Meyer Fun Facts

Steve talks with David Allen and Susan Campbell about how the book was written and why the 20 year delay.

During the entire 1990s, the potential removal of PCBs from the Fox River hung in the balance. The book is Paper Valley : The fight for the Fox River Cleanup. Steve talks with the authors David Allen and Susan Campbell who were in the middle of the fight and who dedicated a decade of their professional lives to help all of us.

It's the early 1900s. While lumber barons and railroad companies exploited Wisconsin resources and citizens; socialists and progressives fought back. One individual who fueled the imagination of the public was John Deitz. Listen to Steve interview local Northwest Wisconsin historian, Tamera Schutz about this David v. Goliath story.

Steve follows up to listener questions and comments from the previous podcast.

In August 1970 a powerful fertilizer bomb was detonated on the UW Madison Campus. The only perpetrator not apprehended was Leo Burt. Where is he? Steve talks with former federal prosecutor John Vaudreuil about the outstanding warrant for the arrest of Leo Burt.

Steve talks about America's biggest and deadliest river flood in history and the resulting impact on U.S. history.

Steve talks about a former US Navy communication facility in Northern Wisconsin and the UP of Michigan with Prof. Steven Walton from Michigan Tech University. How the Navy almost turned the entire northwest quarter of the State of Wisconsin into an electrical grid in order to communicate through saltwater with its subs.

Steve continues his interview with Margo Kirchner and discusses the response by the Wisconsin legal system to Sherman Booth's role in aiding Joshua Glover.

Steve sits down with Margo Kirchner, executive director of the Wisconsin Justice Initiative to discuss Joshua Glover's escape from slavery and the role of Wisconsin citizens in assisting that escape

A collage of things that got cut from the final episode of 2023 (PFAS, Lake Michigan Shipwreck, 14th Amendment and the town of Soldiers Grove) plus a brief look forward to upcoming 2024 episodes!

With 28 episodes dropped, Steve takes a look back at the past year, answering listener questions, updating stories and reminding us that history is a great teacher.

Steve continues his interview with Driftless Area historian Brad Steinmetz, author of the book: That Dam History

Steve interviews well respected Driftless Area Historian Brad Steinmetz, celebrated author of the book: That Dam History: The Story of the LaFarge Dam Project

Steve takes a look at the first commercial air circumnavigation of the globe which occurred directly as a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. This podcast includes clips of an interview with the pilot Capt. Robert Ford before his passing in 1994.

Steve explores some of the surprising and not so surprising ramifications of the !989-1991 Spearfishing Controversy

Steve interviews award winning TV journalist Joel DeSpain about one of the biggest stores in Wisconsin during 1989-91. For one of Joel's reports and some coverage from other reporters check out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM_SQo7EC50&t=277s

Steve finishes his interview with Wendy Kahl, chief curator of the Peshtigo Fire Museum

October 8, 1871 is usually remembered as the date of the Chicago Fire. This fire was much much larger and more deadly. Steve sits down with Wendy Kahl from the Peshtigo Fire Museum to look back.

Who knew? Steve follows up on the secret of the Alvin Clark and what was really happening on Lake Michigan in the 19th Century

The inside story of the recovery and loss of the Great Lakes brigantine "Alvin Clark." Steve interviews Jordan Ciesielczyk from the Wisconsin Historical Society's Maritime Preservation and Archaeology Program. For more details on the "Alvin Clark" and other Great Lakes shipwrecks, check out Jordan's blog at https://jayseaarchaeology.wordpress.com/

The 1980 Mount St Helens eruption wasn't the first time. In 1964, action of the Pacific tectonic plate created the largest recorded earthquake in U.S. history. If you're traveling to Alaska this summer, you want to hear this podcast first.

43 years ago on May 18, Mount St Helens exploded causing widespread devastation. Steve takes a look back and interviews a maniac who lived in the area.

This is the conclusion of Steve's interview with Professor Michael Jacobs focusing on the KKK in Wisconsin in the 1920s and a particular incident which occurred in Marinette in 1926.

In a two part series, Steve interviews Professor Michael Jacobs about the KKK and its presence in Wisconsin in the 1920s

In this episode, an almost unbelievable story about the copper industry, the history of unionization, and to top it off a personal experience with a copper mining global giant.