College instructors are facing quieter classrooms: few questions, little debate between students, not much feedback. Educators place some blame on the pandemic and virtual learning. Others point to social media. This class of college freshmen were born around 2006. So it’s safe to say they’ve seen their fair share of people fighting online.  Dr. Amelia Zurcher is trying to correct that. She launched a civic discourse curriculum three years ago to help teach students how to disagree with one another. WUWM education reporter Katherine Kokal spoke with her about the program and how disagreements about campus speech are taking shape. 

For more than a century, an invasive species has been literally sucking the life out of the Great Lakes. They’re known as sea lampreys. After nearly decimating commercial fishing operations in the early 20th Century, a management program was created to keep the lampreys at bay.   It’s been successful: the number of sea lampreys has been reduced by 90% since the program first began. But the work has been on-going and now cuts to the federal program are threatening that progress. Journalist Katie Thornton tagged along with some of the people doing this work, and wrote about it for The New Yorker. She joins Lake Effect’s Joy Powers, along with Mark Gaden, the executive secretary of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, whose work was featured in the piece. 

Some local officials are calling to defund it. Others want to expand it. But they’re running into trouble doing that because of a 2023 state legislative package.  WUWM’s Maayan Silver jumped on the Hop with Jeremy Jannene, president of Urban Milwaukee, to learn how the Hop is funded and what’s on the table for the future. 

Wisconsin’s FoodShare is funded by SNAP, which was frozen November 1st, because of the longest federal government shutdown in history. Three federal judges have ordered funding to be restored, at least in part.   That led to Wisconsin and some other states issuing November FoodShare benefits. But the Trump administration says states shouldn't have done that. College students are among FoodShare users who’ve been caught in the middle.  UW-Milwaukee says the FoodShare freeze came on top of October cuts to paychecks and other benefits, caused by the government shutdown. That means a growing number of UWM students are using the campus Food Center & Pantry.  

The gales of November are upon us. On this day fifty years ago, the cargo vessel SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior amidst an intense storm. All 29 crew members on board were lost. The sinking of the Fitzgerald remains one of the most mysterious and controversial shipwrecks of the Great Lakes. Decades later, the Gordon Lightfoot ballad continues to garner public interest in the shipwreck not just in the Midwest, but worldwide.   To learn some theories of why the Fitzgerald sank and how some of the crew members are being remembered today, Lake Effect’s Audrey Nowakowski is joined by Kay Dragan - curator and exhibits manager at the Door County Maritime Museum.  

Millions of Americans and thousands of people in Wisconsin are struggling to get food. Because of the federal government shutdown, funding for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP has run out. Two federal judges ordered the Trump Administration to use emergency funds to pay for the program. But SNAP beneficiaries will get half of the usual benefits and its unclear how long those funds will take to arrive.  In Milwaukee, food pantries have been trying to keep up with increased demand. The House of Peace on West Walnut Street is the largest food pantry in the city. It serves more than 18-thousand people a year. WUWM’s Race & Ethnicity Reporter Teran Powell is joined by Armondo Diaz, the pantry’s coordinator to learn how the House of Peace is managing the uptick in people they’re serving.  

This month’s issue of Milwaukee Magazine features the five winners of its 2025 Betty Awards. The awards honor extraordinary women doing remarkable work in Milwaukee. One of the recipients is Linda Edelstein, the CEO of the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra – or MYSO. She’s played instruments since her childhood and had an extensive career in music education and performance.   Edelstein has led MYSO since 2012, and every year up to a thousand students across the region participate in their wide range of programs. To share more about the impact of MYSO and the benefits of music education outside of performance, Edelstein joins Lake Effect's Audrey Nowakowski.

Back in September, Lake Effect reported on the sudden cancellation of federal funding for MKE Roots. The program trains Milwaukee-area teachers on how to make social studies relevant to students by connecting them to local history.   Last month, MKE Roots was notified that it would again receive federal funding. But the money came with the stipulation that the program focus on commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence.   Melissa Gibson is an associate professor at Marquette University and the faculty director of MKE Roots. She speaks with Lake Effect’s Sam Woods about the changes to its federal grant funding, and how it will – and won’t - change what the program does. 

A new state historical marker in Milwaukee honors the city’s Chinese Laundry Era. Beginning in the late 1800s, for over a century, Chinese immigrants owned dozens of laundries to provide for their families. The historical marker sits outside the YWCA on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. That’s where one of the last businesses, Fred Moy Laundry, operated from 1940 to 1976.  A short film, by Beijing native and UW-Milwaukee lecturer, Yinan Wang (pronouncer: e-non wong) covers the marker’s unveiling and previews a new one expected to be installed at Forest Home Cemetery next spring. WUWM’s Eddie Morales asked Wang about the film and his experiences living in Milwaukee for the past decade. 

The federal government shutdown has now stretched on for more than a month and money for some vital services is not being distributed. In Milwaukee County, 125-thousand children benefitted from food assistance at some point last year.   Two Head Start childcare programs in our state are now poised to close their doors this month due to the shutdown. Jennie Mauer is the executive director of Wisconsin’s Head Start Association. She joins WUWM education reporter Katherine Kokal to talk about the challenges facing Wisconsin’s most vulnerable families.  

