Door County Pulse Podcasts

Door Shakespeare’s producing artistic director, Amy Ensign, and its music director, Scott McKenna Campbell, join Debra Fitzgerald to talk about this season’s performances, and the nuts and bolts of producing shows that make Shakespeare and other classics accessible and enjoyable to watch beneath the stars at at Björklunden.

Herb Gould has covered big-time college and professional sports for the Chicago Sun-Times for four decades, but this summer he has fallen in love with Door County League Baseball as he sought out the stories of the league for the Peninsula Pulse. Myles Dannhausen Jr. talks to him about the league, its quirks, and the people who make it go.

Terry Moran, ABC News National Political Correspondant, joins Myles Dannhausen Jr. to talk about the 2024 Presidential Election. Moran, a 1982 graduate of Lawrence University, just completed teaching a weeklong seminar in at Björklunden, where he expected to be talking about Joe Biden and Donald Trump. He discusses the new matchup, underrated aspects of the campaign, and his faith in the American voter.

A self-described introvert who spends the majority of her time quietly creating art, Rebecca Carlton burst onto the scene earlier this year with her social sculpture, Are We Listening? Each of the 700 porcelain homing pigeons she suspended on wire in three different designs represented 10 of the world’s 7,000 languages. She then brought some 25 different groups of people together over a couple of months to have conversations. Rebecca talks with Debra Fitzgerald about her art and her community-creating experience.

Writer, singer and storyteller Katie Dahl joins Myles Dannhausen Jr. to talk about finding characters in old Door County books, the origins of Peninsula State Park, and working unwritten stories into her play, The Fisherman's Daughters. The play is on stage now at Northern Sky Theater.

Debra Fitzgerald and Myles Dannhausen Jr. talk about memorializing the people who’ve made Door County – Door County, the rumors floating about Rowleys Bay Resort at the top of the peninsula, a hard-working couple’s path to home ownership, and the Peninsula Pulse’s Aug. 2 candidate coverage in preparation for the Aug. 13 primary election.

There’s a new name on the property that was once the Florian II, but inside it’s the same family line and space, just with an updated twist. Shane Kwaterski joins Myles Dannhausen Jr. to talk about the plans he and his wife have to keep the space thriving in the family for another generation. They discuss Shane’s journey back to the family business, the evolution of his hometown and the story behind the new name.

Edgewood Orchard Galleries in Fish Creek is one of those emblems of Door County. Opened in 1967 on Peninsula Players Road in a beautifully restored 1918 fruit barn, the gallery is now nurtured and grown by a third generation of family owners who have also created a sculpture garden that meanders through the woods. Owner J.R. Jarosh talks with Debra Fitzgerald about some of the 150+ artists the gallery represents, the latest exhibit that runs through Aug. 25, and the gallery’s past, present and future.

Matt Stone is a man of many titles – trainer, real estate agent, podcast host, improv performer, dad. He joins Myles Dannhausen Jr. to talk about his search for fulfillment in career and life, fighting off screen time for yourself and your kids, getting on stage and even a little about the Packers.

Newly 80-years-old, Charlotte Lukes recalls the courtship that led to her marriage to Roy Lukes, and the life they lived at the Ridges Range Light. Introduced to the peninsula’s magic by her husband, Roy Lukes, Charlotte has carried on their legacy in many ways since his death in 2016, including through their Peninsula Pulse column, Door to Nature. She has also branched out on her own, becoming one of the county’s most knowledgeable mushroom guides (several are coming up in August at The Ridges, Björklunden and Whitefish Dunes).

Myles Dannhusen Jr. and Debra Fitzgerald catch up with some of the news that’s been happening at the top of the Door peninsula.

The Door County Triathlon returns to Egg Harbor this weekend, bringing 2,000 athletes to Murphy Park. Director Sean Ryan joins Myles Dannhausen Jr. to reflect on 20 years of the event, the impact of the late Mark Ernst, and how the Tri helped change the face of the Door County visitor.

That’s a well known fact in Soil and Water Conservation Department circles and the people who work in those Wisconsin departments spend their days carrying out a mission of conservation and environmental advocacy to prevent pollution. Greg Coulthurst has been at it for more than three decades in Door County and the Door County SWCD conservationist and department head talks with Debra Fitzgerald about what his office does to protect surface and groundwater from agricultural operations.

Jacksonport resident and Sevastopol High School student Isabella Dereszkiewicz-Hodowany did what no other Door County student has achieved: she was accepted into the U.S. Senate Page program. Living at the Capitol for six months and working each day on the Senate floor, she witnessed the creation of legislation both small and large – including debates that led to aid packages for Ukraine and Israel. She talks with Debra Fitzgerald about that experience and how it changed her perspective on U.S. politics and on the importance of bipartisanship.

While the Green Bay Packers have announced the succession plan for retiring team President Mark Murphy a year in advance, most nonprofits don’t have the luxury of planning for succession in leadership positions. Northern Sky Theater is one of the few that had a plan in place for the transition, and new Managing Director Holly Feldman joined the podcast to talk to Myles Dannhausen Jr. about the process and the benefits of putting a plan in place. She also discusses highlights of the 2024 season, and how Northern Sky handles the ever-unpredictable Door County weather at a theater in the woods.

There are some 1,000 music performances happening in Door County between June and October and we have them all for you in the Peninsula Pulse’s Summer Music Preview – Part I (June through July, out now) and Part II (August through October, out July 26). Pulse arts & entertainment reporter Sam Watson joins Debra Fitzgerald to talk about what it takes to pull that together. We’ll also introduce you to the Pulse’s summer intern, Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism student and Gibraltar High School graduate, Betsy Lecy.

When Kevin O’Donnell moved to the Southern Door town of Clay Banks seven years ago, he immediately found himself drawn to the people and scenes of the peninsula. He turned his lens and his pen increasingly toward the overlooked stories of the county, particularly those south of the bridge. O’Donnell joins Myles Dannhausen Jr. to talk about his new book about those discoveries – Behind the Door.

Should music education change? That’s the question Charlie Eckhardt has been mulling throughout his final year as the leader of the band at Gibraltar School, where he has taught for 24 years. He talks to Myles Dannhausen Jr. about leaving the classroom and how small-school music education might need to change to keep kids (and teachers) engaged.

Long-time member and leader of the Door County League of Women Voters, Susan Kohout, is retiring, and Ann Morgan has been selected to lead the non-partisan organization into the future. Both women talk with Debra Fitzgerald about the League’s founding, current issues of importance and what the future may hold.

Mark Villers, a Door County Environmental Council board member, talks with Debra Fitzgerald about the Door County Environmental Council’s history, current mission, what is and isn’t working to protect our water quality and the phosphorus testing the organization will do this summer.