We asked our Ideas Network hosts and producers to share some of their favorite interviews and segments from 2013. Check out their favorites below and visit our website for live streams and archives any time.

The Joy Cardin Show
Segment name: Gathering the Courage to Be Brave
Click here to hear the segment.
This was a show about taking risks and developing courage. Public Radio is at its best when it inspires and helps people transform their lives and the quality of life in their communities.

The Kathleen Dunn Show
Segment name: Interview with Alan Alda
Click here to listen to this segment.
In addition to providing insights into the art of acting and improvisation, he shared with us his passion for science education and reminisced with callers about his career as well. What a delight! (Kathleen Dunn is pictured above with producer K.P. Whaley in our Milwaukee studios.)

Central Time
Segment name: Living Longer, But Not Better
Click here to listen to this segment.
When a medical doctor began to wax philosophical about the meaning of a good life, we knew we had something special here...and contributions from callers with their definitions of a life well lived were excellent, as well.

The Larry Meiller Show
Segment name: Preserving Ethnic Holiday Food Traditions
Click here to listen to the segment.
At the holidays, so many of us look forward to and enjoy special meals and dishes that have meaning in our families and come from our ethnic background. It was such a treat to hear not only from our listeners, but from several WPR staffers who took the time to tell us about their own traditions and heritage.

NPR Presents . . . Skunk Bear?

What do skunk bears, the blogging platform Tumblr and NPR have in common? More than you might think. Skunk Bear is the name of the new Tumblr website wrangled by Adam Cole of the NPR Science Desk. (Tumblr is software that makes it easy to post multimedia and other content to a short-form blog.)

According to NPR, Skunk Bear was created as a platform for "sharing animations, explanatory videos, illustrations, science gifs, extras from radio stories, dispatches from the intersection of science and culture, homemade lava recipes, underwater operas, and fascinating graphs hastily scrawled on napkins." Some posts will come directly from NPR's science coverage and some will come from listeners.

From what we've seen, we're pretty impressed. Check out posts about stars composing music, NASA satellite images of a snowy United States or a few videos about birds (and fish eating them). And, if you want to know why the name Skunk Bear was chosen, or more about Adam Cole click here to visit the Tumblr.

Winter Blues?  WPR's Central Time Hosts Feel Your Pain

The best way to fight the winter blues is to embrace the season and get out and do some fun winter activities, right? Sometimes that's easier said than done. If you're not the 'outdoorsy' type, here are some INDOOR ways WPR's Central Time hosts Rob Ferrett and Veronica Reuckert get through the season:

• Board games, of course! Rob is a huge fan of board games. "While I'm happy to play them in any season, winter is best...because you're not missing awesome fun weather outside."
• Veronica is addicted to making fires in the fireplace. "It makes everything seem cozy instead of cold." 
• Fire up the oven and make some warm food. Rob has become a pro at oven-roasted vegetables: carrots, zucchini, eggplant, okra, sweet potatoes, kale...the list goes on. "You get to warm up by a hot stove, and of course you get to eat the veggies."
• Go to the library: Veronica says the library is her wintertime best friend. "I've been on a reading tear this winter, burning through books like crazy." 
• Exercise seems to be a good thing, though it's fairly new and alien to Rob. "I got a second-hand treadmill last year, and I've finally gotten myself rolling on it most days." 
• Make pancakes! "The colder it is", Veronica says, "the better they taste." Rob agrees, "Oh yeah, I'll second the reading and the pancakes!"  

Of course, there's nothing wrong with staying in bed all day and listening to the radio. Just make sure you get out and look for your shadow on February 2!
 
Keep up with Rob and Veronica's Central Time here.

WPR loves stories, especially those told by folks in Wisconsin. Over the past year, our Milwaukee-area listeners have had the opportunity to gather for monthly open-mic storytelling competitions sponsored by a national nonprofit called The Moth. Storytellers compete for bragging rights and a chance to participate in an annual GrandSLAM competition.

On Friday, January 31, you can see the first 10 winners battle it out in Milwaukee's first GrandSLAM at Turner Hall, 1040 N. 4th Street, Milwaukee. The night's theme is "Fish Out of Water." Each storyteller will have five minutes to share a tale about a time they were out of their element. At the end of the night, one storyteller will be crowned Milwaukee's first GrandSLAM champion.

Robin Wachsberger, Associate Producer of The Moth, enjoys watching "the titans" of the monthly storytelling community come together for the GrandSLAM. "It's a Moth love fest where friends and family are coming out to support their achievement and celebrate these performers," she said. (The Moth Radio Hour can be heard on WPR's Ideas Network Stations each Friday at 9 p.m.)

Tickets are available at the Pabst Theater box office or online at pabsttheater.org. Get yours here.

Come See Us at the Garden Expo in Madison, February 7-9

Join other gardening enthusiasts to share ideas, gain inspiration and create something new at Wisconsin Public Television's Garden Expo, February 7-9 at Exhibition Hall of the Alliant Energy Center in Madison.

Stop by the WPR booth, play a lawn game and meet our on-air personalities and staff, including Garden Talk host Larry Meiller (pictured) on Saturday morning.

Visit the Garden Expo web site for more information.

Members of the Ho-Chunk nation were just some of the performers at Wisconsin's 34th Annual Tribute and Ceremony for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The ceremony was broadcast on WPR and WPT and produced and directed by WPR's Higher Ground host, Dr. Jonathan L. Overby.

As we reported last month, Jim Fleming is retiring as host of WPR's To the Best of Our Knowledge. Fittingly, Jim's last broadcast as host focuses on retirement and reinventing your life.  Hear it Sunday, Jan. 26 at 1 p.m. on our Ideas Network stations.

You've heard WPR's Wisconsin Life during Morning Edition and Central Time, now you can watch it on TV.  Don't miss the premiere of Wisconsin Public Television series, Monday February 3 at 8 p.m.  Explore videos from the TV series here.

If it's time to retire your old ride, give us a call. We'll turn your car, truck, camper, boat, even your old snow mobile into the programs you love. Car Talk Vehicle Donation Services makes sure your donation is tax-deductible and we'll even tow it away for free.
Get the details here.