A back channel is an unofficial communication channel. Ultimately, it’s a conduit. A stream that connects ideas.

This is Back Channel Radio, a podcast sharing stories from beyond the mainstream. 

Our first season takes place on Wolf Spider Island, a community of boathouses across from Winona, Minnesota, near the Wisconsin border, floating on the back waters of the Mississippi. This is the story of how these boathouses — not houseboats! — came to be here, and more importantly, how they stayed.

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Back Channel Radio is hosted by Gina Favano, resident of Wolf Spider Island since 2013.

It’s produced by Suzanne Hogan, creator and host of the KCUR podcast A People’s History of Kansas City.