Speaking of...

In our final crónica of this inter-season, Lexi and crew learn about manoomin, the sacred wild rice that has sustained generations of native tribes in Wisconsin and other states in the Great Lakes region. 

In her second crónica, Lexi and the guys visit a family-owned Thai/Laotian restaurant to discuss the significance of rice in Hmong culture.    thailand, refugees, vietnam war, milwaukee pbs, storytellers, singha thai, thai food, laotian food, west allis 

In Lexi's first crónica, she introduces listeners to Marquette professor Michael Schläppi, the man on a mission to make rice a commercial cash crop in Wisconsin.    #Milwaukee #Mequon #MequonNaturePreserve #Rice #RedStoneRice #MichaelSchläppi #Marquette #research #Wisconsinagriculture #agriculture  #farming #cashcrops 

Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood is weird. A very specific kind of weird. A community-orientated weird. That's the focus of this episode. It's a celebration of the neighborhood's weirdness and the glorious intrigue that comes with it. We explore what makes the Riverwest Arby's the best in all the land, a mysterious talkline poster that started popping up around town and an overlooked historical plaque that celebrates Milwaukee's founding mother. 

Let's explore the music of everyday life in Riverwest, where within earshot you can hear everything from punk to opera — which underscores the incredible diversity of the neighborhood. We go beyond the music scene and into the soundscape by considering the bells of St. Casimir. The church's vibrating-boom of bronze is omnipresent, which proved to be a haunting sound 100 years ago during the Spanish flu. And we hear from the man with the sweetest song of all, mailman Mike, who is without a doubt one of the most well-known and well-liked humans in the neighborhood.      

Over the next three episodes, we're going to explore the Riverwest neighborhood. Look, you're not going to hear a definitive history or anything like that. But you can expect some quirky stories that celebrate what makes this place great. In this episode, we'll learn about Holton Street, the man it's named after and how it all relates to a small town in Kansas. We'll also hear about a man who wouldn't be here today if it weren't for the heroic act of his neighbors. In Riverwest, it takes a village. 

Rafael Baez, first Latino to settle in Milwaukee, was a talented organist whose family line ended in the 1980s. As co-host Mariano Avila and the team try to reconstruct Baez's life and to understand what the life of an organist is like, even 120 years later, we speak to Dean Rosco, music director and organist at the Church of the Gesu, one of the churches where Baez played. Rosco teaches us about the organ's sounds, about playing at stadiums and pizza joints, and even plays a piece for us in this third cronica, the last hosted by Mariano Avila, and one of nine in this series.

After being told that the historic heart of Latinx MKE is 5th and National, our hosts find the most “Latin” space there now is the drag show, “Divas de La Noche,” at Hamburger Mary's. Mariano Avila, Scottie Meyers and Lexi Mack interview the manager and one of MKE's OG Divas on this intimate insight into the city's Queer, Latinx community.

Mariano Avila takes listeners to Milwaukee's south side (with a pit stop in Enderis Park along the way) to introduce listeners to the remarkable life of the first Latino to settle in Milwaukee, almost 130 years ago.  

And we're back! We're going to take you along with us as we uncover a few short stories to hold you over until season 2 of the podcast. We're calling these in-between episodes “Las Crónicas." The Chronicles. Based on formats borrowed from Latin American chronicles, we explore Milwaukee's history and culture through physical spaces in the city. So get ready to hear stories bringing together our past and present through places you may or may not know. Expect new episodes each Friday until early December.

When the Taliban took over Afghanistan, Maryam Durani, a woman's rights advocate fled to Milwaukee where she's already making a difference. Kate Avila, a teacher for 15 years, was forced to leave her profession to homeschool her children when the pandemic hit and is now part of "The Great Resignation" in America. Both women are finding meaning in "home" as they settle in Milwaukee.

Pandemic life has changed our relationship to home. For starters, the mental health “burden” means a combined 90 million years of people's healthy life expectancy evaporated in 2020. But that isolation also gave our colleague, Chris Hays, motivation for making a bomb mole for host Mariano Avila, and to discuss his “historic timing,” as he's moved around the country searching for home.

