Points North | Great Lakes. Great Stories.

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Presenting Up From Dust: Can We Save Millions of Migrating Birds? Sep 26, 2025

Show notes

Buildings and light pollution are taking a heavy toll on migrating birds. Some cities in the Midwest and Great Plains are working to fix that.

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Hopes and Fishes Sep 12, 2025

Show notes

In one of the most polluted parts of Lake Michigan, whitefish are thriving. Some people wonder if we should try to replicate that environment elsewhere to save the iconic species. But that could mean doing something untested and controversial.

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Pushing the Boundary Aug 29, 2025

Show notes

In the early 1800s, a group of politicians decided part of the Ohio border should move farther north. It started a decades-long border fight between Michigan and Ohio. There were winners. There were losers. And in the end, it shaped the states as we know them.

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The Pink Prairie Mascot Aug 15, 2025

Show notes

In 2014, a group of botanists discovered that a very rare plant native to the Kankakee River in Illinois, had vanished from its only known native habitat in the world. That set off a quest to bring back the missing Midwestern flower.

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My Little Slime Aug 01, 2025

Show notes

What would happen if our devices were alive? Would it change the way we treat them? One researcher in Chicago wanted to find out. So she made a smartwatch that has to be fed and watered to work.

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A Good, Not Great Lake Jul 18, 2025

Show notes

Lake Champlain is more than 16 times smaller than Lake Ontario, the smallest Great Lake. But in 1998, Congress designated Lake Champlain as the sixth Great Lake, teeing off a historical and cultural fight over which lakes can really call themselves Great.

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Once in a Blue Moon Jul 04, 2025

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Blue moon ice cream, this quintessentially Midwestern, bright blue dessert, is a mystery. No one can agree on what it tastes like, and no one with the info will say. We try to find out.

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Scratching the Right Itch Jun 20, 2025

Show notes

Ron Reimink knew how uncomfortable and annoying swimmer’s itch could be. He spent much of his adult life trying to eradicate it in lakes across northern Michigan. Then one day, he realized he was completely wrong.

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Presenting The Dirtbag Diaries: Winter Vacation Jun 06, 2025

Show notes

Emily Ford goes on a winter vacation. She doesn’t go to some warm beach location, though. She sets out to thru-hike Wisconsin’s 1,200 mile Ice Age Trail.

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The Good Thief? May 23, 2025

Show notes

Tom Farnquist is in the business of preserving underwater artifacts and displaying them in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. The problem is, a lot of those artifacts were technically stolen from the State of Michigan. And one day, the state notices.

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