The new MPS superintendent is tasked with a turnaround. What's 'top of the list?'
Dr. Brenda Cassellius is Milwaukee Public Schools' new superintendent. What are her priorities for her first year on the job?
Apr 07, 2025•11 min
Lake Effect Spotlight
The Lake Effect Spotlight podcast features some of our favorite conversations about the people, places and organizations that shape Milwaukee.
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Episodes
Milwaukee Wine Weekend: 5 days of wine, Milwaukee and accessibility
The Milwaukee Wine Academy offers a place where people of color of all levels of wine expertise are comfortable trying, talking and tasting wine. Learn more at the upcoming Milwaukee Wine Weekend.
Apr 04, 2025•15 min
How Department of Education cuts will — and won’t — affect Wisconsin
Uncertainty reigns as President Trump threatens to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. Federal funding accounts for about 8% of school funding in Wisconsin.
Apr 02, 2025•21 min
Group Chat: Reproductive health care and harm reduction
For this month's Group Chat, we hear from a Wisconsin doctor who provides abortion care and a community harm reduction worker who serves high-risk populations.
Mar 31, 2025•15 min
Chirp Chat: How do birds build nests in Wisconsin? With twigs, mud, spiderweb and more
Spring is in the air — which means nest-making season is upon us! For this month’s Chirp Chat, Lake Effect’s Xcaret Nuñez spoke with Holly Walz, a park naturalist with the Wehr Nature Center, about the role nests play and the different types of nests that birds in Wisconsin make.
Mar 28, 2025•18 min
What to know about the voter ID ballot referendum
On April 1, 2025, voters will decide on a proposal to amend Wisconsin's constitution to require photo ID to participate in elections.
Mar 26, 2025•15 min
UWM, animation, and dream jobs
One Milwaukee-based animator with Guerrillamation Films is working with UW-Milwaukee to help people network and learn skills in the field.
Mar 24, 2025•15 min
The ways people use — and misuse — CCAP
CCAP. Four letters. One site. And an oversized impact on Wisconsin. The state’s most popular open record database lets you look up court records of anyone you’d like. And many people do. Sometimes, they learn more than they were expecting.
Mar 21, 2025•11 min
Meet the candidates: Wisconsin state superintendent
Wisconsin's top K-12 education official, Jill Underly, is facing a challenge from Brittany Kinser on April 1.
Mar 19, 2025•26 min
UWM scientist dives into deep-sea volcanoes
Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: a volcano scientist who does her work in the middle of the Pacific Ocean—at the ocean floor. That’s where you can find one UWM professor.
Mar 17, 2025•11 min
'Voices & Votes' highlights Wisconsinites who spoke up for change
The Wisconsin Historical Society's 'Voices & Votes' offers a civics lesson and highlights citizens who spoke up for change.
Mar 14, 2025•12 min
'This is our lifeline': Wisconsin advocates and Medicaid recipients decry potential cuts
Felicia Clayborne is a mover and a shaker. She also navigates the world with multiple disabilities, receiving care and support through Medicaid. Kathryn Florence Burish also receives Medicaid coverage and long-term care for her Down Syndrome. Both women weigh in on attempts to cut funding to the federal program that serves low-income Americans and individuals with disabilities.
Mar 12, 2025•11 min
The race to cut greenhouse gas emissions in Wisconsin Legislature
The Climate Accountability Act is proposing cutting Wisconsin’s greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.
Mar 10, 2025•12 min
Temporary housing for people leaving incarceration opens in downtown Milwaukee
Project RETURN is an organization that helps formerly incarcerated people return to the community. For the first time in its 45-year history, the organization is providing housing.
Mar 07, 2025•13 min
Milwaukee County hid officers' credibility concerns — reporters just revealed the list
Milwaukee County’s district attorney has long sought to keep its "Brady List" secret. The list has the names of law enforcement officers with histories of credibility concerns or past crimes. A months-long, collaborative report examines what was being hidden from public view for so long.
