Human Powered
A podcast from Wisconsin Humanities, because being human is a shared experience, and we are here to explore it together. In season three, we are celebrating the people who make Wisconsin home. For ten years, our 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. In this series, Love Wisconsin producer Jen Rubin reconnects with some of these people who generously shared their stories to offer nuance, delight, and complexity to our understanding of what it means to be a Wisconsinite.
In our first season, we went out to communities around the state to learn more about how our neighborhoods and lives are impacted by small but meaningful local projects — like getting hands dirty at community gardens in Green Bay, revitalizing history around a cooking fire on the Red Cliff Reservation, and collecting stories in small towns impacted by historic floods. Hosted by Jimmy Gutierrez and produced by Field Noise Soundworks.
Humanity Unlocked, the second season of Human Powered, is a series of six episodes about the power of the humanities in Wisconsin prisons. From a storytelling workshop at Oak Hill Correctional Facility to a poetry workshop with people who were formerly incarcerated to a conversation with writers and editors of prison newspapers, we explored the importance of finding tools for deeper understanding. Hosted by Dasha Kelly Hamilton and Adam Carr; produced by Field Noise Soundworks.
Human Powered
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 grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, this will be the last episode of Human Powered. The news of the cut to the WH was abrupt, and so we are still figuring things out. If you want to know more, we have updates on the Wisconsin Humanities website: wisconsinhumanities.org
In this episode. you'll hear from April Stone, an Ojibwe Black Ash basketmaker from the Bad River Reservation who harvests the black ash logs by hand from the deepest parts of the marshes and swamps near her home in northern Wisconsin. April is a self-taught artist who is sought out by folks throughout the country who want to learn the techniques of a traditional black ash basket weaver. April only works with natural materials that she can gather herself and weaves her baskets by hand – which connects her to the land. She also has a lot to say about how the change to increasingly extreme weather is impacting her work. Yet the work continues to be healing for her and for the many, many people she has been able to teach.
To celebrate ten years of Love Wisconsin stories, we have been reconnecting with some of the people behind the most popular stories. We think April's ideas and work are as relevant today as they were when we first met her and we hope you enjoy the updated ‘Where is she now?” chapter.
Read April Stone's Love Wisconsin story here: https://www.lovewi.com/april
