Transcript
From Folk Festivals to Foodie Feasts (Hour 2)
Nite Lite with Pete Schwaba and Greg Bach · Wed Nov 19, 2025
You're listening to Civic Media.
You can tune into any of our live shows on any radio station across the state with the Civic Media app.
Find us in your phone's app store and listen anytime,
Welcome back.
Oh, it is time for act two, folks.
It is so on.
Great show so far tonight.
It is so great to have you with me.
We talked to Paul Travian.
You just sometimes you're reading about a guy like that and you could just tell he's a sharp guy He said all these great experiences in his life and we talked to Paul a little bit about this really cool folk festival.
He has going on in West Alice the 2025 folk festival brought to you by the Wisconsin the I gotta find out what that was Conrad what was Paul's organization called again the Wisconsin Institute Here's the problem
I make these, I ball up the paper and I try to make basketball shots into the waste paper basket and I threw my information on Paul away, even though he was just here.
He was just here and he was great.
So check out this really cool folk festival in West Alice this weekend, headed up by Paul Travian and the...
Wisconsin Institute.
There we go.
All right.
In just a few minutes, folks, Civic Media News Director Shaly Pittman will be here.
I'm very excited to have Shaly on the show.
We've been talking about having Shaly on the show.
Not only does she have a cool name, she knows everything that's going on.
We're going to talk to her about some really cool legislation coming up that is going to really benefit community theaters.
And then at 635 Wisconsin Foodies, Arthur Ersink will be here.
He is the creator of this Emmy-winning, long-running show.
That is it's on in many other markets to not just Wisconsin and Arthur has just created this wonderful show about food and Wisconsin and It's gonna be great to have him here.
We're gonna I'm gonna ask Arthur for some healthier alternatives to Thanksgiving because we were just talking about gravy and we discovered the Conran Conrad and I are both Not fans of gravy.
terry bars and either
me, then you lost me.
Really?
I know people that do that in my family with peas.
I'm like, can't you just eat?
have to willy-nilly put all the food together?
It's not a casserole.
Casserole?
Oh, and Thanksgiving with the
onions and the creamy mushroom grossness?
Of all the hills to die on.
Conrad's not going down without a fight.
I can't stand
beans.
That is crazy.
That's so funny.
It is funny the things you glom onto that you don't like.
And then at 720 folks, Hannah Lopez from NBC26 here in Green Bay will be here in the studio.
Very excited to meet Hannah.
We've been swapping messages back and forth.
We are both former DePaul University students and she covers Dork County here in Northeast Wisconsin for NBC26.
So we'll have a nice conversation with Hannah.
And our question of the night in honor of National Monopoly Day is what is your favorite board game?
I said, I had a few, I said catchphrase, because that can get very animated when you play catchphrase.
You're passing that thing around waiting for the buzzer to go off and somebody always whips it at somebody else or, you know, you're in this heated battle and it's like, oh, we already did that word and you got to stop in the middle of the round and change the card.
I love catchphrase.
I also like Balderdash as categories just because of the arguments it creates.
You know what if you're gonna be a smart-ass Conrad, you know where the door is I
Yeah, I don't a lot of these new games are just kind of
you know, there's this I remember my parents like to get like different types of the same like so like Monopoly had You know different amounts.
Yeah, there was one that had like it had a debit card on it like or a credit card.
I think it was So what do you mean for real money?
No, like it was
Fake money like monopoly money still but you used a debit card or not a debit a credit card to store all your money on So like the banker didn't have to go through the money they went through like they just like a ATM
see that's too much
I don't All right, we're gonna tell you I'm also gonna tell you about a really cool event in Madison December 4th
that we're screening one of my film I made years ago.
I'll tell you about that.
But right now, without further ado, it is high time we have had this next guest on.
We've been talking about it for months.
I talked to her agent.
She wanted airfare.
I balked.
I did give her a per diem.
She agreed to be on the show over the stream.
I don't even know how that works, but she's here right now.
Civic media news director, Shali Pittman.
Hi, Shali.
You know, I prefer to go by Shali Schwabba.
And
you prefer Pete Pittman.
Pete Pittman, when I've suggested that, I didn't really know you that well, and I was so glad you reacted the way you did, because that could be, it could have been borderline creepy for all I know, and you were very receptive, and you laughed, and I was, I appreciate it.
