Precious Lives

WUWM 89.7 FM - Milwaukee's NPR•wuwm.com

Precious Lives, created by 371 Productions, is a weekly podcast about gun violence and young people in the Milwaukee area. Who are the victims and the shooters? How are the weapons obtained? Explore the impact on the community at large and how to stop the violence.

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Episodes

#101 Precious Lives: A Search for Answers

This is the final episode of Precious Lives. And for this final story, we thought we’d return to the first family we met - the family of Laylah Petersen.

Dec 20, 2016•24 min

#100 Precious Lives: Breaking the Cycle of Violence

On June 11, 1994, Garland Hampton woke up around 10:30 am. He poured himself a bowl cereal, took a shower and went to a friend’s birthday party. That evening, Garland got into a fight with a fellow gang member. He pointed a 9-millimeter pistol at Donell Storks and shot him in the left side of the head.

Dec 13, 2016•14 min

#099 Precious Lives: A Pediatric Surgeon’s Plea To End Gun Deaths in Milwaukee

Well over a decade ago, pediatric surgeon Dr. John Densmore and his wife bought their first home. He had just started his residency at Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee.

Dec 06, 2016•12 min

#098 Precious Lives: The Next Chapter

At the end of 2016, Precious Lives will shift gears. We’ll wrap up our radio series and focus on a traveling live show. The Precious Lives team will attempt to reach all corners of Milwaukee to harness diverse energies to combat the problem of gun violence.

Nov 29, 2016•10 min

#097 Precious Lives: An Urban Ministry

Violence clusters like an infectious disease. But you can also feel it when you walk into certain community spaces, like All People’s Church in Milwaukee.

Nov 22, 2016•11 min

#096 Precious Lives: Finding Justice - and Purpose - Amid Police Violence

After Sylville Smith was shot and killed by a police officer this summer, his family was left to grieve and figure out how to move forward.

Nov 15, 2016•10 min

#095 Precious Lives: Checking In With Carlton Dewindt, More Than A Year After Losing His Friend

We met 22-year-old Carlton Dewindt over a year ago, when he was featured on an early episode of Precious Lives.

Nov 08, 2016•9 min

#094 Precious Lives: How Did We Get Here?

There’s a lot we know about gun violence. We know it’s concentrated in poorer areas. And we know those areas tend to be heavily black. But how did things get that way -- how did we get to the point where 84% of Milwaukee’s homicide victims are black?

Nov 01, 2016•9 min

#093 Precious Lives: Behind the Gun Violence Beat

This is Precious Lives episode 93. We’re almost at our goal of telling 100 stories about gun violence and young people in Milwaukee. We’ve covered the family members who have lost loved ones, the activists fighting to make the city better, and the political leaders overseeing it all. Each week, we ask our interview subjects to be emotionally honest with us as we try to understand the problem of gun violence. This week, the microphones are turned on our reporters. Emily Forman and Aisha Turner pr...

Oct 25, 2016•15 min

#092 Precious Lives: Running Towards a Second Chance

Born a few months apart, Mario Drain and his friends wound up with very different fates after committing armed robbery together in high school.

Oct 18, 2016•10 min

#091 Precious Lives: Building Community After a Police-Involved Shooting

In August 2016, 23-year old Sylville Smith was shot by District 7 Officer Dominique Heaggan.

Oct 11, 2016•8 min

#090 Precious Lives: The Playoffs

This is the final episode of a three part series following a young basketball team. At 13 and 14 years old - these players are dealing with a lot more than basketball drills. They lost a teammate last year: 13 year old Giovonnie Cameron, who was shot and killed within the first week of the season. In this episode, we’ll pick up where we left off: just weeks before the championship game, the team is undefeated.

Oct 04, 2016•10 min

#089 Precious Lives: The 'Fighting' Team Copes With a Teammate's Death

Precious Lives picks up where it left off last week with Coach Eric Moore. He coaches in a summer basketball league called Warning Project Respect. And he’s earned himself a reputation throughout the league as the “crying coach.”

Sep 27, 2016•11 min

#088 Precious Lives: The Crying Coach

If you are between the ages of eight and 48, love basketball and live in Milwaukee’s central city…you’ve probably been a part of Warning’s basketball league. Over 40 years old, the Warning basketball league is the third oldest in the nation. It’s a rite of passage, and for many youth, it’s the place to be over the summer, wearing the colored t-shirt representing your team. But last year was a rough year for the league. Two players died within the first week - Tariq Akbar, 14 and Giovonnie Camero...

Sep 20, 2016•13 min

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