Human Powered
A podcast from Wisconsin Humanities, because being human is a shared experience, and we are here to explore it together. Join us for relevant and personal conversations with people who are using their passions, skills, and cultural traditions to create healthy civic spaces for all of us.
Season four is hosted by Jen Rubin and Jessica Becker, with audio production by Chrissy Widmayer.
Episodes
22 episodes
Human Powered: In Conversation with Mercedes Falk
These days the national news is full of stories about deportations and ICE raids, and the latest legislation that will vastly increase the ICE budget. In Wisconsin, studies by the University of Wisconsin–Madison School for Workers have document...
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Season 4
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Episode 3
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19:34
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Human Powered: In Conversation with BJ Hollars
BJ Hollars' energy for making connections in sometimes unexpected places is infectious. He is a writer, a professor, a documentary filmmaker, and a proud resident of Eau Claire. His anthology, "Hope is the Thing: Wisconsinites on Perseverance i...
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24:18
Human Powered: In Conversation with Dena Wortzel
Wisconsin Humanities is going into hibernation. What does that mean? And what will happen to Human Powered podcast? Jen Rubin and Jessica Becker have been behind the scenes for past seasons of Human Powered. In this strange moment, after DOGE e...
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Season 4
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Episode 1
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24:00
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 gr...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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33:58
Your Stories: Celebrating Ten Years of Love Wisconsin with Scott Schultz
For ten years, 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. Over this anniversary year, we are excited to reconnect with some of the...
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Season 3
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Episode 4
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18:47
Human Powered Presents: Uprooted
For this special edition of Human Powered, we are sharing an episode of a series called Uprooted produced by our friends at Wisconsin Life and WPR. In 1980, there was an exodus of Cubans who left their homes for the United States as...
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Season 3
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Episode 3
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39:17
Human Powered Presents: The People's Recorder
For this special edition of Human Powered, we are sharing an episode of The People’s Recorder, a podcast series from Spark Media and funded in part with a grant from Wisconsin Humanities.The People’s Recorder tells stories about the Fede...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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33:10
Human Powered Presents: All In All Out with Shannon Ross
For this special edition of Human Powered, we are sharing an episode produced by our friends at The Community. The Community is a multi-dimensional nonprofit based in Milwaukee. It connects and empowers people on all sides of the cr...
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Season 3
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Episode 1
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40:55
It's Not Just a Vote
The right to vote is a core building block for our democracy. We are taught that our vote matters and that voting is integral to our communities and our country. In this final episode of Humanity Unlocked, we confront a fundamental issue: rough...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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33:59
Bead by Bead
When James Price first learned how to bead, he was incarcerated at the Stanley Correctional Institution in Wisconsin. He had been told his whole life that he was not patient, but as he is tutored in beadwork by a group of Native American men, h...
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Season 2
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Episode 5
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39:52
Art Against the Odds
People in prisons are cut off from their families, their communities, and in some cases their own feelings. Making art in prison — even with very few resources — can be a way to affirm your humanity in a place that is so often dehumanizing. So ...
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Season 2
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Episode 4
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42:46
Three Convicts, Twenty Dollars, and a Newspaper
Started in 1887 by three well-known convicts, The Prison Mirror is often considered the best prison newspaper in the United States. But it is just one of many. In the 1980s, Robert Taliaferro was a writer and editor for The Mirror, as it was ca...
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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37:40
A Mic and Five Minutes
Some would say that storytelling is what makes us human. In this episode, we are going to hear some great stories. We are heading to Oak Hill Correctional Facility, where the University of Wisconsin Odyssey Beyond Bars Project offers stor...
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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32:46
Death-defying Feats
In the first episode of Human Powered 'Humanity Unlocked,' we are stepping out with the remarkable and singular Dasha Kelly Hamilton. Dasha wields words to make magic happen, whether on stage herself, in writing sessions like Prose & Cons, ...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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38:05
Season 2 Trailer
Human Powered—the podcast from Wisconsin Humanities—is back for season 2. In these six episodes, we are talking with people who have been impacted by the justice system. With our hosts, Dasha Kelly Hamilton and Adam Carr, we are digging into th...
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Season 2
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3:01
The Power of Being Seen (with Tracey Robertson)
This episode spotlights Tracey Robertson, a nonprofit leader and community organizer who was tired of hearing her neighbors repeat stereotypes she knew were not true. She figured that to change the narrative, people needed to be able to see eac...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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30:52
The Power of Indigenous Knowledge (with Marvin Defoe)
This episode starts with a meal around a fire, in a place where people have been cooking and eating for more than 5,000 years. Our hosts are Marvin Defoe and Edwina Buffalo-Reyes, members of the Red Cliff band of Lake Superior Ojibwe in Bayfiel...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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29:25
The Power of Planting Seeds (with Margaret Franchino)
We all eat. But the foods we eat, and have access to, varies widely. In this episode, we meet some people who have been gardening in Green Bay's vibrant community garden program for years. They tell us why these gardens matter, what they grow, ...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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29:19
The Power of Untold Stories (with Rachel Monaco-Wilcox)
*A head’s up that this episode contains discussion of sexual assault and human trafficking. If this doesn't feel like the right time to listen, we invite you to check out the resources below and hope you'll tune in next month for the next episo...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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30:31
The Power of Experience (with Caroline Gottschalk Druschke)
The Driftless region of Wisconsin is no stranger to flooding. Its spectacular valleys and ridges were formed by the flow of rushing water over millions of years. But in recent memory, the floods are getting more intense, and happening more ofte...
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Season 1
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Episode 2
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26:21
The Power of Listening (with Arijit Sen)
Who are the experts in a city? In a neighborhood? In this episode, we meet a professor of architecture who has designed a ‘field school’ that encourages students to dig into these questions. We sit on front porches in some of Milwaukee’s most e...
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Season 1
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Episode 1
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24:06