Review of “Forbidden: A 3,000-Year History of Jews and the Pig,” by Jordan D. Rosenblum, a Jewish-studies professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
‘Forbidden’ review: Keeping the table pure
The Wall Street Journal
Category: Arts & Humanities
Wisconsin pediatrician helps author new early childhood literacy guidelines
Wisconsin Public Radio
For the first time in a decade, the American Academy of Pediatrics released updated recommendations on how pediatricians and caregivers can encourage early childhood literacy, with a Wisconsin doctor working on the effort.
Dr. Dipesh Navsaria, professor of pediatrics and human development and family studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, helped write the new literacy promotion policy statement and accompanying technical report. He told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” what parents and healthcare professionals should know.
UW’s Material Intelligence exhibition is sculpting science
Badger Herald
The University of Wisconsin Ruth Davis Design Gallery is hosting the Material Intelligence exhibition, which will operate until March 9, 2025. the exhibition celebrates the “human capacity to understand and shape the physical world around us.”
UW-Madison professor explains why people care about the year end music reveal on streaming platforms
WMTV - Channel 15
Jeremy Morris teaches media and culture at UW Madison and explained that people care about their most listened to music because it tells the story of a year in their lives. “It’s a part of your identity, it helps you express who you are and it helps you understand yourself right?” he said. “It’s very personal and it’s an intimate form of media. You spend a lot of time in a year if you’re someone who likes listening to music, it means a lot to you.”
Reclaiming Relevance: UW humanities departments combat national narrative
Badger Herald
UW humanities departments experiencing growth, students, faculty must convey humanities’ strengths, professor says.
UW art history alumni named 2026 Whitney Biennial Curators
Badger Herald
UW visual studies professor Jill Casid discusses art exhibition’s importance.
What exactly is shoofly pie anyway?
HuffPost
“Shoofly pie is a classic Pennsylvania Dutch pastry,” said Mark Louden, a professor of Germanic linguistics and director of the Max Kade Institute for German-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It’s an “apt symbol of traditional Pennsylvania Dutch culture as it incorporates elements from Old World Europe but is a fundamentally New World phenomenon.”
Paul Smith: Following Aldo Leopold’s teachings, a deer hunt on his old farm
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A question sometimes is raised in the conservation community to help guide decisions: What would Aldo do?
The reference is to Aldo Leopold, former University of Wisconsin professor, pioneer in the field of wildlife management and author of “A Sand County Almanac,” the widely acclaimed collection of essays and inspiration for a “land ethic.”
UW Theatre and Drama brings ‘Pride and Prejudice’ to stage
Badger Herald
‘It’s a full body, full mind experience to be in the show and on stage for almost the entire runtime,’ AJ Stoffels says on her role as Elizabeth Bennet
Rule of twos: UW faculty dance concert explores duality
The Capital Times
In Lathrop Hall, students pound the earth, float and fly. They bring dancing dualities to life in choreographies by University of Wisconsin-Madison Dance Faculty and guest artist Takehiro Ueyama, onstage this weekend.
These disability doulas are helping people navigate life more comfortably
HuffPost
When I ask Sami Schalk, associate professor of gender and women’s studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of “Black Disability Politics,” how disabled people should prepare for the next Trump term, she says, “The state is going to abandon disabled people more than ever. Informal networks of care and support are the only way we survive.”
‘Government by the worst’: why people are calling Trump’s new sidekicks a ‘kakistocracy’
The Guardian
“Hayes’ term was absolutely being described as a kakistocracy,” said Kelly Wright, assistant professor of language sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. (1880 was also a general election year in the UK, another country known for its contributions to the English language. That year, William Gladstone became prime minister for the second time; perhaps his opponents were among those giving the word a boost.)
Learn more about ‘American Indians and the American Dream’ with this ‘University Place’ Q&A and episode
PBS Wisconsin
In this episode of University Place Presents, host Norman Gilliland and his guest Kasey Keeler, assistant professor of American Indian and Indigenous Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, discuss the topic, American Indians and the American Dream, which she explores in her book of the same title.