Shaly Schwabba sounds great, and Pete Pittman, very cool.
Yeah, we should have swapped names.
The alliteration is too much.
It's too much to pass up, and I have to tell you, you called me today, we've been trying to, we've been playing Phone Tag.
I answered a call right after I woke up from a nap.
So I had like this bed head.
I looked like Yahoo Sirius from
the
80s.
And I noticed it was a Google call.
And so I clicked accept, and then you had to go right away.
And I was like, oh, God, was I on video?
I
don't have to give another
just taking a Google call without checking first.
So thank God for that.
It's been one of those days where my hands are sort of operating independently of my brain.
And I called you and realized I was talking to someone else and that's how we ended up where we ended up.
I'm glad you got some sleep.
I would like some.
I don't really nap.
I just kind of lay there in space out.
That's a nap for me.
So I was just glad you didn't see my crazy bedhead.
And I'm glad we got this worked out.
How are you doing tonight?
I'm doing okay.
I'm doing all right.
How about yourself?
Calling you from the studios of my alma mater to be quite honest so Doing radio from another radio station.
Oh, no
kid.
Well, I appreciate your time and appreciate you doing that.
I hope it's not awkward So shall we tell us
You've been here for months now.
You're so good at what you do.
We were talking about this a little earlier, and you mentioned this legislation that might pass that might make community theater thrive.
Can you elaborate on that?
Well, at the start of my day, what I like to do, Charlie Chihuahua, is go through what
bills are up for consideration in the state legislature.
And the past two days have been kind of mammoth days at the state capitol.
We've had excellent reporting from Savannah, Tome Olsen and others on our news crew.
But yesterday, you know, the sentiment and today the assembly had their floor session and there was one bill.
I like to go through and kind of poke at the ones that are interesting and look up the hearing materials and see what's in there.
And there's one bill that relates to your show that got unanimous approval today.
So there's a bill that relates to a property tax exemption for nonprofit theaters.
And I thought.
I bet Pete Pittman would love this.
So I want to tell you about it.
Yeah,
you're looking after your old palpedia.
I appreciate that.
So the bill would, so currently as it stands now, right?
Non-profit performing arts theaters that are outside and have a seating capacity of you got to love their language.
Not less than 400 people already get a tax exemption, a property tax exemption.
Um, they also have to have tax exempt status no later than 1969.
And
the
bill that was signed off in the assembly today would slightly tweak that so that whether it's indoors or outdoors, uh, it could get it.
If it's also a, um, let me look at my notes.
It would also change the seating capacity to not less than 240 people, um, which is.
significantly, uh, you know, produced and, and it would require tax exempt status of no later than, uh, I believe no less than 1990, right?
So it kind of moves up by 20 years, um, when you need to have that tax exempt status letter.
Um, the bill is supported by create Wisconsin.
It's opposed by the Wisconsin realtors.
Um,
and
the only people who, uh, appeared to kind of submit
Paperwork on it when there was a hearing held it was the Northern sky nonprofit theater in Door County.
So Send it at your way for you to follow up But
I'm going to
relate to entertainment and I want to know
I appreciate that.
And I will say this, Shali.
I am going to do a deeper dive on that because someone just told me they have a connection to it.
So we'll have somebody on and we'll kind of dig a little deeper.
But you sound, I hope this is okay for me to say, very combobulated now.
When we spoke earlier, you said you were discombobulated.
And I said, well, you're at the perfect network because we have a recombobulator on staff.
Yeah, we got a guy for that.
We got a
guy.
We got a combobulation guy.
That
is fantastic.
So this is fun.
I love having you here, whatever your name is.
Do you have a favorite board game?
Oh, board game.
You didn't tell me you were going to ask that.
I like to throw the
hard-hitting questions your way.
You're a news person, and
I
want to know what goes on in the Schwab of Pittman House.
Well, my my husband actually does a show called beer and board games So he would really be the person to ask about this and I don't play a lot of board games because we're very competitive.
However, um, I My mom liked to play board games and so we would play a lot of sorry We would play a lot of you know, my favorite game was clue, right?
Yeah
It was a good game.
I think part of it is just the props that they have.
Something tactile about it.
Life is a good one.
What's your favorite board game?
I think I said, I kind of have a tie.
Sometimes I'm kind of lame and I go for a tie, but today I had a three-way tie.
