How the badger burrowed into Wisconsin’s identity
Wisconsin is THE badger state. It's on the flag. It's the mascot of the state's biggest university. And back in ...
‘Dying From COVID Is Not Pretty’: A poet grieves the loss of her sister
Pam Gustafson of Milwaukee loves to write poetry. It helps her process everything she reads and sees in her life, ...
Who Are Tom And Jerry And Why Are They A Cocktail?
It seems that every season has its cocktails. When the temperature drops and the snow piles up, people want a ...
What’s The Scoop On The Origin Of The Culver’s Franchise?
Just about everyone in Wisconsin is familiar with Culver’s. Whether it’s the cheese curds, the custard or the ButterBurgers that draw ...
I Can’t Believe It’s Not Yellow: A Peek Into Wisconsin’s Quirky Margarine Laws
Wisconsin is America’s Dairyland. It’s a title we take seriously. The state is home to more than 1 million cows that produce 2.44 billion ...
A Q For You: Where Does The Name ‘Chicken Q’ Come From?
A Chicken Q is a name for a charcoal chicken dinner sold as part of a fundraiser. But the name ...
‘Bitten With The Concrete Bug’: Sculpture Gardens Showcase Wisconsin’s Outsider Artists
Listener Chris Murphy of Madison asked us, "Why are there a higher concentration of outsider artist environments in Wisconsin than ...
It ‘Looks Like A Square Root Symbol’: How Pepin County Got Its Shape
Dunn County in western Wisconsin once had access to the Mississippi River. Its early boundary held for four years until ...
A Mother And Daughter Friendly Debate: Is There A Place For Macaroni In Chili?
A love of chili and a friendly mother-daughter debate over whether to add macaroni prompted this WHYsconsin question from the daughter ...
Who Was Leonard Schmitt, The Man Who Ran Against Joseph McCarthy?
In 1952, Leonard Schmitt ran against controversial Senator Joseph McCarthy on the Republican ticket in Wisconsin...and lost. We recently received ...
What Role Did Camp Randall Play In The Civil War?
We recently received a question from a listener. John Hanson from Madison wrote to us saying: “Camp Randall has more ...
Why Doesn’t Wisconsin See Large, Intense Wildfires Like Out West?
As record wildfires scorched millions of acres of land in the western United States in 2020, it prompted a question ...
For Hmong Language Speakers, Keeping Wisconsin’s Third Most Commonly Spoken Language Alive Is Essential
WHYsconsin recently received a listener question wondering, “What is the third most commonly spoken language in Wisconsin after English and ...
‘A Sculpted Land’: Wisconsin’s Effigy Mounds Connected People To Spirits, Humanity
At one point in time, thousands of effigy mounds could be found in what is now called Wisconsin. These ancient ...
Why Isn’t The UP Part Of Wisconsin?
Geographically, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is only connected to the Lower Peninsula by a bridge. With Wisconsin, it shares ...