Buzz Kemper talks with West Madison Agricultural Research Station Superintendent Janet Hedtke and Professor William Tracy about the station's important role in food and other plant growing in Wisconsin.

Jane Rotonda, Director of the Wisconsin Book Festival (October 17-20), talks with Buzz Kemper about this year's Book Festival activities and events.

As his first return guest, Sam Mulrooney, Director of the Wisconsin Science Festival and Outreach Program Manager at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery talks with Buzz Kemper about the Wisconsin Science Festival 2024, which runs October 14-20.

The state and future of Social Security and aging trends often gets put into the political blender, and it's easy to get confused. In this episode, Buzz Kemper speaks with Assistant Professor at La Follette School of Public Affairs about this important program, where it's at now, and what its future looks like.

Buzz talks with Senior Associate Athletic Director for Capital Projects and Operations Jason King about some big and exciting improvements to UW Athletic facilities.

Scientific research and sports come together in a fascinating new way which benefits both. Hear about BIOS: Badger Inquiry on Sport, as Buzz Kemper speaks with Peter Miller, professor in the School of Education at UW-Madison.

Economics. Oh yes, we all learned the basics of supply and demand back in junior high, but what does economic health mean for a country? For an individual? And how can we better understand the basics and what impacts them? Menzie Chinn, Professor of Public Affairs and Economics at La Follette School of Public Affairs joins Buzz Kemper, and helps us unpack and understand this complex topic.

Buzz talks with Emeritus Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education at UW Madison Steve Ackerman about the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. We go far beyond what you know from Gordon Lightfoot's song in this fascinating interview.

What do you know about the Great Lakes? Buzz Kemper speaks with Moira Harrington, Assistant Director of Communications at UW Madison Sea Grant about some amazing things about our Great Lakes.

Buzz Kemper speaks with Jordan Murray, Harmful Algal Blooms Epidemiologist at UW Department of Health Services, about how Blue-Green Algae forms, and how its presence in Wisconsin lakes can affect the health of humans and animals.

Buzz talks with Botany Professor Dr. Simon Gilroy about his experiment sending plants to the space station for observation.

This time on The Badger Talks Podcast, Buzz talks about....a BIG buzz! Wisconsin's 17-year cicada emergence, with his guest, Director of UW Madison Insect Diagnostic Lab, aka Wisconsin's Bug Guy: PJ Liesch.

Buzz explores how Wisconsin's Earth Day celebration evolved into a week-long Earthfest, with his guests Nathan Jandl and Emily Reynolds.

In a continuation of exploring The Odyssey Project, Buzz Kemper talks with director Emily Auerbach, and Odyssey Project alums Hezouwe Walada and Rene Robinson about their stories of courage. The UW-Odyssey Project offers University of Wisconsin-Madison humanities classes for adult students facing economic barriers to college. The majority of students that participate in the Odyssey Course are from racial and ethnic minority groups (~90%) and are often overcoming the obstacles of single parenthood, homelessness, drug and alcohol addiction, incarceration, depression, and domestic abuse. Odyssey students report transformative outcomes, and some have even moved from homelessness to bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Students also say that they read more to their children, feel that they are better parents and advocates for their children in school, have more hope about their own futures, and are more likely to vote and become involved in their communities.

UW-Madison's Odyssey Project offers humanities classes for adult students facing economic barriers to college. The majority of students who participate in Odyssey are from racial and ethnic minority groups, and are often overcoming the obstacles of single parenthood, homelessness, addiction, incarceration, depression, and domestic abuse. Participants say they read more to their children, feel they are better parents, and have more hope about their own future. In this program, we're exploring how Odyssey has helped students find their voice and be heard. Buzz speaks with Director of UW Odyssey Project Emily Auerbach, and Odyssey Projects alums Keena Atkinson and Corey Saffold about their Odyssey experience.

Buzz speaks with Village of Waunakee Executive Assistant Kylie West and UniverCity Managing Director Gavin Luter about how cities, towns, and villages form alliances with UW-Madison to accomplish their goals; in this case, working with the Ho Chunk Nation to create a traveling museum about the Ho Chunk people.