It was catchphrase, balderdash, and Scategories, which is a great game to argue over.
Is that a board game though?
I was being quite literal.
Um Yes categories is a board game.
Well, yeah, you have to mark your pieces up or whatever But I like those Conrad said sorry and I actually like sorry a lot too I played that with my kids and there is kind of a strategy to it.
It's not just all luck
You know, I am more of a cards girl myself anytime you want to play around me Interesting.
Are do you play
poker?
A little bit.
I dabble.
I dabble in poker.
I could do some poker.
You need the right crew of people, right?
Yes, I agree.
But I would
go ahead.
Well, I was going to say something.
I'd prefer if there's money involved.
Gambling is not legal here in Wisconsin.
Yeah, so I wasn't talking about in Wisconsin.
So how does your husband feel about your last name?
Will he take Schwabba too?
Is that going to be weird for him?
I think he's going to stick with his name, and that's all right.
Your marriage is strong enough that he can handle you taking the name of a dude he's never even met.
I love that.
Well, you know, it's opposite day.
When it's April 1st, we will have to recombobulate together.
There we go.
Shelly, you're awesome.
Thank you so much for your time and I really appreciate you breaking.
I don't break much news here, but that was fun.
Well, we got a little bit and I hope to hear more soon.
Absolutely.
Thank you very much,
Shelly.
Have a great night.
Take care.
You too.
Thanks so much.
You're
welcome.
Shelly Pittman does a great job here at Civic Media and that was fun.
I knew she's going to be a good guest.
You're holding your fist up like you're going to a Notre Dame game.
Does that mean I have to?
Wrap
right, we're coming back.
When we come back, we're going to read some texts.
Arthur Ersink in about 10 minutes.
It's going to be fun.
It's Peach Wabba Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio
Network.
Stay up to date on the latest news and information for your local community and Wisconsin by signing up for our free email newsletter.
Visit civicmedia.us slash email to get
started.
Great to have you with me.
Conrad Krieger working the board tonight.
Coming up in just a few minutes, it will be Arthur Ursink.
Arthur is the creator of the hit show Wisconsin Foodie.
It's been on for like 15, maybe 16 years.
The new season comes out in February, so Arthur's going to come by.
We're going to talk a little bit about the new season.
Some Thanksgiving stuff will be fun.
He's always fun to talk to.
Arthur, is it?
Well, he's a great guest either way, but especially when you're talking about Thanksgiving or Super Bowl snacks, he's always got really cool suggestions.
We'll talk to Arthur in a few minutes.
And then at 7.20 tonight, Hannah Lopez from NBC 26 here in Green Bay.
She covers Dork County.
She will be here in studio.
That will be fun.
You sent me that article about the mullet.
That is so funny.
It is awesome.
And what does he call himself?
The carcinator or something?
The cultivator.
His name is Colton.
And it was, uh, was the contest by 98 Q country?
radio,
Warriors.
Yeah, it's raised like 4500 for Wounded Warriors just for having a bad hairstyle.
think you should grow to more.
Here's my issue.
He's a good looking kid.
He's got the hair up top looks normal, but then it's like he's got a mullet with ringlets or something.
It's a strange mullet.
You think that's a normal mullet?
There's a, here, let's, he
money went to a great cause, and I applaud the cultivator.
Love the name.
But I wonder if he perms that
Yeah, I don't need a wife anymore.
Honestly, I think my wife would go, what are you doing?
No,
to.
But congrats to the cultivator.
I love
name.
I love the name, the cultivator.
And raising all that money, it's great stuff for the wounded warriors outstanding.
So let's get to some texts.
We've got Michael on the stream says he used to play potopoly.
It was like Monopoly except the properties were different types of pot and the houses and hotels were pounds and bales I Just do not know enough about pot to like I know Northern California's sense of Mia because Bill Murray said in Caddyshack.
That's my that's about my
talking about hey there.
Hey bales
No, I don't.
Michael's text, I'm just, I'm trying to give him some props here, but I just, I'm not the guy.
But it sounds like he had a pretty good time playing Monopoly.
You think he can remember any of it?
He
impressive.
Thank you, Michael.
Thanks for listening and thanks for the text.
Paula Crownred's mom says, can't pick just one.
Uno, sorry, and trouble.
I forgot about Trouble.
Trouble
good game.
