The Inclusive Legacy of Pope Francis (Hour 1)

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This is Up North News Radio.

Now, live from our Lake Wissota studio, here's the founding editor of Up North News, Pat Brightlaw.

Hey there, Wisconsin.

Good morning.

It is 6.06 on this Monday morning, April 21st, 2025.

Another beautiful but wet morning to have you here up north, live from Lake Wissota.

from wherever you're listing across the Civic Media radio network.

You might be listing on the app instead or catching us here on Facebook or YouTube or on demand by podcast.

We appreciate you starting your day and your week right here.

I got a question for you.

Did you find the right limit when it came to Easter candy and Easter ham and everything else?

Or like me, did you overdo it and got yourself a tummy ache?

Hopefully it was a good weekend for you.

It was a

Family filled weekend for us and we couldn't be more thankful about that.

And so we turn our attention now toward a new work week where some changes are coming to this show and to this whole radio lineup that you listen here on across the Civic Media Radio Network.

We'll talk more about that.

We will, of course, get to the breaking news overnight.

It's a bit of a more subdued Monday morning than we were planning.

But with the news of the passing of Pope Francis, we will talk a bit about his his life, his legacy and the church.

Because whether whether we like it or not, we we live in a world now where the public discourse

is dominated by politics.

And so we will look toward the papal conclave, which in light of not just a recent movie, but even if that hadn't come out, it would have all the appearances of a partisan convention because there are factions in churches, just as there are in so many other things in society.

And we'll talk about the debate over whether the next pontiff will be more in line with

Francis and leading the church toward a rediscovery of its roots of inclusion and mercy, or if it will ratchet up more of a doctrinaire pursuit of cultural adherence, shall we say.

So we'll get into that coming up in a bit.

In our second hour, we will talk to author Laura Bird this week marks in a national independent bookstore day.

And so she's going to talk about the ways

independent bookstores are so important to a community and it's not just about the local economy and another small business but also a diversity and reading opportunities and you know providing community spaces for ways to celebrate, ways to celebrate literature.

Overall, we'll get into sports.

The Brewers were on quite the roller coaster this weekend, though they did take two out of three from the West Sacramento Athletics.

Kristen Lyrely will be here.

We'll talk to Selena Heller.

Her story for us this week is a local woman in the Chippewa Valley talking about medical research, the clinical cancer research that has kept her alive past her expiration date as laid out by doctors a couple of years back.

That's because of the value of clinical research, of medical research, which should go without saying, but we have to say it.

We have to say it repeatedly in this era of budget austerity about the things that are worth our investment and pay dividends for our lives and the lives of those who come after us.

We'll have Brittany Merlot talking about this rain that's sitting right over a big chunk of the northern two-thirds of Wisconsin right now, just

sitting right on top of us and spinning away.

We'll see when it's going to move out and what happens after that.

Jane McNair will tell us what's coming up on her programs this week as well.

All that and more but first we'll check in with Greg Bach down at Radio Park in Racine where again he

He thought Easter Sunday was going to be a very relaxing time.

He didn't have any big events planned.

Let's see now if the young man got the relaxing Sunday he was looking for.

Mr. Bach, good morning.

What did you do yesterday?

I did nothing.

Ta-da.

Wow.

How did it feel?

How did it feel?

Honestly, I was feeling out of the weather most of the day, so it was just really a lot of laying down.

Yeah,

but it felt

good.

I watched TV.

I watched movies.

Me and maybe I'll just hung out.

It was fantastic.

So, um, yeah, it was everything I hoped the Sunday would be because it's been very busy lately.

And yeah, Sundays off are a few and far between for me.

So, right.

So good.

Yeah.

Can you do any more of those?

Or was that kind of a one and done or all your Sundays have spoken for

now?

Um, no, I mean, like the next.

And I don't, this is nothing against my friends.

I love hanging out with them, but I do because I live in Kenosha and all my friends generally live in the Milwaukee area.

So even if I'm hanging out with friends, I still count it as like, I got stuff to do because I'm driving, I'm hanging out and I'm going home.