What is research? We have images of labs, computer models, surveys, ivory towers, etc. but some researchers are taking research to the people: to communities and neighborhoods. We find out more with our guests, Community-Engaged Scholarship Specialist Cory Sprinkel of the Morgridge Center for Public Service and Kat Phelps, with the Wisconsin Network for Research Support.

Psychology Emeritus Professor Robert McGrath helps us tune into the meaning of Thanksgiving by talking about the benefits of gratitude and thankfulness.

It's Veterans' Day month, and on this episode, Joe Rasmussen, Director of Veterans Services at UW-Madison, talks about how the UW supports our veteran students.

Humans have doctors to cure them of illnesses and disease, so why not plants? Leslie Holland, Assistant Professor & Extension Specialist of Fruit Crop Pathology talks with Buzz Kemper about diagnosing and curing disease in Wisconsin's most common fruit crops: cranberries, apples, and grapes.

Every fall, the Wisconsin Science Festival features fascinating events all over Wisconsin. On this episode, Buzz Kemper speaks with Festival Director Samantha Mulrooney about this year's festival.

Dr. Lee L. Eckhardt is the Gary and Marie Weiner Professor of Cardiovascular Research and a faculty member in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine within the Department of Medicine. As an electrophysiologist, Dr. Eckhardt treats a wide variety of arrhythmia conditions particularly conditions that cause ventricular arrhythmia or sudden death. She is an expert in inherited arrhythmia conditions and directs both clinical and basic science arrhythmia research projects related to these interests with an overarching goal of prevention of sudden cardiac death (SCD). She is co-director of the UW Health Inherited Arrhythmia Clinic and the Cardiac Arrest Prevention Program. Dr. Eckhardt serves as the Vice President of the Cardiac Electrophysiology Society (2020-2022) and the Heart Rhythm Society Fellowship Committee. She is an editorial board member of the Heart Rhythm Society Journal, Heart Rhythm Care Reports Journal and JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology.

Buzz Kemper talks with cell and regenerative biology professor Dr. Jeffrey Dilworth, who helps us understand why the genes that maintain stem cells in a healthy state sometimes get turned off and how we can use epigenetics to turn these genes back on, so our satellite cells can function properly and effectively throughout our lifetime.

Buzz Kemper speaks with UW Madison Assistant Professor of Astronomy Michael Maseda about what he's learned from hundreds of hours of observing distant galaxies through the James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST.

Soon-to-be Doctor Melissa Morris talks with Buzz Kemper about galaxies, their environments, their movements, and what supermassive black holes can tell us about them.

In this episode, Buzz chats with Jack Williams, Professor of Geography and Geography Department Chair, about his geography career, which overlaps with many other fields in working to solve the historical climate puzzle in looking at plant pollen in lake sediment over the more recent geological past.

The UW State Cartographer's Office kindly loaned us Jim Lacy for today's episode of The Badger Talks Podcast. He makes Cartography fun and, well, easily navigable!

Dr. Francine Hirsch, Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of History at UW-Madison, brings clarity to the difficult topic of war crimes, and specifically, war crimes being investigated in the Russian war against Ukraine.

New Badger Talks Podcast host Buzz Kemper speaks with Managing Director of Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association Michael (Mike) Fahey about celebrating UW-Madison's 175th Anniversary all throughout the state.

Laura Albert, professor and chair of Industrial and Systems Engineering, gives Ben a crash course in industrial engineering, the goal of the field, and how we can use its methods to predict systems like Badger and National Football League bracketsLinks to other Badger Talk Live recordings of University of Wisconsin-Madison experts, can be found here: https://badgertalks.wisc.edu/badger-talks-live/

Dipesh Navsaria chats with Ben about the importance of reading to kids, how he became interested in combining children's literature and medicine, and how books can transport a child's mind to a brand new place.Links to the upcoming virtual Badger Talk Live about upcoming or past Badger Talk Live recordings, can be found here: https://badgertalks.wisc.edu/badger-talks-live/

Tom Eggert chats with Ben about investing in solutions to climate change and social justice that will likely give you returns and help improve the planet simultaneously. Tom also chats about how micro-finance loans can help communities rebound from natural disasters.Links to the upcoming virtual Badger Talk Live about upcoming or past Badger Talk Live recordings, can be found here: https://badgertalks.wisc.edu/badger-talks-live/