And UNO is always fun, but it can go on forever.
And yeah, we used to argue over the draw fours and like...
There's a lot of room for argument there.
Conrad's losing.
Let's start over.
Steve from the 920.
This is Conrad's dad says, sorry is my all-time favorite board game.
See, it's funny.
Some nights the Kriegers are all over the board.
You guys don't agree on anything.
And then there are other nights like tonight where you're all in cahoots.
I mean, sorry was we played that every
night.
We did too.
Sorry is a great game for kids and then it's actually kind of fun because my daughter and I'll still play and we'll keep a track of who's you know ahead in the long run and We do a little dance when we get to bump the other person and we really do it up.
Yeah It's pretty fun Steve from Florida says sorry is my all-time favorite board game
because it was our family go-to game which brings back great memories.
Trouble was also a great board game growing up with my siblings and cousins.
Yeah, the game is kind of irrelevant.
It's just about spending time together.
Yeah.
Arguing, laughing, whatever.
John from Madison in the 608 says, love a game of Scrabble with my daughter.
She is so smart and I love to witness her brilliance and take some parental credit for the shell hacking.
It's curiously better than winning.
I know exactly what you're saying, John.
I was playing Scrabble.
I don't mean to I'm not laughing at John's text.
I'm laughing because I played Scrabble once and one of my cousins put the word yike Yikes, but she didn't do the plural she put yike and I go that's not
yike That would have if she had sold it like that.
I might have accepted it.
Oh, no, it's yike.
Oh, yeah.
What do you it's a shoe?
It's the poor man's Nike yike Nick
From the 608 says, my favorite board game is Stratigo.
That's a great one.
Great poll, Nick.
He says, but there are tons of board games to choose from and so many ones, so many games too.
Basically, every day I play board games.
Very fun way to pass time with family or friends.
Totally agree.
Great text.
Thank you, Nick.
Monica from Mount Horrib says, I hate monopoly and risk because my sister would always win.
My favorite is Parcheasy.
There's
per cheesy Yeah,
It's one of the few board games that has dairy in the title, which impresses me.
And so it's a great Wisconsin game.
That's a great Wisconsin game.
All right, we're going to break from the news.
And when we come back, Arthur Ersing from Wisconsin Foodie will be here.
We're talking food.
Join the fun, folks.
Text Arthur a question.
He's a great guest.
It's going to be a lot of fun.
It's Peach Waba and Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio Network.
Pete Schwabba, this is Nightlight.
Hey, if you're looking for something to do on December 4th in Madison, or the Madison area, please come on out to the Atwood Music Hall.
We are screening my film, The Godfather of Green Bay, sponsored by the John and Gordy Morning Show on WMDX here at Civic Media.
And Doundren's Distilling.
It's going to be a great night.
It's a fun movie.
Lots of laughs.
Tony Goldman, Lauren Holly, Thomas Lennon, Lance Barber, a host of local actors as well.
a really fun night, $1 from each ticket sold goes to the Dane County Humane Society.
Tickets are only $10, and it's gonna be a really fun night.
John and Gordy are gonna introduce the film, and they're gonna host a Q&A with me, and, I mean, $10.
Conrad, at prices like that, you cannot afford not to go.
Yeah, that's true.
You're gonna be there, too.
I will.
So you can come out and meet Conrad for the first time.
You can put a face with the voice, right?
You're just looking for a free trip to Madison, aren't you?
a big screen.
great movie for a big screen.
There's big laughs.
It's a great movie to see with an audience, just a comedy set in northern Wisconsin, lots of fun Wisconsin bar characters coming out on December 4th.
All right, I'm going to pivot here and move to this is great.
I love having Arthur on the show.
This guy is a TV legend.
He has had his show Wisconsin Foodie that he
created, has been on the air for like 16 years now.
It's one Emmys.
And he has a lot of fun to talk to here at Nightlight.
He joins us again over the stream, Mr. Arthur Ersing.
Hey, buddy.
Mr. Peach Swabba, thanks again for having me on, brother.
Oh, it's my pleasure.
It's always great to have you here.
How is everything going in Milwaukee?
Oh, things are great here.
I mean, Milwaukee is a fantastic place.
And, you know, it's crazy when we're on the road, like we've been doing this for a while, like you said, 16 years and plus.
The thing I hear the most about is like everybody asks, oh, how's Milwaukee?