The average price of a home in Milwaukee County rose about 8-percent since last year. Even with a stable job, buying a home feels out of reach for many.  But why is housing so expensive and what can be done about it? WUWM’s series Seeking Solutions: Keys to Homeownership digs into systemic housing problems in Milwaukee and sheds light on solutions.  One emerging solution is the Milwaukee Community Land Trust, which offers homes under 100 thousand dollars and a fixed appreciation rate to keep that home affordable long term. The organization is new, and has just nine homes in its portfolio as of this summer.  As Lake Effect’s Sam Woods explains, the model isn’t a perfect solution to solve housing affordability. But it is built on decades of nationwide experience, proven to keep individual homes affordable forever, and reveals truths about why homes are so expensive in the first place.  

Alice’s Garden Urban Farm has been growing on Milwaukee's northside for over 50 years. It’s built on land that marks the beginning of Wisconsin's underground railroad and named after Milwaukee’s first Black executive director of Milwaukee county extension. The farm is rooted in local Black culture and history.   WUWM’s Eric Von Fellow Maria Peralta-Arellano visited Alice’s Garden to speak with its executive director, Venice Williams for our series on urban agriculture. 

The scientific journal, Nature Climate Change found 89 percent of the world’s population wants to see their government act on climate change. As the annual global climate change conference is about to kick off in Brazil, we're looking at attitudes on climate change here in Wisconsin  WUWM Environmental Reporter Susan Bence checked in with Cody Kamrowski, the executive director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation.  

The nuclear family is often thought of as a pillar of American achievement. Two-parent families have been championed in both rhetoric - and policy - as having a key role in climbing the social ladder in the U.S. But a new book by Milwaukee-native Christina Cross is challenging this idea. Cross is a sociologist and the author of Inherited Inequality: Why Opportunity Gaps Persist between Black and White Youth Raised in Two-Parent Families.   In her book, Cross breaks down the data along racial lines - finding that the nuclear family isn’t nearly as beneficial to Black Americans as it has been for white Americans. Cross joins Lake Effect’s Joy Powers to talk about her findings - and how prioritizing two-parent families has shaped U.S. policy for decades. 

Will Allen is a former professional basketball player, but he decided to trade the court for crops. Allen is credited as a pioneer in urban agriculture in Milwaukee.   He started Growing Power in 1995. The non-profit initiative revolutionized how the city thought about local food production and education. Growing Power ceased operations in 2017, in the face of legal and financial problems. But the organization left its mark, paving the way for future flourishing urban agriculture initiatives in the city.   WUWM’s Eric Von Fellow Maria Peralta-Arellano spoke with Allen as part of her series called Feeding the City: The People Powering Local Food. 

How does Wisconsin keep track of teachers accused of misconduct?  That’s the subject of a recent yearlong investigation by Cap Times reporter Danielle DuClos. She found that between 2018 and 2023 nearly 200 school employees were investigated for sexual misconduct or grooming.   Internal records obtained by the Cap Times show the department investigated allegations of sexual assault, educators soliciting nude photos from children or initiating sexual relationships immediately after students graduated.   WUWM education reporter Katherine Kokal is joined by DuClos of the Cap Times to learn about the reporting.  

The Milwaukee Art Museum has a new leader at the helm. Kim Sajet was previously the director of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, where she worked to increase the representation of women and people of color in the collection. In May, President Trump claimed to have fired Sajet from the Smithsonian in part because of her work to diversify the collection. Although the Smithsonian made it clear the president has no authority to fire employees of the institution, Sajet decided to resign from her position a couple weeks after the incident.   But DC’s loss is Milwaukee’s gain. Sajet brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experience, and a desire to invigorate the Milwaukee Art Museum’s space with new community engagement efforts.

It’s local budget season again, and Milwaukee County and the City of Milwaukee are finalizing budgets. While the Mayor’s proposed budget for the city escapes major cuts to services, Milwaukee County’s budget includes cuts to MCTS, rising public safety and building maintenance costs, and increased property tax rates.  Rob Henken, immediate past president of the Wisconsin Policy Forum joins Lake Effect’s Sam Woods to discuss both budgets, with a focus on Milwaukee County. 

Jazz legend Herbie Hancock plays in Milwaukee tonight. He’s produced dozens of albums, spanning jazz, jazz-rock fusion, funk, and electronic music. He’s also collaborated with other music greats, from Miles Davis to Joni Mitchell.   On that journey, Hancock has picked up 14 Grammys and an Oscar for best soundtrack. He's playing at Milwaukee's Pabst Theatre tonight. Ahead of that he joins WUWM’s Maayan Silver who first noted that he has a voice for radio. 

The library is more than just books, and our series with the Milwaukee Public Library called Books and Beyond showcases just that.  This month we are exploring some stories in honor of the spooky season with MPL’s special collections and archives department. They’re hosting an event called ‘Milwaukee Mysteries: True Crime and Paranormal’ to take a historical spin on the theme with real people, places, haunts, and events in the Milwaukee area.   To learn more, Lake Effect's Audrey Nowakowski is joined by librarian archivist Casey Lapworth, who begins by explaining how their librarian take on spooky season came about.