UW System’s No Confidence Vote, Musician Chris Thile In Studio

Featured in this Show

• Musician Talks Taking Helm Of 'Prairie Home Companion'

  Download

  Longtime listeners of public radio will undoubtedly be familiar with “A Prairie Home Companion” and its perennial host Garrison Keillor. But, the show’s landscape will change this fall when Keillor retires and musician Chris Thile becomes the frontman for a public radio institution.

  Thile, a musician known as being the mandolinist for Nickel Creek and the Punch Brothers, will not be unfamiliar to fans of the long-running show. He has served as a co-host for the program when it was first announced Keillor would be stepping down. He also made his first appearance on the show in mid-1990s when he was just a teenager.

  Thile said taking over the show has a special significance for him as not only a longtime performer, but also as a fan.

  “Even as a 15-year-old, I think I was aware of the grandeur of the moment in my young life,” Thile said. “And now looking back — of course — it’s particularly meaningful.”

  While Thile has been a touring musician for most of his adult life, he said he doesn’t see taking over “A Prairie Home Companion” as being that dissimilar to performing as a mandolinist. But, he said joining the show permanently will allow him to focus his energy on one project instead of being pulled in various directions.

  He also said his joining the show as a musician, instead of as a spoken-word artist like Keillor, will not change the way the show sounds for longtime fans.

  “While I’ll be the host and the master of ceremonies, we’re going to have spoken word guests on the show. Comedians, actors, storytellers, poets, people who do that for a living. So, I don’t necessarily have to shoulder the burden of replacing Garrison Keillor, who is arguably one of the world’s greatest storytellers ever,” Thile said. “I can get my hands all kinds of dirty with all the music that’s going to be on the show. And then be a willing, and hopefully able, participant in the other things. Much like Garrison has been a willing participant on the musical side of things.”

  Thile officially takes over as the host of “A Prairie Home Companion” this September.

• UW-Milwaukee Faculty Vote In Favor Of A No-Confidence Resolution Against UW President, Board

  Download

  University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee faculty unanimously declared no confidence in the UW System President–Ray Cross–and the Board of Regents. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Higher Education Reporter Karen Herzog joins us to talk about the vote.

• Musician Chris Thile already has a lot on his plate as the a member of the hugely successful bands Nickel Creek and The Punch Brothers. Starting in September of 2016, he’ll be able to add the title Radio Host to his resume when he takes the helm on the hit radio program “A Prairie Home Companion.” Thile joins us to talk about his music and his new role as Garrison Keillor’s successor.