Message From On Point's David Folkenflik

I am based this week at the University of Wisconsin at Madison's Center for Journalism Ethics, as its journalist in residence. It's been a lively and stimulating week, as I've alternated between grillings by students and faculty and following this week's elections. The questions have ranged from the very practical to the very profound - and I've been struck by the range and sophistication of the ambitions people have here.

I've also been meeting with people from related outfits- the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Reporting, and our colleagues at Wisconsin Public Radio. (All are housed in the same building on campus, Vilas Hall.) Madison is a vibrant and beautiful city; we're taking advantage of my presence here to broadcast from Wisconsin Public Radio. Our focus will have local, regional and national importance. In our Hour One roundtable, we'll dissect the mid-term elections, what it means for the country and the presidency, including the loss of two-term Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to state Schools Superintendent Tony Evers. And in Hour Two, we'll look at the Great Lakes – one of the world's largest bodies of freshwater. The Great Lakes have captured the imagination of many of the 40 million people who live around it. It is also in incredible peril for its health - in large part due to a series of decisions made by humans to try to harness it for commerce, sport, and water. The back story involves small exotic mussels and giant Asian carp. We'll be talking to one of the nation's greatest experts on the topic, a reporter whose beat is covering the lakes for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and who has literally written the book on the subject.