So I don't know.

I think the next Sunday off I'll have will probably be about three weeks or so.

Okay.

It is something how when we talk about people that, you know, we go see.

And you go, well, do they live nearby?

Well, kind of yes, no.

But it's that 30 minutes or so that you have to bake in.

Yeah.

That's the case.

If you're up here in, we're north of Chippewa Falls, and you're going to do something down more in the mall area of Eau Claire, close to here in your state, well, that's almost 30 minutes.

And in the Twin Cities, any time you plan something, no, it's 30 minutes.

When we lived in Milwaukee, well, plan for 30 minutes.

Just kind of bake that as your default drive time, as opposed to, hey, our

Our neighbor next door, which we don't do nearly enough of because, you know, we are so much far flung now.

We are, and we are an automobile driven society pun intended.

So, so it's tough to just go do something quickly.

You, like you said, you have to bake in the day's plans.

Plus, as I know, at a certain age, it's, you don't just do things at the drop of a hat either.

You don't say, Hey, do you want to go see a movie?

Like, Oh, you want to see a movie in three weeks?

You

know what though?

I've lost track of the number of times that we've tried to plan something with friends and we go, how about next week?

No, how about the week after?

No, how about the week after?

No, how about the week after?

No, there's only something.

And then sometimes something frees up and you reach out to somebody and you go, hey, you guys free to do something tonight?

Yeah, as a matter of fact, we are.

And then things come together.

And honestly, sometimes those are the best.

I mean,

not

that you shouldn't try to make plans, but it's always nice when something spontaneous can still happen.

When you can live a life of whimsy.

Greg, I want you to be more whimsical in your life.

Oh my

God, how do you do that?

I don't know.

Sometimes it's better just to sit home and watch TV as Tony did up in Ashland over the weekend.

It puts here on YouTube.

My wife watched a season and a half of Ted Lasso for the first time.

Just a fantastic show.

Welcome to the

club.

How much did you cry?

Because I cried a lot.

In the

first season and a half?

I mean, yeah, there's just moments.

There's moments.

Oh, yeah, there there are.

But but Tony does also advocate for doing nothing.

Nothing is the best he puts up.

Alicia says had quite the puddle out my back door this morning.

Yes, all kinds of we haven't even put out a rain gauge yet.

So I can't even be the old man nerd and tell you what we got other than say it was quite a bit.

But Alicia also writes good morning.

It's the big week, isn't it?

I'm so excited for you guys.

Well, thank you, Alicia.

Thank you, Alicia.

It is a it is a big week and it it feels very much

like the final exams are coming or your big book report is due and...

you're still working to get everything, to get everything ready.

Let's put it that way.

So these are going to be a couple of busy days ahead before the show grows to three hours at six to nine a.m.

starting Wednesday.

And then Matt Naranair follows right away from nine to 11.

So, I mean, that, that Greg Bach, he has got, he has, he has one busy morning creature starting this

week.

Yes, it

did.

Yes, it did.

But it's a nice change.

We're looking forward to starting the new lineup.

Again, that's coming up on Wednesday.

So there will be some changes.

Here's what doesn't change.

The phone number to reach us 855-75-CIVIC 855-752-4842.

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And as we mentioned, the comments are already coming in in YouTube, all also on Facebook.

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But you can find out what all we do over at upnorthnewswi.com.

You can sign up for our newsletters there.

That would include not only our daily newsletter, but the Sunday morning one that has a Wisconsin politics focus.

And my question of the week this week was about the governor's veto power.

because on Friday, I believe, after we visited Friday morning, the Wisconsin Supreme Court put out its decision and it was a, you know, split along ideological line.

So the progressive majority carried the day in upholding a particular way that Governor Evers used his veto power and allowed a veto that extends an increase in school aid for 400 years.

because of the way that he struck out, you know, individual numbers and so instead of the years 2023, 24 and 2024, 25, it's an increase in age from 2023 to the year 24, 25.

