humanities called “Human Powered” brings us their story.

In 1869, when the range lights were built, Baileys Harbor was considered the only safe harbor north of Milwaukee. The town was a busy logging center, shipping cordwood, cedar post poles, and hemlock bark to other Great Lakes ports. WPR’s Norman Gilliland takes us on a tour of the lights and tells us more about their history.

The Milwaukee Bucks are NBA Champions for the first time in 50 years. A huge part of their success is because of forward Giannis Antetokounmpo — a two-time NBA MVP and NBA Defensive Player of the Year. He was named this year’s NBA Finals MVP after his dominating performance brought the title back to Milwaukee.

WPR’s Brad Kolberg recently talked with Mirin Fader, a staff writer at The Ringer and author of the new book, “GIANNIS: The Improbable Rise of an NBA MVP, which was released August 10, 2021. It’s about Antetokounmpo’s Greek upbringing and his journey to basketball stardom.

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.

From his earliest memories, Ryan Erisman of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin knew he wanted to be a part of the United States Armed Forces. He became a Marine and eventually served in Iraq. Erisman says his belief of treating others with respect was felt by those around him. He left the Marine Corps in November 2007.

Erisman’s girlfriend, Treva Wetherell, interviewed him about his experiences as part of StoryCorps’ Military Voices Initiative, which is made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Nigel and Amy O’Shea bought their first home in Madison in 2013. Now, they’ve departed Wisconsin with their daughter after 15 years of building a life here. They traded their two-bedroom bungalow for a Toyota RV and headed west to be closer to family. Nigel wanted to pay one last poetic tribute to the house that he is so sad to leave behind.

Over the last year, the global pandemic has helped amplify historic racial tensions within the U.S. This includes ongoing racial struggles the Asian American community has experienced for quite some time. Mixee Vang of Sun Prairie has been thinking back on these experiences in her own life, specifically the problem of the “model minority” myth.

More than 20,000 people in Wisconsin experience homelessness, according to a 2019 report from the Institute for Community Alliances. Among those are vendors for Street Pulse newspaper, a Dane County publication whose mission is to amplify the voices of individuals experiencing homelessness and encourage advocacy in the community. WPR’s Alyssa Allemand introduces us to one of the Street Pulse vendors.

Taking the kids camping usually sounds like a great idea, until it’s not. Author BJ Hollars brings us a story about the trials and triumphs of the family camping trip near Eau Claire.