You know, are you all right?
And, you know, there's this sense out in the world that Milwaukee is such a dangerous place and I can reassure you, it's a fantastic, fantastic city.
It's not as dangerous as everybody thinks out there.
You know what I think the problem is?
Arthur, and I'm not trying to stereotype anybody here, but a lot of people in small towns get their news.
All they see is what's on TV.
A lot of times
they don't go to these towns, and it's like, sure, there are bad things that happen in big cities periodically, but they happen in small towns too, and you don't really ever hear about them.
But you're right, Milwaukee, my son lives in Shorewood.
It's a great town, and with great restaurants, which that must excite
you.
Oh, yeah.
Sure would yeah alone has great restaurants.
I'm really excited.
There's a new restaurant moving in Lebanon.
It's a Lebanese restaurant moving into the old butterman space and It's going to be it's gonna be bonkers.
I'm really excited for that You know, there's one in I think it's a green field and we just my son and my son and I went out to taste test it and it was like we you had to roll us out of the place
We tried to see
if we could how much we could eat on the menu and it was just it was a lot
when they see you come in now you don't host the show you're the creator so maybe you can get by they don't know who you are yeah i'm smooth i'm in the shadows do you ever accidentally drop a business card for a free meal or how does that work
well the shorewood thing you know just because i'm also you know an elected elected official here in shorewood
so
um to hear so i wanted to visit labnani i knew they're coming to shorewood but i also with the wisconsin foodie connection i just want to
you know, introduce myself and just kind of say, you know, we're here to support you.
Anything I can do from a, you know, shorewood perspective, a Wisconsin poody perspective, I really wanted to see that business work here in shorewood.
You know, it's, it's vital for them to succeed.
So anything I can do with the limited amount of sway that I have, I'm willing to put that forward to help a business like that succeed in my community.
You have such a great show.
It's very unique.
It's such a clever.
I'm not surprised people wanted to put it on the air, but talk about, like, you introduced us to great food, great restaurants, great parts of the state, but what does your show do for community?
God, man, you know, it's kind of like how we started this conversation about the, you know, TV talking about the negative, the negative side of Milwaukee or cities, you know, all we try to do is tell these positive stories out there.
And there's so many.
I think after year five, people were asking, when are the stories going to dry up?
And, you know, they're endless.
The stories out there are endless.
And the, you know, the different people and
The businesses that we uncover on the road are phenomenal.
I mean, are so inspiring.
You know, I'm sitting here right now.
We've got PBS deadlines coming up for the new season.
This is going to be actually our 18th year.
We
started two years on commercial television, then we transferred to PBS, which has been our home for 16 years now.
which is unbelievable.
Pete, you know, as an independent filmmaker and just kind of an independent guy working with PBS, it's a hustle, man.
And I have to pinch myself every day that this is the job that I get to do every day is drive around our state and uncovering rocks and visiting bakeries and cheese makers and developing these relationships and these stories with these folks.
It's just, I'm incredibly blessed and honored to do what I do, but right now we're in the midst of it.
Another question people always ask are,
especially right now is, are you still going to be on PBS?
What's going on with PBS?
And PBS, they're feeling it.
But I think the affiliates that we're connected to, Wisconsin Public Television, Milwaukee Public Television, most of these bigger PBS affiliates in the Midwest,
They do feel the pinch, but there's so much support behind the scenes outside of it, especially after all this happened, that they are continuing to sort of continuing on.
And they're
really
trying to figure out what that new sort of reality is.
But I mean, in the long run, cutting the, the corporation of public broadcasting, that was about 1% of the entire budget.
So, so, you know, we're, we're still alive.
We're thriving and we can't do enough to support, you know, the great station that is PBS.
I could not have said that better.
And I, I've had a black
since I really moved back to Wisconsin, I've been involved with PBS, and it's just a great operation.
It's not like corporate cutthroat.
There's just a great vibe with PBS, and your show could not have landed at a better spot.
I wanna talk to you about how you find these stories, but give people that might not know or haven't seen your show yet, Arthur, if there's anybody out there that hasn't.
Give us a little background on what you do and what the show is about.