And the Wisconsin Supreme Court, even the progressive justices were like, Ah, this is, this is not great.

But it's also not against the Constitution.

And, you know,

rulings like that actually make me feel better when they're essentially delivering a message to the legislature or to Congress, as the case may be, saying, hey, we're ruling this way because this is where current law is, but you might want to take a look at this.

You might want to change things.

And good to snows, Republicans have tried to really reign in the gubernatorial veto.

I'm sure the same thing would happen if the tables were turned.

So I asked, hey, can we take the partisan hat off?

What do you think we should do?

Should we have the same veto powers that we have right now, the partial veto being extremely powerful?

Should we or should we limit it in some way?

And

obviously always a good mix of answers.

I always appreciate the thoughtful comments that come in and so thank you for all of those.

Again, get our newsletter on the weekends and you too can respond to our question of the week.

A little sports here at 618 because the Milwaukee Brewers took two out of three from the West Sacramento Athletics, trouncing them 14 to one yesterday.

Reese Hoskins went three for five with a Homer, four RBIs, and Milwaukee had a franchise record nine steals in the game.

Now the Brewers are on an 11 day road trip, 10 games in three cities.

The first of four in San Francisco will be coming up tonight.

Coverage begins at, nope, I didn't update that one there.

Coverage begins at, I believe, oh, there it is, 8.10 p.m.

on several civic media stations.

The Bucks, meanwhile, were blown out by the Indiana Pacers on Saturday and game one of their playoff series.

Yanis put up 36 points, but everybody else was throwing up bricks.

and nothing to show for game two is tomorrow in Indy on NBA TV.

Wherever you're listening across Wisconsin on this Monday morning, when you're here, you're up north.

We'll be

right back.

Little preview of today's history lesson.

I was Presley had a couple of number one songs on this day in the 1950s We'll have more to say about that coming up in about a half hour here on up north news radio where it is just about 622 right now I was looking at Dan Schaefer sends us an email all over the weekend kind of previewing the week ahead

in Wisconsin politics.

And he led off the email the same way that I led off our Sunday morning newsletter with sports.

It's the NFL draft coming up this this week, starting Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The NFL draft will be at Lambeau Field.

Very big, very exciting.

I mean, so many people will be there for the excitement.

I've never been to one.

I had

I had a trip to Nashville where we got there the day after the draft ended.

It had been in Nashville that weekend.

And you could, you could still feel it there.

Just what a big deal it was, how well it went.

People were, you know, it's become just this destination, the draft, which used to be something they

pretty much did around a card table and is now this mega event.

I mean, it's going to be a tremendous boon to the regional economy there.

And so we hope it goes very smoothly and everybody has a wonderful time.

There will be a session of the Wisconsin State Senate on Tuesday.

There will almost certainly be a bill on extending Medicaid coverage for postpartum women, which won't be a big surprise because the Senate

did it in the last session as well by a vote of 32 to one, and that one guy is not in the Senate anymore.

And in the Assembly, it has so many cosponsors, it would pass if just the cosponsors voted for it, but Robin Voss, the Assembly Speaker, doesn't want it.

And so the Senate will probably pass it on Tuesday, and then the pressure will ramp up on Speaker Robin Voss to maybe stop being against moms.

and their health care and do something about maternal mortality and things like that.

So that's one of the things that it'll be as always a busy week in Wisconsin politics and we'll keep you updated, uh, cross up North news and on the civic media radio network as well.

I think that in talking about the passing of the Pope, let's start simple because he would agree.

and would want us to simply say, of Pope Francis, a good man died this morning.

A good man dedicated to service, but that sounds cliche.

It was so much more than that.

There was always a sense of mission and that mission was mercy.

It was compassion.

It was inclusion.

It was especially dedicated to the poor.

and the marginalized, which should not be that tough to do, and yet it seems to be that tough to do for so many people, arguably more than ever.

I was especially heartened by the remarks from Bishop Robert Barron of Winona, Minnesota, and Rochester, Minnesota in the La Crosse area.

