Spirit in Action

Ben Merens is well-known throughout Wisconsin and beyond for his 21 years on WPR and, especially, for his years as host of At Issue. His latest book is People Are Dying to Be Heard, where he shares his lessons & insights about listening, silence, and being heard.

One of the multiple pipelines proposed to carry tar sands out of Canada is the Northern Gateway Pipeline. It would go through North America's only remaining temperate rain forest and a refuge with exceptional and threatened wildlife, including the Spirit Bear.

Charley Earp is honestly devoted to the religiously-inspired communism of his youth, without apology or irony.

The Raging Grannies of Madison, Wisconsin are part of a nationwide & international movement of women singing and standing for peace, justice, and creation. Three of the Madison group - Bonnie Block, Rebecca Alwin, & Barbara Park, speak of the motives, methods, & movement of older women and the songs they sing to change our world.

Tyler Norman and The Beehive Collective are tackling the big issues, like globalization, climate change, and the danger of extinction in creative and decentralized ways. Grown out of the anti-WTO movements and with an eye to encouraging, energizing methods of spurring change, an important approach to spreading the word has been super-sized graphic creations which empower alternative story-telling. Their largest project to-date has been Mesoamerica Resiste.

Part 2 of interviews about treatment courts which achieve impressive results and save lots of money. Today we visit with participants of the local Drug & Mental Health Courts - Mike Gumulauskas & Rob Bergeron.

Reformatories seldom reform, and penitentiary seldom produce penitence, but groom criminals to re-offend. For certain offenders, treatment courts achieve impressive results and save lots of money, bringing bi-partisan support.

There are struggles continuing within our country on so many fronts, often invisible to those in power or even in comfortable conditions, but badly in need of a cadre of those to faithfully walk with the beleaguered and afflicted. Then there's this book...

Greg & Terry of Magpie create beautiful, conscious music with a message, often around environmental subjects. Today they address, in word and music, issues surrounding climate change, mining, mountain-top removal, and preserving life on this planet.

Investigative reporter Greg O'Brien shares the inside story of coping with Alzheimer's Disease, an experience that mixes faith and fury.