Yeah, I mean the beautiful thing about our show is we're just discovering the stories in your own backyard We're kind of harnessing that You know that that sort of the incident the passion and the energy around food television right now And we're trying to make the people in and in our restaurants our cheese makers our farmers We're trying to make them the celebrity right we're trying
to give
them the the the spotlight and You know and at first you know people sort of like we're hesitant to let us in but now we're hearing from people that have been on the show They're just
showered with attention and that can't come at a better time in Wisconsin right now when people are out there dairy farmers and all sorts of people are sort of struggling to figure out this new reality in the food sort of ecosphere you know to get people to go into restaurants and those restaurants that they're going to are supplying or I should say are supporting all these local farmers and cheese makers it's this beautiful sort of you know local economy that we're making this engine that we're making run and
It's truly a beautiful thing to hear that, you know, a cheese maker that we profile, you know, we'll call us the next day and say, we sold out all of our cheese.
You know, and
you're just like, oh my
gosh, I you know, I sit in a little studio.
This is my studio.
This is where Wisconsin foodie happens, right?
And either I'm on the road shooting or I come back and I'm sitting in front of this computer.
I'm editing the episodes and I and I kind of lose touch with the greater sort of world out there.
So when I hear that people are sitting there, they're watching and responding, man, that makes my heart just beat.
I mean, that that's that's what that's my life force.
You know, I know, you know, the monetary the monetary, you know, aspect Wisconsin foodie isn't isn't what
It's really this passion to change our community and to change people's minds about local food and these great stories that we have in our own backyard here.
My guest is Arthur Ursink.
He is the creator and producer of the wildly popular show Wisconsin Foodie, the Emmy-winning show Wisconsin Foodie.
It's always great to have Arthur here.
Yeah, no, you're very welcome and thank you for being here because I feel like, you know, as I get older and as other people I talk to, there seems to be a real focus now on just what you're saying.
Where does the food come from?
What's in the food?
You have an emphasis on that, which I think is so great.
So you're providing a service too.
It's not just entertainment, it's entertaining, but you're educating people too.
When you're out there,
Or maybe not even when you're out there, what grabs you?
Have you ever said, I've got to do a story on this or this location or this food?
What really catches your attention?
Honestly, working on one right now, and it's something that I've been working on for, I've been trying to work on for a very long time.
This, like, you know, this golden egg that I've been searching for.
And, you know, it's the story about the Amish.
the Amish are just, you know, a fantastic group of people that live off the land.
And when you talk about local food, I mean, these folks are the epitome of organic, local.
They're doing everything
by
hand.
And, you know, it's a really hard story to tell because the majority of the Amish folks don't want to be on camera.
You know, they don't mind talking to you about what they do.
They don't mind inviting you in, but they don't want to be on camera.
So it's really part of their, you know,
I don't want to say it's just part of their sort of their being and We were I was in works for a really long time.
I mean some of these stories take years to develop it I mean
as you know,
it's like something it takes a long time to develop a relationship because I'm all about relationships I really think they're extremely valuable, especially what I do You know because when we approach a story, it's we it's sometimes it's just me with a camera, you know,
and I'm
spending the day with somebody that
maybe has never been on camera or hasn't spoke to other people in like, you know, a month or something because they've been so busy on the farm.
So, you know, so I'm trying to create this really intimate atmosphere where somebody can really talk, you know, and let their story go and let their heart go.
But I was able to connect with an Amish farmer from a
That runs a cheese a creamery called Kingston Creamery his name is Nelson and this is the most fantastic human I've met in a long time
just
his energy and his passion I had to work through him through a middleman for a long time and you know and then he would get on a different sort of phone and it was just the communication took a long time to develop and it took a long time for him to open up but finally he led us into his Creamery and and his whole community is all about they're rooted in small family
dairy farms that produce the most high quality milk you could imagine.
And what they've all done is they pooled in to have this milk processing and cheese facility.
When we walked into this place, it's in Cambria, Wisconsin.
You drive past, you not think much of it.
But when you go into this cheese making facility,
it is one of the more modern facilities you'll ever see in your life.
It's the most beautiful facility,
so
clean.
And they are making, I swear, the best blue cheese I've ever had in my mouth.
I mean, it is, the blue cheese is, is knock your socks off.
And, you
know, I hope, I hope after the episode, so I'm working on this right now, this story right now.
And it's really inspiring.
Every time I watch it and I hear this guy talk, I'm just like, you know, what come?
