Door County Pulse Podcasts

Sam Watson joins Myles Dannhausen Jr. to talk about the weak ties and the value of connections in battling the “epidemic of loneliness” outlined in a 2023 Surgeon General’s report. The topic is the focus of the 2024 Door County Living Philanthropy Issue, on newsstands now.

This year’s edition of Door Wedding is now on newsstands, and editor Aleah Kidd joins Myles Dannhausen Jr. to talk about the stories and trends in the Door County wedding industry.

Myles Dannhausen revisits the words and advice of Ed McMahon of the Urban Land Institute, who visited the county 15 years ago and gave his advice on how the county could manage growth while preserving its essential character. Plus, a look at what the Door County Half Marathon has brought to the peninsula.

Tourism, housing and isolation rose to the top of areas of concern identified recently by a leadership team while developing the County of Door’s latest Community Health Improvement Plan. Shauna Blackledge, Door County Public Health strategist, joins Debra Fitzgerald to talk about those areas of concern, the focus areas they’ve adopted to address those concerns and the strategies developed to improve mental health, substance abuse and healthy lifestyle outcomes for Door County’s workforce and residents.

Creating a Shared Vision by Door County Pulse Podcast

That’s what we wanted to know for this year’s Peninsula Pulse Sustainability issue. We dig into almost 20-years-worth of data on test results, and research the improvements, programs and practices designed to protect the health of our groundwater, our drinking water and our beach water. Myles Dannhausen Jr. previews the issue with Debra Fitzgerald on what readers can expect and about some of the surprise findings.

What's up with manure management and how are agricultural land uses impacting Door County water quality? Those questions will be answered during a League of Women Voters public forum scheduled for Tuesday, April 23. A diverse panel of experts has been assembled and the event will be moderated by Virge Temme – who chairs the League's natural resources committee and who led the six-month research project. She talks with Debra Fitzgerald to give listeners a sneak preview of their findings.

When Todd Haleen built the new home of Lakeshore Adventures in Baileys Harbor in 2022, he didn’t expect to become the target of social media vitriol, especially after his plans had been met with no opposition in the planning stage. He joins Myles Dannhausen Jr. to discuss what he hoped to accomplish with his building, why he designed it the way he did, and to clear up some misconceptions about the building.

One in four girls and one in 13 boys in the U.S. experiences sexual assault or violence. It happens everywhere, including here. Sophie Sielen, a victim advocate for Door County with the Sexual Assault Center for Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin, ought to know. She deals with the reality of these statistics every day. Here, she talks with Debra Fitzgerald about her organization's support, prevention and education efforts – and how people can help during this month of Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness.

Tales of Our Lives, the story slam presented each spring by the Women’s Fund of Door County, is coming to the Gould Theater on April 20. Slammer Melissa Ripp joins Myles Dannhausen Jr. to talk about the slam experience, then Ripp shares one of her stories from her college days in Madison.

There’s more demand for child care than ever in northern Door County, but soon there will also be more capacity. Cindy Trinkner-Peot and Jen Thompson join Myles Dannhausen Jr. to talk about the expansion plans at Northern Door Children’s Center as they enter the final phase of a $3.6 million capital campaign.

Here we go again. Myles Dannhausen Jr. and Debra Fitzgerald discuss the new proposal to build a hotel on Sturgeon Bay’s west waterfront. Plus, an update on the transfer of operations at Scandia Village, and a brief look at Tuesday’s local elections.

What is genocide and is it a term that describes what’s happening in the war between Israel and Hammas? Debra Fitzgerald is joined by Lawrence University Professor Emeritus Paul Cohen, who talks about writer and philosopher, Hannah Arendt, and her brilliant book, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, in the context of today’s war. Cohen will host a Björklunden Zoom seminar book discussion on the topic: “Is Evil Really Banal: Hannah Arendt and The Question of Genocide,” April 4 - May 2.

Gibraltar School will embark on one of the largest and most expensive public building projects in the county’s history this summer. Superintendent Brett Stousland and Project Manager Tim Bickert discuss the multi-year renovation project starting this summer to transform Gibraltar School. Then, Myles Dannhausen Jr. talks to Stousland about the school’s response to a student who brought a gun into the school building last week.

The partners that make up the Big Plant aim to add 10,000 trees to the peninsula landscape in April. Coordinator Jeff Lutsey of the Climate Change Coalition joins Myles Dannhausen Jr. to talk about his path the CCC, the value of trees and how to make a difference one root at a time.

Local board, judge, and school board races are on the ballot in Door County on April 2. This week, Debra Fitzgerald joins Myles Dannhausen Jr. to talk about the candidate profiles in this week’s edition of the Peninsula Pulse, plus the latest on broadband funds making their way to the peninsula and staffing shortages at the Coast Guard.

Craft Beer Evolution with One Barrel’s Peter Gentry by Door County Pulse Podcast

Bobby MacDonald of the Bayside Tavern talks about why the family embarked on a refacing of the building to restore its historical look, his parents’ unusual business relationship, and the evolution of the Bayside Alley Shops. They also touch on the tavern’s place in Fish Creek and how the town’s historic charm is at the heart of its tourism draw.

The ski hill in Potawatomi State Park hasn’t been open in a quarter century, but a Sturgeon Bay man hopes to resurrect it with a little fundraising, some motivated volunteers and a lot of work. Dana Wangerin joins Myles Dannhausen Jr. to talk about the effort to bring downhill skiing back to Door County.

Chicago-based artists Ellen Holtzblatt and Mary Porterfield join Debra Fitzgerald for a conversation about their two-person show at the Miller Art Museum: Vestiges of the Tide. Both artists contemplate a topic in their work that brings awareness to what many of us prefer not to face: senescence, or the process of deterioration as we age, and who we'll be in our final years. The public can meet the artists and view the show March 1. See the Peninsula Pulse for more.