Defining “home” through a pandemic lens is complicated, especially when you're in a new city, like host, producer Mariano Avila who just moved to Milwaukee. But whether you're an immigrant who learned to make the US home through PBS kids shows, or eating lasagna in Cher's mansion, like our general manager Bohdan Zachary, or parsing out the difference between being Native American in a reservation vs a city, like Ron Greiger, or researching how COVID influenced people to move in 2020, like D'Vera Kohn from the Pew Research Center, the significance of home is as personal as it is complex. Join the conversation with hosts Mariano Avila, and life-long Milwaukeeans Lexi Mack and Scottie Meyers on this new episode of Speaking Of.

The mayor's alternative version of the Black History Month recognition goes up for a final vote, but not before an intense debate featuring a “stick to sports” argument, some awkward anecdotes and a surprisingly relevant migratory bird resolution that passed just a month before. As we wrap up this trilogy on the battle for Black history in Brookfield, our hosts get personal as they reflect on the segregation in Milwaukee's suburbs.  Here are some notes and references from this episode:  A tip of the hat to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Evan Casey, who covered this story as it happened. Read his story about Brookfield's Black History Month recognition, which includes some great photos of the students at the center of this story.   Check out 88.9 Radio Milwaukee's six-part podcast series "By Every Measure," which unpacks systemic racism in Milwaukee.  The Washington Post earlier this year examined the new Great Migration, in which Black Americans are returning back to the South. Lots of good data here.   Here's where you can check out Brookfield's International Migratory Bird Day resolution.  If you want to watch any of this drama play out as it happened, the City of Brookfield does record and post Common Council meetings. 

The battle for Black history in Brookfield continues with part II of the story. The resolution written by the students enters City Hall and things don't go according to plan. What ensues is an intense debate about the “appropriate” way to honor Black History Month. We hear rousing speeches from the high schoolers, a “timeless” comment from a council member and plot twist from the mayor. 

The Black Lives Matter protests that emerged in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd inspired a group of diverse high school students to confront the predominantly white suburb of Brookfield to be a more inclusive community. And they did that by writing and proposing a resolution to honor Black History Month — a resolution that turned out to be too controversial. This is a story about how these civically engaged teenagers are forcing their hometown to grapple with race, accountability and the whitewashing of American history. Here are some notes and references from this episode:  Our "Porch Politics" video segment featuring voter perspectives from the WOW counties.  The Marquette University Law School Poll from Aug. 30 to Sept. 30, 2020, which asked potential voters about their attitudes about "the Black Lives Matter movement."  Spectrum News 1's coverage of the Black Lives Matter protest in Brookfield on June 5, 2020.  DC Fallout's Bandcamp page.  The history and impact of the Chapter 220 program, Wisconsin's only school integration program. Story is by WUWM 89.7 Milwaukee's NPR education reporter, Emily Files. And poignantly, the story centers around a Black student attending school in Brookfield.   

In this week's episode, we meet Alesia Miller,  the founder of Wisconsin's first (and only) Black-owned kombucha company, Soul Brew Kombucha. Miller became one of millions to participate in the “Great Resignation” to pursue a new passion after twenty years as a music teacher. 

While some legacies are built, some have to be rebuilt, which was the case for many Black businesses and homeowners that made up Milwaukee's historic Bronzeville neighborhood following the Great Migration. In this episode, co-host Alexandria Mack introduces viewers to the legacy of Bronzeville and how what was once destroyed by urban renewal is now undergoing a renaissance to replenish the tradition of Black arts, culture and commerce. 

"I'm not gonna' be fixing these homes, Imma be owning 'em." For producer Alexandria Mack, her earliest understanding of ownership as a means of wealth building came from her father. With less than 7 percent of Black Milwaukeeans owning their homes, real estate professionals like Tia Cannon are working to help this demographic get their slice of the American pie while securing a legacy for their families along the way. To see video of one of Cannon's latest redevelopment projects, check out this segment that aired on Milwaukee PBS show "Black Nouveau." 

Let the journey begin. Speaking of…is a podcast by Milwaukee PBS and makes public media personal. This is our introduction. Think of it as a kind of user's manual for what you can expect to hear from us as we release a new episode every Friday.  Journalists Alexandria Mack, Mariano Avila and Scottie Lee Meyers share stories featuring our local friends and neighbors and exploring the MKE experience. The discussions consider life in southeastern Wisconsin, highlighting national and global topics of public interest, framed by diverse personal perspectives and thoughtful consideration. Our hosts combine a passion for storytelling, concern for community and self-reflection to engage listeners in celebrating this place we call home. Join us for inspiration, investigation, and insight as we speak of Milwaukee. This is journalism with a coffee-break twist.