He was on one of the networks early this morning, talking about feeling the loss of a spiritual father.

somebody who lived very simply and advocated for caring for the poor, for refugees, for the excluded.

He was a Jesuit through and through, the first pope who was a Jesuit, which again is all about a dedication to serving the less fortunate.

He was the first pope from the Americas, being from Buenos Aires, the first non-European pope in over a thousand years.

And he has appointed more than half of the College of Cardinals Francis has in his more than a decade serving as head of the Roman Catholic Church.

And having just seen the movie Conclave not that long ago, and you know a whole lot of other people are going to be watching it over the next couple of weeks here.

It reminds us that while we will remember the man, there will also be this focus on where the church goes from here.

because the way that I of former Catholic interpret it, he led that church toward a rediscovery of its roots, of inclusion and mercy.

And despite having named as many cardinals as he did, it is clear there will be a debate over whether the next pontiff will be equally public in the church's need to care for the poor and the downtrodden,

or if it will ratchet up its doctrinaire pursuit of cultural adherence, shall we say.

And so this conclave, when it eventually begins, will have all the trappings of a partisan convention, essentially, with everybody watching it nonstop, looking for any kind of reading in the tea leaves before they read whether there's white smoke or black smoke coming out from the conclave in the choosing of a new pope.

But I do see him as Francis as a shepherd.

Somebody who steered the church away from the abyss of exclusion.

He made clear that the table was open to all in the church.

And that is not a universal sentiment in that church or in many others.

But certainly I have lived the experience where it is said quite

publicly.

The table is only open to people who adhere to everything that we tell you to adhere to.

And that, in my mind, makes it really tough to mission to others.

Francis made clear that he was not in the business of condemnation.

He would say, as Jesus did, go and sin no more, but he was always a man of mercy.

He was not a perfect man, certainly from a doctrine standpoint.

He lifted up women in so many ways, but stopped short of allowing ordination of women as priests.

There are many people who agreed with him on almost everything, but not his stance against women's reproductive health rights when it came to abortion care.

But there was always compassion in the disagreement.

He disagreed with homosexual acts.

but he was a fearless advocate of LGBTQ people being able to participate in the church.

He did not wish them out of existence.

He spoke out against the invasion of Ukraine.

He spoke for a ceasefire in Gaza.

He spoke out against those who were critical of safety measures during the COVID pandemic.

He understood a changing climate and the need to do something about it.

He was a leader for the times.

And we are very fortunate to have had him in this position, whether Catholic or not, all these years.

And some of us can only pray that that kind of a legacy will get to continue there from Rome.

More after this, you're up

north.

Well, this is going to be a bittersweet mention anyway.

This is the anniversary of Prince passing away back in 2016.

And between that and the Pope's passing, it's a little bit more of a melancholy edition of Up North News Radio on this Monday.

But Kristen Lyrely as always is here to bring things back up for us as well.

How's Dr. Lyrely this morning?

Yeah, that music's not melancholy, Pat.

No, no, no.

That is some good like Monday morning.

Let's go, friends.

Come

on, Monday.

Okay, all right.

Come

on, Greg.

from Cassandra says on YouTube, I became disillusioned several years ago and I was never Catholic.

I have a lot of problems with the church, but Pope Francis was a beacon of light and a true follower of Jesus.

So that's one of the comments that we're getting here.

And of course you can do so on YouTube, Facebook.

Oh, Alicia puts in, whenever I thought of Pope Francis, he was what I thought to be an example of what a Christian is supposed to be.

So that's great.

And, uh, Tony says, hi, bring in the joy, Dr. Lirely.

So thank you for bringing the joy.

Have you

seen the movie, The Two Popes?

Yes, but that too was, that was a while back.

It was

about the beginning, like when Pope Francis and Cardinal Ratzinger first got together and they were sharing their philosophies.

And it's a, I think that's one that if you are feeling

Um, moved by this moment.

That would be another good one to watch.

Yeah.

