Somali refugee fosters community in Barron
Isaak Mohamed is a man of action.
As the Somali district liaison for the Barron Area Schools, it’s Mohamed’s job to help students while facilitating communication for the school and families.
Madison writer and cardiologist celebrates the Good Samaritans in his life
We’re living in a time when things feel so … polarized. Us vs. them. I’m right, you’re wrong.
But writer and cardiologist Dr. Arif Ahmad of Madison wants to remind people that there’s so much good in the world and that we have to take care of one another.
Everything comedian Jacy Catlin learned when his house burned down
A house fire is a tragic thing to live through, and comedian Jacy Catlin would agree – he’s done it. But in his new short film, “Everything I Learned When My House Burned Down,” he also proves that tragedy + time = comedy.
Short Story Night: A book club for the Fox Valley’s busiest readers
A room with a small stage in Lion’s Tail Brewing in Neenah is packed on a Monday in mid-March.
Folks from all walks of life filter into the brewery to participate in a monthly event to help even the busiest people continue to be lifelong readers.
Remembering the legacy — and words — of Marquette University men’s basketball coach Al McGuire
The 2023 NCAA basketball tournament is wrapping up, capping a season in which Marquette University men’s and women’s teams both made an appearance. The women’s team lost to South Florida in the first round and the men’s team won one game in the tournament, then fell to Michigan State in the second round.
‘Food memories’: James Beard Semifinalist Jamie Hoang shines through family recipes at Ahan
It’s one hour before Madison’s Ahan restaurant opens and the small kitchen is buzzing. Water is boiling, chicken is roasting and dumplings are frying.
Before they even begin taking orders for the lunch rush, the chefs are preparing two big catering orders for corporate customers.
‘Representation matters’: Educators collaborate to teach histories, cultures, sovereignty of First Nations in Wisconsin
Wisconsin is one of 12 states that requires Native American content to be taught in schools. That prompted listener Maria Novotny to reach out to WPR's WHYsconsin project, asking us how educators are teaching this in the classroom. As WPR's Gaby Vinick reports, schools are working to integrate Indigenous histories, cultures and tribal sovereignty into the curriculum. But some educators say they're concerned schools are not adequately tapping into available resources.
Not the same old dance: An ode to driving stick shift
Some people get really passionate about taking sides on everyday things that make our lives a little sweeter.
Coke vs. Pepsi
The Beatles vs. The Stones
Biggie vs. Tupac
And of course, manual vs.
The Kaszubs of Jones Island: Remembering Milwaukee’s Polish immigrant community
There’s a peninsula just off Lake Michigan in Milwaukee that has lived many lives. Today, Jones Island is home to a sewage treatment plant, piles of salt and rail cars. But, it was once home to thriving communities.
Lifting spirits and honoring ancestors: Snow snake is back on Madeline Island
For only the second time in 150 years, members of tribes from across the region and beyond played snow snake on Madeline Island as part of the Mooningwanakaaning Minis Inter-Tribal Snow Snake Festival.
Gimme pizza: Wisconsinites love of frozen pizza helps fuel production
In a manufacturing facility off the interstate in northeast Wisconsin, more than 30 employees work in unison on a production line that churns out one of the state’s growing exports: pizza.
Why is there a long line of railcars parked on the tracks near Spooner?
Off a highway in northwest Wisconsin's Washburn County sits a long string of parked railcars of different shapes and sizes. A listener who regularly passes these railcars was curious about them. So, she reached out to WHYsconsin to figure out why they are there.
That time a vegetarian won a meat raffle on the Lake Hallie Strip
The meat raffle. A beloved game where the prize is a frozen turkey, a box of steaks or a chain of sausage links. For writer and vegetarian Patti See, winning a package of meat can bring on peak joy at her favorite local taverns in Lake Hallie.
Remembering Wisconsin Astronaut Laurel Clark’s Interstellar Dreams
Astronaut Laurel Clark’s life ended abruptly on February 1, 2003, when the space shuttle Columbia exploded near the end of its mission. She was only 41, with a husband and an 8-year-old son.
100 years of ski jumping: Celebrating Westby’s Snowflake Ski Club
It’s a windy night in Westby, Wisconsin as volunteers with the Snowflake Ski Club groom the hills below the five and ten-meter ski jumps. The temperature is mild — by Wisconsin winter standards — and about a dozen elementary school-aged kids are getting ready for practice.