Mar 05, 2025•12 min
Group Chat: Community keeps us safe
This month’s Group Chat hears from young, local organizers who are pushing for immigrant rights and protections. They share how safety is only found together.
Mar 03, 2025•14 min
Chirp Chat: How to meet other birders in Wisconsin
Joining a local birding club or meeting other people at birding events can bring you a sense of belonging and teach you things you didn’t know. No matter how experienced you are.
Feb 28, 2025•21 min
Black Birth Collection brings together resources from prenatal to postpartum
Black and brown moms, and birthing people in Milwaukee, have some of the worst birthing outcomes in the nation. Even being pregnant can come with danger. But there are an abundance of birth workers that cater their services directly to these demographics.
Feb 26, 2025•9 min
Milwaukee musicians scale buildings for 'On the Roof: Jazz Impressions of Fiddler'
A jazz-trained cantor at a local synagogue likes to go up on the building's roof and think. One day, it occurred to him to reimagine and perform Fiddler on the Roof up there.
Feb 24, 2025•8 min
Optimism, and Trump-triggered caution, about renewable energy growth in Wisconsin this year
The executive director of RENEW Wisconsin offers predictions for 2025.
Feb 21, 2025•13 min
Milwaukee Recreation’s new director wants to continue building up programs and play fields
Milwaukee Public Schools recently approved Brian Litzsey as the new senior director of Milwaukee Recreation. He is the 11th director in the department’s 114-year history.
Feb 19, 2025•12 min
'Heal and move forward': Milwaukee Housing Authority chair talks next steps amid financial struggles
Milwaukee’s Housing Authority is facing financial woes after illegally using millions of dollars in federal funds to pay staff. The agency also is faced with thousands of complaints about living conditions.
Feb 17, 2025•14 min
WUWM staff picks: A mixtape of love songs just in time for Valentine’s Day
A mixtape of love songs curated by WUWM Staff for Valentine's Day 2025.
Feb 14, 2025•13 min
Bad Bunny wanted to share Puerto Rico's history of colonization, so he called a Wisconsin professor
Bad Bunny wanted to share the history of Puerto Rico on his latest album. So his team made a call to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. That’s where a professor was ready to share the island’s history of colonization and radical politics.
Feb 12, 2025•16 min
Looking for recipe ideas? Milwaukee Public Library’s historic collection has thousands
Librarians clipped recipes from the "Milwaukee Journal" over the course of 20 years. Today, it’s a digitized collection called the "Historic Recipe File."
Feb 11, 2025•7 min
An appetite for progress: Students from PEARLS for Teen Girls cook with Milwaukee chefs
The Bronzeville event "Cheers to Pearls Who Cook" brought together teen girls and local chefs for more than appetizers. It was a master class in mentorship.
Feb 07, 2025•8 min
Two brothers from Afghanistan share how refugee funding now in limbo helped them settle in Milwaukee
Every year, Milwaukee welcomes refugees from across the globe, including two brothers who made a harrowing journey from Afghanistan during the Taliban takeover in 2021. Now, funding for resettling refugees in the United States is in limbo.
Feb 06, 2025•12 min
Lesser-known stories of Black Americans in history returns to Marquette
A lecture series highlighting Black stories missing from American history books returns to Marquette University in honor of Black History Month.
Feb 03, 2025•14 min
A Milwaukee native's new book takes readers on a pop culture 'road trip' through the '90s and 2000s
Milwaukee native Ira Madison III is a cultural critic, TV writer and host of the podcast “Keep It.” His book “Pure Innocent Fun" explores media that inspired his career and impacted his life growing up as a Black gay man in Milwaukee.
Jan 31, 2025•20 min
Milwaukee Mayor Johnson interview, part two: Housing, budgets, public works, crime
In part two of our interview with Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, we compare his approach to housing, budgets, public works, and crime in 2025 with that of Mayor John Norquist in 1999.
Jan 29, 2025•26 min
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