Many recent conversations about the Wisconsin Idea have focused on the politics and controversies around it, but all the negative attention ignores the fact that at its core, it's an aspirational vision commited to truth and public education. Wisconsin poet laureate Kimberly Blaeser joined Anne Strainchamps to talk about the beauty behind the Wisconsin Idea, and how it reflects the natural world.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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Scott Turow has made a career writing hugely successful legal thrillers, but then he turned to a World War II novel.
William Irwin tells Steve Paulson how philosophical questions echo throughout popular culture with several examples from Seinfeld and The Simpsons.
Physicist Alan Lightman likes living in a universe filled with mystery. He finds it in the unanswered questions about the cosmos and also in his personal life, including a remarkable interspecies encounter with two ospreys.
The 1967 Ice Bowl is one of football's legendary showdowns, when the wind chill dipped to 50 below zero. Commentator Bill Povletich remembers this historic game.
Simon Critchley is the author of "The Book of Dead Philosophers," a quirky account of how various philosophers thought about death and died themselves.
For others, football is sacred. In fact, William Dean says the game is part of "American spiritual culture." He talks with Jim Fleming about the way religious beliefs crop up in American popular culture.
Thinking about taking piano lessons at 69? Or violin at 73? Maybe guitar after you retire? Well, even if you're not thinking about those things, maybe you should be. According to Francine Toder, author of “The Vintage Years,” learning a musical instrument is one of the best things you can do for your mind and body as you get older.
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