Royal Photographic Society awards 2024 – in pictures
The Guardian
The Royal Photographic Society Award for editorial or documentary photography: Darcy Padilla Wounded Knee, Pine Ridge Reservation, February 2015, US, from the series Dreamers. Darcy Padilla is an associate professor of art at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a member photographer of Agence VU’ in Paris. Known for her narrative photography, Padilla focuses on long-term projects that explore themes of struggle and the transgenerational effects of socioeconomic issues.
Election results show how Wisconsin’s urban-rural divide continues to deepen
Wisconsin Public Radio
Katherine Cramer’s influential book “The Politics of Resentment” was published in March 2016 — just eight months before Donald Trump won the presidential election for the first time and ushered in a new era of American politics.
The book got national attention for the way it homed in on the urban-rural divide. Cramer, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, based the book on years of having conversations with people across the state in cafes, pool halls and other community spaces.
Wisconsin Singers returns for 57th season at UW-Madison
WMTV - Channel 15
The group also serves as an official ambassador of Goodwill for the University.
Celebrity endorsements of presidential candidates grow, how it could impact the election
WKOW-TV 27
“Celebrity endorsements are not likely to literally change somebody’s mind, but they are likely to get people to pause and say, ‘should I pay attention to this person?’ ‘Can I trust this person in the way that I trust and or admire the celebrity that I’m thinking about?’ And that just gives people another opportunity to find a way into political participation,” said UW Professor Mike Wagner.
Q&A: ‘We’re seven days away from making history’: Actor Adam Brody rallies UW-Madison voters
The Daily Cardinal
Actor Adam Brody, known for his role as Seth Cohen on the Fox series “The O.C” and most recently as Noah on “Nobody Wants This,” hosted a student meet-and-greet on behalf of the Harris-Walz campaign in Madison on Sunday, where he spoke about Madison’s pivotal role in what he called “a historical election.”
‘Nobody Wants This’ and ‘O.C.’ star Adam Brody was in Madison this weekend, urging UW students to vote
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
From Netflix’s new comedy series “Nobody Wants This” to Madison, Wisconsin.
Actor Adam Brody, known for his breakout role in “The O.C.,” stopped by the state’s capital over the weekend. And, yes, his visit did have to do with the fast-approaching presidential election.
‘A Road at Night’ brings UW coach Howard Moore’s devastating story to the screen
Madison Magazine
John Roach needed both his screenwriting and journalist hats when he signed on to direct “A Road at Night,” a new documentary about a tragic 2019 car crash outside of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Roach — perhaps best known for his decades as a Madison Magazine columnist and for cowriting David Lynch’s acclaimed film, “The Straight Story” — tracked down a witness to the crash who had previously not been identified.
These tiny worms account for at least 4 Nobel Prizes
The New York Times
“It’s an experimental dream,” said Judith Kimble, a nematode researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “The more we do with it, the more of a wonderful dream it becomes.”
Civic Media is betting on local pro-democracy radio. Will it work?
Wisconsin Watch
Mike Wagner, a journalism and mass communication professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said conservative talk radio remains “the dominant talk format that deals with civic life and politics” in Wisconsin.
Listener feedback has reinforced that locally focused strategy, said Lewis Friedland, a University of Wisconsin-Madison journalism professor emeritus who Weil consulted to research what radio audiences look for in their programming.
Madison’s Spanish-speaking radio station gives ‘a way of life’ to the Latino community
Wisconsin Watch
“Community radio plays a really important role in creating the range of voices … from minority communities who wouldn’t have any voice in mass media at all otherwise,” said Lewis Friedland, an emeritus professor of journalism and mass communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Conservative talk radio continues to be a powerful political tool in Wisconsin
Wisconsin Watch
Although less popular than local television and some other forms of media, local radio generally gains strong trust from those who listen, according to Mike Wagner, a University of Wisconsin-Madison journalism and mass communication researcher and professor. In Wisconsin, during the 2016 election, radio stations were airing around 200 hours of conservative talk every day, according to one UW-Madison study.
Sykes’ WTMJ show was Walker’s primary connection to a statewide audience, according to Lew Friedland, distinguished journalism and mass communication professor emeritus and researcher at UW-Madison. “Without Charlie Sykes, I don’t think there would have been a Scott Walker,” Friedland said, calling Sykes “one of the top three most important political actors” at the time.
