Wisconsin Lags In Startups, Mapping The Earth’s DNA, Pope Francis On Climate Change

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According to an organization that tracks business startup activity around the country, Wisconsin ranks dead last among all 50 states. We discuss the report, and explore why Wisconsin is lagging. Then, we examine a project designed to map the entire planet’s biological makeup, and cover the Pope’s call to action on climate change.

Featured in this Show

  • Milwaukee Ranks 39th Out Of 40 Metro Areas In Entrepreneurialism, Report Finds

    A new report from the nonprofit Kauffman Foundation shows that Milwaukee is ranked 39th out of 40 of the country’s largest metropolitan areas in entrepreneurialism.

    Jon Eckhardt, from the Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship, said the city faces some unique challenges when it comes to entrepreneurship.

    “What I basically see there is opportunity in an area of expertise that we don’t always understand is important to entrepreneurship,” he said.

    When people think of entrepreneurship, many usually think of the founder of a business — the person with the initial idea who builds the company. But, one of the things the founder needs is someone with the expertise on how to run a business, Eckhardt said.

    “Milwaukee has expertise, broad expertise, in a variety of industries, where you have middle managers and people that can run budgets and run factories and everything else, that are in that city literally that can help entrepreneurs form and manage those kinds of companies,” he said.

    However, because Milwaukee has so many large and successful companies, employees are generally happy where they are and are less likely to take the leap and start a new business. That may be bad news for someone who’s looking at entrepreneurship, it’s still a good thing that people are happily employed.

    The same report also found that Wisconsin as a state ranks last in the nation in entrepreneurialism.

  • Wisconsin Ranks Last In Country For Startup Activity

    Wisconsin ranks last in the nation for startup activity and Milwaukee ranks second-to-last among large metropolitan areas, according a new report from the Kauffman Foundation.

  • Biocoding The Planet: How Sequencing Earth's DNA Will Impact The Future

    From modeling designer babies to detecting disease, the ability to read DNA has radically changed how we look at life. A new, global effort is now trying map the entire planet’s biocode, and this may have profound implications for understanding nature and preparing for our future.

  • Pope Francis Issues Call-To-Action On Climate Change

    In a 184-page letter, Pope Francis weighed in on climate change today, saying humans have a moral obligation to do something about it. A professor of theology discusses the Pope’s call-to-action, and how it could go over with the world’s Catholics.

Episode Credits

  • Rob Ferrett Host
  • Veronica Rueckert Host
  • Galen Druke Producer
  • Marika Suval Producer
  • Chris Malina Producer
  • Jonathan Eckhardt Guest
  • Dawn Field Guest
  • John O'Keefe Guest

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