It becomes like the weight on my shoulders to be able to
tell this guy's
story, to make sure that he just sells every last ounce of blue cheese he has.
And I don't think I need to do much with this one because it is, frankly, it's incredible.
The story is incredible.
The cheese looks amazing.
And people are going to run to the store to find this cheese.
That is so cool.
I love the passion in your voice, Arthur.
It is like a documentary filmmaker.
I'm excited, man.
Yeah, you got to get the trust and then you give people to open up.
It's so great.
We have about a minute.
We have to do a short break and then we'll come back and finish our conversation.
But the show is starting up again in or the new season drops in February.
correct?
That's right.
Yeah, February, Wisconsin PBS, Milwaukee PBS.
It's that first Thursday in February.
And, man, we are really excited for this new season.
It's, it is, I like to say that every new season is like better than the next.
And this one is, is special.
And maybe after your break, we can, we can dig into
fantastic.
We'll do that.
I have to ask you too quickly.
Are you a board game guy?
Do you have a favorite board game?
Ooh, I like life.
Oh, nice.
OK, we've got a few votes for life tonight.
That's fantastic.
All right.
Arthur Ersik is here.
He's the creator of Wisconsin Foodie.
He's going to tell us about their new season, which drops in February on PBS.
And maybe I'll ask him how many MEZs won.
If we could get some tips for Thanksgiving, we'll cover it all with Arthur after this very short break.
Don't go anywhere, folks.
It's Pete Schwabba and Nightlight on the Civic Media, Radio
Network.
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.
Welcome
back.
We are nearing our end of hour two and doing it in style with Wisconsin Foodie creator
And producer Arthur Ursink, his show has been on for 18 seasons now.
If you include the preamble before PBS, right, Arthur?
That's a heck of a run.
That's crazy.
I don't even know.
I don't even know.
And I've been working with somebody named Gary Denney for pretty much 16 years.
And I know you know Gary.
And that's surprising enough.
I'm surprised I survived Mr. Denney for all these years.
I just try to stay out of his way.
I get an occasional text.
Hey, you're doing a good job.
Thank you, sir.
And then I just... Oh, God, when I
see his text, I can't
even get the
shakes.
I get a little nervous.
I love it.
It's great.
And Gary's great, too.
But you... Have you ever... Like, you've been running the show for so long, and I can still hear the passion in your voice.
But have you ever considered, like, stepping down and letting someone... Someone else, like Conrad, maybe produce it?
Is that an option?
Conrad, what, what, uh, you, you interested?
I mean, uh, you know, uh, I could, you, I could, I'm looking at retirement soon.
I mean, look at me.
I'm just the grazer coming in.
I'm looking towards my life on the beach soon.
That started as a joke and now I realize I might be out of producer.
So let's backtrack there.
Okay, all right.
Hey, so, okay, so you've got to tell us about the new season.
Is there a theme or particular stories you're excited about, Arthur?
You know, I, you know, just to, you know, talk about the whole season, you know, I'm sitting here on behind the scenes, but I really have to shout out to, you know, my, my, my partner here, Luke Zamm.
I mean, he is just a fantastic ball of energy as well.
And I think, you know, between the both of us, we just kind of bring this sort of.
this just ultimate passion for the state, for its food, and you know, I couldn't do it without him, his wife Ruthie, another friend of ours, Lucy, and Varroqua.
This crew has been really vital to the production this year, and you know, really excited to share the new season.
I know one particular episode that I hope hits hard.
I don't know where, I don't know how it's gonna hit, but I think our demographic's gonna love it, and but it's about a famous
cookie from the 1960s in Madison.
It's called the Gorilla Cookie.
I'm not sure if you've ever heard of the Gorilla Cookie, but it was a symbol of like the counterculture in the 60s in Madison, and it has
so
many weaving and interwoven stories into this cookie.
You'd never know what's gone into it by just looking at this meager, humble cookie, everything that has gone into this cookie.
So really looking forward to sharing
Sharing that particular story.
Yeah, the only thing I remember about the gorilla cookie is Fred Sanford remember he some if I look like you I'd stick your face in some dough and make a gorilla.
It's a terrible joke That's my only that's the only time I've ever heard
This is more of the not this is like the you know the rebel like the the the urban the urban warfare started a gorilla fighter
Okay,
that's
different.
Yeah, all right.
Yeah, that's great
So yeah, really excited about that story.