Greetings! Madison Public Market art projects take shape
The Capital Times
Some art projects are still in the works, Wolf said, like a collaboration with UW-Madison Design Studies teaching professor Monika Thadhani and her class to make an engaging “food culture” wall of historic images.
Jane Rotonda and Jessica Calarco preview the 2024 Wisconsin Book Festival
WORT FM
Interview with Jessica Calarco, a professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Review of Wisconsin talk radio finds stark divides, misinformation
Wisconsin Watch
Divided Americans are often described as living in different media bubbles, so for this story University of Wisconsin-Madison journalism students listened to several radio hosts across the political spectrum to report on just how different those bubbles are.
Teen Vogue Generation Next 2024: Meet the winning designers
Teen Vogue
Robyn George: I’m 22 years old and I’m from Milwaukee, Wisconsin … I entered college at UW-Madison as a political science major which really heavily informed the way that I use the medium to digest the world around me, it also pushed me to create spaces like The Issue on campus where art and culture can combine to create something new and unrestricted.
Steve Miller on growing up in Milwaukee, lessons from Les Paul, inspiring Eminem and more
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
After I went to the University of Wisconsin (in Madison) … My parents said, “What are you going to do?” And I said, “Well, you know, I want to go to Chicago and play blues.” And my mother said to me, “That’s a great idea. … Why don’t you see if you can make it? You know, you’re young, you don’t have many responsibilities. Why don’t you go?” And she gave me a $100 bill and told me to leave the next day. And I did. And that was the greatest. …
More than radio: expanding multimedia opportunities for students
Wisconsin Broadcasters Association
Written by Kelsey Brannan, Director of Student Radio, University of Wisconsin-Madison, General Manager, WSUM Madison Student Radio.
Turning 40, the Haggerty Museum of Art is a Milwaukee venue deserving wider recognition
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Its permanent collection includes about 10,000 works of art, said John McKinnon, who came on board as director in July from a similar leadership post at Elmhurst Art Museum in Illinois. McKinnon earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and worked as assistant curator of modern and contemporary art at the Milwaukee Art Museum from 2007 to 2010.
“I refuse to be intimidated by time,” by Erika Meitner
New Yorker
Erika Meitner is the author of poetry collections including “Useful Junk” (2022) and “Assembled Audience” (2026). She teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Wisconsin Master Naturalists, Ho-Chunk Nation to host ‘Caring for Grandmother Earth’ volunteer summit
Wisconsin Public Radio
For more than a decade, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension has been offering the opportunity for people to become Master Naturalists by attending expert-led training sessions and volunteering their time to conservation efforts. Altogether, Master Naturalists volunteer over 25,000 hours of service each year to over 700 organizations across the state.
In Focus with Corey Pompey: Directing the UW Marching Band
PBS Wisconsin
Murv Seymour talks with Corey Pompey at the Hamel Music Center about leading the University of Wisconsin Marching Band and crafting its musical direction in practice and on the field for Badgers fans.
How to increase our cybersecurity, and former UW Band leader releases memoir
Wisconsin Public Radio
For 50 years ending in 2019, Mike Leckrone directed the UW Marching Band. In his new memoir, co-authored by Doug Moe, Leckrone recalls the creation of the Fifth Quarter celebration that now follows every home football game, and where he got his penchant for sequins and spectacle.
UW-Madison students show gratitude for program that expands study abroad access
Wisconsin Public Radio
During the 2022-23 school year, more than 2,500 UW-Madison students participated in a study abroad program, according to the university’s International Academic Programs annual report for that year.
“We really see it as an opportunity for growth,” said Dan Gold of UW-Madison’s study abroad office. “When you look at it conceptually, basically it’s just: What can you do that’s not on campus that will help your academic goals?”
Take a fall-colors, art-loving journey to see these 7 Wisconsin art exhibits this autumn
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“Weaving a Legacy” features nearly 200 works of black ash baskets made by more than 40 Ho-Chunk makers from the mid-1800s to the present. The exhibit, which runs through Nov. 10, is curated by Tom Jones, a University of Wisconsin-Madison photography professor, who has collected and studied thousands of Ho-Chunk baskets for more than decade.