Professor Jennifer Van Os chats with Ben about the importance of dairy cow welfare, how to measure individual cow preference, and how dairy cow welfare translates into productivity and better herd management.Links to the upcoming virtual Badger Talk Live about upcoming or past Badger Talk Live recordings, can be found here: https://badgertalks.wisc.edu/badger-talks-live/

Professor Sterling Johnson chats with Ben about the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention (WRAP) study, new insights from the study, how we can visualize protein build-up before symptoms, and how the study can help our understanding of Alzheimer's going forward.You can check out the latest about the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention (WRAP) by visiting: https://wrap.wisc.edu/Links to the upcoming virtual Badger Talk Live about upcoming or past Badger Talk Live recordings, can be found here: https://badgertalks.wisc.edu/badger-talks-live/

Kate Corby, Professor of Dance and expert in rolling around on the floor, chats with Ben about making dance accessible to kids across Madison, learning through movement & dance, and how dance can teach us more about ourselves.You can check out the dance outreach initiative Performing Ourselves by visiting: https://performingourselves.com/Links to the upcoming virtual Badger Talk Live about upcoming or past Badger Talk Live recordings, can be found here: https://badgertalks.wisc.edu/badger-talks-live/

Li Chiao-Ping, Professor of Dance, chats with Ben about how the she has worked with students, the community, and her dance company to bring dance throughout the lifespan. Chiao-Ping describes what it is like to dance and how rewarding it is to see students and community members dance as well. You can even take part!You can check out Li Chiao-Ping dance by visiting: https://www.lcpdance.com/Links to the upcoming virtual Badger Talk Live about upcoming or past Badger Talk Live recordings, can be found here: https://badgertalks.wisc.edu/badger-talks-live/

Michelle Somes-Booher, the Director of the Small Business Development Center, chats with Ben about how the Center serves as a connector for business at all stages. The Center offers consulting, classes, videos, and resources of all sorts that are extremely helpful (as Ben can personally verify). If you're getting a business together, check out the Small Business Development Center! Links to the upcoming virtual Badger Talk Live about Covering Wisconsin and upcoming or past Badger Talk Live recordings, can be found here: https://badgertalks.wisc.edu/badger-talks-live/You can check out the Small Business Development Center by visiting: https://sbdc.wisc.edu/

Jake Dean, the Director of the Grainger Center for Supply Chain Management, chats with Ben about how his work teaching about supplies chains and their potential disruptions was actually disrupted by the pandemic. Jake also discusses the status of supply chains currently and what folks might be able to expect to see going forward in addition to what he likes to do on Sundays (hint, it's edible).Links to the upcoming virtual Badger Talk Live about supply chain issues during the pandemic and upcoming or past Badger Talk Live recordings can be found here: https://badgertalks.wisc.edu/badger-talks-live/

Courtney Harris, the Outreach & Partner Development Manager at Covering Wisconsin, chats with Ben about how Covering Wisconsin partners with organizations across the state to help individuals get health insurance and choose plans. Folks can contact Covering Wisconsin or visit the website to learn about the process of signing up for health insurance and their personal options. Violet the dog would approve.Links to the upcoming virtual Badger Talk Live about Covering Wisconsin and upcoming or past Badger Talk Live recordings, can be found here: https://badgertalks.wisc.edu/badger-talks-live/Covering Wisconsin is a nonprofit organization that helps people in Wisconsin find and use health insurance. Their expert Health Insurance Navigators provide free help any time. You can contact a Covering Wisconsin Navigator by calling 608-261-1455 or 414-400-9489 or schedule an appointment online. You can also call the 2-1-1 Helpline to find a Navigator or other health insurance enrollment assister near you.

