At a very early age, Maureen McCollum fell in love with the radio.
“I listened to a great kids station growing up in St. Louis. I was the kid who called in to make requests. And I would make radio shows on my cassette player with my friends,” she said.
While she was a student at UW-La Crosse, Maureen considered becoming a rock ‘n roll DJ. But then the late Gene Purcell planted a seed that Maureen could pursue public radio.
Today, Maureen is the host and executive producer of “Wisconsin Life,” which tells stories about the people, places, history and culture of the state. Some of her work has aired nationally on NPR and has been recognized with both national and regional awards. She’s also behind the eight-part podcast “WPR Reports: Uprooted,” which tells the stories of Cubans exiles who found their way to Wisconsin after leaving their homes as part of the Mariel boatlift.
Throughout her work, she strives to help people better understand one another.
“I get to find people who care about community and who are not only improving their own lives, but improving the lives around them,” Maureen said. “I love being able to offer a platform for those stories.”
Maureen’s path after college started as a reporter at the public radio station in Columbia, Missouri. After a couple of years, she came to WPR as a reporter in the La Crosse bureau covering agriculture, energy and the Mississippi River. From there, she moved to Madison to be WPR’s “Morning Edition” host. Through all of that, one of her favorite things was working on “Wisconsin Life” stories.
When the opportunity opened up to produce it, she jumped at the chance.
When not making radio, Maureen loves to see live music and do crafts. Like “Wisconsin Life,” Maureen is building community in her part of Wisconsin, through trivia too. She invites you to her twice-monthly Magical Musical Trivia nights at The Green Room Public House in Madison, where you’ll hear plenty of questions about The Beatles and 90s music.
– Kate Archer Kent, co-host of “Wisconsin Today”