I think that between that and conclave, and I'm sure other folks will suggest some, you know, that this, this doesn't happen all the time.

You know, the passing of a pope and the choosing of a new one and whether you're Catholic or not, you know, a lot of people take a lot of interest in the, the tradition as well as the, you know, the, the, the politics, if you will.

And getting back to, you know, what is, what is your mission?

in life.

So, it will be a very intriguing time for everybody one way or the other.

So, I woke up to the news, you know, early this morning, saw that the the networks were already going, you know, full bore in their coverage.

I've already, let's see, on the text line, this came from Chris, you know, Claire.

It's a quote, a quote card from Pope Francis.

It says,

Rivers do not drink their own water, trees do not eat their own fruit, the sun does not shine on itself, and flowers do not spread their fragrance for themselves.

Living for others is a rule of nature.

We are all born to help each other, no matter how difficult it is.

Life is good when you are happy, but much better when others are happy because of you.

That's

beautiful.

Great words to live by.

Well, it's how you got the title Chief Morrell Officer up north news radio.

Well, not to get all philosophical, but you know, while I was riding my bike yesterday, I was thinking about what does Easter really mean?

And as a kid, I grew up Catholic.

So as a kid, you know, we always went to church and we talked about Jesus and all the rising from, you know, all of that stuff.

But I was focused on bunnies, eggs and candy.

Yes.

And now as a grown up, I think a lot about.

Jesus and the things that he has taught us and it's all about love and compassion and taking care of each other and we're not seeing a lot of that in the world, but I think that we want that so Hey,

maybe

this is one of those opportunities to just you know reach out and see who in your community is hurting and where that need is and using your resources in your heart to uplift other people

It is a perfect opportunity for all of us to re-center, essentially, to do a bit of a gut check and say, you know, who do we want to be, both ourselves as a person and, you know, the community around us.

And that's where I think the word beacon gets used a lot with this pope.

He was truly a beacon in an era where so much discussion related to church and religion and politics and everything else was either dark or divisive.

And he reminded us, you know, he would go to a prison and wash the feet of inmates there.

And again, talk about those who, you know, they did not ask for their lives to be in a place

that led them to, you know, the crimes that they may have committed.

And we would all do well to talk about, you know, second chances, not just for people who, you know, commit crimes or who sin, but who look for second chances in life, maybe in another place.

We are all the children of immigrants in one way, shape, or form people who left a country somewhere else for a better life than what they were struggling through.

And I know

It pained him as it does me and many others to see the anti-immigrant, anti-refugee state of the world these days.

And I'd like to think that the pushback is happening.

I mean, you saw the pushback in demonstrations last weekend and again this past weekend of people saying not just about

you know, the Trump immigration stance, but all kinds of other things of saying, you know, we're not just going to go, ah, what are you going to do?

We're going to speak up.

We're going to say something.

And once again, over this past weekend in some very small communities, plenty of people wanted to get out there and show what their values were.

And I think they did us proud.

I was super excited.

So I'm up in Northern Minnesota and I was looking for a place to go and I didn't see anything online and I was disappointed.

But as I was driving back to town, there were hundreds of people standing on a corner.

I just didn't know where to find the information.

So I pulled my car over and got out there and was just chatting with people.

And these were folks who had all different reasons to be there, whether it was Ukraine or LGBTQ rights or immigration.

They had all these different signs and they're just

waving at people and having conversations with each other, it was again, uplifting.

And you know, you don't have to get outside and stand on a corner with a sign.

You could just do one simple thing.

Just listen.

Just listen to someone who you otherwise might feel like you typically are the talker in that conversation.

Just maybe opening your heart and hearing what they have to say.

And you don't have to agree with them, but.

just respect them and acknowledge that their viewpoint is, is valuable.

Be respectful.

You mentioned Ukraine and that was a big part of episode two of the Dr. Kristen Lyrely show over the

weekend.

Yeah, we talked with Kelly Peterson, who's a three-time Emmy award-winning journalist, and she brought her muse, Lana Nyland, who is the founder and CEO of an organization called Ukrainian Patriot.