I'm excited about all the stories.
Whatever story I just worked on, I'm the most excited about because they're all really cool.
How much of your year is spent out shooting?
Yeah, so so one thing we've done a lot, you know, we really focused on Recently is is sort of our YouTube channel our YouTube channel is really is really started to take off You know, it's it's broad in our reach So a lot of people around the country and even overseas can watch our episodes and we find that they do and it's pretty incredible how people Are gravitate towards the show on YouTube so and you know how it is to feed that beast you got to constantly be putting out content so essentially I kind of take you know
September to January off.
And
that's
when I kind of sit down at the whole show.
And then I take about a month break and then February, March, we start to get into it all the way through the summer.
And we'll just be, you know, at least, you know, since Luke is basically off from the cafe from Mondays and Tuesdays, we typically travel Mondays, maybe Sundays, Sunday, Monday, Tuesdays, and we're on the road and try to create content as often as possible.
Do you have a favorite part of the state, Arthur?
I see your shirt, the Driflus Cafe.
I know that's Luke's.
I love the Driflus area.
The
Driflus area is, I don't want to call it underrated.
I feel like so many people are kind of starting to become hip to it, but it is a really special place.
I mean,
every time
I go there, my heart is just like, my heart beats a little faster and I just fall in love with the area and the people and it's just gorgeous out there.
It lets me breathe a little bit.
I mean, coming from the city and
the
fast pace of everything that we deal with here and then going to a place like that,
that just has the rolling hills and you know and then just the slower pace of life it's it's really it's it's therapeutic to be honest with you but but I can't say there's a favorite part I love so many parts of Wisconsin for so many different reasons and we're you know again we're we're blessed to how to be in this state it's you know we've got so so much diversity in Wisconsin right between all the
way north
the Door County to to Green Bay to
Um, you know to the drift list a good question for you is you know, we don't do a lot in green Bay What uh, what would your do you have some recommendations for us to come check out next time?
We're in the area to see if we can create a wisconsin foodie story Yeah,
I'm boy.
That's that's a great question con.
I'm not gonna put you on the spot
right now Yeah, let me think about that there
is if you email me we're gonna get you out We're gonna get you as a guest on the show
and I can
come and eat with Luke somewhere.
All right
I love it.
I got to repay it.
I would love to do that.
So yeah, we'll put some places together and share them with you because ours are really, really fun, cool places.
You can't go wrong with downtown.
spots down there.
All right, Conrad, I want your feedback too.
So both of
you guys
huddle up and figure it out and we'll get you on next time Luke's in the area.
Arthur's going to pilfer Conrad for me when he comes up here to Green Bay.
So all right.
You know, can you stick around through the news, because I want to ask you about the farmer's market, the winter farmer's market, which I think is a phenomenal idea in Shorewood.
So we'll
just keep you for a couple more minutes, Arthur.
I know
you're probably in the
throes of what you're doing there.
But we've got a couple of comments for you.
Luca Zamm on the stream says, great shirt.
All right, I think.
He's in cahoots there.
And then Cheryl Kuhn, a fan, says, are the foodies coming on?
So she was pretty excited to have you here, too,
obviously.
Yeah.
We love Cheryl.
Cheryl's a super fan.
We love her.
Excellent.
All right.
Sidney Politics says his favorite board game is backgammon, Michael Olson, who did the potopoly game, which I still am trying to wrap my head around how you have a theme, a monopoly pot theme.
But I believe he did it.
He said, I do remember playing the
game.
I think there's a pot everything
theme.
Yeah, probably.
He says the houses and hotels were
pounds and oh, I thought he re-texted something.
I think I'm reading the same text.
All right.
And Dave on the stream says hues and cues.
All right, we're going to do the news and we're coming back for Act 3.
Arthur's going to give us a few more minutes.
I'm going to ask him about the winter farmers market in Shorewood, which sounds fantastic.
This is Pete Schwabba in Nightlight.
Don't go anywhere.
It's the Civic Media Radio
Network.
The national news cycle never stops, but it can be hard to find news about your local community.
Civic Media is dedicated to providing quality local and state news coverage across Wisconsin.
With the Civic Media app, you can get notifications about local stories that matter to you and your community.
Find the free Civic Media app in your phone's app store and choose notifications from the menu to tell us what kind of news you want to hear about.
