Category Archives: History

A little baseball trivia?

Posted on October 26, 2017 by Katherine Wikoff

My husband and I were talking in passing about the World Series last night. Although I no longer really follow baseball, I was a big fan as a kid. When I noticed the game on TV, I wondered aloud if … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life, Popular culture | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Functionality in search of purpose

Posted on October 25, 2017 by Katherine Wikoff

Although I’ve noticed this item in the corner of a classroom I teach in this quarter, I never looked closely at it until today, when it was in a slightly different location. I almost didn’t recognize what it was. That’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Higher education, History, Life, Milwaukee, Popular culture, Teaching, Technology | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Remember the Berlin Airlift? Why can’t we do that for Puerto Rico?

Posted on October 20, 2017 by Katherine Wikoff

I know it’s probably naive and presumptuous of me to assume that America’s leaders haven’t thought of this already and dismissed it for good reason. But why haven’t we done something like the Berlin Airlift for Puerto Rico? We kept … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life, Political Analysis | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Knot Art – How one artist developed a daily creative practice

Posted on October 19, 2017 by Katherine Wikoff

I love this article in today’s Co. Design, “How An Apple Alum Found Her True Calling–In Knots.” Windy Chien, a former producer at Apple’s iTunes, is now an artist who creates hanging textile art, jewelry and lights from complex macrame … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Creativity, History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Downton Abbey Anachronism?

Posted on January 2, 2017 by Katherine Wikoff

(Note: See comments for an updated answer to the question asked in this post’s title.) My daughter and I both had projects to work on last night and, wanting some familiar, companionable television in the background, decided to put on … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life, Popular culture, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Drinking the Kool Aid

Posted on November 18, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

It still kind of shocks me to read or hear people using that phrase to describe positive buy-in to a new idea. As in, “We’re extremely excited about our company’s new product. Everyone has been drinking the Kool Aid, and … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Milwaukee, Movies and film, Popular culture | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

A Tale of Two Tennis Courts

Posted on July 20, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

This is a tale of two tennis courts in Milwaukee’s Washington Park. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted of Central Park fame (see a nice NY Times article about his Midwestern parks here), Washington Park was once home to the Milwaukee … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life, Milwaukee, Photography | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Some background on Turkey within the Middle East conflicts

Posted on July 16, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

Today seems like a good day to link to two of my older (March 2014 and October 2015) posts about Turkey. Mostly I talk about Turkey within the context of wider regional conflicts and history, but these posts may get you … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life, Political Analysis | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Random Reflections on Malls and Department Stores

Posted on July 13, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

Monday’s Wall Street Journal ran an article (read it here) noting the waning days of the department store as anchor in the American shopping mall: “Mall Owners Push Out Department Stores: Fast-fashion chains, restaurants, specialty stores do a better job of driving mall … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, Creativity, History, Life, Milwaukee, Popular culture, WPLongform (posts of 1000 words or longer) | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

In an Earlier Era of “Walkable Cities”

Posted on July 5, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

If you take a close look at some of Milwaukee’s older neighborhoods, you’ll notice that a hundred years ago (approximately, say 1870-1930) factories were surrounded not only by the modest cottages of workers but also by the mansions of the owners. Today you’d … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, History, Life, Milwaukee | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments