Human Powered: In Conversation with Jim Winship

Jim Winship is an oldster with a mic and a camera. His latest project combines his background as a social worker, retired professor, storyteller, and filmmaker to create his second film, Growing Older in Rural Wisconsin. In this episode, co-hosts Jessica Becker and Jen Rubin talk with Winship about what he’s learning in a state that projects that 1 in 5 people will be over age 65 within the next two decades, and many of those people are choosing to age-in-place. Winship shares stories about a 24-hour community center, what he learned from people at food pantries, and how he’s come to understand the chapter of life when ‘making meaning’ is a choice. 

Additional Links to check out:

→ Growing Older in Wisconsin is a documentary film in production, funded in part with a grant from Wisconsin Humanities, by Jim and Parker Winship. Check it out here. 

→ What We're Hungry For: How Food Pantries Fed Rural Wisconsin During the Pandemic was an official selection at film festivals around the world including the Milwaukee Film Festival, Ethnografilm Paris, Morehouse College Human Rights Film Festival, and the Ceres Food Film Festival, where it won the “Moved Us Most Award.” The film has also been shown in community screenings throughout Wisconsin, and included in the curriculum of higher education courses in schools including Medical College of Wisconsin, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Learn more here. 

This episode of Human Powered was produced and edited by Chrissy Widmayer. All rights reserved.