Shows / Perspectives
Perspectives
Perspectives are commentaries produced by and for WNIJ listeners, from a panel of regular contributors and guests.
Episodes
- Perspectives
Perspective: These are a few of my favorite...bands!
Wester Wuori has had a great few months, thanks to live music.
- Perspectives
Perspective: The best Halloween costume this year
Remember being a kid choosing your Halloween costume? Kyle White does after laying eyes on the most perfectly simple homemade statement.
- Perspectives
Perspective: We could learn a lot from those demon hunters
Kelli McGee Yugsi calls on K-Pop Demon Hunters to bring us together.
- Perspectives
Perspective: A child's wisdom about living free in a democracy
A look at democracy through the wise eyes of Connie Seraphine's granddaughter.
PerspectivesPerspective: Vulnerable families should make a plan
Scott Summers says in today's climate, it's important for parents to consider setting up short-term guardianships for their children.
PerspectivesPerspective: Preparing for Dia de los Muertos
Yaritza Salgado talks with her grandmother about how she observes "Day of the Dead."
- Perspectives
Perspective: Where will you go when it’s five minutes to midnight?
Frances Jaeger visits a nuclear bunker.
PerspectivesPerspective: Is our president a populist or a demagogue?
Dan Kenney examines the difference between a populist and a demagogue.
- Perspectives
Perspective: Overreach
Deborah Booth says the federal government is trampling on states' rights.
- Perspectives
Perspective: Freezer Jenga
Rosie Klepper plays a game with her freezer. A very dangerous game.
- Perspectives
Perspective: The canaries are singing. Who's listening?
Bob Evans hears the warning songs: Are we paying attention?
- Perspectives
Perspective: Chicago, Trump and solutions
Joseph Flynn says federal troops aren't the answer to Chicago's crime problems.
- Perspectives
Perspective: A place that remembers us
Julie Bassett is working with Together for Taft to find a way to save the former NIU Lorado Taft campus in Oregon.
PerspectivesPerspective: Things left undone
Katie Andraski says sometimes it's not what you do...but what you don't do.
- Perspectives
Perspective: Voting by mail is 'a thing.' A good thing!
The President wants to kill voting by mail. Bob Evans says that's a mistake.
- Perspectives
Perspective: The grace of lifelong friends --The Sequel
How did Marnie O. Mamminga's reunion with friends of a different political persuasion go?
- Perspectives
Perspective: Listen to the seashells
She sells sea shells...or did she find them on a beach halfway around the world? No matter. Paula Garrett appreciates their presence in her life.
- Perspectives
Perspective: Who needs a golden ballroom?
Sharon Nicola thinks America has better stuff to spend taxpayer money on.
- Perspectives
Perspective: You gonna eat that?
Road-tripping Rosie Klepper tries to balance the joy of gas station cuisine with common sense.
PerspectivesPerspective: The manufacturing daydreams need a reality check
Before we restore our nation's manufacturing glory, Frances Jaeger wants us to look at our past.
- Perspectives
Perspective: My collections
Does Francisco Solares-Larrave really need all those watches and pens?
- Perspectives
Perspective: From Rockford, with gratitude
Wendy Larson Bennett is grateful for the years Rockford has benefitted from the presence (and hard work) of Rev. Dr. Matthew Johnson.
PerspectivesPerspective: A summertime breather
Connie Seraphine highly recommends spending some time with family and friends before summer's over!
- Perspectives
Perspective: A few words of wisdom on marriage
Wester Wuori and his wife celebrate more than a quarter century of marriage.
- Perspectives
Perspective: The three foes of human beings
Tom McBride says you should cherish and protect your "human-ness."
PerspectivesPerspective: Why different perspectives matter
Rick Brooks shares his thoughts about the value of public broadcasting.
- Perspectives
Perspective: The NIU Art Museum
Northern Illinois University's art museum is closing. Deborah Booth calls it a huge loss for the community.
