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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
  • An artist’s rendering of Traci kayaking through the storm at the point of Tobermory, where Georgian Bay connects to Lake Huron. (credit: Shana Talebpour)
    The Longest Paddle
    After Traci Lynn Martin’s mom died, she knew she couldn’t keep putting off her dream: Becoming the first person to kayak around the Great Lakes in one year.
  • Minnesota is the "Land of 10,000 Lakes", but Wisconsin claims to have 15,000 of them. So, who wins this border battle? (credit: Points North Podcast)
    My Lakes Are Better Than Your Lakes
    Minnesota and Wisconsin are bitter rivals at just about everything. So in 2019, when Wisconsin’s secretary of tourism claimed Wisconsin had more lakes than Minnesota, the embers of an age-old debate were stoked. Minnesota is known as the “Land of 10,000 Lakes”, but does Wisconsin really have more?
  • Near Hillsboro, Wisconsin, black wildcats have become part of local lore after decades of reported sightings. (credit: Patrick Shea / Points North)
    Between Myth and Migration
    Cougars are making a comeback. The iconic wildcat hasn’t had a breeding population in the Great Lakes states since the early 1900s, but now they’re moving east. Experts say they could be back soon. Some people swear they already are.
  • For the past 70 years, visitors to the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park rustic cabins and yurts have written in log books, pouring their hearts out, making jokes, telling stories, and capturing the human experience. (credit: Dan Wanschura / Points North)
    Some Things Never Change
    Inside rustic cabins and yurts at the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park there are log books. For more than 70 years, visitors have written in them. We went into this time capsule to see if people’s experiences here had changed much over the changing decades.
  • After a black bear attacked three people and a dog in Isabella, Minnesota in December 2017, conservation officers tracked down the animal and killed it. Medical results later revealed it had a brain disease. (credit: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources)
    Bear Trouble
    When a black bear in Minnesota woke up from hibernation in the middle of winter and attacked three people and a dog, researchers were left with one question: Why?
  • A honey bee forages for food amongst the flowers at Loma Farm in Traverse City, Michigan. (credit: Dan Wanschura / Points North)
    Presenting REAP/SOW: Buzzkill
    Americans stepped up to do something about dying bees. Beekeeping is all the rage right now. But what if all those backyard colonies are making the problem worse?
  • Curtain Falls in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. (credit: Pete Kramer / St Louis County Rescue Squad)
    Back to the Boundary Waters
    Erik Grams has been taking trips to the Boundary Waters in Minnesota for over 30 years. It’s his favorite place in the world. But last year, during a fishing trip, there was a fatal accident that left Erik wrestling with his feelings about the place he loved.
  • Microplastic particles stick to a molecular sieve bead covered with adhesives derived from diapers. (credit: Violet Sheffey-Chazovachii))
    A Sticky Solution for Microplastics
    Microplastics are everywhere. But after accidentally combining materials in a lab, scientists at the University of Michigan are on the cusp of discovering a new method to capture and remove microplastics from water. Researching it takes time, money, and repeated set backs.
  • Big Abe LeBlanc in front of the truck he used to deliver fresh fish to customers. (Courtesy: Whitney Gravelle)
    Big Abe’s Net
    One calm September day, Big Abe LeBlanc set his fishing net in Lake Superior. Then he called law enforcement and turned himself in. What happened next changed fishing in the Great Lakes forever.
  • The moments leading up to the solar eclipse on April 8, 2024 at the Lake Ontario beach at Black Pond Wildlife Management Area in Henderson, New York. Meghan Hetfield and Roni PIllischer were awestruck by the event, but left wondering why the sand squeaked when they walked on it. (credit: Meghan Hetfield / Roni Pillischer)
    The Squeaky Sand Phenomenon
    On April 8, 2024, Meghan Hetfield and her partner Roni Pillischer witnessed a total solar eclipse over Lake Ontario. But in the middle of this intense and beautiful experience, something else kept grabbing their attention: the mystery of the squeaky sand all around them.