Cliff Robb, Associate Professor of Personal Finance, chats with Ben about his random path to his interest in finance, the reward of teaching fundamental skills to students, research into behaviors leading to debt, how financial scams can affect everyone, the Center for Financial Security as a resource for financial information, and playing with Legos or talking the dogs to the park.Links to Cliff's upcoming virtual Badger Talk Live, and upcoming and past Badger Talk Live recordings, can be found here: https://badgertalks.wisc.edu/badger-talks-live/Visit the Center for Financial Secuirty:https://cfs.wisc.edu/

Linda Lepe, Director of Consumer Finance & Financial Planning, chats with Ben about the basics of investing: what investing is, the benefits of investing early, what stocks versus bonds are, and how you could get a mix of stocks and bonds through mutual funds or exchange traded funds all with a bit of humor.Links to Linda's upcoming virtual Badger Talk Live, and upcoming and past Badger Talk Live recordings, can be found here: https://badgertalks.wisc.edu/badger-talks-live/Investment websites mentioned by Linda:Investopedia- https://www.investopedia.com/Nerdwallet- https://www.nerdwallet.com/Yahoo finance- https://finance.yahoo.com/Market Watch- https://www.marketwatch.com/Morning Star- https://www.morningstar.com/

Bridgit Bowden, WPR's Special Projects Reporter, chats with Ben about what she learned when making the "WPR Reports: Mapped Out" podcast, what she hopes each listener will learn about gerrymandering, how critical redistricting is to every aspect of politics in Wisconsin, and how she still does Zumba with or without her cats.Links to Bridgit's upcoming virtual Badger Talk Live, and upcoming and past Badger Talk Live recordings, can be found here: https://badgertalks.wisc.edu/badger-talks-live/Listen to "WPR Reports: Mapped Out" on-Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/7GSHJFjB75vWnhR1EXL2j1Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wpr-reports/id1586839609WPR website:https://www.wpr.org/mappedout

Susan Carpenter, native plant gardener at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, chats with Ben about the joy and biodiversity that come with gardening with native plant species, how pollinators and birds benefit from native plants, ways to find out more about native plants, how prescribed burns are carried out at the University Arboretum, and how her dog expects milk bones from every delivery truck.Links to Susan's upcoming virtual Badger Talk Live, and upcoming and past Badger Talk Live recordings, can be found here: https://badgertalks.wisc.edu/badger-talks-live/

Barb Duerst, Deputy Director of the Masters of Public Health Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, chats with Ben about the need for evidence-based decision making in public health and beyond, food security, and all the amazing activities Barb does in her spare time.Links to Barb's upcoming virtual Badger Talk Live, and upcoming and past Badger Talk Live recordings, can be found here: https://badgertalks.wisc.edu/badger-talks-live/

The co-founders of the Wisconsin Science Festival, Laura Heisler and George Tzougros, chat with Ben about how the Fest came to be, some highlights of the over 200 events happening across the state from October 21st to the 24th, and where they would love to see the Fest go in the future.Links to the upcoming virtual Badger Talk Live by Laura and George, and upcoming and past Badger Talk Live recordings, can be found here: https://badgertalks.wisc.edu/badger-talks-live/The link to the Wisconsin Science Festival is here:https://www.wisconsinsciencefest.org/

Director of the Elections Research Center and professor Barry Burden chats with Ben about the multiple forms of gerrymandering, how maps can be redrawn, and what alternatives to secretive redistricting the public can learn more about.Links to Barry's upcoming virtual Badger Talk Live, and upcoming and past Badger Talk Live recordings, can be found here: https://badgertalks.wisc.edu/badger-talks-live/The virtual talk on rank choice voting in Wisconsin on October 7th morning is here:https://elections.wisc.edu/ranked-choice-voting-breakfast-briefing/To see the rest of the events for Badger Family Weekend, visit the event page for the program here:https://parent.wisc.edu/parent-events/family-weekend/

Director of the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music, Susan C. Cook, chats with Ben about her early "Wonderbread" years in the UP of Michigan, how ragtime culture was similar to the birth of hip-hop culture, and the new expansion of the School of Music.Links to Susan's upcoming virtual Badger Talk Live, and upcoming and past Badger Talk Live recordings, can be found here: https://badgertalks.wisc.edu/badger-talks-live/Susan's book "Bodes of Sound" connecting culture and youth across the generations can be found here: https://www.routledge.com/Bodies-of-Sound-Studies-Across-Popular-Music-and-Dance/Cook-Dodds/p/book/9781138248144

Professor and jazz-man Johannes Wallmann chats with Ben about finding a home where can successfully balance teaching, composing, and recording albums, improvising, plus the catchy earworm stuck in his brain.Links to Johannes' upcoming virtual Badger Talk Live, and upcoming and past Badger Talk Live recordings, can be found here: https://badgertalks.wisc.edu/badger-talks-live/