If you live in Wisconsin, sooner or later, you'll encounter this phrase, the Wisconsin Idea.

But what does it mean, or what could it mean to you?

I'm Anne Strange Champs with a special edition of To the Best of Our Knowledge,

recorded a couple of weeks ago on stage in front of an audience at the University of Wisconsin.

Our theme, The Wisconsin Idea.

When I first moved to Wisconsin and started working at Wisconsin Public Radio,

I kept hearing about this thing called the Wisconsin Idea.

I didn't know what it was, but it sounded totally cool.

Because I remember thinking, you know, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, they've got their state birds, their state crops, their state flags.

We've got an idea.

However, it was really hard to put an idea on a license plate.

So, especially a really big idea.

And the Wisconsin idea turns out to be huge.

You know, it's a philosophy, it's a vision for public enlightenment.

And the description that I really like, this is what Adlai Stevenson said.

The Wisconsin tradition meant more than a simple belief in the people.

It also meant a faith in the application of intelligence and reason

to the problems of society. I meant a deep conviction that the role of government was not to

stumble along like a drunkard in the dark, but to light its way by the best torches of knowledge

and understanding it could find.

So basically how I interpret that is we live in a state that is historically valued seeking

truth and sharing wisdom so greatly that it's a core mission.

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