Lake Effect

Every month we talk with cellist and Lake Effect contributor Robert Cohen about music and life in a segment we call On That Note.

Robert has been on tour since mid-January. We caught him in the Netherlands after he'd just come from Finland and the Tampere Chamber Music Festival. While he was in Finland, he performed on stage with someone he never expected to: jazz saxophonist Jukka Perko. Here is their performance of the Prelude from Bach's Cello Suite No. 1:

Editor's note: This article was originally published on Oct. 16, 2019 ahead of Bleed Out's Wisconsin premiere at the Milwaukee Film Festival. 

Medical errors are the third leading cause of death in America. Often caused by miscommunication, medical errors can lead to life-changing outcomes for patients and their families — and the Burrows family is proof.

The piano trio is one of the most common groupings of musicians in classical chamber music. As the name indicates, the piano is the constant. The other two instruments can include the French horn and the clarinet, but the two most common are the violin and the cello.

The Super Bowl is much more than a football game. It's a touchstone of American culture. And while people do watch it for the actual sporting event, many non-football fans love to watch the game for the commercials.

READ: Pageantry, Violence And High Stakes: A Philosopher's Take On The Super Bowl

For all the possible ways human bodies can fall ill, there are even more ways to treat them. Many of us combine Western allopathic medicine with things such as medication and other holistic approaches. Acupuncture is one of those practices. It’s been used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years as a method of treatment.

Matt Wild is one of the co-founders of Milwaukee Record, which he and the other co-founder, Tyler Maas, describe as an online source for music, culture, and gentle sarcasm. Among the many cultural things Milwaukee Record keeps track of is a nearly exhaustive list of new music from local musicians.

Short on time but know you need to exercise? Adding small bouts of exercise — as little as one minute — into your day can make a big difference to your health and your well being. Here are eight workouts to get you moving and working on the five pillars of fitness: cardio, mobility, strength, flexibility, and balance.

Cardio keeps your heart and lungs healthy while circulating oxygen and energy throughout your body. You can get your cardio in at home, work or anywhere you have the time and space to perform a no-impact movement like marching in place or jumping jacks.

There are many reasons we watch the Super Bowl: the half-time performance, the ads, and, of course, the game. But as James South notes, whatever your reasons for watching, you're participating in a cultural phenomenon.

South is a professor of philosophy at Marquette University and a pop culture expert. He says one of the reasons the Super Bowl is such a touchstone in American culture is its combination of pageantry, violence, and high stakes.

It’s no secret that the universe is vast. The distances between us and our closest astronomical neighbors are huge and the numbers only get bigger the farther away those stars and galaxies are from us. So, how do astronomers grapple with it to make the size of the universe understandable to the rest of us?

Jean Creighton, Lake Effect's astronomy contributor, says one way we do it is by using orders of magnitude. Another way is by using time as a measure. That seems odd until you realize we do it all the time:

In 1850, a magazine declared John C. Frémont as one of the three most important world historical figures since Jesus Christ.

Wait, John who?

Most of us don’t recall the name Frémont from our history lessons even though you can find a “Frémont” village, river, hotel, or school throughout the country. But John Frémont was very much a part of westward expansion, mapping America, the Civil War, and the origins of the Republican Party.

In the coming months, Lake Effect will be exploring the impact of climate change through a series of conversations with Paul Roebber, a distinguished professor of atmospheric science at UW-Milwaukee. The series will include listener questions about how climate change is directly impacting our region and our lives.

Roebber explains that climate is a complex, dynamical system that changes over periods of time — some long and some short.

Paula Poundstone has been a regular panelist on the weekly NPR news quiz Wait! Wait!...Don’t Tell Me! for years. But she’s been influential on the American comedy scene since before that. Poundstone is also known for her HBO specials in the 1980s, she was the first woman to host the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, and she has just about endless stand-up credentials.

The relationships we share with our siblings are unique — whether some consider it a bond, or at times, a burden. For Lake Effect essayist Joanne Nelson, thinking about her brother brings up many mixed emotions. She remembers the man once filled with buzzing energy while contending with the image of who he turned into:

What if your ID doesn't have your current address because you don't have a current address? What if you have a felony conviction? Or what if you can’t physically get into your polling place? How can you still vote?