Wisconsin’s Bizhiki spotlights powwow music and Ojibwe culture, with Justin Vernon’s help
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“We try not to romanticize our culture, but we are unapologetically Indigenous,” said Jennings, who is close to finishing the PhD program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies. “There are a lot of statistics about our communities and a lot of negative statistics. Our goal is to showcase and highlight the good things in our communities — the good people, those traditional values our communities still rest upon.”
Wisconsin has more art than you probably know. A fresh collaboration helps you find it
Wisconsin State Journal
Madison’s two major art museums — the Chazen Museum of Art on the UW-Madison campus and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art on State Street — have joined forces with 14 other institutions statewide in hopes you’ll hit the road this fall and visit their galleries along the way.
10 diverse children’s books with Wisconsin connections
Appleton-Post Crescent
But the number of diverse children’s books and creators has significantly increased since then, the Cooperative Children’s Book Center found. The CCBC is based in the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education and receives funding from the state Department of Public Instruction. It reviews the diversity of both content and creators of about 3,500 children’s and young adult books each year.
“Children are curious learners, and are most naturally interested in themselves and also in understanding the world they live in,” CCBC Director Tessa Schmidt said. “Books should offer children the opportunity to see themselves, as well as people in their local and global communities.”
Madison film series honors late UW film scholar David Bordwell
The Capital Times
It became clear early on to UW-Cinematheque program director Jim Healy that one summer wouldn’t be enough time to honor David Bordwell.
Next round of COVID vaccines, Social media warnings for minors, Wisconsin folk songs in the National Recording Registry
Wisconsin Public Radio
A Wisconsin doctor explains what you need to know about the next round of COVID vaccines. Then, we explore the effectiveness of warning labels for social media sites. Then, we hear some Wisconsin folks tunes that were recently added to the National Recording Registry.
Nearly 900 Wisconsin folk tunes part of the National Recording Registry in Library of Congress
Wisconsin Public Radio
What constitutes “folk music”?
Though musical genres are, by nature, difficult to define, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor emeritus Jim Leary gave WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” a fairly succinct answer: “Fundamentally, folk music is the grassroots music; the musical vernacular of distinctive locales and cultural groups.”
The surprising depth of human-insect relationships with Heather Swan
WORT FM
On today’s show host Douglas Haynes sits down with Heather Swan to talk about her new book “Where the Grass Still Sings: Stories of Insects and Interconnections.” Heather Swan is a poet, writer, and lecturer in the University of Wisconsin – Madison’s English Department. Her book tells stories of human-insect connections through the lens of science and art, with a focus on the way we can connect across species.
How making presumptions about rural American politics can be harmful
Wisconsin Public Radio
Kansas author and journalist Sarah Smarsh comes to Wisconsin to talk about issues facing rural America in the upcoming presidential election. As an upcoming guest of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Morrill Lecture Series, Smarsh will talk about how class and rural issues intersect with the upcoming presidential election.
Now a Notre Dame sculpture teacher, Keith Kaziak returns to Wausau to install new work
Wausau Daily Herald
Kaziak, a 1998 graduate of Wausau East High School, earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Minnesota and a master’s of fine arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He takes part in exhibitions across the Midwest and has won numerous awards, including Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture in 2021, bestowed by the International Sculpture Center.
Author Joyce Carol Oates describes moment at UW-Madison that could have ‘sabotaged’ her life
Wisconsin Public Radio
Acclaimed author Joyce Carol Oates loved much of her time as a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She loved the city, the water and the student union.
But she has written that her campus years in Wisconsin were in some ways a “lost time” for her. She found much of the older, male-dominated faculty — and their old-school teaching methods — to be dull. And her time featured a turning point that could have led her down a path away from her future accolades, which include a National Book Award, the National Humanities Medal and several Pulitzer Prize nominations.
Trees and clouds woven of wool at new UW-Madison art installation
Wisconsin State Journal
Your eyes are drawn to the ceiling when you enter through the doors of Nancy Nicholas Hall on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
In Focus with Stephen Kantrowitz: Keeping history present
PBS Wisconsin
Murv Seymour talks with Stephen Kantrowitz at the Wisconsin Historical Society about his writing on Black and Indigenous struggles, the politics of racism and the importance of learning about history.