They run things to the front line.

She lives in cave.

which is actually how you say, Keeve.

And she not just inspires people by bringing them essential supplies, but she inspires them with music and dance and the creative things that make us human.

She tells some really compelling stories.

And honestly, Pat, I'm not a journalist and I'm just kind of figuring this whole podcast thing out, but this one was really good, a really good listen.

Well, you get that out of people.

I mean, you're a good listener, but you ask great questions as well.

I mean, there was a reason we had you starting the whole Women Win Wisconsin segment for us is that you were finding all of these amazing women in, you know, local leadership positions and being able to

get them to open up about what drives them, what motivates them.

How many times do we say this?

You don't have to do what you're doing, whether it's a candidate running for office or a doctor showing up on the radio or whatever the case may be.

So why?

Why step up?

Why do this?

And you definitely bring that out in people when you talk to them.

Do you already have a plan for episode three next

weekend?

I'm super excited.

So it's a draft.

in Green Bay, which

is

like the Super Bowl is in Green Bay.

Everybody is so very excited.

And Abe is coming home.

It's bring your child to work day this weekend.

My child is 26 and he's a teacher.

So Abe is going to join us and we're going to talk about, here's my plan.

We're going to talk about.

What is Gen Z C in the world today?

And so it's going to be Gen X versus Gen Z with a little sprinkle of draft and whatever else is happening in the world.

Who knows what more the conversation will take us.

Okay.

That's interesting.

I recall a social media post over the weekend about that Gen Z actually has its own generational divide that the difference between early Gen Z, which is more

progressive and later Gen Z, which is a little bit more, shall we say, Trumpian.

And I think of that with Gen X, because I'm a very early Gen X. And I look at so much of Gen X and go, how are so many of them, you know, Republican politicians and everything.

And I realized for them, Ronald Reagan was, you know, they're, they're formative here.

And now it's Donald Trump.

So I'm sure you're going to have a great discussion.

Hey,

Greg, are you thinking what I'm thinking?

Probably not.

You're a doctor.

Pat's definitely a boomer.

I am right there on the line.

I am.

Yeah.

So because, go ahead.

I was gonna say, Pat, I believe is very young.

I'm very, no, you're, I'm using this term as you are on the older side of Gen X, Pat.

I am on the, I'm on the younger side.

I'm like the last available Gen Xer.

Sure.

Because of my age.

Yeah.

Look what we've got here.

There's a divide within Gen X.

I know.

How so?

We pretty much agree on things.

What are you talking about?

You're right.

I'm sorry.

Trump is the best.

That's

not what I'm talking about,

but I'm

sticking by my assertion that Pat is a boomer.

The reason it doesn't divide itself well is that my parents were born in 1945.

They weren't part of the babies that were born from everybody coming home from the war.

There was

any of that.

So when you think baby boomer, you're thinking those folks, but technically, you know, my parents were like the very first.

baby boomers are the very first to grow up in that era.

And that's the same with me.

But when that's the case, you have so much influence from the previous generation.

We say that all the time is like, I mean, what there's so much boomer in us, because we were so much closer to our parents and grandparents, experiences, then you know, my younger siblings and others like that.

And Alicia writes in there's a divide in millennials as well.

I'm an elder millennial, the child of younger boomers.

So yeah, the lines aren't all neat and tidy, unfortunately.

Ever.

About

anything.

Yes,

exactly.

So we've mentioned the draft is coming up, so that's exciting news.

But I don't want to finish the segment without mentioning what I said in the last segment about the State Senate taking up a bill that would expand.

postpartum at Medicaid coverage to women instead of 60 days postpartum for a year postpartum.

And we are so close to being the only state.

Even Arkansas is going to become the 49th state to do this.

And the cheese stands alone because of Robin Voss.

And I don't know, Kristen, if this bill passes the Senate 33, nothing tomorrow.

And I think it might.

What does that do to the pressure on Robin Voss in the assembly?

