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Lake Effect Spotlight

Lake Effect Spotlight

By: WUWM 89.7 FM - Milwaukee's NPR
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About this listen

The Lake Effect Spotlight podcast features some of our favorite conversations about the people, places and organizations that shape Milwaukee.

WUWM
Social Sciences
Episodes
  • 'Your Attention Please': A call to push back against social media
    Apr 23 2026

    Since the dawn of the internet, online spaces have been rapidly changing and eating up more of our time. Social media and attention-driven apps are shaping how young people think and feel and how they learn.

    A new documentary, “Your Attention Please,” highlights the real-world consequences of social media and how it reshapes all of us. It also shows how a new generation of parents and teens are fighting back against Big Tech’s agenda to keep us scrolling. The film is showing at the Milwaukee Film Festival. To learn more Lake Effect’s Audrey Nowakowski is joined by director Sara Robin, writer & co-creator Jack LeMay, and film participant Kristin Bride.

    A warning to listeners, this conversation does include the topic of suicide.

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    17 mins
  • The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship fund faces an uncertain future
    Apr 21 2026

    The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund will likely come to an end this June. Earlier this year, the state senate failed to reauthorize funding for the program. The stewardship fund has helped protect 750-thousand acres of land statewide by investing roughly one-point-three billion dollars to protect Wisconsin’s natural landscape.

    The stewardship fund has been working with government and nonprofits since 1989, but in recent years its faced more politicization. WUWM’s Eric Von Fellow, Maria Peralta-Arellano is joined by DNR facilities and lands bureau director, Terry Bay to learn more.

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    12 mins
  • Did you know dioramas were born in Milwaukee?
    Apr 17 2026

    If you go to a natural history museum almost anywhere in the world, you can expect to see dioramas displaying how animals live in the wild. Dioramas have become integral to museums, transporting visitors to unfamiliar landscapes through art and science. But did you know that it started right here in Milwaukee?

    The Milwaukee-style diorama revolutionized how museums curated their exhibits, and the original diorama lives on at the Milwaukee Public Museum. Dr. Ellen Censky is the president and CEO of the museum, and she joins Lake Effect’s Joy Powers to talk about the museum’s long history with dioramas.

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    18 mins
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