‘We’re making history’: Statue of Vel Phillips unveiled on Capitol square in Madison
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A new sculpture on the Wisconsin State Capitol grounds was unveiled Saturday afternoon, honoring Vel Phillips, a trailblazer for civil rights in Wisconsin, and the state’s first Black Secretary of State.
Ecologies of love: Writer Heather Swan on new book, ‘Where the Grass Still Sings’
Wisconsin Public Radio
Kinship with the more-than-human world is both the philosophy and the feeling that guides Swan’s work today as an award-winning eco-poet and creative non-fiction writer, and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she teaches environmental literature.
After long effort, Capitol will have its first statue honoring a Black leader, Vel Phillips
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
After years of effort, Saturday will mark history for Wisconsin as the first statue commemorating a Black leader will be unveiled on the Capitol grounds in Madison.
Phillips holds significance in Wisconsin as a trailblazing Black woman who had a lasting impact on the state’s legal and political history.
A dyslexic superhero’s real alter ego, and a prolific Wisconsin author reaches a milestone birthday
Wisconsin Public Radio
UW-Madison’s Shawn Robinson shares his journey with dyslexia and creation of the “Doctor Dyslexia Dude” comic book superhero.
‘Bachelorette’ Jenn Tran talks about her time at UW-Madison, from Badger games to working at Eno Vino
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Years before upcoming “Bachelorette” and former “Bachelor” contestant Jenn Tran was looking for love on TV, there was something else she was trying to find:
A college with “a lot of school spirit.” She’d find it — in Wisconsin.
Ho-Chunk artist, Wisconsin native Harry Whitehorse honored with wood sculpture festival
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Decades earlier, Whitehorse began mentoring Gene Delcourt, then a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, on his wood sculpting craft. He encouraged Delcourt, who is Abenaki and Filipino, to attend symposiums in Europe dedicated to the art form. Each time Delcourt returned from a symposium, he thought, “I’d really love to put one of these on.”
First Harry Whitehorse International Wood Sculpture Festival celebrates the art’s past and future
WORT FM
One of Delcourt and Levin’s main goals in creating the festival was to prevent Whitehorse’s work from being forgotten. Whitehorse, who was born in a wigwam in Black River Falls, Wisconsin, studied anatomy at UW–Madison, fine arts at the Arthur Colt School of Fine Arts in Madison and welding at a local technical college. After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Whitehorse returned to Madison where he experimented with many different kinds of art, including metalwork and custom car design, before landing on wood carving in the 1980’s. He died in 2017 at age 90.
Steve Feren talks about his serendipitous journey as a glass art outlier
Wisconsin State Journal
He calls it a bit of a “roadside attraction,” which also welcomes in visitors by appointment during the week. The former head of the UW-Madison Art Department’s glass program for 30 years, Feren now works full time creating and delivering his wide range of artworks in glass, concrete, metal and wood.
Artist Harry Whitehorse honored with new wood sculpture festival in Monona
Wisconsin Life
After the war, Harry Whitehorse returned to Wisconsin to pursue a career as an artist. He went to the Arthur Colt School of Fine Arts in Madison to study oil painting and studied human and animal anatomy at University of Wisconsin. He also got his degree in welding and metal fabrication at Madison Area Technical College to become an auto mechanic.
Robert Plant surprises Madison record store with a visit
Wisconsin Public Radio
After about 20 minutes, Plant approached Manley again. He wanted to know what was playing over the store’s speakers. It was the 2023 LP “The Window” from Chicago indie group Ratboys.
Manley told WPR it was exciting to introduce a newer band — who had recently played on the nearby UW-Madison student union terrace — to “the biggest rockstar in the world.”
New Wisconsin Public Radio station honors late Executive Director Gene Purcell
Current
Wisconsin Public Radio is launching a new music station with call letters honoring Gene Purcell, Wisconsin Public Media’s late executive director.
WEPP, which will start broadcasting Thursday on 90.7 FM in Rice Lake, Wis., gets its call letters from Purcell’s given name, Eugene Patrick Purcell. He died due to injuries from a traffic crash in 2021 after more than a decade at the helm of the organizations behind Wisconsin Public Radio and PBS Wisconsin.