I think it's going to be more than just the Senate passing that is going to put pressure on Robin Voss because we've got small business, we've got teachers, we've got moms who are coming out in force.

So anticipate that you're going to be hearing more and more about this after the Senate passes it because frankly, the only state that takes

insurance that takes access to health care away from moms at two months most part of come on.

That's not Wisconsin.

We're not going to let this happen.

So get ready friends.

Get ready to put the pressure on yourself.

You can call your assembly person even if they're already on board.

Give them a call.

Send them a message.

We can do more as a population as Wisconsinites when we work together.

We're famous for this.

So this is just one more example of what we do.

Yeah, I mean, you don't have to call or send a note to, you know, Robin Boss's office.

If you know your own legislator or just reach out to them, trust me again, speaking from experience.

They know the volume of calls.

They know the volume of emails.

And I've been in that caucus room when people speak up and go, yeah, I was kind of on the fence, but I've heard from so many constituents who believe X and you want to stand with your constituents.

So

I really feel like people can make a difference on this issue, no matter how much Robin Voss says he's digging in his heels because to him, all Medicaid is welfare and he wants Medicaid to go away entirely, not expand.

But I feel like we can really make a difference this time, potentially.

Especially moms.

Come on, moms.

It's almost Mother's Day.

This is that we understand what this means because if your mom, you've been through this, Robin Boss has not been through this.

Let's remember, this is a guy who's been married three times and has no kids.

And I've had legislators say to me, once the baby's out, what's the big deal?

They do not understand that the postpartum period is a challenging, incredibly difficult period.

So it's up to us.

It's up to us to use our voices.

So what are you going to do for the draft?

Are you are you going to be back in and appear by then?

I am.

I'm going to do

it.

I'm going to do it all.

I'm going to ride my bike down there and chain it to a fence post and I am going to just go out and live it up.

That's so great.

That's going

to

be a blast.

I mean, everybody's just so excited about it.

So that's wonderful.

All right.

Well, let's take a pause here and Selena Heller will come in.

We will have today's history lesson as well.

Then author Laura Bird in our next hour talking about independent bookstore day across the country.

This is Up North News Radio.

I'm Pat Rightman.

You're listening to Civic Media.

Find the latest news, information, and archives of all your favorite shows on the Civic Media website, civicmedia.us.

I know you're like, wait, it's a rainy day.

It's a Monday.

Where are the carpenters when you need them?

But no, we're not doing rainy days on Mondays.

We're doing Friday.

I'm in love in today's history lesson to kick things off because it was on this day in 1992 that the Cure released their ninth studio album, Wish, which featured that hit single.

It debuted at number two on the album chart.

It was their highest charting album as well.

So again, it was released this day in 1992.

which back then would have been Robert Smith's 33rd birthday because today Robert Smith of the Cure is 66 years old today.

And that's how we kick off our history lesson.

I played that so many Fridays, I've worn it out now at this point.

It's such a good sign.

I'm gonna bring it back a little

bit.

There we go.

Thank you.

Thank

you.

Have you seen Robert Smith lately?

His look is continuing to progress.

It's changing.

Yes, it is.

Neither one of those statements were complimentary either.

Yep.

Oh, another birthday to share.

Annie McDowell is 67 years old today, who I I know most from Groundhog Day.

I know she's been in a lot of other things for weddings in a funeral and all kinds of other stuff.

But yeah, Annie McDowell, 67 years old today.

Selena Heller has joined the conversation as well from Eau Claire.

How are you, Ms.

Heller?

Good.

Good morning, everybody.

Good.

Good.

Do you feel like you're, when you do this on Monday, it's like, is this your groundhog day?

Like, okay, it's another Monday.

Hit the button.

Yeah.

And your laugh at hats jokes.

Let's move on.

Okay.

Yep.

On this day in 1973, the number one hit was by Tony Orlando and Don.

Yes, I know.

Greg's laughing because only Kristen Lyrely can be bouncing around to this.

I love

it.

I loved their TV show.

Do you remember

the Tony Rolando show?

