A Room of One's Own—both Virginia Woolf's essay and the Madison bookstore it's named after—looms large on the author Melissa Falivenohis life.She keeps a copy of Woolf's 1929 book, An Argument for Physical and Cultural Space for Women Writers to Create — on her desk as inspiration. And Faliveno, who was born in Mount Horeb, was a frequent visitor to the bookstore when she was a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an Isthmus author and rare book dealer.”I first went there to get books for a class, and I had no education in feminism other than my mother's version…
Author: Cecil Larson
ROELAND PARK, Kan. — Heat indices continue to reach triple digits in Kansas City as the region continues to push through an extreme heat wave that is sweeping through the Midwest. High temperatures and high humidity are forcing high schools to modify team practices in an effort to keep students safe. Among these high schools is Bishop Miege High School, located in Roeland Park, Kansas. Earlier this week, the school's athletic trainer decided it was simply too hot for the teams to have after-school varsity soccer, cross country and boys soccer practice to practice in the morning. “We have our…
The next solar eclipse is just over two months away, with skies expected to darken across much of the US for a few minutes on April 8. The eclipse marks the first eclipse visible in the contiguous US since August 2017, when millions traveled to the path of totality to get an optimal view of one of nature's most incredible events. This time around 2024, many cities in the Midwest will have a long view of the phenomenon, with a total track stretching from western Mexico northeast to Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada. As for the US, the path of…
The 2016 US presidential election shocked the world when several dozen counties in the three Midwestern “blue wall” states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin – once reliable Democratic strongholds – avoided supporting Democratic President Obama in the previous election and handed Republican Donald Trump, very narrowly, the Presidency. Earlier that year, Brexit in the United Kingdom saw voters in similar once-reliable Labor strongholds among the industrial regions of the North of England (known there as “Red Wall”) express their disillusionment and drive Britain out of the EE. These seismic events sparked a global struggle to understand what it was that…
The third major storm of the week – and perhaps the most powerful – is underway, sweeping from Arkansas on Friday morning to near Chicago in the afternoon and finally into northern Michigan on Saturday.The system is developing explosively, possibly qualifying as a bomb cyclone. This rapid intensification means the effects of the storm are consequently severe, with the potential to disrupt travel far and wide and cause damage as well.On the cold side of the storm, in the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes, winter storm and blizzard warnings extended from eastern Nebraska to Michigan late Friday, where the National…
M ike Mallett knows a thing or two about building a successful business. Over the past 20 years, he has built two companies that have been ranked among the INC 500 Fastest Growing Companies. His latest venture, Liveshopper Sassie, is ranked 5th in the country with a staggering three-year growth rate of 37,386%. A software company in the market research space, Liveshopper Sassie is experiencing exponential growth, and Mallett says he chose to build this company in the small town of Findlay, Ohio, by design. “I graduated from the University of Findlay and then went to Washington, D.C.,” says Mallett,…
Pictures from Troy ThiesCarefully placed boulders line the shoreline of the northern Wisconsin property, while the dock beckons boaters to the water.While Anna Achtenberg was growing up in western Wisconsin, she was eager to get away from small town life. Now, every weekend, he looks forward to returning. After living in the Twin Cities for many years with her husband, Dave, raising two children who are now adults, and wrangling twin 14-year-old boys, she says, “We realized how fast kids grow up.My husband and I have businesses. We are very busy. We needed an escape, an escape, where the whole…
DICKINSON — On February 1, 2024, Dickinson, North Dakota will host the prestigious Greater Midwest Livestock Auctioneer Contest (GMLAC) at the Stockmen's Livestock Exchange. This event marks a significant comeback, as the competition was last won by Dickinson in 2009.The competition's roots go back to 1989 when the Fargo stockyards hosted it for the first time. Although the Fargo yards have since been dismantled, the enduring tradition of cattle ranching and processing thrives in North Dakota. The interested calf peeks over the fence.James B. Miller The Stockmen's Livestock Exchange, a cornerstone of the Dickinson community since the 1930s, remains a…
The recent elevation of Representative Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House has raised questions about the Louisiana Republican's record and positions on several fronts, particularly his opposition to equal rights for the LGBTQ+ community. Filmmakers Melinda Maerker and David Miller have a new documentary for Hulu, “We Live Here: The Midwest,” which gives voice to the LGBTQ+ community in places that aren't welcoming to them, and join the podcast to discuss their work and his message. Show notes: LGBTQ-related signs removed by GOP during House marking Will Landmark Supreme Court LGBTQ Decision Affect Health Care Discrimination Rules? LGBTQ children's…
How does extreme weather affect you? Do a quick survey and let us know. The Mississippi River watershed covers nearly half of the continental United States. Millions of people rely on the river system for drinking water, commerce and recreation. It is an important economic driver and an important ecological habitat for countless species. But the basin is changing. For hundreds of years, people have managed their relationship with the great river—from indigenous communities that relocated as the river changed course, to the Army Corps' aggressive engineering of the river to prevent flooding over the past 100 years. These levees…