WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO DEBUTS NEW CONTENT VIA “WPR NEXT” • VUHUAS BRINGS THE NONCOMM DIRECTLY TO YOU

Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) will begin airing four pilot programs this week as part of its WPR NEXT initiative.  

WPR NEXT is a content-incubation project to create designed to create and curate new on-air and online content. 

The pilot programs will first air today (5/15) and continue through May on both The Ideas Network and the NPR News and Classical Music Network. You can see the schedule here. 

The four WPR NEXT programs are Because Science, BETA, Entertain Us and Wisconsin Life Weekend.

• Because Science

Host Veronica Rueckert reports on the latest and most compelling stories from the world of science. The program is part of a partnership with Discover Science magazine.

• BETA

Doug Gordon channels his inner Ira Glass

Doug Gordon, producer of the popular Dangerous Ideas segment on WPR’s To the Best of Our Knowledge, uses innovative storytelling to provide new ways to look at the ordinary things in life. 

In the most recent edition of BETA, Gordon presents I Love The Sound of Ira Glass, a mash-up of Ira Glass dancing and Nick Lowe's song I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass. 

You have to hear it to believe it [link].

• Entertain Us

Hosts Haleema Shah and Chris Malina explore TV, movies, music, comedy, books and more from a Cheese Head perspective.

• Wisconsin Life Weekend

Aline Hazard talks to homemakers

This is my favorite of the four pilot programs. Wisconsin Life Weekend is all about “sense of place.” Award-winning author and host Erika Janik takes a deep look at the lives and stories of the Badger state.

I love the way Janik makes use of the 100-year WPR archives to provide perspective about Wisconsin today. 

A perfect example is the recent story about legendary WPR broadcaster and “neighbor lady” Aline Hazard.

Hazard hosted The Homemakers Program for 32-years on WPR, from 1933 to 1965. She applied her skills as home economist at the University of Wisconsin to bring the latest household trends to rural Wisconsin.

VUHAUS SHOWCASES LIVE MUSIC AT THE 17^TH ANNUAL NON-COMMvention

Folks not attending the Triple A NON-COMMvention later this week can still get a taste of the action via live feeds provided by VuHaus. 

The music begins this Wednesday at 7:00pm Eastern Time with Bash & Pop, Ani DiFranco, Greg Griffin and Chicano Batman appearing at WXPN’s World Café Live in Philadelphia.

You can see the complete schedule here.