It was a very nice cute little TV show.

Very

wholesome.

Very

wholesome.

Very wholesome.

When everybody, you know, Donnie and Marie had a show, Sonny and Cher had a show, you know, the Hudson Brothers.

You name it.

Captain Anthony all had shows for a little while there.

And Tony Rolando and Don had a kind of a longer lasting one.

So anyway, this was, and this was a song that seven years later was played all the time about the hostages in Iran.

and welcoming them home.

So it kind of got a second resurgence.

We mentioned Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel earlier.

It was number one this day in 1956.

And then six years later, Elvis went to number one with Good Luck Charm.

Let's move ahead to 1984 where the number one song was by Phil Collins.

What

an intro.

What

a transition.

We get the interpretive dance by Kristen as well for this.

This was Phil Collins' first number one song.

He would go on to have six more on the Hot 100, but starting with this from the Against All Odds movie soundtrack.

Once again, one of those where I know the movie song, never saw the movie.

and nobody remembers the movie.

Nobody says, oh, hey, I watched Against All Odds again last weekend.

I

remember the movie.

It was Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines.

It was dancing and ballet, and he defected from Russia.

I totally remember this movie.

I think you're talking about White Nights.

You're

talking about White Nights.

Oh, yeah.

You're right.

But Dr. Lierly, the confidence with which you went into that statement.

I believed it.

You were like, I'm here to defend

this

movie.

It's the wrong movie.

Oh, I love White

Nights.

I'm like, I do not recall Mikhail Brushnikov in there with Jeff Bridges, James Woods, and Rachel Ward at all.

But

that's the director's cut path.

They cut all that stuff out of the ballet.

That's

silly me.

You

convinced

me.

Yes, the number one song in 1979 as Disco was beginning to wane, but not quite yet, Amy Stewart had that number one song this day in 79.

My high school pet band did a kick butt version of this song.

Oh, that.

Should have.

Once again.

Pat should have queued that up a little bit better.

You know what you should do at random times like that is you should just click anywhere in the middle of the song.

I

can't do that.

That's not how Cartwall works.

Once you start playing, it's just playing.

Holy cow.

Okay.

You guys talk.

I'm going to get to the good stuff because there's like what seems like a decade of intro.

I was going to say this is definitely not the single version.

This is the extended extended dance.

Rebex.

There we go.

My pep band just got right into it.

Her pep band still doing the intro to this day and still

going.

Let's hear it for Kakana

High School.

There we go.

All right, Raleigh Fingers of the Milwaukee Brewers became the first pitcher to record 300 saves this day in 1982.

Prince passed away on this day in 2016 at the age of 57.

from a fentanyl overdose.

On the national calendar today, this is Infertility Awareness Week.

This is Medical Lab Professionals Week.

This is Administrative Professionals Day.

Remember when it was called Secretary's Day for all those years?

And now it's Administrative Professionals Day, but around since 1952.

Yes, Greg?

My mother was a secretary from like, she still knows how to do shorthand.

for decades and she hated being called an assistant or anything else.

She's like, I'm a secretary.

I was trained to be a secretary.

That was my job.

That's what I do.

I'm like, okay.

All right.

All right.

Okay.

Yeah.

Look, if you're proud of it and you, you know, that's what you do and you want that badge, you get to, you get to call that badge what you want.

There you go.

Good on you.

All right.

So when we come back, Selena Heller is going to, as we were talking about, you know, things like medical lab professionals week and I'm thinking of labs and research and everything else.

I mean, medical research.

That's a good thing, right?

Everybody.

Cancer Research,

good thing.

Thanks

for it.

Sure,

so let's defund the heck out of it, which seems to be the theme today, but Selina's got somebody telling you how it can do things like help you last past your expiration date.

At least,

you know, the one that the doctors originally give you.

So stick around for that.

Kristen Lyrely is here.

Greg Bach, Brittany Merleau will have the forecast.

All that and more on Up North News Radio, live from Chippewa Falls on the Civic Media Radio Network.

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