PerspectivesPerspective: Education isn't dying in one place. It's being dismantled everywhere.
Some of the luster is off a national award and that symbolizes a lot more to Marianna Ruggerio than her own experience.
- Perspectives
Perspective: Public broadcasting, I have your back!
Lou Ness urges NPR and PBS fans to fight back.
- Perspectives
Perspective: Words will not save us, but they can point the way
Dan Kenney has always turned to words in times of trouble — are they enough now?
PerspectivesPerspective: You need a rest
NIU student Donna Gillespie says "when in doubt, rest it out!"
PerspectivesPerspective: It's time to speak out in favor of life
Emily McKee says we all must speak out to make the annihilation of people in Gaza stop.
PerspectivesPerspective: Support your public media
Joseph Flynn urges fans of NPR, PBS, and their favorite local public stations to keep up the fight for funding.
PerspectivesPerspective: It's time for more research on this rare disease
Katie Andraski learns about CRPS from her neighbor
- Perspectives
Perspective: The awful irony of nuclear proliferation
Bob Evans looks at what nuclear proliferation means to a United States moving toward isolationism.
- Perspectives
Perspectives: My legs, my choice
To shave or not to shave? Beloit College student Fiona Hughes says the beauty is, you don't have to.
- Perspectives
Perspective: Toxic boss behavior
Frances Jaeger says it's time to fire The Apprentice — and put the kibosh on the toxic boss behavior it normalized.
- Perspectives
Perspective: Ships, colleges, and John Coltrane
Tom McBride wonders if you completely change a thing, is it still that thing?
- Perspectives
Perspective: There's no better time than now to dive in
What stops us from doing what we've always wanted to do? Paula Garrett takes the plunge.
PerspectivesPerspective: My tech is aging faster than I am
Time for a new phone already? Francisco Solares-Larrave knows your pain.
PerspectivesPerspective: It's called 'Elderspeak,' hon.
Lonny Cain has a message for waitresses and caregivers.
PerspectivesPerspective: Laundry calamities
Do you suffer from chronic food stains on your favorite shirts? You are not alone, says Rosie Klepper.
PerspectivesPerspective: Gracie, a pandemic gift
Marnie O. Mamminga is grateful for her time with a chocolate lab. Although short, Gracie was one of the good parts of the pandemic.
- Perspectives
Perspective: With apologies to President Lincoln...
Andrew Nelson twists a famous speech.
- Perspectives
Perspective: Watch out! Your walk in the park may get ruined
Scott Summers finds his opinions aren't welcome during a walk in the park.
- Perspectives
Perspective: Only one branch of government? Keep fighting to preserve our democracy
Connie Seraphine says it's time to stand up for chccks and balances.
- Perspectives
Perspective: College students should read more
Victoria Wakeford shares the good news about the side effects of reading for pleasure.
- Perspectives
Perspective: The Fascism Cycle
Frances Jaeger says some very bad ideas are being recycled — and it's poor people who get hurt.
- Perspectives
Perspective: Let's talk about tax cuts
Marcia Snyder asks, as much as you like your billionaire neighbor, how much are you willing to give up to give him a tax cut?
- Perspectives
Perspective: Teaming up with Dolly Parton
More books in the hands of local kids? Deborah Booth says that's the goal of the Dolly Parton foundation and the DeKalb Public Library.
- Perspectives
Perspective: No greater value
From his ABCs to blowing his nose, Kwesi Caldwell appreciates the strong start he got toward a lifetime of education.
- Perspectives
Perspective: Gardens of Resistance
Dan Kenney urges people to be rebels and plant "Gardens of Resistance."
- Perspectives
Perspective: We are a 'banana republic'
Francisco Solares Larrave says it's finally here: The U.S. is a banana republic. And he knows from experience.
PerspectivesPerspective: Make hay while the sun shines
Despite the weather challenges. Katie Andraski says somehow, putting up hay always works out.