Bubbler Talk

Bowling. It’s as Wisconsin as cheese curds and Packers gear. Some have even called Milwaukee "America’s 10-pin Capital" in reference to ten-pin bowling, the most common form of the sport. But there’s another kind of bowling that’s also popular in the area, and it’s a little quacky.

Why aren’t there more positive portrayals of black men in the news? That’s the question 18-year-old Terrance Robinson, 14-year-old Victor Barnett Jr., 17-year-old Darius Simmons and 16-year-old Ashanti Travers posed to WUWM’s Bubbler Talk.

The Pabst Mansion, the Schuster Mansion, the Villa Filomena... Milwaukee is home to a handful of historic mansions - often hidden in plain sight, appearing seemingly out of place. The Kalvelage Schloss Mansion, located near 24th and Kilbourn Avenue, is no different.

An impressive collection of old Bugle American newspapers are spread out on a table at the Milwaukee County Historical Society. I'm here looking at these because a listener reached out to Bubbler Talk, wanting to know: “Why did the Bugle newspaper end and where are its employees now?”

On this week's Bubbler Talk, we dig into a botanical mystery involving a 'banned' tree, stinky fruit, and the age of the dinosaurs.

Years ago, if you stood on the corner of Fourth and Mitchell Streets on Milwaukee’s near south side, you would have been greeted by images of dolphins. The purpose of the porpoises was to mark the entrance of one of Milwaukee’s most unique dining experiences.

Friday on Lake Effect:

"Why doesn't Milwaukee have an NHL team?" That's the question Dave Brown of Wauwatosa submitted to WUWM's Bubbler Talk.

Winter is officially here, even though we have yet to see a big snowfall. But that'll probably come soon enough. And then you'll hear the sound of plows making their way down snow-covered streets.

You’re probably familiar with the dozens of huge sculptures of human-looking heads, known as Moai, on Easter Island. What you may not know is that there’s a piece of the Polynesian island right here in Wisconsin -- well, sort of.

This week’s Bubbler Talk is rooted deep in Wisconsin history... in the story of escaped slave Joshua Glover. Glover fled Missouri for Wisconsin in 1852 and was imprisoned in Milwaukee under the Fugitive Slave Law.

From roughly 1944 until 1954, steam locomotive Number 265 carried load upon load of freight and later folks for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St.Paul & Pacific Railroad.

Certainly, Wisconsin and Illinois have storied rivalries in the sports arena: the Green Bay Packers vs. the Chicago Bears, the Brewers and the Cubs, the Bucks and the Bulls. But a few of our listeners have been wondering if that competitive spirit runs deeper than the action on the field.

It’s listener suggestions that inspire the features that make up our weekly Bubbler Talk segment. But Bubbler Talk itself was the inspiration for a student project that played out earlier this year in the community of Slinger.

The Love Rock holds a special place in many Milwaukeeans' hearts. And for those who have never heard of it, it is a pretty strange story.

Is there some question about Milwaukee that you’ve always wanted the answer to? For Kennan Ferguson, the answer is a resounding yes. That’s why he wrote to Bubbler Talk to ask: “Why are there so many duplexes in Milwaukee?”

What happened to the bathhouses that used to be along the Milwaukee River?

It was a Sunday night in late May when WUWM listener Josephine Gomez first saw it.

A lot has changed at the Wisconsin State Fair since the 1920s, especially in the categories of foods on sticks, foods that are fried, and foods that are fried and placed on sticks.

Bubbler Talk is supposed to be on its summer break, as we gather more questions and look for more answers to what you’ve always wanted to know about this place we call home. But not long before the hiatus, a question came in that it would be a shame to wait until fall to answer. "Hi, my name is Sarah Richoux, from San Francisco. My question is: Why is frozen custard such a big deal in Milwaukee?"