Great Lakes

JP Kronschnabel blows on a frog to try to get it to jump during the Wisconsin State Frog Jump in July 2026. (credit: Dan Wanschura / Points North)

Points North | Stories from the Great Lakes, Daniel Wanschura

A small Wisconsin village is known for one thing: frog jumping. This yearly cultural competition has been happening for over 70 years and brings out hundreds of people. But all that tradition is ending, due in part, to one woman who says her mission is protecting frogs.

Darren Bush and his wife, Stephanie Bush at Day Lake State Natural Area in northern Wisconsin.

Short: Sittin' On Top of the Bell Curve

Points North | Stories from the Great Lakes, Morgan Springer

Darren Bush has a rule about gifts. He won’t sell anything that was given to him. And, when the time is right, he will give that item to someone else. With one carbon-fiber paddle, that time came on a trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Update: A Thank You Card

Daniel Wanschura

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

Points North | Stories from the Great Lakes

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

Points North | Stories from the Great Lakes, Ellie Katz

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

Points North | Stories from the Great Lakes, Daniel Wanschura

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

Points North | Stories from the Great Lakes, Daniel Wanschura

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

Points North | Stories from the Great Lakes, Ryan Schnurr

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

Points North | Stories from the Great Lakes, Ellie Katz

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

Points North | Stories from the Great Lakes, Lyric Bowditch

A teen band in western New York is destined for greatness. Then cracks begin to form, starting with an unwelcome surprise from Lake Erie.