FIBS:
Memorial Day signals the start of the summer travel season. Among those taking to the Wisconsin roads will be visitors from Illinois — people Wisconsinites love to hate. Writer Patrick Somerville reflects on both Wisconsin’s and his own conflicted relationship with Illinois.
Patrick Somerville is the author of several books, including his latest novel This Bright River.
Old Stone Face:
The holiday season is a time for seeing family and catching up with old friends. Today, commentator David Rhodes introduces us to one of his very oldest friends.
David Rhodes is the author of the award-winning novel, Driftless. He lives on 35 acres of land in the Driftless region.
Christmas Lights:
December is here and the countdown to the holidays has begun. Festive decorations and strings of lights are going up all over. Today, writer Dean Bakopoulos tells us about the holiday decorating advice he once gave a friend.
Dean Bakopoulos is a novelist and creative writing professor at Grinnell College. His most recent novel is called My American Unhappiness.
Alongside the turkey, mashed potatoes, and cranberries is another Midwestern holiday tradition: jello salad. If you’re lucky (or unlucky) enough to be served on today, you might like to know something about their origin. Commentator Eric Dregni shares the Scandinavian tradition of these quivering salads.
Eric Dregni is an assistant professor of English at Concordia University in St. Paul. He’s the author of several books including Vikings in the Attic: In Search of Nordic America.
Ingredients:
16 oz. (4 cups) fresh cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup cranberry wine
½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 fresh orange, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 TBS grated orange zest
½ cup chopped walnuts
Directions:
Combine all ingredients except walnuts in a saucepan and stir well. Cook over medium heat until cranberries pop open, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, skim the foam off the surface of the mixture and discard. Stir in the chopped walnuts.
Cool the mixture to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate. Cranberry relish will keep for 3 months in the refrigerator, longer if frozen.
This week, The Cave of the Mounds in southwestern Wisconsin holds its annual “Caroling in the Cave” concert. The cave is a national landmark, and the underground caroling concert is a popular holiday event. We have this audio postcard…
More information about Caroling at the Cave can be found here.
The fifth annual Steel Bridge Songfest takes place this weekend in Sturgeon Bay. It’s a collection of performances to benefit the rehabilitation of the Michigan Street Steel Bridge. Wisconsin Life producer Todd Witter traveled there and discovered more than a simple bridge.
Click-through to find out the story behind this week’s cover “Adrift” by Mark Ulriksen, and for a slideshow of past New Yorker covers about...
What if an academic test that you took at the age of 11 determined your life’s course?
When David Ward was 11 years old, he took a state exam...
About a year ago, Irina Rozovsky began photographing in Prospect Park. “It was my first summer in New York City and a real scorcher,” Rozovsky...
Some Music For Your Tuesday: NPR Music is streaming Regina Spektor’s new album ‘What We Saw From The Cheap Seats’ in its entirety. Enjoy!