Human Powered
A podcast from Wisconsin Humanities, because being human is a shared experience, and we are here to explore it together. Join us for relevant and personal conversations with people who are using their passions, skills, and cultural traditions to create healthy civic spaces for all of us.
Season four is hosted by Jen Rubin and Jessica Becker, with audio production by Chrissy Widmayer.
Episodes
37 episodes
Human Powered: In Conversation with Dylan Bizhikiins Jennings
Dylan Bizhikiins Jennings has dedicated his life to educating others about Native people. Through his work in language preservation, in making and performing music, and in natural resource management, Jennings connects cultural history and trad...
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Season 4
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Episode 18
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32:17
Human Powered: In Conversation with Yia Lor
Yia Lor is a storyteller, social worker, educator, Reiki master, and yoga teacher who believes that “we are all nature.” Nature is not someplace we go to but instead nature is what we are made of and how we heal. In this episode of Human Powere...
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Season 4
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24:41
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Human Powered: In Conversation with Maureen McCollum
In this episode of Human Powered, co-hosts Jessica Becker and Jen Rubin talk with longtime collaborator and award-winning Wisconsin Life producer, Maureen McCollum. They get to the heart of what makes WPR's Wisconsin Life radio segments so uniq...
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Season 4
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Episode 16
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29:45
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Human Powered: In Conversation with Jane Beachy
We are kicking off 2026 with a special conversation with our neighbor in Illinois, Jane Beachy. Co-hosts Jen Rubin and Jessica Becker talk with Beachy about a program called Envisioning Justice from Illinois Humanities and her work convening pe...
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Season 4
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Episode 15
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31:43
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Human Powered: In Conversation again with Dena Wortzel
This season of Human Powered podcast launched in June of 2025 with a conversation with the Executive Director of Wisconsin Humanities, Dena Wortzel, just after the nonprofit reduced staff and paused programming due to federal funding cuts. Co-h...
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Season 4
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Episode 14
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30:51
Human Powered: In Conversation with Jay Salinas
Jay Salinas moved to a farm in the Driftless Region of southwest Wisconsin with his partner, fellow artist Donna Neuwirth, and learned to grow vegetables. Before long, they started inviting friends from Chicago to come out and get their hands d...
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Season 4
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Episode 13
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36:01
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Human Powered: In Conversation with Mary Beth Collins
We hear a lot about the ways nonprofits are preparing to cope with both new and perpetual challenges under the current Trump administration. Mary Beth Collins is the director of the Center for Community and Nonprofit Studies at the University o...
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Season 4
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Episode 12
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34:14
Human Powered: In Conversation with Benny Witkovsky
Recent years have seen a startling rise in hate crimes and hate-motivated violence across the country. Wisconsin, too, has felt this pain. In this episode, special guest Benny Witkovsky talks about his work as a public humanities fellow through...
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Season 4
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Episode 11
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28:42
Human Powered: In Conversation with Danielle Hairston Green
In this episode, special guest Danielle Hairston Green breaks down the basics of how university extension programs combine advocacy, research, and academia in response to real community needs. Hairston Green directs the Institute for Human Deve...
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Season 4
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Episode 10
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29:34
Human Powered: In Conversation with Ben Grignon
When Ben Grignon walks into a classroom on the first day of school, he starts with a good story. He is a Traditional Menominee Arts instructor at the Menominee Nation High School and has received numerous awards for his work, including receiv...
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Season 4
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Episode 9
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30:35
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Human Powered: In Conversation with Qwantese Winters
Food traditions are core to who we are and how we build community. In this episode, cohosts Jessica Becker and Jen Rubin talk with Qwantese Winters, the founder of A Bowl of Soul. Winter’s has been dubbed the Food Doula and was the host of Wisc...
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Season 4
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Episode 8
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31:54
Human Powered: In Conversation with Jimmy Gutierrez
It is August of 2025 and record rainfall has caused catastrophic flash flooding in Milwaukee. Hosts Jessica Becker and Jen Rubin sit down with Milwaukee journalist and former Human Powered host Jimmy Gutierrez to talk about the crucial role of ...
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Season 4
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Episode 7
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34:30
Human Powered: In Conversation with Alexandria Delcourt
Each of us is experiencing a million things on any given day. Alexandria Delcourt believes that how we move from the chaos and overwhelm of life to understand ourselves, and each other, comes down to telling a good story. Alexandria helped to p...
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Season 4
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Episode 6
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26:24
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Human Powered: In Conversation with Adam Carr
Adam Carr is a Milwaukee alchemist. He is an evangelist for his home and an urban explorer who uses storytelling, city walking tours, radio productions, film, journalism, and art to build connections between people and place. Hosts Jen Rubin an...
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Season 4
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Episode 5
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34:38
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Human Powered: In Conversation with Brendon Panke
“Stories are told for connection,” says Brendon Panke, who has found ways to use stories to build community, entertain audiences, train medical professionals, and help veterans and people who are incarcerated craft their understanding of their ...
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Season 4
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Episode 4
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26:54
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Human Powered: In Conversation with Mercedes Falk
These days the national news is full of stories about deportations and ICE raids, and the latest legislation that will vastly increase the ICE budget. In Wisconsin, studies by the University of Wisconsin–Madison School for Workers have document...
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Season 4
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Episode 3
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19:34
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Human Powered: In Conversation with BJ Hollars
BJ Hollars' energy for making connections in sometimes unexpected places is infectious. He is a writer, a professor, a documentary filmmaker, and a proud resident of Eau Claire. His anthology, "Hope is the Thing: Wisconsinites on Perseverance i...
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Season 4
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Episode 2
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24:18
Human Powered: In Conversation with Dena Wortzel
Wisconsin Humanities is going into hibernation. What does that mean? And what will happen to Human Powered podcast? Jen Rubin and Jessica Becker have been behind the scenes for past seasons of Human Powered. In this strange moment, after DOGE e...
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Season 4
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Episode 1
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24:00
The Final Chapter: Basket maker April Stone helps us celebrate ten years of Love Wisconsin
An important update about Wisconsin Humanities and its programs, including Human Powered podcast and Love Wisconsin digital stories: As a result of the defunding of Wisconsin Humanities and all state councils' operational gr...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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33:58
Your Stories: Celebrating Ten Years of Love Wisconsin with Scott Schultz
For ten years, Love Wisconsin producers have been excavating beneath the surface of our state by talking with people and sharing what we learn, one story at a time. Over this anniversary year, we are excited to reconnect with some of the...
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Season 3
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Episode 4
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18:47
Human Powered Presents: Uprooted
For this special edition of Human Powered, we are sharing an episode of a series called Uprooted produced by our friends at Wisconsin Life and WPR. In 1980, there was an exodus of Cubans who left their homes for the United States as...
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Season 3
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Episode 3
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39:17
Human Powered Presents: The People's Recorder
For this special edition of Human Powered, we are sharing an episode of The People’s Recorder, a podcast series from Spark Media and funded in part with a grant from Wisconsin Humanities.The People’s Recorder tells stories about the Fede...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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33:10
Human Powered Presents: All In All Out with Shannon Ross
For this special edition of Human Powered, we are sharing an episode produced by our friends at The Community. The Community is a multi-dimensional nonprofit based in Milwaukee. It connects and empowers people on all sides of the cr...
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Season 3
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Episode 1
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40:55
