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Points North
Listen every other Friday, wherever you find podcasts.
Hosted by Daniel Wanschura

Points North is an award-winning podcast about the land, water, and inhabitants of the Great Lakes. Through narrative, sound-rich journalism that is deeply rooted in a sense of place, each episode entertains, informs, and surprises listeners everywhere.

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Latest Episodes
  • Update: A Thank You Card
    Kevin Shafer's job is to prevent Milwaukee’s sewage from overflowing into Lake Michigan or people’s basements. After a Points North episode about him dropped, he got something unexpected in the mail.
  • Marcia Bjornerud is a geologist who teaches at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.
    Presenting Living Planet: How Thinking Like a Geologist Can Help Save the World
    Marcia Bjornerud says we live in a time illiterate society. Most people don’t have a good sense of how extremely long the geologic chapters of earth’s history were. And she argues that’s leading to many of the environmental problems we’re facing today.
  • Dave Clausen, a retired veterinarian in Amery, Wisconsin, poses with his rifle in his living room window. “Sometimes I go out to start the coffee and I'll take a quick look out the window,” Clausen said. If he sees a deer, he shoots. He’s able to do so because of nuisance permits, which allow him to harvest white-tailed deer outside of Wisconsin’s hunting season. (credit: Ellie Katz / Points North)
    The Don Quixote of Wisconsin
    One man in northwest Wisconsin thinks the deer population is out of control. And he’s willing to go to great lengths to rein it in.
  • Jim VerSnyder (right) filets a whitefish at Carlson's Fishery in April, 2024. (credit: Dan Wanschura / Points North)
    Thinking Outside the Filet
    Iceland has figured out how to use almost 100% of every fish caught – not just the filet. By making things like durable leather, beauty products and skin graft bandages, it’s increased the value of Atlantic cod from about $15 to over $5,000. Can this approach help the struggling Great Lakes fishery?
  • A storm rolling in over Lake Huron. (credit: Ken S Three)
    Tossing and Turning
    Cheryl Steele didn’t want sleep. She once stayed up for 26 hours, just to avoid it. Because every time she drifted off, she dreamed she was in the middle of a storm on Lake Huron, clinging to a canoe with three of her friends. The reason she was having these nightmares was because she had lived them.
  • Will Quam leads about 150 brick tours a year in Chicago. The tours are about noticing the brick and then learning the stories brick tells about history, politics, culture and design. (credit: Ryan Schnurr / Points North)
    Talking to a Brick Wall
    Brick is beautiful, and it’s full of all these hidden stories. At least that’s what Will Quam wants to convince you of on his tour of Chicago brick.
  • Wheeler is a conservation detection dog for Find It Detection Dogs. He and his handler, Stu Hoegh, travel all over the world for contracts tracking down different animal signs. (credit: Ellie Katz / Points North)
    The Moose Dog
    Something is killing moose calves deep in the woods of northeast Minnesota. The clues left behind are scarce: flecks of blood, bits of flesh, bone splinters. So to get answers, scientists are turning to dogs.
  • The Brimstone Blondes filming the music video for single “Do U Wanna Make-Out??” in Buffalo, NY, in August 2014. From left to right: Jacob Cohen, Alex Mersinger, Matthew Danger Lippman, and Joseph Morgan. (credit: James Werick)
    The Brimstone Blondes’ Staircase to Stardom
    A teen band in western New York is destined for greatness. Then cracks begin to form, starting with an unwelcome surprise from Lake Erie.
  • Collage of newspaper stories in which morel hunter Tony Williams has appeared. (credit: Maxwell Howard / Points North. Courtesy: Tony Williams)
    The Secret Life of a Great Lakes Mushroom Hunter
    Michigan morel hunter Anthony Williams explains why he keeps his best mushroom spots secret—and why they're one of his family's most treasured heirlooms.
  • Artist Eric Edward Esper’s depiction of the Lady Elgin as it’s struck by a small lumber schooner, the Augusta, in the early morning hours of September 8, 1860. (courtesy: Eric Edward Esper / Gallery VICTOR)
    Presenting Curious City: The Deadliest Shipwreck in Great Lakes History
    In 1860, the steamship Lady Elgin was struck by a small schooner in Lake Michigan. Around 300 people drowned in the disaster, making it the deadliest shipwreck in Great Lakes history. The tragedy would have a major influence on maritime safety in the Great Lakes.